The magic of socks

Things that made me irrationally angry this evening:
1. The blatant disregard for organization of any kind at my local grocery store.  Seriously, the sodas are in THREE SEPARATE AISLES.
2. People who leave their grocery carts in parking spots, even when the cart return is 10 feet from the abandoned cart.
3.  That uber-annoying Nadia G lady on the Cooking Channel.

Thing that made it all better:
Sock knitting.

 

(That's Knit Picks Felici self-striping sock yarn in the colorway Time Traveler.  It's super soft.  And the stitch definition is incredible.  And that's a TARDIS project bag by Jessa Lu - find her on Etsy.  She hasn't yet figured out how to make the bag bigger on the inside, but it's darling nonetheless.)

A super-secret Christmas knitting (and crocheting) post will follow once the super secret crocheting is done.  I realize that Christmas was five days ago, but this project won't meet its recipient until New Year's Day. 

My existential crisis

The secret Christmas knitting is finished. 

See?  Many pieces of yarn from the bajillion ends I had to weave in.

Now, the problem is, the beast grew like a mo-fo when I blocked it.  Apparently you're supposed to wash your gauge swatch, too?  I digress.

I've been sitting here wondering if I should throw it in the dryer, for like, a minute. 

I've decided, finally, that that is far too risky, and I will just hope the recipient wants a big, cozy, sweater.  (He'd better.)

In which someone pays me to knit something...

One of my former co-workers/current facebook pals/fellow crazy sighthound person recently sent me a message asking if she could give me money in exchange for a pair of knit handwarmers.  Not being the type of person who can turn down the chance to knit handwarmers (money, I mean, turn down MONEY), I gladly accepted. 

This Evangeline pattern is super fast and super fun (and looks super awesome).  I added a pattern repeat to the short version, and reversed the cables on the right hand so that the two mirror each other.

The yarn is very soft and also very washable, which is good because these are going to a vet hospital employee.  :)

The cable pattern was super easy to memorize, easy to do with the cabling-without-a-needle method, and each only took me a day.

Pattern: Evangeline by Michelle Szeghalmi-Shirley
Yarn: Lion Brand Superwash Merino Cashmere in Wine
Needles: Size 7/4.5mm bamboo DPNs
Ravelry link

 

Meanwhile, on the couch, I've started a massive Christmas project for someone who shall remain nameless.  But is a dude.  The only other hint is that it is made with this yarn from Holland that cost 10c a skein back in the long-long ago.