Teh year of teh Sock

Y es esta la moral de mi Oda: 

Dos veces es belleza la belleza, 

y lo que es bueno es doblemente bueno, 

cuando se trata de dos calcetines

de lana en el invierno. 

~ Pablo Neruda, Oda a los Calcetines

(The moral of my ode is this: 

beauty is twice beauty, 

and what is good is doubly good 

when it is a matter of two socks 

made of wool in winter.)

Gotta love Pablo, even if his reading of his wonderful poems is inexpressibly depressing!  Very drone-like voice!

Yes, I'm actually posting again, this month!  I find it very hard to believe, myself!  

My new laptop actually has WiFi built in, so I can take it with me to work and actually do something!

And I have been knitting muchos cosas!

This is, apparently, the YEAR OF TEH SOCK!

For your approval, I present the first socks of 2009:

This is a particularly crappy picture, but it was taken at work on my phone.  The finished pair will be posted, as soon as I can keep them clean long enough to snap a picture!  They are:

Leyburn socks by MintyFresh.  I dug through my stash for some really colorful yarn and came up with this.  It is Interlacements "Tiny Toes" #206.  Love them!  Although there is a KAL of these on the Socks that RAWK!  group in Ravelry, I did these for fun, not glory!  And fun, they definitely are!

The second pair is a pair that I have wanted to make since I first saw them!  I am a great fan of Lord of the Rings, and quite agree that the only name for this particular sock had to be 

Rivendell!    

Janel Laidman, the perpetrator of this pattern, is the author of the book "The Eclectic Sole", and is, IMHO, fabulous!  The yarn is Dream in Color, Smooshy, in the Jade colorway!

The third sock of the year is where I fall into the rabbit hole of sock knitting!  The Sock Knitters Pentathalon, International, 2009

Now, I'm a rotten joiner.  I love the idea of being in KAL's, but constantly overestimate my knitting time, speed, or motivation.  Every KAL I join, I'm late, inconsistant, or absent.  But I love them, anyway!  This year, I decided that I would, by the Yarn Goddess herself, actually finish!  And participate!  And I did!

Please meet "Salida".  These were done with yarn from KnitItUp's "Pride and Prejudice Sock Yarn Club", in the colorway "Mr. Bingley, exceedingly agreeable"!  And he is!

And last, but not least, the inestimable Cookie A has become my downfall, with the publication of her new book:

This is the best book, almost, ever!  (I do love Cat Bordhi, you know!) The entire first half of the book is devoted to design, from beginning to end, and is incredibly informative.  There's a world of burgeoning sock knitters out there, jumping up and down, and cheering "Thank you, Cookie!" at the top of their lungs!  The second half....well, you have to see it!  Fifteen (count 'em) 15! glorious patterns!  All drool-worthy!  

Now, leave it to the Ravelry groups to come up with something to honor such an effort!  Knitsomniac came up with a Makin'Cookies KAL in which we knit one pattern per month for the next 15 months, beginning May 1st.  In the meantime, we are training up by knitting various Cookie A patterns until everyone has the book.  As of today, there are 740 members...and growing, as people find out about it!  Theresa (or Treesa, as they apparently pronounce it in Scotland) is an awesome moderator, and has amassed a surprising number of prizes!  She is also incredibly good at keeping everyone included and motivated!  

This is the saga of the fourth sock!

May I present "Hedera" by Cookie A.  Knit in DIC Smooshy, Cloud Jungle Colorway.  I. love. them. period.

Mr. Neruda, if you were still alive, you wouldn't have to worry about my having socks next winter, at all!

Comments

[Treesa]

Love it! I think 2009 is definitely the year of the sock for you and me! Love the wild colours of your Leyburn. Congrats on the new laptop, I couldn't live without my 'precious' (LOL). I've got Rivendell is on my to-do list, as is getting my hands on The Eclectic Sole. Pablo Neruda - I'm impressed :-)