Kiss My Knits!

Pattern: Mine
Needles: Size 1 US/2.25mm
Yarn: Opal Rendezvous with something extra for the top. If I remember what, I’ll amend this post.

Notes: The yarn was brought back by my mother-in-law from a trip to Germany. Wasn’t that thoughtful? I thought that knitting something nice for her son would be a perfect use for it. Hence, socks for my husband.

This was quite a challenge, as my husband wears size 15 shoes. He has no arches and he says that he always has trouble finding socks that fit in the heel that don’t force his toes to curl up. He also wanted them to match, which meant that I had to cut the Opal and finish the leg in another yarn, since otherwise the pattern repeats wouldn’t line up. To Opal’s credit, their yardage is generous and I have plenty for patching, should it be necessary.

This week I finished up the last of the Christmas Jayne hats and was free to work on these. I’ve been plugging away intermittently for a year, so all I had was the back of the heel and the leg on the second sock. I stayed up late on the 22nd and 23rd to get almost to the green bit. My daughter, hearing that I wanted to finish Daddy’s Christmas gift, gave me some extra time on the 24th to finish the top and bind off.

The pattern is toe up, with a 3×2 rib on the top of the foot and the leg. I wanted them nice and stretchy. The bit through the arch I refer to as the “megagusset” since I had to make it somewhat larger than usual to accommodate my husband’s lack of arch. The back of the heel is in eye of partridge for greater sturdiness. The foot is 60 stitches around, the leg is 65, coming back in to 55 for the final inch of the cuff.

I’m pleased with how these turned out. My husband had no idea I was anywhere near finishing these, and I think he’d just given up on them. But he didn’t wear socks in to the Christmas tree this morning, and just as he was thinking that his feet were cold, he opened this gift. He was delighted.

I’m thrilled that he’s so happy with these. They fit him well. Even though he has huge feet, he still deserves handmade socks. Everybody does.

Happy holidays. I hope your day is filled with love, wonder, and warmth.

Em is doing this hilarious thing this month. We tell her something outrageous and she’s skeptical. It goes a little something like this:

Me: That’s because dogs can fly, but only at night.
Her, skeptical: Really??
Me: Yes.
Her, higher and more incredulous: Really???
Me: Yes.
Her, lower and more “oh, please.”: Really…?
Me: Heh. No.

It cracks me up. I haven’t captured a really good one, but here’s a lesser example. We’ve been telling Em that all her presents are pork chops. (link to AVI file)

Here’s hoping your holidays are filled with pork chops and wonder.

I was out doing a little last-minute Christmas shopping and found this shirt at GapKids on sale. It was the only Wonder Woman shirt on the rack, marked down to $5.98, then marked down an additional 20 percent. Score! I brought it home and showed it to Em, who liked it.

It was only at this point that I noticed the punctuation, or lack thereof. “Girls World” has no apostrophe. Who’s doing the quality checking at Junk Food Clothing?

Because it was on clearance, there are no returns. I guess now I know why it was so cheap. Sigh.

The list as it stands:

1) IL (going out today)
2) Cumbria, UK (going out today)

3) MD
4) UK
5) Sweden
6) ON, Canada
7) VA
8) UK
9) CA
10) WI
11) CA
12) MO
13) OH
14) NC
15) Sweden
16) FL
17) KS
18) OH
19) GA

Just to let folks know where they stand for the holidays. Best wishes!

Em’s school held their health and sex ed classes last week. I can’t believe this is already happening, but must admit that this is the right age to be addressing this. Em doesn’t have a whole lot of questions for us about health and reproduction, since we’ve answered some of those already. However, that’s not to say she’s not interested. Specifically, she’s interested in deodorant although she doesn’t need it yet. Nonetheless, she’s decided to start using it every day. Fine by me. We happen to have a stick of Tom’s of Maine that I had tried but decided wasn’t my bag. It’s not that strong, so I figure it’s not hurting anything for her to use it. I showed her how to turn the base to make the stick rise when needed.

Em: Deodorant is kind of like a glue stick!

I hadn’t thought about it, but she’s right. And it also shows that she’s still a child, although things are changing. I am not ready to deal with puberty, but it’s coming, ready or not. Time to gear up for the next phase of parenthood.

The last of the “Oh, you’ll definitely have a Jayne hat by Christmas” orders are out the door, so now I’m free to work on the “well, maybe” orders. I’m trying to get as many done as possible – everyone should have a Jayne hat under the tree.
Getting gauge on gifts.

Em finally asked me for a Jayne hat. Soon she’ll be smoking stogies and brandishing guns. My baby’s growing up.

Sorry for the lack of updates. I’m trying to crank out as many Jayne hats and kits as I can before Christmas, which means I’m knitting in the morning instead of posting.

In the meantime… SQUIRREL!