Brighter in Burlington...

"Yesterday she didn't. But today... she does." Steve Martin, "Roxanne"

Today is a new day. Today is a good day. Today I have the rudimentary start of Magic Loop Socks.

First and most important, a huge thanks to all you fine people out there with your kind words of encouragement. I realize everyone's been there before, I'm not breaking ground on Disaster: The New Frontier, but it's always nice to see it in print before me. You were all so generous with your thoughts on this mess we call knitting.

Also, I can't help but feel I might have exaggerated the situation a teeny-tiny bit. Really didn't mean to leave anyone thinking I was ready to impale myself on a Clover Straight Needle size 11. The benefit to my experience of blunders is I've become highly skilled at not taking myself too awfully serious. If we live by Sara Jeanette Duncan's theory "One loses many laughs by not laughing at oneself" we can rest assured I am laughing ALL THE TIME.

Another one I'd like to thank is Knitty Yoda who took time today- about three and a half hours time- to start me over, with an entirely new pattern. IT'S WORKING! Thank God, Buddha, and Vishnu, we have progress!




I will have something to post, as all my Christmas gift pics are being withheld until after said holiday. I know it doesn't look like progress, not 3 and a half hours worth; trust me, those were leaps and bounds. Neil and the moon landing don't have much on two-at-once, toe-up, Magic Loop style socks.

And to all you knitters out there, if those DPNs look tiny, they're size 0. That's right: size 0. You know what that means.

To all you non-knitters, a comparison. I do most of my non-sock knitting somewhere between size 6 and size 8 needles. Observe a size 7 DPN to a size 0:



Again, those are the start of the socks (the hardest part, I would say, until Yoda mentions the heel and then I want to lie down somewhere dark and not get up for a little while) and, really, truly, you folks out there in comment land (and phone land, Dad and Kell-Bell) are much appreciated. You made this sad, sorry knitter feel a lot less sad and a little less sorry.

Also, for Stephanie- a new reader! who doesn't appear to have a blog in action yet but when she does I will alert you- that sock yarn is Katia, Mississippi 3 Print, a 60% cotton, 40% acrylic blend and if you're interested we have tons of them at the LYS where I work. It's recommended for size 3 needles, but yep, that's how loosely I knit, I have to go down, not one, but TWO sizes to get my gauge somewhere in the vicinity of accurate. Though, I must say doing these short row heels, I am wildly grateful to be a loose knitter, I cannot imagine trying to fight my needle through three stitches at a time. Point is, Stephanie (may I call you Steph?), I hope that helps and if not, let me know. I picked it because the colors reminded me of Play-Doh and, well, I am weird.

To my Sockret Pal, who left such a very nice comment yesterday, my foot measurements are (I know the rest of ya'll are just nutty with excitement):
Foot circumference: 8 1/4 inches
Length of Foot: 8 1/2 inches
Length of Big Toe: 2 inches
Ankle circumference: 8 1/2 inches*

Don't anyone dare say this blog isn't cutting edge information.

Finally, a thanks to my Sockret Pal for staying in touch. Don't worry about the gifts- I want them, mind you, but I'm willing to wait. And it's lovely to hear from you and yes, all is going well here. Hope the same is true for you.

Hope all ya'll (the all-encompassing version of ya'll), out there in Readerland, are well too. It's always exciting to check back on here, thinking, "Did anyone post? Who are they? What did they say?" and finding comments and then seeing your blog and making all you dear friends, close to home and world wide. So a big thanks. I'm awf'ly lucky to have such nice people checking in on me.
Alright, end Love Fest, full stop.

*Can I add My Crazies reared their head during these measurements and I actually thought "do I have fat ankles?" I've always thought I had rather nice ankles but 8 and a half inches- doesn't that seem a little big? Maybe I need some ankle weights and some special ankle-slimming vitamins? Should I start wearing black socks? Will Oprah be doing a "Fat Ankles and How to Fix Them" feature soon? Seriously, this is the place My Crazies take me, it is not pretty.