May 25 2006
Common Obsession
My first pair of socks were knit in Trekking XXL, colorway 101. For the record, I did not fall in love with knitting socks right away. The small yarn and needle gauge and my lack of experience with double pointed needles were probably the reason for this… it took a little time to grow on me. Yet, by the time I completed my second pair of socks, the mismatched Opal socks, I quickly became obsessed.
I am still a new sock knitter; I often opt for a simple ribbed or stockinette pattern because I know I can handle it. Just recently, I began to look into new heel and toe patterns for my socks. My first short row heel, my first German heel, and now, my first French (three-point) Toe, and a (different) German heel.
I love this heel, every stitch of it! Even down to the little purl column! So, sock one is complete, and now I get to do it all over again with sock two. The anklets are very nice to work on, and the yarn has created a sturdy fabric with the size 1 needles.
When the green anklets are finished, I am going to cast on for a new pair of Trekking socks - just in time for the Trek With Me knitalong, and the Summer of Socks.
These are the #107 and #108 colorways. The prominent color in the #108 is blue, perfect for June’s Project Spectrum! Trekking is my favorite sock yarn - I love the variegations, and the element of surprise in the striping. It is nearly impossible to match the stripes in this yarn, but that is really the beauty of it, in my opinion.
School is on break, for a few another week and a half. Everything was set for me to finish my Library Science masters degree this August, until there was a last-minute schedule change by my university. The only class I needed to graduate was moved to a (very) far away location - nearly a two hour drive from my house - on a weeknight (with work the next morning!). The administration was not willing to budge, so I had to change my schedule. I will now complete my Library Science degree in December, and hopefully complete my History masters next December (2007). I am feeling very “disenchanted” with this whole graduate school process, and this change is not helping the situation. I need to reinvigorate the interest and passion that I once had for this field of study… I need to do it in order to get through this next year and a half of books, papers, and comprehensive examinations…
However, there is a silver lining in all of this: I am only taking one course this summer, and that means more crafting time! I got an early start this week with thrift shopping for some supplies, and even got some inspiration for future repurposing projects. Yesterday, my sister and her friend, Jami, came along for the fun!
I have been visiting the thrift store quite a bit lately, mainly to find cheap “in-between” clothes as I continue to lose weight. Luckily, I found 5 pair of pants, and also some tops, books, jewelry, and some craft projects. Among them:
My new necklace: pink and gaudy. I love it!
Two pillowcases for $0.49. I think these can easily be repurposed into a tote bag, or even a tank top (if I can figure that out!)
Thank you for reading! I am hoping to get some good quality knitting time in over the next few days, pressing towards one more May finished knit… we’ll see what happens!
…Now I am off to go check out the discussion on the LOST season finale (but only for a little while!) … what a show last night! ;) We’ll see if he answers my questions. [update:] He didn’t answer my questions!
Your anklet is adorable, looks so comfy.
I’m part of the Trek Along With Me knit a long, and am excited to get started; I have never knit with Trekking before but love the results I have seen in Blog Land.
Hang in there as far as school goes; just focus on how thrilled you are going to be to finish. You’ll get through it.
And Lost? SO. GOOD.
Those would make such a cute tank top!!! (or a skirt maybe if there is enough material) Grad school is always an adventure - as I finished up my MBA, they did the same thing - changed the one class I needed. Neeless to say I finished a semester later than I wanted!
Trekking - just got my first ball at MD and am wondering what to do with it for the Trek Along!
Cute “socklet”! As for Lost…OMG!!!
I had no idea you were doing your MLIS. I got mine in 2003. In fact, I’ve thought about moving to the US to steal your jobs! Muahahahaha!
Good job on the socks. My first sock ever was terrible. So I ripped it and put the yarn away. I’m good with DPNs but I think it’s the tiny yarn and tiny needles that frustrated me.
Lost was sooooo good last night. Thanks for reminding me about the chat.
I think the pillowcases would make a good tote bag or skirt.
Hey girl!!! I have that trekking… the green/pink…hmmmmm… maybe i will trek with you all!
I love both of those Trekking colors……..I think it’s pretty high up on my favorites list, too!
lovely! I love that heel. so cute.
mmm trekking. love it!
I just ripped out the green/pink Trekking because I messed up the rib pattern. I really think that I want it to be just plain stockinette. Must finish other socks, though, before casting on for that! Love the anklets… too cute!
Yay for socks! The Trekking colors are fabulous. June and July will be much more to my color liking…so I’m waiting for them.
Great sock! Great heel. Love the thrift store buys.
You can definitely get a tank made out of those pillow cases. Just cut along the sewn seams to flatten out the fabric and place your pattern.
Don’t get too discouraged about school. It’s only few extra months out of a span of a lifetime. I believe there is always a reason for things happening. You never know what good may come out of what seems to be a bad thing.
Love your trekking colors! Your anklet is too cute!
Great thrift shop finds : )
That stinks about your grad school schedule. I’d be bummed. However, when I went to library school, I had to drive an hour and 15 minutes each way for every class I took. And I worked full time and had a baby. So, keep that in mind, it might make you feel better.
That library school thing really sux! so close and then they move the stuff all around. Uncool!
I have not had that happen to me YET (I’m doing an all-online MIS) but this is just the first of my 3 years (very part time.) I’ll watch out for sneaky moves like that….
Love the anklet and the next sock yarn! I can’t wait to start trying some different heel and toe patterns myself during the SOS. I haven’t been too experimental with those elements yet and I’m ready to give it a whirl.
Take heart with the school thing. It really will be over before you know it. There is always going to be some extra hoop to jump through.
And you are looking faaaaaahhhhbulous dahling!!
Keep it up!
Budget Living had an article on how to make a halter top from a pillow case a few issues back (last summer, maybe?) the chick on the cover of the issue is wearing a big floppy brown hat.
my god, the last LOST episode was amazing. i could hardly knit! (and that’s saying a lot). thanks for the link to the discussion. it’s mind-boggling.
i love socks too but i’m so stalled on the pair i’m knitting for my hubby. i can’t bring myself to pick them up.
Pretty soon you’re going to know all there is to know about all the different ways to do heels and toes on socks. I hope you will use that knowledge for good, not evil.
Oh man, that sucks so much ass about your coursework! I know you were really looking forward to getting that part over with. At least you’ll have an easier class to mix in with the hard stuff that semester, but you’re right that it is very disenchanting. At least thrift stores still rule.
that stinks about the schedule change! i know school sucks now, but you never know, you might actually miss it once you’ve graduated! or not……
great socks! i need to learn a few more techniques. i’m stuck on the short row heel and toe right now.
I have been noticing a lot of trekking socks popping up lately. The colorways are beautiful! I want to go buy some, but I’m trying to be good!
gotta ask - is your sister carrying a bag made out of koolaid packages??
I love the sock. Like you, I’m a newish but very obsessed, sock knitter and I’ve been trying out different heels, toes, etc. I’m wondering what source you’re using for the new heels and toes.
I can totally understand the library school frustration. When I went, I had a full time job, and infant and an hour long commute each way but… it’s so rewarding. This bit that I read on DCist.com may give you a little encouragement: “the D.C. Board of Library Trustees decided to hire Ginnie Cooper as the system’s newest executive director, and pay her $205,000 for her troubles ($179,946 in salary and $25,054 as a “retention incentive”)” according to the same article, that’s 50k more than the mayor. Not bad for a librarian!
Oooh, Trekking - my Trekking socks get softer and better with every wash!
I have started to pack my suitcase for Dublin, and I will take a lots of pictures… and I will bring at least one knitting with me. I have been reading my tourist guides for weeks, and checking the www for information. I´m ready! I would like to try Trekking XXL sometimes. I don´t think I can buy it in Sweden. I found a yarn shop in Dublin, so I checking it out!
All this Trekking yarn in blogland is making me want some! Enablers.. all of you!
that totally sucks about school - grrrr, those class schedules! but i’m sure people will just be falling over themselves to hire you once you do graduate!
lovely socks! wish i could master socks, they’re my waterloo. oh well
I totally feel your pain with the whole grad school thing - I started my English Master’s degree in January of 02, and was all but one class from being done in fall 04. I’m still stuck there. The one class I have left is required by all English students, is only offered in the fall semester and only takes 15 students. There are over 200 english grad students. Now I have to reapply for admission each semester and by the time I get to register (last of course) it is full. I’ve managed to start and finish another Master’s degree while waiting on that one class!
Pretty green anklets! I make mostly simple socks too because they are my mindless knitting and also because I mostly buy self-patterning yarns.
I stayed home from snb last night so I wouldn’t have to worry about missing a minute of Lost. haha I can’t remember ever being so hooked on a tv show.
those anklets are so cute! I never really thought about the fact that there are so many ways to make heels and toes - I guess that just shows that I am a novice-sock-knitter too.
I LOVE those pillowcases! No matter what you make out of them, it will be cute.
I know you are disappointed about your graduation date. At least you have more crafting time.
Amy
Hang in there with grad school! You WILL find your passion again. With all the energy you have? Definitely! Kudos on the thrifting finds - they look far more useful and less traumatic than mine.
that’s too bad that you have to stretch the MLIS out a bit longer. I so know how it feels to want to be done. it took me four years to get my degree! ugh! But the time will go by fast. It will be December before you know it! Hang in there, girl! your almost there
I can see a pretty tank top out of those pillowcases! What a bargain!
I love these anklets (noticed you’ve used this pattern before) and I really like the heel pattern you’ve used - very unique! Are you sharing details? I’d love to add these to my pattern collection!
Hey, I see my trekking! Yeah, we’ll be working together on the same color socks. I did the German heel on my first few pairs too. It’s kind of fitting seeing that I’m in Germany.
I love the pillow cases too. I can’t wait to see what you do with them. Fun fun!
Sorry about your university doing that to you, and I thought studying in Germany was the pits! We’re all here backing you up. You’ll get through this (with the help of some sock knitting).;o)
Yay for trekking xxl 107! I’m trekking along as well and I’ve finished a ‘pretty petals’ sock in it already. LOVE IT!
And I absolutely covet that greenish sock yarn you used for the anklets!
Ooh, I love that color. You are really whipping those socks out now!
Sorry about the class rescheduling. I’d thought about grad school, but decided that I didn’t want to devote my chunk of life to this process, and that was before I found out what it was truly like in grad school. I’d love to go back to school to study History, but not at this point, because I think the way history is taught in the higher education is too one-sided.
Oh…. that is annoying about your class schedule. Won’t they just let you leave already? It will be nice to have the summer to relax, though. You could make cool placemats from those pillowcases, too - maybe overdye them first?
Blech, too bad about the school schedule. That really bites. But you can take a class this summer and relax, but really get cracking in the fall right? Hopefully you don’t lose your motivation to finish school. So it appears you are getting a master’s in a double major? Awesome. I love that colorway for PS May by HCY. The green-blue is so vibrant. The anklet looks great!
I love Trekking yarn, too. Great stuff!
Sorry about the school change. That’s just a pain when they do stuff like that.
Love those socks, Lol’ ! XXOO
so sorry you have to wait to graduate until december! aughhhh! i am a huge LOST fanatci too! oh that was a good cligg hanger!!!!!
Thanks for the Lost discussion link …. that helped clear up some of my questions! I can’t believe we have to wait until the fall for new episodes.
Which thrift store do you go to in the area? I have been looking for a good one the past three years I’ve lived here, but I haven’t had any luck!
Boo hoo on CUA for messing up your graduation date like that. Hopefully December will be here before you know it!
Great necklace!! And those socks are a really good color! I think I better jump off this island I’m on of No Socks. I stopped for a bit… but you keep showin goff these great socks so I am getting motivated to start up a pair again!
those pillow cases are really a find! i had a link for a pillow case top that i started a year ago, but now the page no longer exists! it was kind of a halter. surely someone on craftster has whipped up an idea. or a great pillow case skirt — i have a few of those.
sorry about your grad school woes, but i’m glad you have a somewhat relaxing summer.
What comfortable socks! I’ll be trekking along with you this summer! Should be fun.
You know the best thing about inexpensive jewelry finds, is that you can always take the necklace apart and remake it if you want something different next season.
Grad school can certainly suck the life out of you, can’t it? Hang in there!
Anklets, anklets…sooooooo cute! AND I really like that heel.
I need to get me some Trekking…that’s definitely next on my list. Your colors are gorgeous.
I feel your pain about Grad school…sorry it’s not working out the way you’d planned it, but know that once you’re done (and you will be)…the happiness and satisfaction will totally overcompensate for all the rough spots you had endure along the way.
Gotta go pack!
Have a great Memorial Day weekend.
CRAP! did i MISS the season finale of LOST ?!!!!! i will have to follow your link to read the discussion too !!!! as for the trekking sock yarn, it is lovely. i will have to add that to my stash at some point, maybe after i knit up the 30 or so other sock yarns i have waiting in line
i think your sister’s kool-aid bag is very cute too. oh, what else? yes, the school thing sucks, but lolly, you have been such a trooper. the upside is that you’ll have a bit more crafting time. i know you’ve pondered your stamina and interest … but i’m still a firm believer in school, and the degree, and the light at the end of the tunnel. and the pillowcases … i love old loved cotton. i’m sure you would make a cute bag from them, but i would wash them and throw them on my pillows! you can’t find pretty prints like that anymore, at least w/o paying with your i-teeth. have a great holiday weekend.
Thrift stores - great idea! You’re looking great!
First, I love the green/blue sock and I want a pair.
I know you’ve probably mentioned which yarn that is, but I don’t remember… so pretty. I’m sorry about the grad school woes. I liked that my master’s program had a very definite timeline and I might’ve gone crazy if I had to wait and reschedule… you are being very zen about the whole thing. Such a good Lolly. Mwah!
shame about college… sorry that you have to study over longer period. But think of all the extra knitting time! Love the socks.
I LOVE that Trekking! I’ve yet to knit with it, the colors you have are very tempting.
Sock fever!!!!!!! I’ve got sock fever too!!!!!!!!! Just packed a pile of Koigu and Lorna’s Laces for our trip out west. Socks make you feel so CLEVER!
Yours are beautiful! Sock on.