a short honeymoon

The best thing about finishing this is the freedom it's given me to move on to other less doomed projects. I thought about making this for months and months, bought the yarn, used it for something else, bought another yarn, bought more of it with the intention of devoting it to another since-abandoned project idea, and just generally dithered about the whole thing until my co-craftblogger finally, and rightly, told me to just cast the hell on already. I did, and I feel better now that it's over.

The only problem is that yarn...it's Jaeger Trinity, way on sale at Webs and very cool-looking, in just the bright shade of yellow my mom loves to see me in. But after I started investigating it on Ravelry, I became convinced that there is no way it's not going to stretch out and render my poor little cami unwearable. But I pressed on anyway since I didn't know what else I would ever do with such dangerous yarn, and the finished product looks pretty good, for now anyway. After a day's wear, I did detect the stretching I was dreading, so I took it off, stuck it in the closet and haven't thought about it since. And looking back at these photos, it's even boxier than I realized. Damn it, why can't I shift into an appropriately triumphant FO-blog-post tone for just a few minutes?! I have a couple ideas for full-sized sweaters in the works, and my goal is to have a least one clear success before the semester starts.

Supply your own "monkey" pun. I can't do all the work.

Finis. Thank the dear lord baby Jesus. These are my Monkey socks in Koigu. I should have known that these socks would move along so slowly; they're called "Monkeys," and people who know me know that I have been rather vocal about my dislike of the dirty, nasty creatures.

Malodorous monkeys aside, I'm not sure why finishing these was so much like pulling teeth. Koigu is an excellent yarn--the base is smooth and elastic & durable and substantial without being scratchy, and the variegated colors are ingeniously done. I changed my mind about whether or not I liked the colors approximately 403280493820 times while I worked on the socks (ultimate verdict: B+), but I can, in any case, appreciate the artistry involved. The pattern is a Cookie A, and it's simple, but charming enough to sustain interest through 25 pattern repeats in greater folk than I. This sock pattern is the most popular one on Ravelry, probably because it's a Cookie A, it's not very difficult--and, as it was designed specifically for variegated yarn, it gives one something to do with all of those hand-dyed sock yarn skeins internet-savvy knitters are required by law to purchase from "indie dyers." I don't think this pattern is quite as clever as some of Cookie's other patterns, but it's clever enough.

In any case, really, I'm glad to be done with these because it means I can start something else. (I did put these socks down for about a week to do another top secret project, but I can't tell you about it, because then I would have to--well, you know the drill.) Right now, I have about half a dozen projects in the queue. I think next up are some more mittens, but on the horizon is a sweater project. Don't even get me started on the yarn woes for that one. Let's just say that some people, namely me, never learn when it comes to bargain hunting.

Wilderness crafting

I wish I could knit myself a new camera.

I just got all geared up to post pictures of a bunch of new projects only to find after uploading them that they are all hopelessly out of focus. I wanted to share my progress on my Honeymoon Cami, my second pair of felted clogs, and my stretchy Railway socks, but now I'm feeling out of sorts with technology and we will all just have to settle for a photo of the Koigu socks I finished a week or so ago. This blog would be so much more awesome if I (a) were more motivated and (b) had any photography skills whatsoever. In any case, the socks:

Resurgam.

Well, Reader, there's been a lot of knitting this past week, but none of it has felt very satisfying to me. At left you can see one completed Monkey sock, and it's fine, if a bit loud for my taste--I'm not yet completely drinking the Kool-Aid on variegated yarn--but I need the revulsion to go away and the love of Koigu and matched pairs to return before I can do serious work on its mate.

In the meantime, I tried again on the lace scarf, and it took me an hour to do two rows, of which one was all purls. Bolty needs some faster progress than that in this heat. I'm going to try yet again with some fingering-weight yarn instead of lace weight. Eventually.

In the meantime, I'm working on a nifty cabling project. I don't have pictures of it yet. I think my affair with the afterthought thumb might be over, though, which is kind of a bummer, as I have yarn for many pairs of afterthought thumb mittens.

I also overdyed some bright green sock yarn a more usable teal, but it's veeeeeeery dark teal, almost black. Not quite the effect I was going for. Oops!

Knitting becomes a full-time job.

We got our beautiful, beautiful Ravelry invites on Monday and have been dedicating ourselves to social networking through knitting. By that I mean that we are each other's only Ravelry friends, so if you, Reader, happen to have an account and want to friend us, for god's sake don't hesitate. We are thebolter and lilyriver, as usual. Memo to people with sock patterns: please. Please. Please. Do not photograph your socks in a pair of sexy, strappy high-heeled sandals. It weirds me out.

Gave the blog a facelift, too, with a little Photoshop assist from my mom. The irony of using a template with dots for a blog called "Swinging Squares" created an irresolvable conflict in this blogger's positronic brain.