One sock, two socks, red sock, blue sock

Wellllllll . . . I've gotten to the point of the sockapalOOOza sock no. 1 where I need to start getting ready for that heel. So I'm going to cast on for the second sock. Haha.

No, really. I usually do two socks at once, and right now I've only got one going. I planned it this way because I wasn't sure if the "koigu/jaywalker/adjusting-the-pattern-as-I-go plan" was going to work out.

Now that I can see that:
a) it doesn't look like cat barf, in fact it's quite nice to look at
b) it's actually coming out to the gauge/size I want it to be
c) this is way too fun and every sock I knit from now on will be a jaywalker

I think it's ok that I cast on the second sock.

Other benefits to this plan:
a) I avoid second sock syndrome
b) I can make sure both socks really are the same length before I start the heel
c) I get to go back to knitting two socks at once, which is really my favourite part
d) I'm going to be traveling this weekend (touring with our opera to perform with symphony - yay!), and it's much easier to work on the toe/foot of the sock than figure out a new heel I have never done before that Crafty Ginny had to fight with.

So yep. I think it's a plan, Stan.

Off I go!

Jaywalkin' away!

Look at 'em go:


If you remember, I wasn't sure about the jaywalker/koigu combo, but I think I am liking the zigzag.

Wanna see the soles? It's a gratuitous artsy shot:


And how about a closeup of that stockinette:


Oh, yeah!

Need to knit more...

So, I can't tell if I like the jaywalker pattern in the variegatedness that is koigu. The koigu is delicious. The jaywalker pattern is delicious. But I think it might need self-striping yarn with longer sections of each colour.

This is what I've got so far:



I'm going to keep knitting until I have figured it out.

nOlympics

I'm not participating in the Knitting Olympics. . . and you know what, I'm ok with that. I have nothing against them, I just don't have the time right now. If it were in the summer, no problem! Even April I could handle.

I have way too much on my plate right now: grad school, touring with the opera production I'm in, my family coming to visit, my boy coming to visit. . . it's just not going to happen.

I thought I'd feel left out. But for whatever reason, I don't. Maybe it's that over 3000 knitters is not exactly a tight-knit community. Maybe it's that I'm already in SockapalOOOza and that will keep me busy enough. Or maybe it's just that I'm content to knit at my own pace. I already challenge myself with my knitting with new techniques all the time. And we all know that I don't need any more deadlines in my life. Yup. That's it. Knitting for me keeps me from stressing out. . . do I really need to make it stressful?

Please forgive me.

Dear Math,
I apologize. Humbly and profusely.

I thought you had forsaken me last night when the beginning of the sock was an inch too big. I thought you'd done something funky with a decimal, and come up with some crazy number that looked right just to make me step a little bit closer to insanity.

But no, I was mistaken. You were right! Your numbers were all correct... it was the concept I didn't get. Please forgive me for ever doubting you.

Yours,
Linz

(cough...jaywalkers don't have the zigzag on the sole, it's just stockinette...cough...I'm a total dork...cough)

The koigu has landed!

And it is delicious. I think I love it even more in person.

Purples, grey, black, a wee bit of pinky brown. It's stunning.

Guess what I'm up to tonight?

BABY!!!

My friend is having a baby this summer, and just found out today that it's a girl! (Or as we say around here, a little "Bo Squiddley-ette"!)

So I get to knit cute little things. . . oooh, the fun I will be having!

Meme

Oh, I don't normally do these, but I got tagged by Qeltic... so here goes:

4 jobs you have had:
Voice Teacher
German/French/English/Math Tutor
Member of a Victorian singing troupe
Head of I.T. at a consulting company/bookkeeper/general gopher

4 movies you could watch over and over:
Delovely
The Princess Bride
Much ado about Nothing
Sabrina

4 TV shows you love to watch:
House
Law and Order
Desperate Housewives
Grey's Anatomy

4 places you have been on vacation:
South Africa
France
Italy
Ireland

4 websites you visit daily:
The Blue Blog
Facebook
Livejournal
The Globe and Mail

4 of your favorite foods:
Chocolate
Pizza
Any desserts, especially sabayon, cheesecake or profiteroles
Mutter Paneer, Baingan Bharta and Onion Kulcha

4 places you'd rather be right now:
a vineyard in Italy
Swansea (my family's beach house in South Africa)
an all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean, with drink shirpas
in my bed, in Toronto

4 places you've lived
Thornhill, Ontario, Canada
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Denver, Colorado, USA
University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

So there. Hope it amused you.

Perfect Sockapaloooza Yarn

Yes, I think it is perfect.
Check it out in all its deliciousness:


It's Koigu KPPPM in the P303 colourway.
And I think it needs to be toe-up jaywalkers.

It starts...

Sockapaloooza! It's the third one, and I got my match today -- woohoo!

Off to find the most perfectest yarn ever. YAY!