02.18.08
Norwegian Stockings – Ribbit Ribbit Rip-it!
No time to write, because I’m at work, but I just have to share my sorrow about these stockings I started on Valentine’s Day. I absolutely adore the pattern, Norwegian Stockings from Folk Socks by Nancy Bush, but apparently I knit really loosely, because the socks are looking like they were made for a giant! I’m using Dalegarn Heilo with size 3 dpns.
Right now the gauge is supposed to be 2 inches = 14 sts x 15 rnds. Well, 14 sts x 15 rnds = about 2 1/2 inches right now, and that amounts to the sock being about 2 1/2 x 6 = 15 inches in diameter unstretched, and these seem really stretchy. I was kind of hoping they’d be delicate, dainty stockings, not thick boot socks. Maybe I’ll make another pair out of a thinner/finer fiber another time, then I can have some thick ones AND thin ones. I love the pattern sooooo much that I wouldn’t mind making several pairs!
I’m going to go buy size 2 dpns – and maybe a pair of ones too – on my lunch break so I can get started on the new socks. Any advice before I go a-frogging?
01.30.08
Next stop: Handspinning
Oh my goodness, I don’t need another hobby or another thing to take up all of my time, attention, thoughts and energy, but I’m so intrigued by handspinning… I really want to buy my own drop spindle, a niddy-noddy and a couple roves of wool and make my own yarn… and then I’ll learn how to hand-dye it, then maybe I’ll learn how to weave too! Oh my goodness I’m getting carried away!
In other news, Sonja’s scarf is now 10 inches long, and I’m in the middle of ripping out one of the cables. 
For some reason it only has 5 stitches in it instead of 6. So, I think I had to go back about 4 rows, and I didn’t frog anything – just took the cable stitches off the needles and I’ll stitch them back up to where I was.
Today I taught my co-worker Teressa how to knit over our lunch break. She’s a natural – she said she felt like she’d done it before, like it was very familiar, but she doesn’t think she’s ever done it before. I’m going to teach my other co-worker Mindy to knit tomorrow. Then the three of us can sit around like grannies sipping tea, gossiping, and knitting on our lunch breaks. I love infecting others with my love for all things crafty and creative!
Someday I’m going to have a yarn shop of my own. Seriously! Never mind that last fall I wanted to become a professional genealogist, and last year at this time I was going to be a full-time piano teacher. And I also want to be a counselor, pediatrician, AND I want to be a dog breeder. You know, the poodle hybrids like my Leah – schnoodles, shia poos, poochons, lhasapoos, etc.
We need to move to a farm so I’ll have room to do all this stuff. 
