Dancing Her Socks Off

Last time we chatted I told you about the dance socks I was making. Sadly, they did not get finished in time for the dance. I probably could have gotten them done, but honestly I was not entirely happy with the job I was doing on the rush. Being the perfectionist knitter that I am, I knew if I continued I would watch her dance and think "Jaysus, I could have done much better on those socks!" and the urge to knock her down and rip them off her feet before anyone looked at them closely would have been overwhelming.

The other reason why they were not done was as a I held sock #2 in my hands on Friday night I estimated how much longer I'd be at it. I barely had any knitting left, but the duplicate stitching for the cross hatching takes forever. Not hard, just time consuming. Which meant that I'd be up for a really long time. And we had to make an early start on Saturday. Frankly, I was terrified that if I stayed up to finish the socks...I would oversleep and miss her performance. Because that is how life likes to smack me around.

I opted to put the sock away and go to bed. Which is good, because I was up at 6am to get ready to head over to the commons for the games.

We arrive and while we are hovering near the dance platform looking for my cousin and her family, Gabriel falls onto his water bottle, splitting his lip and scraping his chin. This was just the first in many incidents for my poor boy....I woke him up hours before he usually rises, the heat of the day really got to him, he would throw a massive tantrum any time I tried to put his hat on (he really hates his hat), which meant that despite my best efforts to sunscreen him and get him shade...his wee nose sunburnt anyway, he finally crashed out to sleep right before lunch and moments after we got home for the day his sister bumped into him and he dropped a heavy cup on his toe (which is now a lovely shade of purple). Poor kid. Every now and then he would look at me with the most woeful eyes, I could almost hear him thinking "I should not have gotten out of bed today."

All that aside, my Bug* danced beautifully



The Highland Games were a really cool experience, I've never been so there was a lot to take in. I found I enjoyed the heavy games (rock throwing and such) more than I expected although I was really disappointed to have missed the caber toss. Next year!

The socks? Are not quite done yet. After setting them down on Friday I have not quite been able to bring myself to pick them back up. I've been giving my other projects some much needed love.

Here is a preview of sock #1


She likes them, and that's what is important. She'll have them for her next competition for sure, and since they are a bit snug I have already decided that I'll be making her a new pair for next year. And since I've already been through the process, I know what to do now and I know I can do them better than what I've done here.

Oh, and thanks to those of you who popped into my Ravelry projects page and commented and faved the socks. I needed the boost :) And thanks to everyone who sent Mojo!

Argyle dance socks that you can buy are incredibly expensive. One local shop offers them for $175, they are custom made to the dancer's measurements, and there is currently a 6 month waiting list for them. I had explained to my cousin that while the yarn may not be all that expensive, it's the work put into making them that you're paying for. That if I charged even a small hourly wage for the socks I made you're looking at a minimum of 100 hours of work. One of the merchants had dance socks for sale...and I was stunned to see that they are machine knit! While I don't necessarily have an issue with machine knit socks...if I bought them under the impression that they cost a couple hundred bucks because they are handmade, well...I'd be savage to discover that they were not. I understand and support the idea of them being expensive if they are handknit, since I know exactly how much work goes into that...but charging the same for machine knit? Doesn't seem right to me.

Not that it matters...my Bug is getting her dance socks knit in a much more tradtional way...mistakes and all. Sniff

What's on my needles now?

Still working on the Susie Hoodie...the main body is done and I'm on the first sleeve. And what I'm totally in love with it...no seaming. And this yarn is so freakin yummy (Knitpicks superwash merino).

I'm almost done my Salad Socks (jaywalkers in Knitpicks Felici, colourway "Arugla". I'd link it but it's no longer available). I find I really have to force myself to work on them...the Yarn Pirate group on Ravelry has been posting really great picks of their finished socks in the Booty Club colourways...and I am positively itching to cast on something else. But I've committed to finishing these before starting something new, since I know myself well enough to know if I start other socks these ones will never get done.

I'm also making the first square in the Sexy Ladies Afghan Square Swap, a swap by the Bad Knit Girls. Every two weeks we are to knit a 12x12 inch square and send it off to one of the girls. We'll knit 12 altogether, sending off eleven and making one for ourselves. Now that I'm a bit more comfortable with colourwork, I think I'll knit my own square to have the Bad Knit Girls logo (one of the ladies charted it for us) and make that my center square. It's going to take about 6 months before we have all 12 squares, but it's fun so far. The first square has to be a solid colour, I'm using the Butterfly stitch pattern from Vogue Stitchionary Volume One: Knit & Purl. It's pretty, I like it. Once they are all done I'll post pics of them, and of my blanket too.

Alright, I think that covers it, and Grace has been asking for the last 20 minutes for me to take her to see her Webkinz site (I just got a "Mommy, my kitty is sooo hungry. Please you take me to my Webkinz so I can give her a sandwich?"). Tomorrow is Whiskers On Wednesday...and cross your fingers that I remember to post;)

*I've called her "Bug" since she was a tiny baby...her mom and I were headed out to the mall and she was bundled up and I said she was "Snug as a bug"...somehow that evolved into the nickname "Bugaboo", shortened to "Bug" as she gets older. Someday, she's really not going to like it, although I figured it would have happened by now since she's 10 and oh-so-cool. Of course, it won't stop me from calling her Bug...