Socks, socks, everywhere!
I am in a funny place with my knitting these days - it's all socks, all the time.
I am currently working on three pairs of socks (not at the same time, I do only have two arms).
From oldest to newest:
-the green, self striping toe-up socks
These have been a bit more of a saga than they should have been, but they are close to being finished. I am working the top of the second sock in size 3 needles (I'm using metal because I loaned my size 3 bamboo needles out two years ago - I ought to get them back!)
-the pink/purple Koigu socks
These have been a pleasure to knit. The cuff at the top is a bit tighter than I would like, but not enough to rip it out! I was out doing errands on Tuesday morning and I picked up a set of Brittany birch double points in size 0 to replace the Crystal Palace bamboo that I was using. The bamboo was warping as I used them, and I found it very distracting.
-the Jaywalker socks in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock
These have been fun so far. The pattern is just like people have said - easy enough that it doesn't require too much concentration, but interesting enough that it doesn't seem as boring as endless stockinette or rib socks.
Zegi from comments asked "What's a KAL?"
KAL stands for knit-a-long. This is my first one to participate in and I may not have all the detail right, but here goes:
a knitalong happens when a knit blogger decides to start a project and invites anyone else who wants to make the same project to participate. Usually the host sets up a separate page on their blog devoted exclusively to the knitalong, and people who have signed up submit comments to the blog with their progress or questions. It seems like a nice way to create a community of people all working on the same project, especially if it is a difficult project that people might struggle with if they were working on it in isolation.
Sometimes the host of the knitalong sets a completiong date, and sometimes (as with the Jaywalker-along) there are prizes that will be given away to names randomly selected from those who finish.
This is the first knitalong that I have joined. Mostly because I'm not much of a joiner, but also because I have really been concentrating on using yarn from my stash and I haven't seen any knitalongs for projects that interested me that I could do with stash yarn. The Jaywalker-along is great because I was already thinking about making these socks and I already had some yarn that I could use.
The Yarn Harlot is hosting another KAL that intrigues me - the Olympic knitalong. You have to cast on during the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and finish before the closing ceremonies. No specific project, but it has to be something that is a personal challenge for you to complete in that amount of time. I'm thinking about signing up for this one as well, just still pondering what I might do as a project.
Other examples of knitalongs:
The Kepler Knitalong
Crossed in Translation
Blackwater Abbey Yarns
Oh, I have a new favorite knitting blog that I read: The Panopticon. I have laughed out loud several times in the past week while reading Franklin's blog, and that is a good thing.
Speaking of blogs, I have been pondering the mechanics of my blog lately. I have been having difficulty with the comments feature - even if the commenter includes their email address when they submit the comment, it doesn't come through to me. So unless you are someone I already know (hi Jill!) or you have your own Blogger blog AND you have included your url in your Blogger profile AND you have turned your Blogger profile on AND you have your email address on your blog (that's a whole lot of ANDs) there is no way for me to respond to people personally when they leave a comment. Which I would like to be able to do.
I have anecdotal evidence from other sources that have run into the same problem, so I think the problem is with Blogger, not operator error (although I could be wrong!) So I have been looking at other blog hosting software, thinking that if I'm going to switch over I should do it sooner rather than later. The best option that I have found so far is Movable Type (the personal, free version). Anybody have any thoughts or suggestions? Is there something obvious to do with Blogger comments that I am missing here?
I am currently working on three pairs of socks (not at the same time, I do only have two arms).
From oldest to newest:
-the green, self striping toe-up socks
These have been a bit more of a saga than they should have been, but they are close to being finished. I am working the top of the second sock in size 3 needles (I'm using metal because I loaned my size 3 bamboo needles out two years ago - I ought to get them back!)
-the pink/purple Koigu socks
These have been a pleasure to knit. The cuff at the top is a bit tighter than I would like, but not enough to rip it out! I was out doing errands on Tuesday morning and I picked up a set of Brittany birch double points in size 0 to replace the Crystal Palace bamboo that I was using. The bamboo was warping as I used them, and I found it very distracting.
-the Jaywalker socks in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock
These have been fun so far. The pattern is just like people have said - easy enough that it doesn't require too much concentration, but interesting enough that it doesn't seem as boring as endless stockinette or rib socks.
Zegi from comments asked "What's a KAL?"
KAL stands for knit-a-long. This is my first one to participate in and I may not have all the detail right, but here goes:
a knitalong happens when a knit blogger decides to start a project and invites anyone else who wants to make the same project to participate. Usually the host sets up a separate page on their blog devoted exclusively to the knitalong, and people who have signed up submit comments to the blog with their progress or questions. It seems like a nice way to create a community of people all working on the same project, especially if it is a difficult project that people might struggle with if they were working on it in isolation.
Sometimes the host of the knitalong sets a completiong date, and sometimes (as with the Jaywalker-along) there are prizes that will be given away to names randomly selected from those who finish.
This is the first knitalong that I have joined. Mostly because I'm not much of a joiner, but also because I have really been concentrating on using yarn from my stash and I haven't seen any knitalongs for projects that interested me that I could do with stash yarn. The Jaywalker-along is great because I was already thinking about making these socks and I already had some yarn that I could use.
The Yarn Harlot is hosting another KAL that intrigues me - the Olympic knitalong. You have to cast on during the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and finish before the closing ceremonies. No specific project, but it has to be something that is a personal challenge for you to complete in that amount of time. I'm thinking about signing up for this one as well, just still pondering what I might do as a project.
Other examples of knitalongs:
The Kepler Knitalong
Crossed in Translation
Blackwater Abbey Yarns
Oh, I have a new favorite knitting blog that I read: The Panopticon. I have laughed out loud several times in the past week while reading Franklin's blog, and that is a good thing.
Speaking of blogs, I have been pondering the mechanics of my blog lately. I have been having difficulty with the comments feature - even if the commenter includes their email address when they submit the comment, it doesn't come through to me. So unless you are someone I already know (hi Jill!) or you have your own Blogger blog AND you have included your url in your Blogger profile AND you have turned your Blogger profile on AND you have your email address on your blog (that's a whole lot of ANDs) there is no way for me to respond to people personally when they leave a comment. Which I would like to be able to do.
I have anecdotal evidence from other sources that have run into the same problem, so I think the problem is with Blogger, not operator error (although I could be wrong!) So I have been looking at other blog hosting software, thinking that if I'm going to switch over I should do it sooner rather than later. The best option that I have found so far is Movable Type (the personal, free version). Anybody have any thoughts or suggestions? Is there something obvious to do with Blogger comments that I am missing here?
1 Comments:
Hi Marie,
My email isn't on here because I choose for it not to be. I don't want to get a ton of junk mail from a bunch of wackos trolling for someone to send their cheapo-prescription (and probably illegal) info to. I will however look up your email address if it is available and send you a hello, since you have kindly responded to me several times. Thanks for the explanation on the KAL. I wonder if anyone does QAL's? (Quilt)
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