Zoom

I worry, when I am leaving the house, that I won’t take enough knitting.

(Please understand that I am using the word “enough” here to mean “enough that I would be totally fine for yarn if I were kidnapped and held for 24 hours in a yarn free zone by someone with a fetish for watching people knit at gunpoint – and I then knit 5 times faster than I usually do.” )

This has never happened, and indeed I’ve never heard of it happening, but one time when I decided to pack a little light I had a plane delayed and I came perilously close to running out. (Here I am defining “close to running out” as “I only had one more skein of sock yarn to get through 20 minutes”.) It scared me. I can’t imagine how I would fill time, trapped in an airport or stuck on a bus (or waiting in line at the bank) without my knitting. It fills me with dread – and if the world knew how much I’m using knitting in public to pretend to be a patient and kind person – the thought of me running out would scare them too.

The upshot of this means that Wednesday night when I was heading to my LYS for knit night, I tossed my current work in my bag (the 1×1 rib scarf) and headed for the door and was entirely seized by concern that I might “run out” or not have “enough”. I panicked and ran back in, scouting quickly for another project. (Please overlook that I was going to a yarn store, where if it turned out I didn’t have “enough” I could have gotten more. It makes me look unreasonable. Besides… what if something happened on the way there? Considering the risk to both me and those around me, it’s negligent to not protect everyone by ensuring that there is not a moment without yarn and its mood altering abilities. Practically a safety concern.) Pulling together a project takes time, and I didn’t have any, so I grabbed this month’s sock club package (which I had barely just opened – by the way, I checked to make sure that everyone had received their package before posting these… so I’m reasonably sure it’s not a spoiler… unless your postie is a terrific slacker.) wound the yarn on the swift, took needles off the table (there are advantages to never putting things away properly) and bolted. I never do this. The decision to knit a new thing is never undertaken lightly or quickly, so I can’t say I had much hope that this leap would work out for me… but desperate times….

By the time I was switching from bus to streetcar, I was entirely besotted.

Hdzsockfoot281108

I loved the colour, I loved the pattern- I loved everything about this sock and may (just may) have driving a few friends insane with nattering on about it ad nauseam at knit night. The colour is “Muddy Autumn Rainbow” and because of how it’s dyed, (Tina wrote in the dyer’s notes) that there will be no two skeins entirely alike. I know she dyed hundreds of this colourway, but I feel confident that I got the best one.

The pattern (Holidazed) is by the incomparable Anne Hanson, so it shouldn’t surprise me that I like it… our tastes are so similar that I often feel like she’s designing just for me. The knit/purl pattern makes it unisex and breaks up the colours in the dye job in a way I adore, it’s got a lot of give but clings nicely to the foot… I love it. Everything about it. In fact, I pity anyone who isn’t in the sock club who’s going to have to wait until the pattern is released to the general population. Pity I tell you… pity. I was so enthralled that by the time I got home I had a leg, and by last evening, less than 24 hours from winding the wool

Wholesockhds281108

I had a whole sock. Dudes. I have this Christmas thing SO licked.

177 thoughts on “Zoom

  1. “Dudes. I have this Christmas thing SO licked.”
    Don’t say that! The knitting gods will smack you down!

  2. No, see, the insurance-knitting is to make sure you would have a rationally-chosen alternative at hand. Sure, spontaneity worked out THIS time, but one does not take that for granted, once carries the front end of the queue (calculated as a complicated algorithm of priority knitting/mantra knitting/intriguing knitting.)
    I once ran out during a weekend at my mother’s with three kids. I don’t laugh. (Well, I mean, I laugh, just not at you, at this particular moment, while considering this subject…)

  3. You got it licked eh??
    ANd I think I got the best skein of Muddy autumn rainbow…however mine’s still in skein form.

  4. I’ll tell this story here, since I know you’ll appreciate it…
    Last week, I had a movie date with my husband. This involved a 45 minute ride on the T, going to the movie, and then going out for dinner afterward. Shortly after I got on the train, I realized that I was so close to the end of the project I had brought that I was going to be lucky to be occupied for the whole train ride, never mind the movie and dinner afterward.
    I sat there stewing for about 10 minutes, until I realized that if I got of the train a stop early, and if the shop was still open, I would be within a block of one of my LYSes. My mood brightened immediately.
    I hopped off the train, ran to the shop (still open! Hooray!), zipped in, bought a new skein of Trekking and happily cast it on before the movie started. My husband didn’t even realize =)

  5. All is not lost if you run out of knitting, if you can put your hand on a pen and the back of a shopping list then you can sketch something to knit. You can through it away later because it’s not about the product so much as keeping your brain out of mischief.

  6. Though I’d love to knit socks for everyone in my family, this year, I’m limiting it to two. The rest will get fingerless gloves or a hat. This yarn though, is mine. All mine. Muddy Autumn Rainbow is such a pretty colorway!

  7. I can completely relate to your current feeling of total-world-domination-without-even-trying outlook of Christmas…
    But I’m gonna have to agree with sunflowerfairy that, once your ‘Sock In A Day’ (sugar/caffeine/alcohol/paint fumes/unused prescription the doctor prescribed for your ‘excitable’ child) wears off, it may be too late:
    The Fates will be serenely watching and waiting, having already put their plans for you in motion…
    Good luck! 😀

  8. Love the sock! I see nothing either autmnal or muddy about the colorway– it looks more like a Misty Easter Morning, to me.
    I understand about having enough yarn. Last time I took a vacation, I brought enough yarn for four pair of socks, even though I was only going to be gone long enough to knit one pair, and there was a yarn store at my desination.

  9. OH– and I know it’s not your way, but the correct time to start Christmas knitting is August.

  10. I SOOOOO want to be in the Blue Moon sock club for 2009. I’ve only been knitting socks since May I’m hooked. In fact, I’m almost finished with my first sock on dpns (though I still LOVE my 2-at-a-time socks) and WILL finish the pair this weekend. Christmas gift #1 halfway……

  11. Careful with your bragging! You know as well as I that as soon as we reveal ourselves to be confident in our abilities…WHAM! I am going to remain truly humble until I see all presents being opened on Christmas day!

  12. When I saw your previuospost I thought it looked like and “Knitspot” pattern. Anne’s patterns have a certain look I love!

  13. Less than 24 hours you had a sock knit !!! MY God girl don’t you sleep AND don’t your fingers ever get cramped and tired ? Beautiful yarn and pattern and GL on the rest of the knitting you probably have lined up. I just picked up some Noro for the scarf today and it’s for ME as my realatives and friends do not knit and have no idea how much love and time go into these knitted items . Gift certificates for them all and they can go into the mad house of a mall and get pushed and waste a whole day finding something they THINK they want when the sales go on. No pressure on me , I’ll be snug as a bug in a rug at home knitting.

  14. Like Rams, I laugh.
    Unlike Rams, I laugh, at you, at this particular moment, while considering this subject.

  15. So – that’ll be a single sock and maybe a 1×1 scarf given this Christmas, then, ’cause we know the knitting fates aren’t going to let you have anything else now…

  16. Don’t say you have Christmas licked…that way lies danger and madness.
    As for running out on the plane, you blogged about finishing a sock with a guy hitting on you, and you finished your sock, with 10 awful minutes left….but I can’t find this blog…

  17. I wonder how many other knitters were sitting there besides me, going, that’s it. That’s me exactly. Yes! Re the must have much yarn at all times (a pound is a good amount), the fear of because what if something happened before the destination (and it HAS happened here!), the never grabbing randomly without much aforethought but then just grabbing and having the yarn then grab me totally… Yes and oh yes!
    Gorgeous sock. I love the stitch and color patternings both.

  18. Steph –
    With all due love ….. you’re screwed. (But ya kinda did this to yourself with that crazy announcement, girlfriend. I anticipate that in the next month, things WILL spontaneously burst into flames.)

  19. Not what she said (quietly taking 2 steps back so the lightning doesn’t arc to me as well)
    I know there is no way I can finish all the projects I have promised before Christmas. especially if I keep dropping and losing them

  20. “Ihave this Christmas thing so licked.” They say that pride goeth before a fall. Can we remind you of this post during the last few days before the big one?

  21. hey isn’t this usually the time of year when you post your list of xmas knitting and estimated dates of completion? what have you got planned for this holiday? 🙂

  22. Thank you for clearing up the specifics of that lovely project,and warning the general public about your need to always have yarn and needles available. That last sentence, well, hmmm. I confess I feel I the Knitting Powers may smite my Christmas knitting having just read that in my head, not even aloud. Good luck on that anyway.

  23. I’m always surprised when people tell me they don’t have the patience to knit.
    I tell them I don’t have the patience to not knit.
    Sometimes they get it, sometimes they just look at me funny.

  24. I have this Christmas thing so licked, too. I just keep telling myself I’m not knitting anything for Christmas this year. If what I happen to be knitting is finished before Dec. 25th and I can think of an appreciative recipient, then I might wrap it and put it under the tree. But I am NOT knitting anything for Christmas this year!
    And when I go on vacation, I take a whole suitcase full of yarn and needles with me because I never know what I’ll get the urge to knit!

  25. “Dudes. I have this Christmas thing SO licked.”
    Dude. I actually flinched when I read that. Unless the remaining sock is the only thing left on your list….but that seem unlikely. Well, good luck to you. And don’t stand too close to any other knitters, lest they are injured when the Knitting Powers That Be decide to start smacking you around. Seriously.

  26. You realize you just asked the knitting fates to reign down on you with a fury never seen before. I’m standing back too………..

  27. Seriously, now we all know who is going to get licked. When you say you do not learn from your past mistakes, you do not kid. Good luck anyway.

  28. oh, oh, OH I cringed when I read that last line. Statements like that are an invitation to the slaughter, and I know whereof I speak … my last post was a brag on my own cleverness (really, I solved a knitting problem in a way I find Very Cool Indeed, and am still proud of myself for figuring it out, what with the baby not sleeping through the night and all), and karma has been smacking me about ever since.
    I’m going to hope for your sake that the Fates aren’t listening today.

  29. Oh my! You had me totally laughing out loud!
    I’m already planning what projects I’m going to take when the family goes away for two weeks at Christmas. I just know that one entire suitcase will be dedicated to my knitting stuff. My daughter will certainly not be pleased. Hopefully, I’ll choose wisely.
    Lovely socks, by the way!

  30. Dear Harlot,
    You stated unequivocally (ON THE BLOG no less) that you had the Christmas knitting thing “licked”. Please do not be offended when your friends and family stand a little farther away that is customary: they do not wish to be struck by Harlot-schrapnel when the universe issues its smackdown.
    Sincerely yours…

  31. Oh dear. If I were you I’d be looking over my should after making a comment like that! You’ve tempted the Knitting Fates…heck, you taunted them. Beware.

  32. Yaay! Go Steph! Don’t get to confident about the Christmas thing, though. The fates do not take kindly to jesting. The sock, though, is incredible, even without the speed at which it was completed!

  33. No Way! You didn’t just say that. Do you not remeber Christmases of past when you are frantically trying to meet the deadline (although I was totally amazed at how much and how beautiful the items were that you cranked out). My dear, you totally jinxed yourself, but good luck anyways!

  34. Looking great. But so glad I read this post 10 minutes *after* opening my RSC package for this shipment! The international component of the club is so far behind the North American one this year in terms of shipping that I’ve been spoiled on all but one skein…
    I agree that they’re all different if your photos are showing the accurate colour. Personally, I prefer mine, which is entirely as it should be!

  35. I’m in the sock club, and, in the skein at least, my yarn looks NOTHING like yours! I think I need to cast on, to see what happens to it on the needles.

  36. Is “that Lene” organizing you again this year? If so… you should warn her of your taunt to the knitting gods. She will need to compensate for that I think.

  37. Wow! THAT’S Muddy Autumn Rainbow???? Sure doesn’t look like my skein! Maybe it’s the light or the photo or? Yours looks positively spring-like. Mine is definitely muddy autumn.

  38. What pretty socks! I’m jealous of anyone who can finish ANYTHING these days…major case of Startis and Frogitis here.
    I hope Fate was busy with someone else when you wrote that last line!

  39. Now the airlines are *charging* for every checked bag, I don’t get to bring along an entire suitcase of yarn! Gack! Wonder if anyone will notice if I leave the underwear but take some sock yarn in its place? Hmm… I’ll have to think about this come December, um, Monday… I think I’ll go do an LYS search for my destination. Just in case. Or, a big name store where I can pick up some spare undies.
    As for your knitting fates throwdown? —>>>runs for cover

  40. Well, If you’re going to tempt the Knitting Gods at least give them a good sock. It’s really lovely and I hope you’re not really screwed.

  41. Holy moly, you finished a sock *THAT* quick!
    I agree that bringing my knitting makes me a saner person too…but just barely:)

  42. Unlike Rams and RachelH I laugh immediately, hysterically, and without restraint. It’s going to be a seriously entertaining holiday season around here.

  43. I was once kept waiting an inordinately long time at the gynecologist’s office, dressed in a paper gown in a freezing exam room. When she finally came in and apologized, I held up the the two feet of yarn I had left and said pointedly, “You got lucky.” She looked at me very seriously for a moment, then wrote my prescription for two years instead of one. I’m guessing she realized just how close she’d come and decided she didn’t really need me back anytime soon.

  44. I, too, was completely enthralled with Holidazed. I finished the pair in 3 1/2 days flat while working full-time and raising a 5 year old. Priorities, my friend, priorities!

  45. Awesome sock! FYI, I’ve cast-on not one, but two 1×1 Ribbed Striped Scarves. I’d blame you completely but I am so loving them both.

  46. Marie is sooo right! “I tell them I don’t have the patience to not knit.” EXACTAMENTE! What’s with this sitting still and doing… nothing! Catch one of US doing that.
    Amazing that my newly finished pair of socks also have the spiralitude happening all over them. In my case, spirals of YOs. It’s dizzy lace 🙂
    From the Sock-Shaped State, ==Marjorie

  47. Totally understand the completely rational fear of running out of wool when on the go (except maybe to a LYS-that is TOO funny!!) We went on 6 hour round trip with three small children, (and my Hubby along to drive-hooray (does anyone else actually engineer long trips with their spouse driving to garner knitting time?) and I only brought ONE project (WHAT was I thinking? Of all the things not to bring-I mean, I could’ve slacked off on the diapers, the kids water bottles…(LOL!)) Well, I went and got stumped on the pattern HALF AN HOUR into the drive-and had NOTHING to knit for the next 5.5 hours (nevermind half of that was in the dark-I could’ve turned on the truck’s interior lights!!)
    Let’s just say it was a much less relaxing trip than I had planned…..

  48. Left the house with not enough yarn? I left my home for the in-laws in another state and left that sock kit at home! Now, with no chance of touching that yarn or pattern until Sunday night at the earliest, I read how much you’re loving it. Cruel, really, aren’t you?

  49. “Dudes. I have this Christmas thing SO licked.”
    Oh, Steph, why did you have to go and say that? I can hear the knitting gods laughing.
    I won’t laugh at you, though. I was once caught at the Department of Motor Vehicle with inadequate knitting stores. It wasn’t pretty. Never again!

  50. I so know what you are talking about. Well, I don’t know the part about knitting a sock in a day. But every weekday I go to work and I take my breakfast/lunch bag, my gym bag, my coffee pot and cup, and my purse. And I think really, this is a rediculous amount of crap to be hauling to work. Then I look at my knitting bag and think-Oh, why bother, I will never get the time to knit at work today. And it is one more thing to pack out to the car. But then I think-what if-what if I do have the time to knit at work today and I don’t have my bag? Panic ensues and I inevitably take my knitting. I know exactly what you mean.

  51. from this post you will so understand my pain — check my blog to see what i did on my way to vote — no knitting allowed booooo

  52. Ummm … I realized that for a 15 day trip to China, which involves two 13 hour flights, I had brought:
    – the child sweater I hope to finish (but inexplicably left the last required ball in Toronto. And that was one I had to mail order after my initial purchase. Oh well, only the neckband left to do by my return, cross my fingers!)
    – materials for a few baby hats/socks – I may make one hat total if I am lucky
    – the next baby sweater I want to work on – will start on the return flight
    – yarn for two pairs of socks … won’t start that at all
    And keep in mind that China is a country of very cheap, good and plentiful yarn ….
    big sigh

  53. Geez…I can’t even finish the Brioche scarf I’ve been knitting FOREVER (the ball of yarn seems to be the same size I started several days ago…) and you are on to another project…Would you finish my Christmas presents too?

  54. Stephanie, today I went to give blood. And knowing that it never goes very fast, I took knitting to fill the wait time. Even though I knew I’d surely be out of there in just a little over an hour, at the most, I did feel a flutter of panic that I was already halfway through sock #1 and had only enough yarn with me to finish the pair. . .

  55. I am usually really good at taking my knitting with me, even to work. But just to make sure I don’t run out, I always have a dishcloth on the needles in my bag, besides whatever else I’m working on. As soon as I finish one, I start another one. There is nothing so relaxing as making a dishcloth, and they are so useful. However, there is also nothing so frustrating as packing everything, but forgetting to put in a darning needle, and not being able to finish a seam or weave in ends. There is no other tool that can stand in for that dratted needle.

  56. Dude, AWESOME sock!!!
    How long does the general population(of which I’m a member, sigh)get access to the pattern?????
    Might this….could this…be out in time for the 09 sock summit?
    Seriously awesome sock.

  57. By the way ix-nay on the “So licked the Christmas thing”….
    tempting the knitting fates like that could bite you in the arse big time….I’m just sayin’, ya know?

  58. Ha! I was just going to blog about my yarn-packing habits today, after tossing 2 projects in a bag on my way out to an urgent-care visit and then spending said visit pacing back and forth knitting a scarf in progress which was hanging around my neck.
    Hyper? Me? Maybe.

  59. I always bring my knitting with me when driving in the winter. I am convinced that the only thing that has kept me from getting stuck in the snow is the fact that I have my knitting along and therefore wouldn’t mind getting stuck. I know the minute I forget, I’ll end up stuck for hours.

  60. Alright, even though everyone else doubts your ability to “lick” Christmas (by your own admission as so many have pointed out), I’m going to go out on a limb and here and offer my early congratulations on finally beating the Holiday knitting insanity. I knew you could do it. I knew it was just a matter of time. I support your confidence 110%
    (bwah ha ha ha ha–that will keep the fates off my tail for at least the next month)

  61. The sock you made is totally beautiful! How much happier could a sock get? And you are entirely correct — Anne Hanson is unbelievably talented, creative, and productive! The woman is a complete machine of some sort. How does she do THAT and everything is so beautiful?
    Sure glad to hear that you’ve got the Christmas thing licked this year. Are you sure you want to tempt the knitting devils?? Hmmm?

  62. sorry, tina swore that MINE was the prettiest!!
    btw, any chance i can have a full size picture from yesterday so i can make it my desktop? personal obsessive eye candy only. one is too small, tiled is making me dizzy and i am resisting tempation to even wind mine before my holiday knittin is done!! by the time i am in any shape to replicate your beautious photo it will be snowy! thx if yes, understand if no.

  63. Dude, you are so screwed with that last line. Remind me not to stand near you – the lightning strike may rebound off you…

  64. Leave without “enough to knit?” Never. I just went away for 24 hours with 2 projects that hadn’t even been cast on, a pair of socks and a pair of convertible gloves. All that and Thanksgiving at the in-laws too! Luckily we hit traffic and I got half way through the first sock on the way…

  65. I understand the need to have ‘enough’ knitting when leaving the house. There are exactly 2 times I have left the house without having enough knitting:
    1 – The house next door was on fire – we are talking completely engulfed. The garage roof collapsed into their garage as I raced out the door. I am comforted by the fact that I was concerned enough to get people and pets out of our house without thought for knitting. In fact, it was 5 hours before I realized I was knitting-less.
    2 – The car I was driving (not my own) broke down 15 minutes away from home. I called my sister first – ‘Please bring knitting’ and the CAA (auto club) second – ‘Please bring technical (automobile technical, not knitting technical) help.
    Don’t ever leave home without enough knitting. I now always have a sock on the go in a little pencil case in my purse.

  66. I haven’t started my STR socks yet, but I’ll be watching this blog for further Christmas knitting updates.

  67. It’s better safe than sorry when you’re packing. I left both my current book and my current project at home one time, when I was going for a walk at my friend’s house. I got a call on my cell phone that my son had shattered his kneecap, and so went straight to the hospital without going home first. I spent the next 7 hours at various hospitals while he had surgery- all that adrenaline and NOTHING to do. I now have emergency reading and knitting in the car at all times!

  68. That sock is soo pretty! I love it! I agree that you should never leave without your knitting. That way you always have something to do so you are not bored. I hate being bored.

  69. What a lovely sock. I should start knitting more socks, at least they’ll fit in the diaper bag. Hopefully you just didn’t jinx yourself with that last line, but aren’t you always up for the challenge? 😀

  70. I know. I utterly KNOW and UNDERSTAND this fear.
    Once upon a time my husband and I were scouting for a new home in a new town, since he was getting out of the military and we could settle someplace we really liked. Heading south on I5 in California our transmission died just outside the town of Mt. Shasta. We ended up in a hotel on the far end of town, downhill from the business district, in the snow, with no car/taxi/bus service and not even a place that sold acrylic in walking distance, for ONE WEEK!
    I had brought about 6 projects with me, but they were all in the dishcloth size category, since that was about my skill level then. Let me tell you, I frogged and re-knit each of those dammed dishclothes THREE TIMES, each time trying a more complicated stitch. By the time we finally had the car fixed I was a much better knitter, and I vowed never to travel so light again!
    Now we either drive or take the train anywhere we go, which means I can take a bag full of almost nothing but yarn and books, period. And after that week, my husband does not complain. We’re going to Denver for two weeks in January and I’m already planning:
    5 sets of mittens
    3 pairs of socks
    1 lace shawl
    2 lace scarves
    1 pair of gloves
    4 dishclothes
    I’m sure they have a LYS in Denver *somewhere*. But, you never know.

  71. You are absolutely right to take plenty of projects.
    My last trip, I was going to Montana and intended to visit the world headquarters of a certain yarn company. So I only took 1 pair of socks, a WIP. Well, I visited and purchased yarn like a whirlwind, all according to plan, but then I needed needles. OK, a trip to the LYS for needles. I had the right size at home but not with me. All was going well until I swatched…hmmm, need 1 size smaller. Another 45 minute trip to the LYS. This is day three and Dang!, the socks are finished and I’m starting to unravel and am working on a really good drinking problem. Thank God the 2nd pair of (redundant) needles solved the problem. I’m not sure the local AA chapter would have understood that I’m a situational drunk. Nothing to knit being the situation.

  72. Annie C, lots of yarn shops in Denver. Are you going to be in the mountains at all? I can help you out there.
    And Steph, I recognized the yarn in yesterday’s post. I absolutely love it. Mine looks a lot like yours, colorwise. I’ve knit the cuff a little bit longer. The pattern is wonderful and is a very quick knit. I’m nearly done with the second sock. Will finish it up tomorrow and I have plans to knit another pair.

  73. One thing sure leads to another. I checked out Anne Hanson because of your praise. Wow! Fun! She just got the most beautiful shawl pin from a couple of clever jewelers named Nicholas and Felice, so I checked them out too. In about 5 minutes, I ordered a fabulous dragonfly shawl pin (exactly what I searched for at all those summer art fairs and could not find). No more will I have to use an old chopstick that falls out of my knitwear, every time that I lean over. Merci!!!

  74. Oh Steph, I am so with you on having “enough” yarn. We just got home from a 3 day trip to see the inlaws (6 hours driving each way) and I took along yarn for 2 pr socks (1 WIP), 6 dishcloths, 6 skeins of random yarn for teaching nieces/nephews just in case they asked, and enough handspun mohair for a whole sweater that hasn’t yet been started. But I was covered! Of course we also had to stop at a LYS to buy some of the new polar fleece yarn (and more) on the way home….BTW, beware the Christmas blindsides…

  75. Now I want to knit my version! No fair, I have to knit a sock, a different sock, by Sunday and also a commissioned cardigan… but socks are portable knitting and cardis aren’t.
    I took the current sock on a walk this afternoon for “just in cases.”
    Are you sure that the knitting goddess won’t strike you down?

  76. Wait a minute…you only bring one thing to a knitting night? Ha, I have to laugh in your general direction. I’m so afraid of running out of yarn or knitting faster than the speed of light, I bring, well, let’s just say, more than one project to my knit night. Like, say, a bag of them. A big bag. One time, on a lighter night, I actually counted. There were 7. On a light night. You’re an amateur.

  77. My skein looks like…a muddy rainbow. I got the mud end of the rainbow and you got the sunny end, apparently. However, the people who set deadlines will now hate you for this, I am seriously tempted to cast that thing on to see what the heck it looks like so I can email a photo of my version to you BUT I have sworn on my grandma’s grave (to the very patient person who is waiting for it) that I will finish an embroidery I started 2 years ago, and sworn on my own grave (as in, I’ll finish the damn thing or die trying) to finish a quilt for another deadline….oh, and finish a raffle quilt. Does any of that sound like a sock to you?
    I didn’t think so either, but Tina will now inform you that I ordered a skein of Fire on the Mountain to compare scientifically with Muddy Autumn Rainbow, and one of Letitica in Firebird to make your unoriginal hat…for an Xmas present. If I fail to whip out my credit card and reup for the sock club it’s because I’ve been beaten into a whimpering mass of embroiderer by long and short shading.

  78. ok, woman, you realize that you’ve just committed your christmas knitting to purgatory, and won’t finish another thing. good luck!

  79. “I have this Christmas thing so licked”….. oh my, be careful lest you tempt the knitting fairies with projection destruction 😉
    Great sock btw.

  80. Since I just packed knitting for six weeks, I so get just how you feel on the running out of knitting.
    Fortunately, I knit much more slowly than you do. Actually, I hope you teach the class you’re doing at Madrona again next year since I figured this year I should give someone else a chance at your sessions.

  81. You really should talk to your local representative about setting up some kind of yarn stipend. It is for the good of the people and all 🙂

  82. I tend to keep knitting in different places. I have a shawl in the car, two different socks in my school bag, gloves in my purse, etc., etc. So even if I forget my purse, I have knitting somewhere.

  83. When you said that last line, I heard Fate giggle a little like a schoolgirl. I’d be on my guard if I were you…

  84. No, no, no! You said it out loud! you can’t let that thought even linger a moment, it’s just asking for a smack down. Hope it doesn’t happen.

  85. Oh I hear you on hr having enough. I’ a fairly occasional knitter at home (where I am surrounded by the comfort of my stash) – pumping out a hat or two a month for impending babies. But when we planned a trip to Ontario this week, I brought along 10! skeins of yarn and several patterns. Mind you, we’re visiting family, and I have two very small children who must be prevented from killing each other several times an hour. Apparently, I need to bring my security with me. Which is rather good, because I FORGOT.MY.HUSBAND’S.GREENCARD and we can’t go home until a friend (who will receive her angel wings shortly) brings it up to the American Falls (she doesn’t have passport) so that I can run across and nab it (this is to prevent me from driving 8 hours round trip with the nursling in tow). So, I have a lot more time to knit than anticipated. And, as we all know, there are no yarn stores in Ontario. My friend will be receiving many many handknit gifts for Christmas this year.

  86. I once went to a Red Cross CPR class and at the break reached down for my sock and found that I had left it at home with not enough time to go to the car to check – so the next section was horrible – I kept thinking “It’s okay there’s yarn in the car. It’s okay there’s yarn in the car” – At the lunch break I ran down to the car and found some and felt much better after a few rows – now I am even more careful when I leave the house.

  87. “Dudes. I have this Christmas thing SO licked. ”
    Fffffffffff (sound of sharp intake of breathe through my teeth). Stand back everybody….. there is a major disaster of some sort just around the corner.

  88. Wow, the colors are just great! Wonderful dyeing. And you know you’re in trouble with the Christmas knitting now, right? 😉

  89. See. I told myself no knitting the Holidazed socks until I got done with the Christmas knitting. Then you have to go show me your wonderful sock. Hmm, unless I make those socks holiday knitting. And….here’s me winding the yarn!

  90. Dude, you did that on purpose, didn’t you? Shame. Now we’re all in trouble from just reading that foolish statement. Actually we’re in for some rollicking knitting entertainment watching you twirl yourself into madness too. As for my Christmas knitting (only my second) I need to finish one hat and one convertible mitten, some gloves for Mom, oh, and a cardigan… Um, sorry, gotta go knit!

  91. wow dude, you DO have the christmas thing licked. i’m blushing but so happy you like that sock. i think we do have similar taste, or at least similar loves . . . practical and whimsical. thank you for such a nice review!

  92. I’m with you 100% on that sock – yarn & especially the pattern. Unfortunately I am not a member of the STR sock club (I am a member of 2 others – do I dare join STR this year?).

  93. Oh yeah, I am also exactly like that about taking knitting with me when I leave the house – esp on trips. When I went to Seattle in May, I took my half finished Clapotis & enough yarn for 3 pairs of socks. Now granted I was taking the train, which involes almost 2 full days each way but I am also a super slow knitter & I ALWAYS buy yarn as souvenirs for myself (had trouble closing my suitcase I bought so much). Still, I would’ve felt uneasy without that much yarn with me.

  94. Hi! That is a beautiful sock I wish I was apart of the sock club…Dude and to knit a whole sock in a day talk about Zoom! Hope things are well!

  95. I am about to leave on a trans Atlantic flight that will be my first yarn-less trip in ages. When I flew from Fargo to Copenhagen last week, my Addi Turbos were confiscated while going through customs in Amsterdam! They told me, “Madame, that is forbidden.” I said, “What, they don’t knit socks in Amsterdam?” “Not on the planes” they replied. Luckily, I had some back-up yarn and needles in my checked luggage so I have had my yarn fix through the week. However, I will not risk another pair in my carry on during the trip home. One of the legs is over nine hours! What a loss of good knitting time! I’m not sure I will survive. Maybe I’ll just take along some yarn to calm me. Perhaps I could fashion some knitting needles out of pens? I wonder what kind of gauge I could get with pens? I may just have to find out…
    Have you ever had your needles taken?

  96. Stephanie~
    I am sitting here reading your blog and looking at my new yarn from Tina and mine is nothing like yours and I do have to say that mine is the best I think!!
    Thx~
    Amy

  97. Dude…Just checking the mileage from your location to mine to make sure I am far enough away when the knitting fates leave bite marks in your tush. I do not want to be collateral damage just for reading that! The sock is loverly, by the way….

  98. Maybe you can add another holiday project to your list, like a sweater (it has to be an ambitious project), you don’t really need it for the holiday, but maybe you can persuade (trick) the knitting gods into thinking you do need it by then………a sacrificial project, something to absorb the hubris……

  99. Oh dear . . . I sense a dark foreshadowing of Christmas “IT” on the horizon. (She said, smirking obnoxiously because she’s begun her final knitting project for Christmas.)

  100. Doomed, woman. You are doomed. Done for. Smite-worthy. I think you do it on purpose to egg the universe on.
    I am the type of knitter who brings 2 knitting projects with her to RHINEBECK of all places. And I do the driving. That 2 mile backup before the gate is good for a couple of rows.

  101. Great sock pattern! Great colourway.
    Wanna try it on some yarn I dyed. Durn. Ya can’t get *just* the pattern. I went to her site. I went into her shop. Nada. Nothing. “Does not match your search.” Durn.

  102. We went to my in-laws for Thanksgiving. For a grand total of a 24 hour visit, I took with me:
    1 pillow cover (1/3 finished, knitting)
    1 cable hat (1/3 finished, knitting)
    1 beaded pin (1/3 finished, cross stitching)
    1 Christmas ornament kit (unopened, cross stitching)
    yarn and pattern for a pair of socks
    fabric, floss and pattern for a Christmas ornament
    The pillow cover and cable hat got to half finished (the hat is as of tonight 8 rows from being completed). I shudder to think what I am going to pack for a two week trip home to Canada!

  103. I wish I hadn’t tempted the fates the other night. I left my house thinking there’s still 3/4’s of this sleeve left to knit, so I didn’t think I’d need a back up project. We were at the inlaws a bit longer than i planned, and when we left, I had 20 stitches left to knit and cast off, needless to say, another minute at the inlaws and i would have run out of knitting, my worst nightmare almost came true. I will never leave the house without a back up project again.

  104. I was laughing a lot reading this. I do that. I actually was almost late for an appointment todat because I spent ten minutes agonizing over whether to bring knitting to my high school reunion. Yeah.

  105. Once, while flying from home to Kansas City, I found myself, between flights at Midway Field, finishing a sweater and not having any other knitting projects in my carryon. It was not fun.
    When preparing for my current trip, I put yarn, needles and directions for 3 pairs of socks in my carryon as well as the bohus sweater that is just down to the bottom of the arm holes. I didn’t want to run out of knitting if we had to make an emergency stop somewhere.

  106. I finally had an epiphany reading this post. I could never quite understand your running out of yarn paranoia, until I realized that it’s exactly the same as what I used to do with taking “enough” work with me to the library in college, or bringing home “enough” work from the office to do at night or on the weekend. Never in decades did I ever come close to running out. Or getting through all of it. Yep, a ball of sock yarn for 20 minutes. I love that! (It’s a much prettier picture than a pile of books or papers.)

  107. Boy do I understand about making sure you have enough knitting on you. I’m away from home for exactly 36 hours, and much of that is spoken for in ways that I won’t be able to knit during. But I have on me a half knit sweater in fingering weight, a partially knit sock that I’m designing, a drop spindle and a fistful of fiber, and a little ball of yarn and needles to try out a technique I had an idea about on. Because you know.. I may get stranded here for the next 2 months and I must have knitting on me. It’s a sickness isn’t it?

  108. UNRELATED TRUE FACT YOU MIGHT FIND AWESOME:
    The name for Noro’s beloved Kureyon? Is a Japanglish version of “Crayon” – at Japanese yarn stores, it is written as “Crayon” and “Crayon Sock”
    It seems so much less classy this way!

  109. My postman is a real slacker and I am still waiting for my last sock club parcel.
    I’m not going to pretend that you’ve spoiled the surprise as I had already seen the yarn and pattern on Ravelry!
    Looks lovely and will start stalking the postman…

  110. This must be a universal thing for knitters. I’m always throwing “just one more” project in my bag. Ya know just in case I finish the current one. LOL

  111. Lovely colors! I like the pattern too. Today, it’s Sunday so I presume that the socks are done? Are they on your Christmas knitting list?
    Bravo!

  112. Oh boy, you have done it now. You just waved a red flag in front on the knitting fates. Good luck!

  113. Stephanie, you so get it! It’s good to have confirmation that we knitters are not alone in our obsession. Can’t count the times I grabbed a new project on the way out the door.
    I do a fair amount of traveling, and always have plenty of yarn and more than one project, just in case…
    By the way, I fell for the Noro scarf, too. (Before you – that’s a first!) My hubbie is wearing it now, and I bought more for a Clapotis (another) in the same striping.
    Helen

  114. I am absolutely amazed at how quickly you complete a project. It seems to take me forever to complete things like socks. Thanks so for sharing your inspirations.

  115. We went to the UK for 7 weeks and I it was difficult. I had to take my Knit Picks needle set, because what if I needed a needle size I didn’t have with me. I packed what I thought to be more than enough, did a knit-a-long with the local knitters, helped my granddaughter finish her scarf project, (she’s only 3, finished some socks, a skirt, a baby sweater and bought yarn for a scarf. I also had another sweater with me and yarn for two more pair of socks. I was sweating it as the end of the trip neared. Never, ever, ever leave home without more than enough knitting!

  116. Oh….you shouldn’t ‘a’ said that, nope, shouldn’t ‘a’ said that at all. Now I’m going to worry about the knitting gods smiting you. Knit fast, Stephanie, and don’t look back!

  117. I’m considering putting together an emergency knitting kit for my car similar to the one I have for highway emergencies. It will never leave my car and I’ll always have something to knit just in case!

  118. I went to the in-laws’ house for 3 days. I brought a sweater in progress, 2 pairs of socks (one not yet started, and one that had only a cuff and 5 cm of leg), and 2 hats (one of which also needs a lining). And then on the morning of Day 2, I went to Webs and bought more yarn. Oh, and my MIL is a knitter. So, yes, I hear you on the “afraid of running out of knitting” thing!

  119. I know exactly how you feel. And, moreover, when I’ve ignored the urge, I’ve been somewhere with nothing to knit while waiting. The new sock is lovely.

  120. Aren’t you supposed to be on a schedule? Has your friend come over to schedule you yet? Did you just say you have Christmas….LICKED? Sending good knitting karma…

  121. I gotta say the hostage and gunpoint joke is a bit unfunny today given what’s been going on in Mumbai. it kind of jarred with me. but I enjoy your blog and i love your books.

  122. Oh, AlisonH…ME TOO!!! A pound is exceptable…my gauge is two extra projects in tow…one not yet cast on. In our house, EVERYONE makes sure mama’s knitting is in the car. It is literally on our morning car ride check list: Mom, knitting? Check. Extra knitting? Check Extra yarn in case? Check.It is just happier that way; peace reigns in the valley.
    I rarely share blogs with my husband, but as he sat near me on the couch I asked “can I read you this?”He laughed so hard and then asked with a straight face…”so what is that piece for? Did you write it for school or an email?” I then had to confess it was not me. He was still talking about it this morning at coffee…

  123. I love that sock pattern and tried to find it on Anne Hanson’s web site, but alas I was thwarted. Where can I get it?
    Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  124. I had to laugh – I knew that my yarn habit had taken over when my husband and I went home for a week (a 12 hour drive that I typically sleep through)and he took one look at the projects I had packed, silently went back in our house, and came back with yarn for two pairs of socks and the needles for them! (No, he’s not a knitter. He just lives with one!)
    It’s contagious!

  125. Good thing you didn’t fly to Thailand in the last month; you could have actually tested the “how much yarn do I need?” question.
    I love the mitten and sock.

  126. Fantastic socks! I love the way the dye job gives nice little mini stripes — it looks so even! You definitely aren’t alone on the just-in-case-knitting thing. I usually have 2 different projects…one if I get a chance to think & one if I won’t. 😉

  127. Wow, you’re a speed demon! I’m still working on the second pair of socks for my MIL. It’s slow going, because I only want to work on her socks during the week, saving my weekends for other knitting. Any other knitting. Sad, but true.

  128. awwwwww!!! I so desperately want to be in the sock club. Every year I want to be in the sock club but have been unable to afford it yet!!!!

  129. Right there with you, Stephanie. For my Thanksgiving visit with my family (with 6 hour car ride both ways) I took the following:
    Hat for Dad (finished en route)
    Yarn for fingerless gloves for niece (made while visiting – she was elsewhere)
    Yarn & needles for sample scarf I’m knitting for my LYS (frogged and restarted while movie watching)
    More yarn for a sweater
    Swift and ball winder for above
    My husband asked, Are you going to use that swift while you’re here? I wound up two skeins just to justify having brought the swift and ball winder!
    Did I start that sweater? No, but it was nice to know I could have. And I bought more yarn while there!
    Only knitters would understand this.

  130. Well, they’re bright! Actually the stitch pattern reminds me of something I was just looking at in James Norbury’s book Traditional Knitting Patterns. I’ve got ideas for about a dozen things I need to get on the needle after looking at that book. These socks could totally work. I’m glad I’m not the only one who worries about having enough knitting to make it through wherever I’m going.

  131. I’ve noticed my problem is never “enough” yarn or projects, but enough variety! What if I get bored with this project I just cast on last night? What if I can no longer tolerate knitting on the sweater I’m mere hours away from finishing? What if this yarn I’m totally besotted with, and the pattern I’ve found that’s absolutely perfect for it, turns out to be a bust? What if?!? WHAT IF?!?
    Gorgeous socks, by the way! Anne Hanson is a designing goddess!

  132. I usually knit on my lunch hour at work. One day last year, I forgot to toss my project in the bag. There is not an LYS within 25 miles…Scary huh? I did survive it, but I double check every morning now!
    Can’t wait to cast on my November shipment of RSC, but I just cast on the September shipment (I’m one kit behind). I think September’s kit is going to take me a while too, lots of cabling. That is a gorgeous sock, and the colors are a little different than mine!

  133. I’m so with you, girl! I just packed six projects to take with me on my Thanksgiving travels and was afraid I would run out. It usually takes me two days to pack my projects and thirty minutes to pack my clothes.

  134. Am I the only person in the world who started her Christmas Knitting last month?
    Does that make me a bad person?

  135. Oh… I’m pitying me now too. I’m pitying me because I’ve been seeking the perfect pattern for some very dizzying hand-painted yarn and now I’ve found it. And now I can’t have it.
    pitypitypity

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