Drive By

Today I’m right in the weeds, my petals – so this will be a quickie. There’s actual, bona fide progress on the new blog, after a glitch with the server that I don’t understand at all, but has resulted in the technical decision to migrate to a new server, and I don’t understand that either.  Servers, templates, themes, plugins, databases… I just want to put up a picture of a sock, and talk about it with you. That’s all I want.

Pictured here, the next sock in the queue, and as I knit it, I wonder if I’ve taken the colour thing a little far? This is Trekking XXL 550,  and it is searingly, fantastically bright in a way that makes every fashionable thing from the 80’s look washed out. This morning when I took it out of my bag at the optometrist, the lady next to me gasped involuntarily.  I’m convinced that she simply hadn’t seen a colour like that since the winter set in and was shocked into remembering that such a fantastical thing could exist. I bet she woudn’t have blinked if it was August.

Or maybe it’s too bright. Hard to tell.  These socks will be the second ones of the year, and that’s pretty awesome, since I made myself a little promise that this year I would have twelve pairs finished by December 1st. I made this promise December 23rd, when a whole sock and a half still loomed in front of me after knitting the crap out of the whole month and still coming up short.  Not this year – and not socks. Twelve pairs by that deadline means I need to churn out a complete pair every 27.83 days. I’ve marked intervals on my calendar.  As I was flipping through, counting out 27 days and then putting ” L sock” or “M sock” in the squares (Ladies socks, Mens socks – so that I don’t get stuck with all the huge ones at the end, such are my fantastical and amazing powers of procrastination)  it occurred to me that this might be a little obsessive and weird.  “Too far?” I pondered, as I considered colour coding the reminders to make sure that I knit a proper and full spectrum… and then I remembered what it felt like to have 36 hours and two socks to go, and I kept right on going.

Obsessive? Maybe.  Effective? I bet it is. Ask me in December.

149 thoughts on “Drive By

  1. I like your human being tester that makes me drag a shape. It seems so much more fair than “type these hard to see letters”

  2. Didn’t have a chance to wish you a happy blogiversary, and to thank you for the laughter and moments of pause you’ve brought to my life for the last several years. Hope the new format for the blog is a big success and sufficiently thwarts the spammers!

  3. Love the new layout! Death to spammers! I’m so glad you’re up, any chance we can get more petals pics? Any pics.? I need your blog to get me through work. I work in a call center and when someone’s yelling at me on the phone I read your blog and remind myself there are still nice people in the world.

  4. At last the big Reveal! Do you feel like you’ve been on one of those home renovation shows?

    Hope your new virtual living room has the chesterfield you’ve always wanted. Hope Ken has the actual beer he’s always wanted.

  5. I’m so glad you’ve got the new blog site up and running because I couldn’t wait (well I could. ‘Cuz I had to ) tell you that the new socks are not too bright…as a matter of fact I love them…but maybe I should also say that one of my favorite colorways was called “clown”… Nope I think I won’t mention that !

  6. Congratulations on your new blog site…you have been inspiring me for the last three years, and have been one of the main inspiring bits behind my decision to leave medicine, move to the Himalayan mountains, and take up knitting full time!! love this smarter, sleeker look of the blog!!

  7. Glad you’re settling in to the new site.
    Can you buy yarn while you’re away? If not take a couple more balls of sock yarn. They won’t take up much room and you know what traveling is like without knitting. Wingspan is a nice travel knit as an alternative to socks.

  8. (bug? on my iPhone, I couldn’t get the drag and drop security thingy to work, and when I clicked on the speaker icon, nothing happened)

    Oh dear, now that I’ve spent about 6 hours struggling to do my first cable cast-on of 220 stitches, I realize I’ve been twisting the stitches as I transfer from the right to left needle. They’re all twirled round and round my needle. I’m working with a very sticky bulky Cascade baby alpaca and it’s taken 2 days to get the concentration to get it done perfectly…wrong.

    Does anyone know if I can continue knitting a sideways scarf without any related problems, or should I really really rip and restart?

    Thanks as I try to get to “intermediate” level knitting.

  9. I met you in Ohio way back when…remember ?
    Thanks for all your hard work (you) and easy reading(me) the last ten years.

    I learned and still use your recipe for socks …yet (still).

    I love the new.

  10. I really love the look of the new site, and it doesn’t seem too different from the rest (I hope you’re happy about that as well) 🙂
    I hope you’ll like to work in the new platform, because I’m sure we’ll love how it looks (and works) from this end.

  11. Wow! Like you, I have a hard time with change. That can make life difficult for people like us because the one thing that is guaranteed in everyone’s life is change. However this change looks really nice! Congratulations on your new blog. I’m so happy that the comments back up. Hurray for Stephanie!

  12. Hi Stephanie,
    first time writing!! Maybe it’s because the new site is more user-friendly? Following you almost religiously. Reading you is always a bright part of the day. Keep on writing. And knitting, of course!

  13. I like seeing your blog in this new format and always enjoy your writing. I especially like the photographs of knitting — you have inspired new projects many times.

  14. Very nice!! Hope we can still search the archives from here. I got stuck reading old post one time, when I stumbled across Joe and his pet hamster. Priceless… Congratulations on the cha-cha-cha-changes!!

  15. Steph, I know change is hard for your and you were worried that a new look would be hard for us. I just want to tell you that the new look here is like you putting on a new sweater that you knit for yourself. A lot of work went into it, it’s beautiful, and you are still you inside it…and that’s why we all come here. xo

  16. New blog site is very nice. I especially like the comments section; much easier to read. And the socks are not too bright–they are perfect! I keep coming back to look at the picture. I just want to wrap all those wonderful colors around myself.

  17. Love the socks! I need to work on something colourful too. I’m spinning up greyish green right now, not enough colour.

    Congratulations to you and Ken for getting the site moved over onto WordPress. Porting your old blog into this must have been a lot of work.

  18. Yay! You survived the BIG move! Welcome back, it looks great!
    And a belated congrats on 10 years for the blog, here’s to 10 more!

  19. I really like the new format, congrats on 10 years and yes, that is too little knitting to take…. especially for one who knits as quickly as you do…. but I’m sure they’ll have yarn wherever you’re headed to 🙂

  20. The new format seems just fine, nothing to fret about! From me, also, congrats and thanks for putting yourself out there, being informative, witty, wise and unwilling to compromise your own morals in presenting a public face. Thank you. I’m quite proud to call you a fellow Canadian (and knitter).

  21. Wow. Congrats on getting it moved! So much work I can’t imagine. I really hope this ends the nasty spam.

    I usually read on my iPhone, and it’s a little wonky there but I’ll read on the computer. Nothing will keep me from the Harlot!

  22. The new format works very well. The photos are clear, the colors are brilliant( or maybe that’s just the sock). Congratulations on the Tin anniversary. Looking forward to ten more. One day at a time.
    I have to brag- The Seahawks won the Super Bowl, and the kicker is my husbands nephew. We have been cheering all season.

  23. Love the new look. Really like the ability to scroll through the months. Also how the calendar month shows in archive, makes it easier to read archive chronologically. Typeface easy on eyes. Great job!

  24. I’ve only recently started to knit again, and found your blog just since the first of the year. I love it, and am slowly working my way through the archives to get caught up. I really shouldn’t do this at work, since on more than one occasion I have found myself trying to laugh silently, with tears in my eyes from laughing so hard.

    The new blog looks great, like an update of the original, rather than something entirely new. Congratulations on 10 years.

  25. Trying again I dragged the truck many times but apparently I fail at being human. Anyways love the new site,may it keep out the forces of evil. I totally love the bright sock yarn it reminds of some 60’s colour ways I remember wearing. As my mother said (about me wearing lots of black) “you’re dead a long time, wear some colour”

  26. I think that is the perfect amount of color to be working with for this time of year. And whatever makes your Christmas knitting not so crazy pants is good, right? There are reasons I don’t knit for Christmas or other deadlines.

    But really, I love the colors of those socks and the previous pair. Definitely needed in February.

  27. Love-Love-Love the new layout; welcome to WordPress. My new monitor is wider than my tele (i’m not rich, just old) and I was minimizing the screen of your original site just to read the text. Of course, I would read your words on any monitor, even the old 1980’s model, aka the stone tablet.
    Congratulations and hugs all around.

  28. Not quite the brightest yarn I’ve seen – I was lucky to get some ‘Walking on the Sun’, and you need sunglasses to look at it.

  29. Love the new look, and especially the spammer-foiling thingy….. I hate the ones with the deformed letters that I can never read. Have a lovely trip wherever you’re off to, someplace warm I hope. And no, I don’t think you have enough yarn, you could whip out a Colour Affection in a fraction of the time it takes mere mortals. Best to be prepared….

  30. Like the new look and the spam blocker. Great job! IMO, you can never take enough yarn on vacation. You just never know! Safe travels.

  31. I like the new look. It is not so different but cleaner and tighter (in a good way). Good luck with it. I hope the comments behave!

  32. Maybe it’s just me and because I’m viewing this on my phone, but, the header isn’t aligned when I look at the blog. The search box is in the middle of the header, and knitters without borders is in a big ol black box with one line for each word. Regardless, yay for progress on the blog! Stay away spam-bots!

    • It’s not just you. That’s how it looks on my Samsung Galaxy 4 using either Chrome or Dolphin. Nonetheless I like the new site.

  33. Knitted socks have a duty to be obnoxiously bright. These could be MUCH brighter! I think these are darling! I love the new look-it’s clean and functional and trim. I hope it zings like a new car. And I hope you’ve discovered that change doesn’t have to hurt. Lastly, I am in love with the user friendliness of the the drag and drop humanity tester. If only more sites used this format! Good Choice!

  34. Congratulations on a great transition. The socks are glorious, just what my husband loves the gaudier the better so long as they are hand crafted

  35. I love the new look, I hope it works well for you!!

    Thanks for continuing to blog, you keep me going and wanting to continue to knit!

  36. I hate change too! Really hoping I can actually comment, drag and drop on Android is often a problem and there isn’t any sound when I try the alternative method. That said it now looks a lot better and easier to read.

  37. Lovely new site that looks enough like the old one for comfort (I’m just like you when it comes to changes and new things). I love the spammer foiler, too.

    Please convey to Ken our deepest regards and most profound thanks!

  38. I wasn’t going to comment (how many times can a person say, “love the new site?”) But man, the new spam foiler is awesome and fun! Looking forward to many more years of reading…

  39. Oh Boy!
    She’s back and boy does the harlot’s new home look smashing! So do the socks. I love Trekking for socks along with Opal. Will have to get the sock needles out and make some more socks. Have not done so in about a year. A floor loom and teaching others how to knit have taken over of late…but with sock yarn that looks like springtime…gotta make some socks!

    bjr

  40. I like the new look… Change is hard for me too but I don’t think this will take too long to adjust to! Sent you an email with my KWB donation…..I too am knitting bright socks. What a winter we are having. I live in Peterborough.

  41. Just wanted to say that I love the new look of your blog, I really think that you’ve managed to keep all the important bits, whilst modernising others. Oh, and those socks are not too bright at all. I’ve just finished a pair in Regia ringel’s clown colourway. No other yarn can be considered bright by comparison, they’re very nearly neon!

  42. Loving the new look.
    I’m looking forward to another 10 years reading about all your adventures – oh and knitting, too! (smile)

  43. No, those socks are not too bright at all. They’re just what people need in this shivering dark of a winter! Love the new blog, and glad to see it and the comments back!

  44. This new format is so much crisper and easier to read. I hope it keeps the spammers away. Thanks for all the work you (Ken) did to keep us in stitches!

  45. The new blog look is nice, and the sock is NOT too colorful. If it should be too colorful for you, I’ll bet one of your colorful daughters would love it!

    Besides, it’s winter. You need to knit something colorful right now, when everything outside is in shades of white and gray and -40 wind chills. If the many colors in the sock are too jarring, try knitting something in one strong, bold color like lipstick red, daffodil yellow, or royal blue.

  46. Major procrastination (how can it be 10 years??) keeps getting in the way of my congratulations and sincere thanks for all you’ve shared and accomplished with this blog. You haven’t met me, and if I saw you in public I would be too nervous to introduce myself, but I would totally Kinnear you. In honor of the anniversary I’ve donated $10 to Doctors Without Borders. Hope others will too. Knit on Yarn Harlot!

  47. I like the dragging the symbols 🙂 Thank you Ken and Stephanie for all this work! I’m so glad the blog is up. The sock is scrumptious in this new format. And, how are your eyes, was it really just an eye-test flunk? All OK now? Happy Blogiversary too!!!

  48. Maybe you’ve addressed it before, but how do you organize your knitted gift box? Do you have items in mind for certain people, or do you just knit a bunch of stuff and sort out who they could go to later?

    I am TRYING very hard to work on my own gift box this year, but how do you plan what goes in the box? Inquiring minds want to know………(or at least I do)

  49. I’m also chasing the winter grays with bright-colored sock yarn –Regia, I think.
    Hope the assorted snowy weather that’s extending my visit to my great-nephew and his parents doesn’t foul up your travel plans.
    Congrats on the blog upgrade and drag/drop proof of humanity.
    Here’s to the next 10 years of knitting and blogging and teaching and authoring and whatever other great things the knitterverse holds for you!

  50. Sharp, contemporary, clean format. It was worth it. Keep up the great teamwork. Meanwhile, I’ll be dropping my X into the O…..

  51. Nice! But I do miss the sidebars at the top– makes for lots of scrolling.
    Easy to read, though, so I guess there are trade-offs for everything.

  52. Like the new format, but now I can’t seem to bookmark the blog as a live feed. Are you going to add a subscribe button later? Or am I missing something?

  53. The blog looks great! I just wanted to mentioned that when I went to past postings the post quivered when I scrolled down. Has anyone else noticed that?

  54. Hmm, I’ve been thinking I am human…Anyway, congrats on the new blog; give Ken my regards & a big hug for me. I’ts not possible to have colors too bright for this time of year, the socks are lovely!

  55. Beautiful socks! Love the colors, but I think that I’m starved for some color too. I’m ready for spring. The new format is great and for some reason, it seems easier to read. Not that your other blog was difficult, it’s just different in a good way.

  56. The new blog is beautiful. I noticed that the website quivers when I scroll in the old posts, is that possible to fix?
    Enjoy the sea and warmth!

  57. Have fun in Mexico! How blessed you are. I have had a sock on the needle for a year. I’d like about six pair for next Christmas. I’m going to need magic–or to buy them : )

  58. I have to say, I love the new comments section. It’s lovely, and easier to see who is saying what. The old format intimidated me 🙂

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