Though the pattern was super easy to memorize and I loved knitting it (the second sock syndrome and the bout of ennui notwithstanding), I doubt I’ll jump on the band­wagon to knit a whole bunch of pairs. Haven’t found a pattern yet that I’m willing to do that with, mostly because I thrive on variety. I’m always looking forward to experiencing the next new pattern, another yarn, a trait that I must have inherited from my paternal grandmother who always liked to try new things.

As usual when I graft socks, I had trouble with the start of the graft. I always am left with a little bump on the right side of the toe (you can see it in the photo on the far right). It doesn’t affect how the socks fit, feel, or wear, only how they look, but that’s frustrating enough. Wish I could figure out a way to get around that. Any suggestions?

• Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A.
• Yarn: Peace Fleece sock yarn in Woodland
• Needles: Crystal Palace bamboo, size one, double pointed, set of five
• Elapsed time: one month
• Notes: I love the feel of the Peace Fleece yarn, and the color is fabulous, but I wasn’t all that thrilled with the slubs and flaws in the yarn. Don’t know that I’ll buy it again, because of this. One never knows, of course, and it does depend a lot on how the socks wear over time. I really liked the lack of major color pooling with this yarn, and the stripes on the bottom of the foot and at the toe, where it’s simple stockinette, are quite fun.
• Changes: As usual, I had to go down a needle size to get anything close to gauge. I probably would have benefited from going down another needle size, but I don’t know. Even on my wide foot the socks are a tiny bit loose at the widest part of my foot. If they shrink a tad in the wash I won’t be overly upset. I didn’t twist any of the stitches, starting with the ribbing. Just didn’t see the point of it. For the first time, I did an eye of partridge heel, and I rather like the way it came out. I like how the heel texture turned out. Again, on the gussets and the sole of the foot I did not twist the knit stitches. Maybe I should have. Maybe it would have made the sock a tad tighter. Hm.

Other knitting stuff

I’m working away on my mystery shawl. Still enjoying it, though the big batch of flowers in clue four is a little much. It’ll be interesting to see what happens on the other side of the centerline. I’m glad there’s an extra week to knit this clue. What with the extra chart in the clue and taking all of Sunday off to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I’ll need it!

The sweatshirt sweater is coming along well. I finished up the second ball of yarn last night. When taking this picture I noticed that I didn’t quite get the lacey part up at the neckline centered. Drat. Oh well. Unless I pull a real boner, I won’t be pulling this out, so it’ll just have to stay that way. As you can see, I have passed the part where the sleeves go, those stitches are on holders, and I’m knitting away at the body. It’s straight on down to the hem from here, with a small break at some point lower down for a red stripe.

Anne, Cookie A, Mim, and Susan will be teaching at a lace knitting camp, Lace in the Woods ‘08, at California’s Big Sur next June. It’ll probably be long sold out before I know whether or not I can even go, but we’ll see. I’d sure love to make that. Beyond the lace knitting, the learning, the being with other knitters, it’d be great to finally meet Anne in person! We’ve been running the Red Sweater KAL for about nine months now, and still haven’t met. Probably has something to do with her living in Ohio, and me in California. Ya think?

Knitty’s summer treats are out. The bag looks fine, but since I just knit a market bag, I don’t need another pattern for one already. But the Emerald Seas tank holds a definite appeal for me.