Tadah!

   That is what I say every time I finish a knitted item, which is greeted by varying degrees of  impressedness (I don't think that's a word, and neither does spell check, but I can't think of a word that means that, so you get the idea) by my boyfriend fiancé husband (still not the first one I think of, maybe someday).

   I have noticed that the more knitted items you show non-knitters saying "I made this myself! All on my own! From string!" they will get progressively less impressed with you. In fact, if you happen to wear anything at all that it might be vaguely possible to knit that you did not make yourself they tend to get a bit disappointed in you. I once had a lace shawl, a mystery KAL from way back, can't remember who did it but it was one that ended up being a Swan Lake theme, if you know what I'm on about, leave a comment. Anyhow, it was a lot of work, and I was rather proud of myself. I was wearing said shawl at a work gathering, and chatting with a gaggle of coworkers (non-knitters every last on of them) when one of them said "And of course you made that shawl" in a tone that suggested everyone was tired of hearing that I made things, but I hadn't even been the one to mention it. As if to say "Yes yes, you made that. Its very lovely and probably took you a lot of time and effort. We are all sick of hearing how talented you are, would you shut up about yourself already. The rest of us do stuff too, you know. I have read a great many books, and I don't see why that should be any less impressive, but you don't see me showing off about it." Now this coworker is a lovely person, and I am sure he did not mean it to sound like that, but it did sound like that or at least it did to me. Maybe to someone who has less of a constant impression that nobody cares what you have to say it might have sounded better, but he wasn't talking to one of those people. 

   Anyways, here are my socks. They are quite lovely, and they took me a long time. The pattern is Hedera by CookieA, though I modified the toe and heel to fit my personal preferences. The yarn is Stricken Smitten Sinful Sock in Scheherazade's Sky, which came from the CookieA Sock Club. 

   I started these socks because I wanted to have some knitting that matched my wedding colour scheme. I know that's a little nuts, but if you're not going a little nuts before your wedding you probably aren't doing it right. 

In case you though I was cheating, and calling one sock of the pair done, you can see both of them here. 

Remember Knitting...

  I originally thought this blog would be about knitting, not just an excellent chance to journal about my trip. So here is what I have been working on: a sweater for my husband, my wedding present to him and some socks. 

Pattern: Hugo by Veronik Avery
Yarn: Madelinetosh DK in Whiskey Barrel

Pattern: Hedera by CookieA with minor modifications for lengths and toe.
Yarn: Stricken Smitten Sinful Sock in Scheherezade's Sky
(this was from 2012 CookieA sock club)

   The sweater is turning out great. I even went whole hog, and did the tubular cast on the pattern recommends, which is a pain in the behind, but also makes a very nice edge. I will say that since this pattern is done in pieces, working back and forth for the tubular cast on was much easier than doing it in the round. I just found the hole thing less confusing. I will be modifying the sleeves for in the round anyways; I love the guy but there is only so much seaming I am willing to tolerate. 

   The socks are pretty. I started them just before the wedding because I wanted something simple but not boring in a colour that went with my colour scheme. The picture above is not a great representation of colour, but they are more purple than blue. The yarn came from the CookieA sock club, and I didn't want to make the patterns that went with that shipment. So I thought doing another CookieA pattern would be thematic.