Our 4th was rather uneventful. We took in the parade in Amherst, which is not the greatest of parades. It could use a marching band or two and maybe some floats. But it's the only game around.
Thank goodness for the bagpipers!
It started out to be a nice day, but ended up chilly and rainy - very atypical for this time of year. But then again, atypical and New England weather are pretty much synonymous. The balance of the day's festivities were a washout. The local fireworks did go off, much to our surprise and the boys' chagrin. Another town is having their fireworks tomorrow night and it's been made very clear to us that attendance is "required".
I've been basking the glory of my sock. Our next podcast knitalong which we kick-off with tomorrow's show will be a sock from measurements. I am making a pair for Jonathan, since he declared Fixation, soft and "not spikey". That is his lithmus test for yarn and trust me when I say, he is very fussy. I've already cast on and have the cuff completed:
I've been working in a k2, p2 rib, which I plan to continue down the leg, alternating with a knit row. I am looking forward to going through the heel flap, heel turn, gusset again. I'm sure I"ll stumble a bit and need some guidance, but getting the mechanics down solid is definitely a goal.
I am also determined to make everyone out there who has been nervous or scared or intimidated by sock knitting to give it a whirl. Seriously, as I have said a hundred times, I am not the end all be all knitter. If I can knit a sock, ANYONE can do it. If you can knit, knit two together, slip, slip, knit (really, this one is fun, fun, fun) and count, you can knit a sock. Yes, kitchener is funky, but that too can be figured out. Plus, they really are fun - there really is a "socknitters high". . . .
On another note, I'd like your input on something:
This is a project one of our dear customers, Barbara D. is working on. I meant to write down the specifics, but I didn't (bad blogger, bad, bad blogger). It's a vest, side to side and uses the domino knitting technique. She's using Harrisville Shetland so the gauge is small, but I am loving the look and want to come up with something in one of our Valley Yarns that incorporates the technique. I haven't had much time this week to do a lot of reading about domino knitting but it definitely intrigues me. I'd love to know your thoughts and if you think one of our Valley Yarns would work well with this technique, now is your chance to let me know!
Happy Weekend! Happy Knitting!
Kathy
5 comments:
Happy Fourth! And a happy sixth for me! Thank you for your comment today. It's greatly appreciated. L, C
Knee High by the 4th of July is a very familiar line in my household - don't really know why since the only farmer in my life is my husband who tended dairy cows before we were married thirty years ago. Maybe it's an old New England saying since my mom (who would be 83 now) used it every time we passed a corn field that had been just planted - "Gee, that corn's slow, should be knee high by the 4th of the July.)
Knee high by the 4th of July. I grew up hearing that and my family is from Minnesota and South Dakota. Of course, way back they had come from western NY and Conn. Our con here in the Finger Lakes is running about 2 weeks behind because we haven't had much rain,except forthe Fourth!
Hi Kathy! I'm a new listener of your podcast and came to check out your blog. Congrats on your new sock knitting!!! Aren't socks just "da bomb"??? It's funny that you should be using Fixation for your sock because as I sat here listening to several episodes of your podcast tonight, I was working on (you guessed it) a sock made from Fixation as well! Also, when you asked the question (of Melissa, I think) in one of your episodes, "do I really have to use that teenie tiny yarn to knit socks", I was thinking that you might want to try Fixation because it's somewhat thicker than normal sock yarn. I do have to say though that working with Fixation is a little tricky so kudos to you for using Fixation for your first pair (and second pair) of socks!
BTW, before I forget, I'm needing about 8 skeins of white Fixation to knit Fifi (by French Girl Knits). Your website's said that you have only 4 skeins in stock for a while now -- any idea when y'all may be getting more of the white in? I'm going to sub the Fixation for Rowan's Calmer for Fifi and would like to get started fairly soon.
Anyway, keep up the wonderful work on your podcast (yours is now one of my favorites) and keep up the great work on your socks. As you can see, they're totally addicting and you have now crossed over to the dark side ;-) Welcome!
Take care,
Jeanie
www.SexyKnittersClub.com
www.CrochetCast.com
Based on my unofficial estimation, our corn crop appears to be on or ahead of schedule :) Yeah for us! The field behind our house appears to be growing squash this year. Too bad for the farmer. We'd often go out and pick 4 fresh ears for dinner and leave him the money on his tractor - pd him the going farm stand retail price, so he was making out quite nicely. I'm the only squash eater, so his profits will be down a bit this year.
Hi Deb, Gramma Phyllis! Thanks for your comments.
Hi Jeanie - glad you found the podcast and the blog. I am truly loving Fixation, which is wacky to most knitters, but then again, I tend to march to my own beat. I'll check on the white tomorrow and post/email you with an update.
Hi Cara - great to hear from you!
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