About Time
I'm rather pleased with how productive I was this weekend. Not only did I finish up Butterfly (thank you to everyone who left me nice comments -- after wearing her for a whole day at work, I just have to report that I am still in love, and definitely encourage anyone out there who likes her to add your own copy to your wardrobe) but I also got everything but the heel of John's second Pin Strip sock completed as well. Tonight, while listening to the news I got the heel taken care of and they were ready for him when he got home from work. I'm afraid black and grey striped socks don't model very well.
I was a little worried that he might not like them because they are mostly fraternal. But we had a discussion of hand-dyed yarn on Sunday, and that seemed to help the acceptance process -- that and the fact that they are nice and soft and warm at a time when the weather is getting a little colder here in Chicago. I'm not sure why, but it gives me such great satisfaction to see John try on his socks. Hopefully these will wear as well as the Opal and Bearfoot socks that I made him last year.
My goal is to make it so that John has a pair of socks for every day of the week. This is his third pair, so I've got 4 more to go! I brought out all my "manly" sock yarn (I think I've found almost every grey sock yarn on the market!) and let him pick out what he wanted next. I got a pleasant surprise when he picked this skein:
This may not seem like a big deal, but the presence of orange, green and brown all in the same sock yarn (that might actually stripe) is a radical departure for John. It also, by some magical co-incidence, was the skein I was hoping he would pick since I am very curious as to how it will knit up.
I am not quite sure what pattern I am going to use for John's next pair of socks. I'm thinking of going back to a sock with a Dutch heel, since that seemed to fit his foot better than the afterthought heel does (which is not to say that the afterthought doesn't fit well, just that it doesn't seem as snug on his heel as the Dutch heel on the pair of Opal socks). I'm also going back down to a tighter gauge. The fabric of these new socks seems just a bit too slack for me, and I am worried that they won't hold up as well as they could -- a real concern, because if he wears them like he wears his other two pair, they'll get worn at least once a week for some time to come.
You are a very good wife. Tell John I said so.
;-)
Yay for John picking out more colorful yarn!
Claudia: John might roll his eyes a little bit. To be a good wife I think I might have to make him dinner occasionally, too..
Monica: Little by little his color selections are migrating. I don't think I'm ever going to convince him to wear anything too out there, but I'm happy for any progress.
yay! dont you love it when they do something completely unexpected?! i am getting married very soon, and having gone out with mike for about 4 years, i have gone from seeing him eat nothing but pizza, to eating mushrooms, broccoli and tofu!! btw, i love the socks and the butterfly! it looks so gorgeous on you!
I love the tweedy Trekking colours! I made a pair ofrom a purple tweedy mix, can't remember the shade off hand, and was very pleased with the results - a tweedy stripe but still quite subdued. I'm planning on knitting gloves from the remains of the ball. And Butterfly is just beautiful!
Hey! I'm making Pete a pair with Trekking right now. They are stiping in a very subtle way. I'll be bringing this project along this weekend so we can compare the different colorways :)
I made Andrew his first pair of socks last month. At first I was worried he wouldn't like them, now I'm worried he'll wear them through if he doesn't get more soon. =) It's always nice to have appriciative significant others, and John's socks are lovely.
Have you looked at Jawool sock yarn? They have a nice selection of marled manly colors. I used the dark blue/light blue marl, and it's just enough color to make it interesting for me, but not too much to keep him from wearing them.
Those socks just make me happy. They remind me of Dr. Seuss. I hope you take that as a compliment -- it is surely meant that way!