Monday, October 16, 2006

Sock Swatching is for the Weak

As is buying full price sock yarn. Check out my bargainous Fortissima Socka that I got in Berlin for half nothing:



I count five ends. Five! Is this normal for sale yarn? Fretful little fragments at the beginning? But I battled my way past the mess, and cast on for a short-row tow (first ever!) and battled round the yarn-overs and up to the join, three times (it's all education, folks), and finally got to the falling leaves pattern:


to find that it was no use remaining in denial: not only did the sock look unpleasantly like a dead fish's head, but it was a monster, baggy, enormous sock. And this in a pattern that is "deliberately on the small side"! Gah. Time for the rip.

Look, here's a more cheerful thought: an old old FO which lazy me only just got around to putting in the post.



It's a Dream Swatch, knit in a fancy viscose-cotton-glittery-very-very-silly yarn (possibly by Filati, but at this stage I actually couldn't swear. What am I? A fool.) The idea is that you can headscarf it or neckscarf it... or look at it in bewilderment, wondering what on earth to do with it. Hush.



Q: Glitz, don't you have a baby dress and a biker jacket about two stitches from completion?

A: Hush. Yes. Some day, the tidy finishing fit will fall upon me, won't it? In the meantime, I am plotting plotting plotting. I have my family Christmas presents all plotted in my head (though not on the needles yet... sure it's not even Hallowe'en), and on Friday I had a genius stroke: last year, in a fit of desire to emulate my knitting friend hfnuala, I bought three balls of Kidsilk Spray for a lace shawl. Summer came and went, the pattern was sworn over, and five lonely rows languished on the needles. On Friday, the revelation struck: since when do I wrap myself in cobwebby fronds of lace? Do I think I am some class of Pre-Raphaelite Miss Haversham? Answer: no, but what I DO need is a drop-dead elegant sleeveless top for the winter party season. Definitely. So now I am on the scour, friends, for a truly glamorous Kidsilk Haze pattern: all suggestions very very welcome indeed.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

WhOOOOA, that dream swatch scarf looks like it was made for that colorway! How totally nifty did that turn out?

Knitty Lilaa said...

I've got two...

The Fluffy Lace Camisole and Pull Off Cowl from "Weekend Knitting" or the classic "Butterfly" Vest from Rowan 37 (it's on the cover).

Check out:

http://www.whisperingpine.org/2005/06/
(scroll to near the bottom of the page)

and

http://www.knitrowan.com/html/magazines_profile.asp?productCode=ZM37

la glitz said...

Aww, thanks Kristen! The recipient liked it, which was definitely the main thing!

Life's a Stitch said...

How do you find the cross stitch scarf holds up? I've been afraid to do one for fear I'd be dealing with the x's catching on things or the scarf losing shape.
Li

la glitz said...

Li - the Dream Swatch was a gift, so I've no idea how it's been wearing, alas! Maybe I'll just have to make another for myself...