some clarifications

The other day I posted about an idea I had for an international sock swap. After talking to a few people I feel like I need to make some clarifications.

Until next thursday (May 6) I will leave the post open for people to comment on, in order to express your interest. Given enough interest (there are currently 4 of us, including me!) I will open a group on ravelry, and hopefully even more people will be interested in joining in.

The group will be open to join until June 1, after which I will partner people up. Then people will have until Aug 31 to finish their socks and post their packages.

August 31! that's the END OF SUMMER. And summer hasn't even begun yet! I figured it was a good date though, because most of us (at least in the northern hemisphere) won't be wearing socks until the fall again. So by the time the packages arrive it'll just be starting to cool off.

If there are any other questions, let me know! Otherwise, click over to this post and leave a comment, including your ravelry name and I'll send out notices next week if we're on!

Socks on Fire (and Ice)

FO: fire and ice, originally uploaded by gradschoolknitter.

Wow. I just realized that I haven't finished a project since Feb 25! That's more than 2 months! And those were the socks I made the bf during the ravelympics, so they were on a deadline. I guess that's part of the problem with having *ahem* five projects on the go. OK, one of them is on the other side of the Atlantic, so it doesn't really count... and now that these are done, it's down to three on this side of the Atlantic!

Details:
Pattern: Socks on fire (mine, available in the sidebar or on ravelry)
Yarn: Jojoland melody, 2 balls
Needles: US1

an idea

So I got this idea this morning, and I can't seem to shake it. Like when you get a song stuck in your head and all you can hear is the chorus over and over and over. So here's hoping that putting it out there will get it out of my head long enough to get some work done this afternoon!

The idea: an international sock exchange.
The concept: knit a pair of socks (toe-up or top-down, your choice) and include enough yarn for the person to make themselves an after-though heel, either in the same yarn or a pleasing contrast. This way you don't have to worry about making the sock a certain size - the person can try them on and work the heel themselves... it also gives you the chance to try the yarn you get from your partner! Include any goodies from your part of the world that you'd like to include and send it off to your partner.

I'd do the set-up, on ravelry, and the partners would be secret until receipt of package. I.E. the person you knit for isn't necessarily the person who knits for you!

What I need to know... is if anyone (on either side of the atlantic) is interested. Leave a comment on this post (sooner rather than later) indicating your interest and if you would be willing to support starting a group on ravelry (if so, include your ravelry name in the comment). If I get enough interest (say, at least 5 or 6 people) by the 6th of May (one week from today), I'll start working on the set up.

Please feel free to pass this along on ravelry / your own blog / etc! Just make sure wherever you spread the word to includes a link to this post so people can come here and comment.

For more info on the dates, etc., click here.

cookie a wants to make you crazy

striken, originally uploaded by gradschoolknitter.

So, according to ravelry, I started these socks on Dec 28, 2009. Basically four months ago, almost to the day. Granted, I've started - and completed - several other projects since then, but these have been on the back burner for quite a while... mainly due to the INSANE heel chart. I thought about ripping it out and just doing a regular slip stich heel... but the socks (Stricken) are just so pretty... and who doesn't need a challenge once in a while?! So I spent most of today, on and off, working my way through the rest of the heel... ON THE FIRST SOCK.

Maybe it's not really Cookie's intent to drive me crazy... maybe some would say I would already have to be to take things like this on?

six months!

six months, originally uploaded by gradschoolknitter.

It's strange how much your life can change in six months. Half a year. Doesn't really seem like that long a time, but I can say with all honesty that the last six months have changed my life drastically... in a very good way, of course.

In the last 6 months I have had some really amazing experiences - I'm currently living in Spain to do research, I recently submitted my first article to a scholarly journal for (fingers crossed!) potential publication, and just under six months ago I met a great guy. Our six "messiversary" as we've taken to calling it will be in a couple of weeks. So these are his six-month socks. Or rather, one of his six-month socks.

If the volcano lets up and transatlantic travel resumes, he should be visiting me at the end of May, when I will (hopefully) be able to present him with the completed pair. I was actually supposed to head to England myself tomorrow, but that flight (along with just about any other headed to Northern Europe) has been canceled. So, I'll stay in Spain, get some more work done, and hope things clear up soon.

Pattern: Rick by Cookie A, from Sock Innovation
Yarn: Zitron Trekking XXL
Needles: US 1
Mods: 72 stitches instead of 60, 40 st heel, ribbed foot instead of pulling the slant back across (as can be seen on this gorgeous pair.)

madridknits

seneca sleeve, originally uploaded by gradschoolknitter.

I've been going to a knitting group here in Madrid, madridknits. It's pretty much the only time (except maybe lazy Sundays like today when NOTHING is open) that I get any knitting done. I started a sleeve for Seneca last week, which you can see the beginnings of in this post (yes I was wearing the same pants... for shame!) and which I finished up yesterday - and started the second - during an "extra" meeting. (They meet every Friday but decided to have a Saturday morning meeting too since some people have been unable to come Fridays for various reasons. I went to both, since I'm hoping that I'll be away this coming week - more on that in a minute...).

The sleeve is for my Seneca sweater ravelry link. I had to make a ton of changes, as I thought it was going to be WAY too big... I made much more gradual increases, except for an extra one right at the top of the sleeve so that I would get the right number of stitches and not have to worry about increasing when joining the sleeves and body.

In totally unrelated news, I have a trip planned to England this coming week. So far, not so good. Perhaps some of you have heard of a little volcano eruption in Iceland that is disrupting travel plans for most of Europe? So far things are only canceled until Monday afternoon, and my flight leaves Wed. evening, so I'm just sort of waiting to see what happens. Wish me luck!

lo prometido es deuda

rico meets debod, originally uploaded by gradschoolknitter.

As promised, I went out yesterday and took my knitting for a walk. We ended up at Templo de Debod an Egyptian temple that was moved to Madrid in the 70's, I think.

This pattern is Rick from Cookie A's Sock Innovation, in Zitron Trekking. I've had a number of problems with this pattern, I started with the suggested number of stitches and had to rip back the whole thing just as a I was ready to turn the heel because it was so tight I couldn't even get it over the ball of my foot. So I added more stitches, redid the whole cuff and had turned the heel and started the foot... which - as you can see - has now been ripped back because the pattern wasn't matching up.

And another photo, so you can see the pattern on the cuff a little better:

still here

So I'm still in Madrid, feeling much better and getting lots of work done. Which is all great, except that I haven't been knitting much at all. I was working on the "Rick" socks (not a picture of my socks, but at least you get to see something) for the bf but ran into several snags... first time round they were waaaaaay too small (60 sts, most of them twisted? shoulda known), so I ripped. Then I added stitches and knit merrily along until I got to the heel. Worked the heel, left the original number of stitches for the top of the foot, and somehow the pattern still doesn't match up.

But, I am happy to report that I finally made it to a knitting group here in Madrid last night and spent a couple of hours happily knitting away with them. I worked on my seneca sweater (link to originally posted picture... sweater is now much bigger, having been worked up to the join on the body and started a sleeve last night).

So, if all goes well and I get to somewhere pretty this weekend in Madrid (it's beautiful out so I plan on doing some walking around in a park near the house) I'll take my camera and my knitting and take some decent photos. Until then I leave you with a picture of me, a roommate and her sister alongside Barceló's Elephant: