Long Overdue

I started a pair of socks for C back in August. She selected the yarn while my mother was here visiting in the days following her Alaskan cruise adventure. I cast on and knit the foot during the PRIDE training courses for our foster-adopt licensing.


But there was a strange flaw in the yarn that I thought I might be able to fix without cutting. I was wrong. I didn't want to cut the yarn, though, so the socks languished while I convinced myself I might find another way.

C got this for Christmas instead:

(She's actually much more excited than it looks in the picture!)

By this time, my mom was visiting again! And so on Christmas Day, after all the presents had been opened, with the guilt hanging heavy over my head, I finally gave in, cut the knot from the yarn, and got back to the business of finishing those socks.

But we had a trip to Orcas Island planned. If you're anything like me, the night before you travel you do anything and everything but sleep. Among my activities that evening was not finishing C's socks. Instead, I made this:


My Grandma Catherine's legendary apple pie, passed down to her by I don't recall how many generations! It was truly a spectacular iteration of the pie, started at 4:00 am and pulled fresh from the oven just before 5:25. That's 5:25 AM!

Perhaps aroused by the aroma coming from the kitchen, the rest of the family eventually woke up, and we headed off to the island -- finished pie and unfinished socks in-tow.

We enjoyed a lovely, long ferry ride.



And finally, sometime shortly after our arrival on Orcas Island, C got her long over-due handknit Christmas present from Mommy!

(And you've finally gotten this long overdue Christmas gift post!)

Island Knitting

My family went to Orcas Island in the San Juans the first week of January. I love the island at this time of year. We took my mother with us to the little two-room cabin on the waterfront that has become our favorite home away from home. The last night of our stay, the setting sun reflected gorgeously on the underside of the clouds. It was truly stunning.

I knit a pair of socks on the trip.



Pattern: Mash-Up Magic Toe-Up Socks (MUMTUS) - recipe compiled by me
Materials: Cherry Tree Hill's Supersock DK, Colorway: Country Garden, 1 skein
Needles: US 3 / 3.25 mm
Gauge: 6.5 st/in
Primary Stitch Count: 52


It's a straightforward sock: stockinette on foot and gusset, eye of partridge on the heel, standard 2x2 rib on the cuff. I finished them within the week of our trip.

This is the first time I've done a DK weight sock for myself. They're mushier and thicker than my usual preference. CTH promises that they wear like iron, and I'm putting it to the test given my preference for wearing boots every day. I have to say, the stretchiness of the fabric, even though I used a smaller needle size than recommended, causes me pause. Every time I put them on and slip them into my boots, I think, "Today's the day my toe will go through the end!" So far so good, though. No holes. I did reinforce the toes with my standby Russian laceweight wool, and it's only been about two months. Still, they're getting heavy wear in steady rotation...

I started another pair of socks on the island, too. This with Noro's Kureyon sock yarn. I'll blog on those later, but suffice it to say for now that I have not enjoyed one, single stitch on these socks, evidenced by the fact that they've been on the needles for two months and I've yet to get halfway through the gusset. If anyone out there has insight into the appeal this yarn holds for people, please share!