March Madness

Whew - I'm so glad March is just about over! Hopefully things will settle down & I'll be able to post with better regularity! I've felt so bad about my lack of blogging & worse yet - lack of knitting content.

Hopefully this post will make up for it. May I present to you a FO! Finally! I thought I'd finish these socks long ago w/time to knit perhaps another. Yeah - right. With the end of 3rd quarter, a spring break trip to San Diego for fun & a wedding, the beginning of soccer season (I'm coaching the JV girls team), my son's 8th birthday, and parent-teacher conferences, there just hasn't been time to knit. Geez - where are my priorities?

May I present to you my socks for March? They are my submission for March credit for Socks-of-the-Month 5.

Details:

Pattern: Penllyn Socks by Wildhorse Farm Designs

Yarn: Socks That Rock, lightweight "Footzey Foo"

Needles: Addi Turbo, Size 1 (2.50mm)

A super easy, super quick knit. (If you actually knit them & not set them down to take care of other responsibilities in your life). I love how the pattern gives the illusion of cables. Yet - no cable needle - just strategically placed yo and psso.

I fell in love with short row heels when I knit the Serendipity Socks by Adrienne Fong. The pattern called for a standard heel flap, but I've fallen head over heels with the short row heel. No gusset, no stitch markers, no stitches to pick up. Pretty slick, fast, and I love the way they fit. I knit the short rows until there are 12 stitches left un-worked. Leaves just the right enough room for my heel - not too deep, not too shallow.

I don't know what it is with me and STR yarn. No matter what I knit, I always end up with a fraternal pair of socks. Remember the 'Funky Monkeys'? Wow! This pair of socks produced a sock w/a swirl & a sock w/lots of pooling. I checked my gauge - and obtained 8 stitches/inch on the stockinette. What is this yarn supposed to do? Stripe? Hmm? The yarn is so fabulous to knit with, that I think I'm also beginning to enjoy the mystery the finished object will present. Will the stripes match? Will there be pooling? Who knows. I think I'm getting the correct gauge, but I'm still stumped.


I ran across the Sock Knitters Pentathlon the other day in blogland. So sorry - I wish I could give the proper credit. It sounded pretty cool, so I joined the yahoo group. The premise is sock knitters knit 5 different pairs of socks throughout the year to challenge their sock knitting skills. I'm always up for a challenge & SKP2008 spoke to my competitive nature. I joined late, so I'm sure I'm out of the competition, but it sounded like a fun KAL. The first pattern is the Jacobean pattern - a pattern I was contemplating knitting even before I found this KAL! So - I think it was meant to be. So - I'm going to try to work these in while I'm knitting the March Rockin' Sock Club kit.

Other knitting news: This week is state testing. Since students test all morning, our alternative school uses the afternoon time to provide different workshops for students to explore new hobbies, skills, and interests. I'm teaching a beginning knitting class, just like last year. For students who arrive without supplies, I've purchased some materials so they can make their own knitting needles. The wooden dowels I bought should make a pair of needles close to a size 7 US. I'll report later on how this all works out.

Well - off to send of the weekly email to my JV team - our first game is in one week! Eek!

Happy Knitting!

Ciao~