In no particular order.

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I’ve tried, but cannot make the things I wanted to talk today go together about in any sort of a charming and cohesive way. This established, I shall no longer attempt it. Be prepared for galloping segueways and hopeless lack of reason.

1. KnittyOtter writes:

Do you have an itemized inventory list of your yarns/roving/kits or anything? With so much it can be a bit of a hassile to dig through when you want to find something.

Sorry. I thought I could answer this but I’m laughing too hard.

(The short answer would be “no”. My Stash is of the Free Range variety.)

2. Juno and I took the sock to Princeton. She’s been bugging me to post pictures, so to appease the woman (plus I am sucking up so she will leave me her new wheel when she departs this earth) here they are.

Sockprinaarch27

Sockprinlatin27

Socktigerprin227

Socktigerprin27

As an aside, I noted while I was there that Princeton is exactly the sort of school that reveals all my biases. I see all that ivy and architecture and (Independently of their educational reputation) I think “Wow. You could really learn something good here.” I’ve probably seen one to many movies.

3. I finished the Harlotty socks.

Harlottysocksdone27

Pattern: Feather and fan sock from Socks, Socks, Socks. Yarn “Harlotty” colourway in Socks That Rock from Blue Moon (if you email them I hear tell that you can get your own skein.) A note about this pattern: I don’t know what mystic thing warps the time space continuum when you start…but these are the fastest socks in the world to pull off. I can’t explain it. Totally trippy.

4. I am knitting new socks. These socks. These incredible socks.

Kitristart27

These are the Kitri Socks from The Tsock Tsarina, where I had a wee accident at Rhinebeck. I am in love. The sock is knit in a fan pattern that’s a trip and a half, but the real excitement is the lace cuff. The beaded lace cuff. The beaded lace cuff with the beads PRE-STRUNG on the yarn. (Sorry. That last thing was the clincher for me.) I am delirious with the joy of it.

5. Note to whomever ate the last Jamaican veggie patty from that freaky good shop in the downstairs of Bathurst Station that I had in the fridge for my lunch: It should be that the wife, mother, organizer and Commander in Chief of this family that can put a savory pastry in the fridge for later without fear that the plague of teenagers who come in and out of this house at a thousand miles and hour will scarf it down while I knit a sock, sleep, bathe or earn a living with which to purchase the groceries, housing and pants that you so desire. I do not know which member of this family ate it…and judging from the wave of denial I encountered during the first stage of my investigation this morning, I suspect that I shall never know, but let each of you understand this.

I’m watching you, and I am not above laying a trap.

That will be all.

139 thoughts on “In no particular order.”

  1. First poster! I can’t believe it!
    Long time lurker, big big fan. Please come to Atlanta. We have fab LYS all over the place and they all sell sock yarn.
    BryAnn

  3. I can’t even tell you how many times I looked at those harlotty socks and thought it was you standing up, wearing a sweater. In fact, I still look at that photo and think it’s you wearing a sweater. Shoot, I’m crazy.
    Must. Not. Sleep.
    Need. More. Brains.

  4. What do you suppose all those freakishly smart people on campus thought about the lady taking pictures of a sock? Probably a new feeling for them to not be able to figure something out…!

  5. “First stage of the investigation….” Hah, hah – that’s me, laughing in sympathy. Maybe you could smell everyone’s breath?

  6. Beads already on the yarn? As someone who threaded 250 beads for a scarf just last night, I am also in love. I love the picture of the Sock with the stone kitty, very fierce.

  7. My mom always threatened to rig stuff to a bear trap. You could always wrap the jaws of the trap with old rags if you didn’t want to take the hand completely off… heh.
    (as an aside, yes, I can have a sick sense of humor.)

  8. How did I miss those sock kits??!???!?! Kitri is amazingly gorgeous. (There are a couple of corrections to that pattern posted today, BTW).

  12. Kitri socks- wow! Those are gorgeous. Feeling intimidated again!
    I liked the sock in mouth foto too.

  14. Good luck with that trap thing. From what I understand, teenagers are very formidable foes. They might thwart multiple attempts.

  15. Oh great! I missed Q&A day. Well, I have a question. A request? A question? Whatever. Is your next book going to be a pattern book of shawls? (See….question.) Please? (Ah crap…request.) Pretty please? I’d so buy it. Even at full price and I don’t buy much for full price!

  16. Steph – you have to put the good food way down on the bottom shelf in the back of the fridge. Teenagers are MUCH too lazy to bend down for food.

  17. Regarding item 5: have you asked the cat? Because I bet it will turn out that all evidence points to her.

  19. Wow, I love the Kitri socks. Prestrung beads, hm. I did notice that she had a little errata sheet posted today for that sock. I will admit to a bias for colleges and universities with beautiful spaces, architecture, ivy, and English perpendicular chapels. Many of them actually do provide top-notch education, but they can be fraught with other issues. But that is not a discussion for here. Lovely socks.

  21. I started trying to organize my stash with an excel spreadsheet, but when I realized it would pretty much cut out most of my knitting time I gave up. I did get far enough into the stash to recognize I have more than 82,000 meters of yarn which as you know is 82 km (about 51 miles, for the American viewers) of yarn! This made me slow down on yarn purchases even though I know my stash is nothing compared to some. As well, I routinely cull the stash and send the selected yarns to other knitters. Just so that it’s not quite so overwhelming. (sorry about the length of the comment – too much caffeine this morning)!

  23. P.S. When I read your post there was one comment, by the time I commented there were 21 comments in front of me. I am in awe! And I love your socks, btw.

  24. Between the dogs and the brother and the father… nothing I purchase for myself ever gets eaten by me.
    Unless it’s got something “gross” in it like roasted veggies, actually the dogs will still eat that.
    Or if a do a load of grocery shopping for the whole fam, then they’re guaranteed not to like anything I buy.
    I don’t even have my own progeny, and I feel your pain. I’m thinking of an electric fence in the fridge…

  25. I gave up trying to organize my stash. I laughed when I saw the question, thinking that if someone asked me that, I would just take them to the bedroom closet and show them. They might pass out though. An entire walk-in closet that should hold clothes instead holds the ever breeding stash. I also love those feather and fan socks and the colorway is wonderful!

  26. (this is coming from someone who moved away from TO 2 years ago and misses it badly) I’m so glad the food place at Bathurst is still open! Does the station still play classical music too? I used to go through there wondering if the music actually increased loitering of classical music fans…

  27. You are an EVIL, EVIL harlot Mrs. Stephanie (tee hee Mrs!).
    How dare you show off the Kitri sock??? Don’t you know that I am moving and purchasing a new home? Don’t you know that said move has lead me to pack and therefore fully understand the vastness of my stash? Don’t you know that having that bit of knowledge makes the guilt (catholic hispanic guilt – double whammy – to boot!) over purchasing any more yarn so excrutiating that I may have to stop eating for the next 3 months to justify the expense???
    How dare you subject me to all this angst???
    Sigh.
    DAMN those are some mighty fine looking socks.
    AAUUGGGHHHH!

  29. Free range stash. *snickers* Good one. Pre-beaded? You’re excused. In fact, it’s mandatory that you buy such things. And uh — kids? Your mom just put the hallowed sock in a giant cat’s mouth. Don’t mess with her!
    You had to tell me I could get that yarn. I have already bought 7 — count ’em — 7 more sock projects. And I’m readying the order for more STR (the holiday colors did me in), and now you mention the Harlotty? I’m sending the bill your way!

  30. Must agree with the others, the lion photo is the best sock photo EVER. Much fun!
    Love the Kitri socks….so purdy! Can’t wait to see how they knit up.
    I hear that mouse traps work wonders on teenagers who like to pilfer pastries. True, they may lose an appendage, but I wouldn’t look at it that way. You would be GAINING the pastry! 😀

  31. Free Range fiber, hehehe. And just what do they graze on, double pointed needles and dust? I sometimes suspect that some yarns are savage cannibals, ’cause I knew I had another skein…

  32. You know, there were things we used to do to food we left in the communal refrigerator in my dorm, to get back at food stealers. But I’m guessing you wouldn’t want to deal laxatives to your own family. Yeah, you’d probably get stuck with the clean-up.

  33. Had to laugh about the stash inventory item. Awhile back, two friends were helping me rearrange rooms, and I heard the wife say very quietly to her husband, “I don’t want to EVER hear another word about how much yarn I have at home.”
    Love the harlotty socks, and it really looks like the tiger statue is sticking its (wooly) tongue out at you.

  34. I think you should get a special veggie patty made up with habanero pepper paste inside of it. You’d find the culprit with the first bite!

  35. You need to put the yummy things under things that no one will eat. Like, in the crisper under the rutabaga.
    I am looking forward to seeing the beaded socks. My tender tootsies would never stand for beads, even as far away as the cuffs. I will admire yours with envy.

  37. Ah…through experience, I can recommend lacing a delicious food item (like a brownie perhaps) with a generous laxative additive. The guilty party will be the one groaning in the bathroom (not too cruel, and very effective). 🙂

  38. You and Juno are both making me homesick for New Jersey, possibly the most underrated state in the union. (I went to Princeton, and whether because of or in spite of the ivy, did learn a lot… including that Princeton is wasted on the young.)
    Sigh.

  39. Just like TrickyTricot, I, too, perceived the Harlotty sock photo as a photo of you in a sweater with your face turned away and your hair blowing around a bit. I looked and looked at it and fianlly it snapped into place as socks on feet. Like that drawing that looks simultaneously like a young woman looking away and like the close up profile of a much older woman or the vase/2 profiles silhouette thing.

  42. I just went back and looked at the Harlotty sock photo again and, now that I know what it is, I can’t make my eyes see the “sweater-wearing Harlot” image again. Hmmm, odd.

  43. I always thought that about U of T, and then I went there. Must have been because I work in all the modern buildings.
    There is something very Paper Chase about an Ivy covered university though.

  45. A blue tongued kitty! Cool…I had the exact same thing happen at work with my lunch today. Only I don’t think you would do to your children what I’m planning for the theif of lunches here. Beaded socks, foot jewels!

  46. Yes, and there will be a couple more corrections posted for Kitri some time today or tomorrow, I’m chagrined to say. That was the insanity that was Rhinebeck, or rather the runup to Rhinebeck. Have I mentioned that it was crazy? I still haven’t figured out how these particular mistakes slipped past me – might have been version creep – but you’re OK until you get to the patterned toe, for which the chart is… um, well, oops, is all I can say, and I’ll have the corrected version posted as soon as I can get back to my desk and my prototype.

  47. Stephanie, thank you for the very much needed phrase “free range stash.” Yeah, that’s it, that’s what I have. Now, tell me what you do when they ask in the shop “Didn’t you just buy size 1 [or whichever size you prefer] needles”?

  48. I laughed too at your first comment. I think I have the best system for keeping track of my stash. I used to find it so much easier to go out and buy new yarn because it was too much trouble to tear the house apart looking for the yarn I knew I already had and it “must be somewhere” in the house. I went out and bought a photo album. The kind with pockets for the pictures. The pockets are key. I then went out and bought recipe cards the size that would fit into the photo pockets. As I located yarn in my house, I cut off a sample and I taped it to the card. I also wrote on the card a description of the yarn, how much I had, what project I had in mind for it when I bought it and most important, where the yarn was stored in the house. I also wrote down anything else on the card I thought would be useful information. I put the completed card in the photo pocket.
    Now I just flip through the photo album. I can play with the cards to see what yarn will go with other yarn when planning a project. I know if I have enough yarn for a project. I can also find the yarn when I want it. The hard part is remembering to change the card if I move the yarn or use some but not all the yarn. When the yarn is done such as used up or given away I remove the card from the photo album and toss it.

  50. When my kids were still home, I used to wrap my food treasures in a frozen lima beans bag. NOBODY ever touched them! (And they’re just now finding out what I did….)

  51. Give it up… you will not be able to eat your own pastries until the teenage horde is all attending places like Princeton. (My oldest daughter–age 12–is going someplace like that, I can tell. We’ll be able to visit her often since we’ll be living in an RV in order to pay for her tuition.)

  52. Good luck with the trap. My husband loves the patties from the Bathurst station, too, while I am partial to their delicious brownies. How that freaky little bakery makes such good treats is a mystery.

  53. Harlotty socks: lovely. Kitri socks: even better. (I’m a sucker for that color.) Stone cat eating sock: PRICELESS.

  54. My mom’s rule was… she got the last bite. In the case of a patty, this would mean the whole thing. Anytime the rule was broken we – the 4 teenagers – had hell to pay (it was very rarely broken).
    Back to yarn… in a fit of fall cleaning last month (i.e., wanting to play with the stash), I pulled it all out and organized most of it on an excel spreadsheet. I have not updated my inventory since then, but have noticed how much has been acquired in this short amount of time. It’s a little scary.

  55. OK – I’ll be sending you the bill for the new keyboard – I really spit out my hot chocolate all over it when I saw the Princeton Tiger with the sock in it’s mouth (it’s ok – I called it a work accident, but still, it was funny)
    and I agree with cursingmama – WebCam all the way 🙂
    Awesome socks!!!!

  56. I second that time warp thingy when it comes to the Feather and Fan socks. Even I, a very ummm…”deliberate” knitter, got ’em done in record time.
    Stop out here at University Park sometime for a sock photo op with the Nittany Lion to add to your college mascot collection.

  57. Those socks from Tsock Tsarina are the best socks ever! I didn’t know you could have socks with dolphins or sheep on them! All of them are just awesome, but I didn’t find an order button…. you are such a tease Steph! Love the harloty socks, and the lion with the blue sock tongue is great.

  58. Oh my – I feel a sudden surge in that person’s bandwidth usage! What an awesome sock pattern. So “almost Pomotamus” yet not. I think I’ll have to make these.

  59. I love the blue-wooly-tongued lion!
    Re: Princeton. According to my son, who toured there back when he was deciding on a college, their version of tradition comes across as hide-bound, petrified, old-boy-network, WASPish, and Republican. His view may have been a bit over the top, though, as he chose New York University, which is listed somewhere as the second most politically active campus in the world, right after the University of Tehran.
    On the other hand, the decidedly non-WASPish-old-boy-network-Republican Albert Einstein spent many years there at the Institute for Advanced Studies, so maybe my son’s opinion is worth just what you paid for it.

  61. Oh damn! A Jamaican veggie burger?! Gotta get me one of those next time I’m in Toronto! Tell your teens not to eat ’em all!

  62. At the age of 19, I chose to go to U of T ONLY because it had pretty old buildings with ivy, which would look SO cool with my wardrobe. I turned down art school admissions at York and NSCAD just for that reason alone. What a dolt.

  63. …uhm…about those feather and fan socks, yes they are quick, it’s the simplicity of the pattern but i have one finished and one 2/3 finished that are nearly two years old. not so fast huh?

  64. Regarding your Harloty socks from Blue Moon Fiber… I did email them and they are dying a pair just for me (along with some other colors- have you seen the new Christmas colors???). They were super nice about it too.
    What weight did you get and what size needles did you use for the feather & fan socks?

  65. I second the nomination. The Nittany Lion needs to be harlot-ized. I’d come to see that, it’s an hour drive. We can all meet in the Creamery.
    Isn’t that a tiger in Princeton?

  66. Stephanie, you might be familiar with my spreadsheet skills, eh? – may I volunteer my OCD (puh-leese, “Organizational Categorizing Duty”) skills to um, (cough) “au pair” and tend your Free Range Stash, that you may mistress and command it at will?
    References may be furnished in any fib(re) of your choice.

  67. Oh, I tried to organize my stash, not once but several times. I made a list of each yarn with all of its appropriate characteristics, how many skeins, a little piece of the yarn, etc., etc. Then, I put the list in each stash container so that I only needed to pull off the lid to see the list. Didn’t work. I just piled container on top of container and NEVER looked in the bottom ones. I probably could open a vintage yarn shop with what I have……Love the socks!!

  69. perhaps the feather and fan sock pattern is the answer to my “why isn’t this sock growing any longer” quandry. Does it have some way of helping me get two socks in the same yarn done in a reasonable amount of time? (aka sss)
    I wonder what it’d take for me to lay claim to one of Juno’s spindles if, heaven forbid, she departs this earth before I do. I thought twice about even writing it (irony = bad) but I can’t imagine spinning on something after she’s used it for years, or after any great spinner/spindler has used their wheels or spindles. I think some of the passion must become a part of the wheel, and perhaps that’s why certain used wheels speak to certain people…?

  71. I generally use the title CEO of the household but Commander in Chief has a good ring to it, too.
    I had a comic stuck to the fridge for the longest time that said, ” You(Dad) get to be the boss until Mommy gets back”
    I like the socks in the big cat’s mouth, that’s where all cats prefer the household wool to be anyway, right?
    Those are very lovely Harlotty socks.
    I’m taking note of the frozen lima bean bag trick, aren’t you?

  72. Hello Stephanie.
    I discovered your blog but a mere two weeks ago, and I just want to say that I Heart You!! I love seeing your projects, you are one funny lady, and thanks to your inspiration, I have just finished my first ever sock!! (I think I’m in love.)
    Keep up the great work, and bring your tour to the DC/Northern VA area!!

  73. I LOVE the freakishly good store in the downstairs of Bathurst station, and no one else ever knows what I’m talking about when I mention it. 3 words: try. the. muffins.

  74. I love the stone cat with the sock! Great pics!
    I hope you were able to find something else for lunch, you will need your energy to knit with all the yarn you got a Rhinebeck!

  75. I’m with the web-cam. And the teenagers (sorry girls) Did they leave the empty wrapping/container in the fridge too?!!
    Free Range Stash!! I love it.

  76. Oh my god, I thought the first lion picture was of a rabbit! You know, like the Monty Python Killer Bunnies.
    Though I should have known – no Ivy League school would have killer bunny statues on campus. Too bad.

  78. Have you considered or already participated in a knitting cruise?
    ps…sorry, I might have eaten that last pastry….hehehe. (oh wait…that was at my house)

  79. Didn’t you know that you have to camouflage the food you want to keep? You have been a mother and wife long enough for that!
    Love the socks.

  80. I cannot beLIEVE you’ve already got a mark on Juno’s new wheel. Not only is the dear woman only one year older than I am, which makes us both younger than you (and let’s face it, the fact she has no teenagers in her house takes YEARS off her chronological age comparitively speaking) but she’s not had that wheel in her posession a full week yet. Honestly. You should be ashamed of yourself.
    … but since you started it, I call dibs on her Dave Paul wheel.

  81. Shameless, shameless, you girls are!
    Um, Juno, dear? If you’re reading this, has anyone called dibs on the wee ebony niddy-noddy? 😉

  82. All PSU grads say AYE! Stephanie, you’ve got to sockize our Nittany Lion. You’ll go nuts at the Creamery — mmm, Peachy Paterno ice cream . . .

  83. kmkat, your son was 100% right about Princeton. I’m a student there now, it’s like a whole ‘nother world.

  84. “The pastry’s the thing wherein we’ll catch the kin.”
    (With apologies to to Billy S.)
    I sit here snickering with plot ideas – boy, some of y’all are fierce! Laxatives? Ipecac? I was thinking a bit more subtle …. something along the lines of *food colouring*. Heh. Reminds me of a time I cahooted with the constabulary to plant some tainted wad o’ cash in the previously pilfered employee lockers. That s**t just don’t wash off!

  85. How funny to see the sock outside my sophomore year dorm room (first picture, ground floor window on the right). Thanks for the memory!

  86. Man, that post really took the edge off of a “hmph”-y day at work.
    I hope you catch the thief… tasty, spicy veggie patties are nothing to go around stealing.

  87. I used to work in Princeton. It’s a tiger. If you ever get the chance to visit the grad student dining hall, bring your camera!
    Next time you’re in the USA, try to get to one of the bookstores that $ell the American version of Bertie Bott$ Bean$, take them out of the boxe$, mash a few (there’s an identification chart on the box) and insert them into a sacrificial leftover. Just don’t forget you did it! _Much_ faster than laxatives or dye.

  88. OK… You are over the top, lol Love the free range… love the lion.. and as for the food steeling… you haven’t learned to hide precious food yet? Bottom shelf, behind the eggs, no one looks there….
    One question…. Where.. oh where did you get the laminated fiber board that fits together to pin your heavenly lace to?
    thanks for the continued enjoyment.. can’t wait till your next book…

  89. Here comes a question I am almost embarrassed to ask but I really want to know – where does one go, wearing such works of art on one’s feet? And what kind of shoe could one possibly wear to display such art?

  90. Hmmm I thought the Harlotty socks were a sweater at first too! Love the colors….and what a smashing idea to use the frozen lima bean bag to hide goodies!!! I bought a house with a spare bedroom…guest room…yea right…it is my stash room…folks can stay there with the understanding that it is the yarns’ room and they are the guests….so it is not quite free range stash…but it does have it’s own bedroom!

  91. I see it! I see it! (The socks that could look like a sweater pic.) I didn’t see it at first. It’s like one of those Magic Eye pictures, you have to stare at it awhile. Top foot is a bent arm, bottom foot is a torso, bare leg is a bare arm. (Wonky perspective and “sweater” looks cropped.) Too funny. In other news, I am loving the Kitri socks. You gotta wear those puppies to Madrona so we can see them in person.

  92. OK, so I’ve only started to read the comments, but I had to jump in to say-
    it’s the Princeton TIGER, girls and boys, not a lion.
    It’s Columbia U. in NYC that has a lion for a mascot (can anyone else here sing, “Roar, Lion, Roar”?)
    Umm, sorry. Guess I got carried away in old school stuff there. And maybe a Princeton grad already posted in a fit of similar pique. I’ll go quietly, officer.

  93. LOL! Oh thank you SO much for the laugh. I live in a house with 5 teenagers and that could SO be me. (God, I even talk like them now….ack!)This is me…, “Yes, those expensive diet ice cream bars in the freezer are mine and if you even THINK of touching them I will wrap you up in string dipped in honey and set you on top of an ant’s nest. ‘Cause obviously you like sweet things and being a pest….”

  94. As a Princeton graduate student — that is, overworked slave — your sock pictures have just made my next trip through campus so much more pleasant and amusing. Thanks!

  95. Does the trap involve pointy sticks and lace nets? I think you could talk to Debbie New and maybe she’d lend her coracle?

  96. You are brave to let your stash roam free. I’d have too many issues with buying the same yarn over and over because I forgot I had some.
    *blush* Yes I recently did that. But it’s okay. It’s not like yarn has ever gone to waste. *L*
    I’m actually working on a system to get my own “far too large stash for such a new knitter” stash under control so as it grows, as it undoubtedly will; I’ll have an idea of what I have. That should help me to manage its growth so I can actually use yarn from my stash instead of just having it be a Dave Daniel’s Yarn Museum. Heh.
    I love your Harloty socks. 😀
    I can’t wait to see how those beaded socks knit up. very Cool!

  98. Teenagers are usually quite easy to catch – they are quick enough to swipe the food but dim enough to leave a trail of crumbs. Or chocolate stains on the t-shirt. Or wrappers in the pockets which I find when I do the laundry…
    Ask me how I know!
    By the way, those of you who can’t get Blue Moon yarn because you aren’t in the US or Canada; Dee at http://www.poshyarn.co.uk will also dye yarn just for you. Her sock yarn comes in cashmere too…She custom-dyes laceweight as well AND she ships internationally. Just saying. For all of us who didn’t get the chance to spend our last pennies at Rheinbeck…
    Eclair = Supreme Enabler

  99. I myself thought the first picture was an otter at first…then looking at the second, realized otter’s don’t really have fangs lol. That tiger’s sock/tongue picture is really good!
    The sock picture: the only way I can see that being a sweater is if it was a side profile and Steph’s head was cut off in the shot. It just looks socky to me.
    Love the Free Range Stash idea, though mine’s in a cubicle organizer from Target 🙂

  100. Beautful socks. 🙂
    oh, and I found this saying funny: Shave the sheep…I mean, er, save.

  105. The photo with the lion attempting to devour poor defenseless sock is the best travel sock pic yet!

  106. Rats, I missed those beaded sock kits. Experience has taught me that I should never leave anything in the fridge in a take out container. Transfer it to a beat-up leftover container and it will not be touched.

  109. The problem with most traps is, if the trap-ee(s) do NOT consume the product, the item has been rendered worthless for the purposes of comsumption for the trap-or.
    I heartily endorse the “disguise” method, whereupon the delicacy is shrouded in the label, container, or bag of an undesirable product.
    The second stage of Operation Secure Treats would be to label the package with a Sharpie, “Mom’s.” If product is still eaten, I would suggest retreat rather than attack. That is, use guilt.
    The third and final stage is expensive and a last resort. Procure your own mini fridge (actually, they’re quite cheap these days, if you’re willing to buy non-North American products) and equip it with a lock, the key to which shall be fastened to a lanyard around your neck. For added security, a web-cam may be hidden in the room, aimed at the fridge, for later viewing of suspects.
    Good luck!

  110. Where would you where kitri?
    Dancing in the streets! 🙂
    Everywhere you’d take your feet!
    Standing in line at the bank the small talk would go something like this:
    “Why yes, the weather HAS been a bit outside the norm for this time of year… but the important thing to ask is, Have you SEEN my SOCKS???” and then kick the clog into the air (and catch it) and yank up that pant-leg if you absolutely must forego shorts. Practice this move at home so it’s smoothly accomplished with finesse, and your shoe/clog/sandal/fuzzy slipper doesn’t end up in the decorative planter across the room.

  113. SOS! Dear Harlot… I am sending out this distress signal to only the highest ranking knitting officials (experts). Can you answer a(what is probably a self explanatory) question from one of the lowly deck swabbers?
    I am knitting JESS by Anna Bell… the pattern instructions say..,
    With yarn held double throughout, cast on.,..
    does this mean it is knitting using 2 strands? I am a tad (more than a tad) embarrassed to post this question, but don’t want to frig up what promises to be a beauty!
    Forever indebted…
    Michelle

  114. Michelle — yes. (This is not a dumb question. This is a self-confidence booster shot.)

  115. i sort of like it when you decide to go disjointed 🙂 my dh is a princeton guy, so he was particularly bemused my the sock’s visits to his beloved stomping grounds. the harlotty socks are really, incredibly beautiful.

  116. The Harlotty sock is beautiful (as is its partner), but what grabbed my attention with the Kitri sock is the little fan on the heel! Leetle fanny-fan! Oh! Aw!

  117. HA! The Sock in the mouth of a lion – reminds me of the time my DH begged to let him take a picture of my treasured teddy bear clutched in the jaws of a huge grizzly carved out of wood. Except that WASN’T FUNNY! OK, I’m officially digging out my sock yarns again, and I am the Worst Sock Knitter on the North American continet. (I do love to try, though — call me the Process Knitter of all time). I do SO love this blog!
    dhr the Badger

  118. OMG – as someone who is owned by a Clowder of Cats, the Tiger eating the Sock is PRICELESS – it looks JUST like one of my crew with a hard-won prize, getting ready to administer the “quick snap to break it’s neck” move…even when it’s a 1)Sock; 2)Catnip Mouse; 3)Cider Bottle Ring; 4)Piece of Cheese. Yep, gotta snap those necks so the prey will go quietly!!!
    As far as Stash goes, I foolishly tried to “organize” mine last month. I mean, I THINK it’s organized…for now….tho, I did end up getting rid of an entire LARGE garbage bag of yarn – No, never fear, it didn’t get thrown away – it went to a nice lady who uses ANY yarn (acrylic, etc) to make lap blankets for hospital patients. However, now that I’ve gotten rid of tons of yarn, I keep thinking I have a particular kind/color, only to search the rest of the stash and NOT find it.
    I have yet to convince my husband that this means I can now go buy moremoremore yarn! I actually left Rhinebeck with ONE new skein. Oh, but what a skein it is….75% kid mohair & 25% wool. Niiiiiice. 🙂
    Oh, I’ve posted pics of the stash on my blog – might as well, since I had it all out! For some reason, my fellow SnB’ers are suprised that I had so much yarn, for only having been a knitter for 2 yrs. Hey, so I’m an overachiever!

  120. And to Miss Ewe’s three words, I add my own: skip.the.coffee. (And the raisin danish things are really good too. And yes you want your patties heated. The fat congeals when they’re cold and sticks to the roof of your mouth. It’s even grosser in person.)

  122. That one person’s right; I also thought that the sock picture was a picture of you wearing a sweater.

  123. Where to wear the Kitri socks? I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m wearing them to my birthday party next week! and the first thing I plan to do when I get there is kick my shoes off and drape myself gracefully over the arm of a couch with feet conspicuously on view. What to wear them with? well, the first thing that leaps to mind is my birthday suit. (Guess that’ll end up depending on who else is invited to the party.) And come this time next year, I hope to be wearing them with the Kitri shawl….

  124. Dahlia..surely you are not suggesting the sauce with Scotch Bonnets ( three weeks in hospital for that stuff)? The first time I tried my in-laws hot pepper sauce I was left speechless ..about two days. The socks are gorgeous .

  125. I love your harlotty socks, on the teenagers/fridge/food issue, I always put food I don’t want them to eat in a tupperware container as they are way to lazy to open anything to see what is inside. Its half-term holidays here and my boys play the “empty the fridge game” on a daily basis!

  126. (with regard to point five) Steph I love it when you try to do “I am the Alpha of the pack and you should all be scared of me”. It’s really cute.

  127. I literally had to write on the foil covering food phrases like”Do not even smell this or all driving privledges/giving of money ” will cease!
    My teenages once ate 3 dozen deviled eggs and a chocolate cake for a potluck in the 1/2 an hour I left the fridge unguarded!
    Great socks-have you tried any of the tilli thomas beaded yarn yet?? Most are affordabe but the one with the swarski(sp) crystals is my lust after favorite and it is 120.00 !! Maybe I can trick(I mean plead) for a skein for Christmas from my first husband who thinks all yarn cost a dollar a skein. Now where did he get that idea????

  129. First… OMG the sock in the mouth of the Tiger is priceless. I ordered the Harlotty colorway when I saw your first sock and already have it in my stash. Now to get the book for the pattern or find a pattern that speaks to these great colors.

  130. Nice to see the old stomping grounds through the eyes of a sock… I went to grad school at Princeton. I can assure you that while SOME of us (mostly the grad students I think) did indeed do a lot of reading and thinking and learning within the beautiful buildings many others did a lot of drinking and goofing off and well… maybe a bit of learning.
    Glad you and the sock liked the tigers! they are pretty awesome statues.

  131. As far as #5, I am in the same boat as Pat Deeleuw — I write threatening notes on coverings/containers — but I also add the threat of bodily harm. The phrase: “The jury would never convict me…..” also works wonders.
    Love the Harlotty socks!

  132. Hmmm…I’ve always considered myself to be a rather cluttered, disorganized soul. However, I most certainly have an inventory for my yarn and fiber! This is important stuff! ‘Course I do still get some little surprises now and then.
    Love the lima bean bag trick! I always put my things under the meat/cheese drawer and behind the eggs. Works great.

  134. Dollie — omg you’re right! (K)nittany lion. It’s a sign from above. Stephanie has to come to Penn State.

  136. About laying traps for teenagers….being the mother of a 30 year old and a 15 year old, I say, let those teenagers eat (your) cake!! All too soon they will be out of the house and you will have all the treats you can eat, but you can’t replace the teenage exuberance and fun that is gone! Indulge them; just like toddlers, this is all a stage and they grow up and leave the nest.

  137. Ohh – beaded socks – love it. I was working on beaded “bum gloves” when The Harlot was in Los Altos, CA – very fun to work with beads (pre-strining kinda sucks, but worth the effort).

  138. I see it!! I finally see the sweater in the sock! (I think that always reading the word “socks” above the socks kept me from seeing the illusion sweater.) Hmm, that might make a neat sweater design. Is it possible to obtain enough Harlotty STR yarn to do a sweater?

  139. Ok, ok, I’m in. I’ve been an avowed sock avoider for years now. I know how to do them. I’ve done them. I just don’t enjoy them. However, I’m currently in the “shawl zone” which might as well be the “lace zone.” I’m now going to have to try the feather and fan socks.
    Ughhh!! I have too many baby blankets to work on right now! 😎

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