Yesterday Laurie wrote: (sorry, hold on a minute, yesterday I got some of the funniest, cleverest comments, simply a parade of entertainment. If you didn't read them...go back now. I'll wait for you)
"By my count, you are ahead in the positive column by one -- wine and chocolate. And you DID abandon the Dublin Bay when it prove unattractive to you, now didn't you? So you are willing, for aesthetic reasons, to abandon a pattern you LIKED, but you are unwilling to abandon a pattern you seem to find (ahem) frustating in the extreme? Does this mean that you LIKE the way these socks look? 'Fess up. "
Fine. It's like this, I've discovered that I don't like entrelac. Well, that's not entirely fair. I don't like it in this application, this is the only entrelac I've done, could be that it's more fun than sliding around naked in skeins of Koigu (not that I would know) if you have the right project. It's not that I don't think entrelac is worth it. It's not even that it's too hard. (Nothing is too hard for the Harlot, sorry...third person bravado again) it's like this....
I'm not sure it's worth it. I've got no problem with hard. No problem at all, but if I'm going to spend a lot of time on something, I want the darned payoff. These socks should be incredible. They are fussy and clever and they should look like a million bucks. For the amount of time that they are taking, they should be so breathtaking that people consider dedicating their lives to the pursuit of poetry and the spell of a really, really good sock when they see them.
Instead I've been reduced to the knitters version of the horrible bar game that sweaty men play...."Drink until she gets pretty".
This is not me. So....No, I don't know where the sock is. Couldn't tell ya. May have been stolen out of the back of my car.
In the meantime. I was in desperate need of a little glorious victory, so I finished Joe's socks.
A big thank you goes out to Joe for agreeing to put his legs and feet on the blog. The man was pretty co-operative this morning, which makes me wonder if the twitch over my eye from the entrelac is more obvious than I think. The pattern is from here
but just to give it a little harlotty (is that a word? Is now.) edge, I reversed the pattern and knit it toe up, to make the most of the yarn (#1319) which is darned nice indeed.
I'm going out in the sunshine now, and don't be looking around here for that sock while I'm gone. I told you, I don't know where it is.
Posted by Stephanie at April 23, 2004 10:54 AMEntrelac? Socks?? I don't remembering anything like that. Have no idea what you're talking about! ;-)
Posted by: Amanda* at April 23, 2004 11:08 AMWell, if you don't know where the sock is, then I guess there's no chance of you rewinding the wool and joining the BroadRipple Secret Society :( Voldemort and I are most displeased (see Aubergine's note from yesterday)
On the other hand.....hey Joe: Nice legs!! Let's see more baby! Take it all off!!
Socks are lovely, too ;) pretty grey!
That's right Harlot. No Sock. No where.
Don't even contemplate putting it in your stash- the yarn is forever tainted, like Mercury in the soil or salt in your eyes.
Liberation! Revolution!
Posted by: Aubergine at April 23, 2004 11:20 AMViva la samera!
Get the guillotine. Off with it's... er... um... toe?
(I trusted the net on the 'samera'. Don't quibble - it's for revolutionary ambience)
Posted by: Lene at April 23, 2004 11:32 AMLet's see- a swatch, a shawl, a baby, then I took a few days off- are you thinking of making some socks? ;-) I've heard entrelac does not lend itself to socks. NEXT.....
Posted by: Beth at April 23, 2004 11:41 AMI love Joe's socks! Very cool. I always thought that entrelac looked a little too "crafty" for my tastes. The few times I've seen it in person, it reminded me of the whole "looking homemade as opposed to handmade" thing. Don't lynch me, to each their own. Anyway, glad to see the happy woman is back.
Posted by: LauraA at April 23, 2004 11:49 AMMy only regret about the missing sock-in-progress is that I very much liked Chris's suggestion of an entrelac toe cast cover (for Ken).
As I bask in the reflected glory of being quoted, I find I am dismayed to discover TWO typos in the aforementioned quoted comment. We English professor types typically mark such errors with unholy glee when we quote someone, using the deadly [sic]. I am still more embarrassed to discover these spelling errors when I know that I compose and proofread SO carefully to respond here -- more previewing than posting actually.
More cheerfully, I now realize that I actually OWN THIS SOCK BOOK. Clearly it deserves another look. And I am reserving the "send-it-to-the-prison-knitting-program" as my way of getting rid of moribund projects.
Posted by: Laurie at April 23, 2004 12:09 PMMy prayer for today:
Thank you Yarn Goddess for blessing our beloved Yarn Harlot with dear loved ones who had the good sense to confiscate the eeeevil eeeentrelac sock thereby granting her this day of rest and fun in the sunshine.
Accept the sacrifice of the lovely Lorna's Laces yarn in homage, and grant her a weekend of sweet compliant children so that she may enjoy her knitting on new and inspired offerings.
We worship at Your Feet, Yarn Goddess and understand that you will exact vengeance on those blog fans who encouraged our innocent Harlot on the path of evil, manhandling her in to knitting a thing she knew would not be any fun. Go ahead and make their cashmere pill. May their markers migrate, thereby causing their lace to knot. Only for the most craven among them reserve the ultimate vengeance of MOTHS in the STASH.
Indeed, Yarn Goddess, deliver our beloved Harlot from knots in yarn, pills on cashmere and the dreaded moth. Accept her innocence as she knew not what she did when she hearkened to those who would lead her astray.
Amen
Posted by: Maddy in Florida at April 23, 2004 12:21 PMYou know... my first thought was how impressive that the partially knitted sock could dissapear, yet the kinked up yarn stay in the stash. :-)
Good call. Knit what brings you joy - or at least a huge payoff at the end.
Posted by: melissa at April 23, 2004 12:33 PMIf you should happen to *need* to do entralac, there are some marvelous felted bag patterns. Ask me where and I'll tell ya.
Entralac socks! My foot! What next? knitting with wire and *#!!#@ warmers?!?
Thanks for the laugh and have a marvelous (low stress) weekend!
Posted by: LisaK at April 23, 2004 12:41 PMI knew you had the courage to loose....er.....have the sock stolen. Love the grey socks, and the legs. Both very nice.
I do still lean towards sending the whole entrelac fantasy to Ken to finish. Or the toe warmer for his broken leg. The Knitting Godess will get him for leading you into temptation. Love that prayer Maddy!
Carry on with a new project. Plus I need to know if that Intarsia is a smurf or a spaceman.
Barb
Sock? What sock?
Oh no. Another smurf reference! That's the third I've seen recently.
Don't you be makin' no smurf socks, Stephanie! ;)
Posted by: Rana at April 23, 2004 1:05 PMI whole-heartedly wish your Entrelac sock adieu wherever it might end up (I don't think I want to know). Enjoy your sunshine!
Posted by: Nathania at April 23, 2004 1:22 PMNow this, this is a sock.
Toldyoutoldyoutoldyou.
Feh entrelac.
Yarn Harlots don't stoop to cheap whore tricks.
Maddy's prayer is excellent. Just in case you want to look up the right gods to send it to, this was the result when I typed "yarn" into the godchecker site:
http://tinyurl.com/yqmvl
and this came up for chocolate:
http://tinyurl.com/yv8dg
and of course, you also need wine:
http://tinyurl.com/2fj3u
Best wishes.
Posted by: KarenK at April 23, 2004 1:28 PMThank the goddess that sock is gone! Hopefully only the sock is gone and not all the yarn. You can send your extra yarn to me as I have a way of exorcizing demons from yarn and can then put it to good use.
Posted by: margene at April 23, 2004 1:39 PMGood Girl, y'are. *grin*
Posted by: Rebecca at April 23, 2004 2:11 PMA big thank you to the thief of the entrelac project. Please enjoy the sunshine - you deserve it.
Posted by: Bea at April 23, 2004 4:00 PMJoe's socks look great! Amazing how the other ones vanished, huh?
Posted by: Kat at April 23, 2004 4:05 PMHey yeah--how is that intarsia project coming along? It's Eeyore, isn't it? I can't stand knitting intarsia, so I'm enjoying it vicariously through you . . . as usual . . .
Posted by: chandra at April 23, 2004 5:15 PMI know what happened to the sock. It got too close to the dryer. Since it was only one of what would have eventually been a pair, the dryer went ahead and took it now. And we all know that when the dryer takes a sock, it is lost forever. A moment of silence for the dryer eaten entralac. It couldn't have happened to a better sock.
On a positive note, enjoy the sunshine!!
I frogged the broadripple swatches and am recuperating by knitting 2x2 ribbing in a solid color yarn. Still doing the wine and choco, though.
The gray socks are very, very nice.
Have you considered overdying the LL with black cherry Kool-aid?
Posted by: Sylvia at April 23, 2004 5:50 PMLove Joe's socks! Mostly because I made them too! But my pattern was in a Kroy socks/gloves booklet "Classics in Kroy", which only proves that all old patterns come back again. I just checked, and my picture looks just like what's on Joe's feet, except with more cable repeats - but I think 6 of those babies calls for just a bit more stamina and attention span than I can muster. I made mine even shorter than you made Joe's - with only 1 1/2 cable repeats. As for the entrelac, what entrelac? Who said entrelac? Entre-who?
Posted by: Karin at April 23, 2004 8:21 PMYH, I missed the whole thing! --stupidwisdomteeth. I am glad you have not been defeated by the sock-who-will-not-be-found.
I absolutely love Joe's socks. The graceful cables, the warm goonchy looking yarn... They almost inspire me to try socks, but that is probably just the pain meds talking.
(ps, I finally finished the little sweater!)
Posted by: Chelsea at April 24, 2004 3:03 AMSteph: I suspect the reason that you did not like the entrelac is that the squares are so small. It was too fussy. You had to be constantly casting on instead of sailing on for a while. It is a cool technique. You might try something with much bigger squares, like an afghan. Then it is fun to watch the woven pattern develop. I've done 3 afghans this way, and they have been great hits. In the meantime, I saw that you got See's candy. My favorite is the bordeaux. Do you agree ? Betsy
Posted by: Betsy at April 24, 2004 11:06 AMoops, should have read this entry first -- i commented on the old entry where you vented about Vickie Starbuck. I mean, because I could relate to the anger about the pattern. So sorry to hear you've dropped them by the wayside -- I was really looking forward to seeing how yours turned out. But they were driving you nuts -- so I think it's great you're moving on to other projects.
I almost gave up on these socks when I got to the heel. In fact I took several days off to mourn. But, I kept going. I haven't taken a new photo for the page yet... but... I've discovered... apart from disliking this particular pattern... I love doing entrelac. That's what I've learned from these socks. It apparently fits me some how.
Drop by sometime and I'll update my project page for my socks (http://www.devbear.org/project_entrelac_socks.html)
Posted by: devbear at April 24, 2004 11:16 PMI did an entrelac felted bag. Giant-size blocks, pretty cool. Now I'm working on an entrelac sweater. Been fun so far. YOU were going to be my inspiration for creating the third in a series. But you're right...naked Koigu-dipping sounds like a lot more fun.
Posted by: Sharon at April 25, 2004 12:59 PMWhat good are knitting friends if they can't make a bad sock disappear from time to time? We know people, you know. By now that entrelac is at the bottom of Lake Ontario in a cement shoe. Dans-le-lac, if you will.
Joe's socks, on the other hand (foot?), are spectacular! Beautiful work.
Posted by: alison at April 26, 2004 11:48 PMmoths in the stash? ouch! some of us are vindicitive, no? ken, however, i'm sure would appriciate some plain and boring toewarmers to keep him warm while he nurses his *mysteriously* broken leg.
Posted by: roza at February 3, 2005 12:14 AM