Yesterday afternoon, as I stepped from the bath, I stepped on my glasses. They are not ok. (For the record, despite any intimations that you may hear from my family, I was not reckless with my glasses. I’ve had the same pair for seven years…their number came up, that’s all. No, I don’t know why they were on the floor, but if you give me a few minutes to work it out I’m sure I can blame one of the children) I’ve crushed them. I will spare you the expletives, but you can be assured that any temper tantrum and associated foul language you are imagining is likely falling far short of the mark.
I am now blinded until I can figure out how to get a new pair, and fast. Without my glasses I need my face about 4 inches from the monitor to read and can’t tell the children apart until they say something. The girls tortured me last night by “helping” me find things. Example:
Me: Where is my darning needle? I can’t see it.
Any one of the girls: Right there…. (imagine annoying giggling here)
Me: Right where? Here?
Girl: On the table. (more giggling…)
Me: What table? This table? (finding table by knocking knee into it)
Girl: Yeah….right there. On the left. (giggling becomes laughing)
Me: This isn’t funny (Joe starts to laugh) Give me the needle!
Girl: Sorry Mom, it’s not on the left…move your hand to the right. (Annoying laughter becomes louder as I knock something that I can’t identify (probably the (*&^%$ needle) to the floor as I sweep my hand across the table.)
Me: This is stupid, I can’t see the needle, just pass me the damn thing!
Girl: Mom, calm down…Sorry about that, the needle is on the other table. Take two steps to your left……(Everyone in the room collapses in a fit of hysteria, I contemplate long term complex revenge strategies)
I’ve got to get a new pair today. This can’t go on. Luckily, it turns out that I don’t need to see to knit (although the grafting was done pretty close up)
Sam took the picture this morning. I have no idea if it’s ok. I guess it will be a little surprise for me when I get the new glasses. These are the Fleece Artist socks, my own plain sock pattern and my feet.
Sock-o-rama.
Your choices (with my comments…not that you should care) are:
Waving lace socks from Interweave knits. (scroll down) I like these a lot, but have concerns about the lace pattern being lost in a variegated yarn.
Broadripple socks from Knitty. What’s not to like?
Crusoe Socks, also from Knitty. (Nobody suggested those but me…I’ve always liked them though, so you can suck it up.
Ryan’s totally cool Dublin Bay socks. These are my personal favourites so far. Don’t let that influence your voting. Go admire them.
Blueberry waffle socks. These are the wrong gauge, but I can work it out. These don’t turn my crank so much. I worry about my already wide feet looking decidedly puffy. On the other hand, my feet are already wide, what do I have to lose?
Little Shell Socks. (Chris, I’m bailing on your Domino idea for two reasons. 1. I want to enjoy my life. 2. I don’t have a contrasting colour) I like these, but if I’m gonna do to the feather and fan thing then I think I’d rather go big or go home, like Broadripple.
There were other suggestions. Like the colourblock “Strongheel” socks from Knitters. I’m intrigued by them too but I’d rather chew my own arm off then try and figure out how to convert the freaky triangular construction to sock weight yarn. I have to say that I do respect Laurie for owning up to her motivation. She truly embodies the spirit of “You pick it, I knit it”. Krista Jo may have made a valiant effort as well, but the world will never know because my house has eaten the issues of IK that she is referring to. I’ll keep looking.
Okay. Peruse the choices. Think deeply. Remember that the fate of two skeins of Lorna’s Laces sock yarn rest in your hands. Then vote in the comments.
I’m going to go try and buy some new glasses so I can find out what you are all saying.
Yarn Harlot
Waving lace socks! Your colorway is light enough that they should work. This is such a pretty pattern (and on my to do list, too). It would be great to have you tackle it first in case there are problems to consider…
My vote’s for Dublin Bay. If I can’t have those (yes, I knwo – the socks aren’t for me. One can dream), Broadripple.
I vote for Crusoe. The Dublin Bay sock is my runner-up.
OHH, HARLOT! Sorry about your glasses! Here’s my sock input. First, they should be toe-up for maximum yarn economy. Second, I have always been partial to entrelac socks. They are really not hard, look fabu, show off multi-colored yarn wonderfully, and they are harder to drop off a sock needle accidentally when you realise you are late coming back from lunch and cram them into your purse, then throw your purse in the front seat and SIT on it, breaking two of your five needles, which unlike breaking one, renders the whole set useless, and doesn’t count as “breakage during normal use” if you say you broke them by sitting on them. I don’t know anyone that’s ever happened to, but…you know what I mean.
I REALLY like the crusoe socks, but the roll cuff thing has to go. What a horrible way to top a nifty sock! Rolling hems have their time and place, but I think it looks very OUT of place on the crusoe socks. Other than that, those are my favorites. Runner up would be the waving lace from IK.
I’m going to completely disregard that we’re supposed to be voting for existing suggestions and make a whole new suggestion. The Entrelac Socks by Vickie Starbuck from Socks Socks Socks. The long repeat on the Lorna’s Laces yarn would be perfect, I think, and it’d certainly be less boring. I’m quite sure you have the book, and you can see someone else working on a pair out of Koigu at http://www.devbear.org/.
Love the Dublin Bay socks… go for it. But do try the Blueberry Waffle Socks. This is my very favorite sock pattern and will not make your feet look any wider than they are. Trust me, I know. My feet have been described as belonging to Fred Flintstone.
I vote for Crusoe with the cuff from the wavy lace pattern in IK. I am thinking of using that cuff on my next pair of plain ole socks.
ooooh! I second Ken’s write-in vote. The Entrelac socks look awesome! I would love to see those in that dreamy yarn.
If write-ins are unacceptable, then (I guess) I would vote for the Dublin Bay socks.
Me too on the Crusoe socks. Also me too on a different top. I like ribbing on my socks. I think the stranding with the colours of the yarn you have there would appear really classy. Also, you can probably do it without glasses.
You have all my sympathy there. I wore glasses for years (-13) I lost them in a car accident, and at the time I lived in an isolated place. I phoned the place I got them from, and they couriered a new pair to me in 3 days. (I now have artificial lenses in my eyes, and about 4 pairs of 4.95 reading glasses….much better!)
Barb Brown
Steph-
I don’t like any of these! Try again!
Ok, I kind of like Ken’s suggestion- just because they look impossible and I like a good challenge. But, if this were really a democracy (not some sort of weird Buxh democracy), then I would say Broadripple.
I really think the Dublin Bay socks would be great. I would be wary of knitting the waving lace socks in that variegated yarn. It’s a busy lace pattern that I think needs the simplicity of one colour.
Broadripple or Crusoe.
What a cruel family, laughing at you without your glasses! Yeah, I know it’s funny, from their perspective, but I have poor vision and know what fumbling for glasses is like. I have to be careful about putting my glasses down — even for a moment, like to wash my face — because if they’re not on a plain, light-colored surface, I can’t see them at all. (I live in fear of setting them down and then having a tornado or earthquake hit and me without them — we all have our phobias, don’t we? Right? Erm. Okay then.)
So you have my sympathies!
Ow! I just tried reading the screen without my glasses. That’s really painful!
I hope you get your new glasses soon!
I vote for Brodripple.I’ve knit it twice & am about to embark on a third pair.Not a commom occurance with me !
Hope you got new glasses today.Naughty girls,tormenting their dear Mama. ;-]
see.. i told ya, entrelac socks!!
Some of those are not in LL sockweight, but that shouldn’t be a problem for the likes of you (just for me). 🙂 I tried to make the font bigger for ya, but I couldn’t.
Unless I missed something, there are no errors in Waving lace socks. I have one and a half done.
I think that I should get TWO votes for having both my choices ruled out entirely. Little Shells is too fussy, Dublin Bay doesn’t do enough with the colors changes, ditto the lace ones and the blueberry waffle socks (besides I have done these). I really, really like the Crusoe, but I think LOUD Koigu is indeed best for those.
So I cast one of my two votes for Broadview. I think they will make the most of the colors AND satisfy my blog wish to watch a sock in progress whose structure I find intriguing.
I cast the second vote I have stolen from the ballot box for the Dublin Bay because our fearless leader likes those best. (If I get only one vote, keep my SELFISH one above!!!)
Can we vote next on which UFO you should finish? That blog vote would be the one I would set up, if I had a blog. Only problem is that it would be VERY embarrassing to post all the UFOs!!!
Oops! I MEANT Broadripple. Will my vote be disqualified for misspelling?
Wow-so many great choices. I vote for Crusoe, unless you are actually entertaining Ken’s write-in vote, in which case I love the idea of entrelac socks. Entrelac works so well with variegated yarns!
Either Crusoe or Broadripple. Not Little Shells (love the pattern, but I think the lace fights too much with the variegation in that one). With Crusoe, otoh, I think the texturing would break up any too-assertive striping tendencies the yarn might have; I think it would give you a lovely, mottled, almost moire (sorry, no diacritics) effect in the yarn you’ve chosen.
Errr, I voted (sort of) in the first suggestion round, so if this counts, my vote goes to the Broadripple; and if not, just put it down to a hanging chad….
Dublin Bay for sure!
Dublin Bay. I have not good reasoning behind it. I just like them and am doing them too.
Dublin Bay and waving lace both look great and both would make your feet look smaller.
from another broadfoot
No vote on the socks, but I’m curious to know how the hell you got to the store to buy new glasses…
I am entertaining Ken’s write in vote for Entrelac. Ken makes the blog go. We must not anger the Ken.
Gina, I got to the store *carefully*
1st choice: Crusoe. 2nd choice: Dublin Bay.
Get two pairs of glasses. Anyone who depends on them should have a spare. It also gives you a choice day to day. And, when you travel, take both of them with you. Don’t get caught without them ! That’s what I do. Betsy
I love the Waving Lace socks and have two skeins of Lorna’s Laces waiting in my stash-pile from which to make them, but mine is a solid yarn (lilac, which is purdyful), and I don’t think it’s a pattern which would fare well in a variegated yarn. So you make something else and I will (at a much slower speed) make the Waving Lace Socks. Deal?
Dublin Bay is my vote. I’ve been admiring them since Ryan posted the pic. Hope the glasses are ready soon.
I like the Dublin Bay socks. There’s another free pattern out there that I want to suggest — trying to find it…
I really like Ken’s entrelac sock- i have been contemplating knitting something similar when my belated birthday LL sock yarn *finally* arrives.
Otherwise, i like Dublin Bay.
Broadripple. You have me a little stressed out. I hope you get your glasses before Snowdrop babe makes an appearance.
Ok, Steph, we’ll let the domino thing go…this time. ;> I vote Dublin Bay or Broadripple (and you can contact Rob who wrote Broadripple to get a Koigu-specific version of the pattern).
Don’t do Crusoe! They look lovely…but my friend Jeanne knitted them and is very sad because the finished socks are nigh unto impossible to get onto your feet. Those slip stitches take away all the stretch. What good are socks that you can’t wear?
Dublin Bay. And after that, Broadripple.
My vote is for the Waving Lace Socks. I don’t think variagated yarn in such a light colorway should present a problem. They are also the next socks on my to do list. Good Luck.
My vote goes with Ken and your resident heckler, Augergine. I like the entrelac socks – but don’t be too hasty to agree to them before you get new glasses and can clearly see what you’re getting yourself into!!
Resident Heckler? For me? Awww, you shouldn’t have! *places tiara on head, receives roses, touches pearls*
I’ve dreamed of this all my life! *a la Miss America*
Steph knows I think she’s da bomb. Someday, when I have a blog, she’ll be my resident heckler. And the circle of life will go on…
I like little wave, followed by broadripple.
I vote for the Waving Lace Sock. I have one done now in a varigated color from Lorna’s Lace and the pattern shows up very nicely. This is really a fun and easy pattern to do, as are most of Evelyn Clark’s lace patterns. Just beautiful!