Cruel to my Tools
My flight to Houston and the subsequent drive to Corpus Christi proved to be quite an adventure. Take one airplane and one rental car, mix liberally with bad weather, et voila! an adventure guaranteed to help you get more knitting done than you really wanted to.
We left Chicago at 11:45 -- about half an hour later than we were supposed to because of bad weather in Houston, where the plane was coming from. Continental did an admirable job of getting things turned around and getting us off the ground quickly, so we were still supposed to arrive close to our original arrival time, around 2:30 pm.
Around 2, the pilot came on the microphone to tell us that because of bad weather in Houston, we would be a little delayed getting on the ground because there were a bunch of planes queued up waiting to get on the ground. Next announcement, some planes had tried coming in, but there was bad wind shear, the planes hadn't been able to land. Then the weather deteriorated even further and they shut Houston down to all landings. No problem, we had fuel to circle for a while. And circle we did, until about 3:45, at which point the airport still wasn't open and we now needed more fuel. We were diverted to Baton Rouge where we sat until almost 5 pm. Once again, we had clearance to land at Houston. Once again, there were delays due to other planes, followed by wind shear delays. By the time we got on the ground, it was 6:30pm -- we'd been on one 737 for almost 7 hours -- and we still had a three and a half hour drive through terrible rainy conditions befor we got to our final destination.
Is it any wonder that my poor double pointed sock needles looked like this by the end of the trip?
Actually, I probably can't blame this plane ride for the curvature in my needles. I had no idea bamboo was so easy to shape! I guess this is more evidence that I am something of a tight knitter.
All that time in the air meant that I actually got the first of two Crenellated Socks a la Lucy Neatby done (including weaving in all the ends) right as we were landing in Baton Rouge. I followed her pattern almost exactly: Bosnian toe, Turkish heel, garter stitch cuff with picot cast off edge. I finished this sock with just a couple of yards of yarn to spare. Good thing the ultimate recipient doesn't have very big feet!
I'm so smitten with that little picot edging, that I just have to post a close up. How cute is this?
I like the toe and the cuff on this sock a great deal -- the garter stitch gives it a little extra stretchiness just where it needs to be. I modified her heel instructions -- I didn't want to graft, so I just decreased down to 6 stitches and whipped the yarn through them all to close the hole.
And I'm feeling quite proud of myself. I've already got the toe for it's (hopefully) identical twin underway and am starting on the trip up the instep. Hopefully I can keep that forward momentum going for the rest of my vacation and my trip home.
Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone Celebrating the Holiday!
Hi !
Nice sock ! I never use Bosnian toe, Turkish heel, garter stitch cuff with picot cast off edge in my sock projects before. I think I need a trial.
Happy Thanksgiving !
Eva
Those socks are very cool! I love the cuff (garter stitch, and edging), the colors...everthing about them. They remind me of a jester.
Have a very happy Turkey Day!!
cute, cute sock - it will be so much fun to wear!
Sorry you had such a rubbish trip. Your socks are gorgeous and super cute! I've never tried any of those techniques before.
That is one adorable sock! Sorry to hear you got caught in our lousy weather, hope the rest of your trip is wonderful!
Cool sock, I like it a lot. I've been thinking about this book for quite a time - I think I really need it. :)
With the bamboos - I've experienced that always with bamboo dpns. Maybe I'll try some 6" one day, I think they will be less curvy. I don't knit with my bamboos anymore, because I prefer shorter needles now and have them only in metal.
I'm sorry your flight was so dreadful, but I'm glad you arrived safely. Your sock is awesome and you did a great job!
Happy Thanksgiving!
That edging is CUTE. I'm glad you made it safely, although I did have the evil thought of "serves her right for going to TX". That was evil. Ignore that.
My bamboo needles look like that too and I'm a notoriously loose knitter.
Darling socks!
Happy T day!
Lovely socks!
Your bamboos bending is normal behaviour for moist wood under steady pressure. Just look at those Vienna Café chairs made of bended wood strips.
Happy Thanksgiving.
I love the socks. What yarn did you use?
Happy Thanksgiving!
To All: I highly recommend Lucy Neatby's book. Even if you don't use her patterns, she helps provide you with a way to think of mixing and matching different heels, toes and cuffs.
Claudia: What can I say? I've been trying to convince him that he needs to move back into the northern part of the world (his wife agrees with me), but I've been unsuccessful so far. Rumors of snow in Chicago for Thanksgiving didn't help my case either... Of course, I can't complain about the weather in Corpus... sunny and 70 or so. Not a bad deal. I'm not entirely looking forward to the trip back to Chicago.
Monica: The yarn is Steinbach Wolle Strapaz Ringel Color in color #004. I got it from KnitPicks, but they don't seem to have this color anymore...which I know, because I wanted to get some more of it, but they were sold out of it when I went back to the site most recently.
Awesome sock!
Have a great Thanksgiving!
Happy thanksgiving !
et bravo pour la chaussette !
Amazing socks! But how did you get those little needles on board?! Last time I traveled with tiny dp needles they took them at security. Maybe bamboo is the secret. . .
i was driving in that weather while you were circling in the air. not fun! glad to hear you made it to tx in one piece. i am now back in nyc and wishing i had gotten my "warm tx winter weather" fix, instead of monsoon season. :)