I'm bummed that the purl diamonds don't show up any better on these socks, adapted from the "Gentleman's Sock with Lozenge Pattern" in Knitting Vintage Socks. You can see the silk gleam, though; they're made with Regia Silk. These are a birthday gift for the lead guitar player in my rock band. (I only knit socks for my band members and some of my blood kin.)





These are what I'm knitting on today. I've recently discovered Tofutsies, thanks to a ball I got in a yarn swap. I'm just knitting them by my usual decide-as-you-go toe-up method. I think I'll call them the Oil Slick Socks because the coloration reminds me of the dark rainbow on a puddle in an asphalt parking lot.







Those little metal needles are 6" size 0 Hiya Hiya stainless steel, which are now my very favorite double points. They're unbelievably light and they don't break in my purse, as happened recently with a Crystal Palace bamboo needle. I had just been to the dentist and found out I had cracked a molar and would need a crown, and then when I dropped my purse into the car, snap! I went directly to the LYS and bought the Hiya Hiyas.

Aha! Would you believe that uploading works much better if your USB hub is plugged in?

These are the Waving Lace Socks from Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave. I used Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Lilac.











Here is my second pair of Lavender Lace Socks from Vogue Knitting On the Go: Socks Two. They are made from Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Natural. I also made a pair for my friend Traci a while ago in Sage Shepherd Sock.









In fact, I just noticed that these two pairs of socks were by the same designer, Evelyn Clark.

Last pair for today: Charlene Schurch's Ripple Weave Socks, from the Fall 2006 issue of Vogue Knitting. More Shepherd Sock, this time in Blackberry. Yes, that's my white leg.

Be warned that the stitch pattern chart has an error in Row 3; the yarnovers should be one stitch farther to the left. Study rows 1 and 5 and you'll see what I mean.

Hah! You thought this blog was dead! But it was merely comatose. I'm taking a break from investigating every free sock pattern on the internet. You, too, can spend countless hours on this endeavor. Check out this enormous list.

For my next trick, I might actually figure out how to post photos of some of the ten pairs of socks I've knitted this summer. That's right, complete PAIRS of socks. I'm not even counting the singles.

The Einstein coat is done. I define "done" as (1) being wearable and (2) having no needles in it. Property (2) is not redundant; the other day I had left the house without a jacket, and when I became cold, I put on the Einstein, complete with a circular needle hanging from the collar. The people at the pharmacy were rather amused.

Today I left the house without a coat AGAIN (doh!) and ended up buying a new winter coat. Now, mind you, I did not actually buy a coat BECAUSE I was cold; I bought it because it was on mega-clearance-sale and it was the perfect shape and the perfect shade of dusty purple. I was smart enough to buy it on the small side, so it should still fit me next winter. (A size 8! How cool is that!) I am really happy that I am sufficiently close to my goal weight that I can knit sweaters for myself that I expect to be able to wear long-term, instead of merely temporarily.

I finished the Wedge Pullover. It got rather larger when blocked, but it's a casual style, so it still looks good on CH. He's requested a cotton sweater for next time, though, as the wool gets rather warm in the building where he works. I thought this was a fine excuse to buy a Honking Great Pile of Classic Elite Spotlight off elann.com. Never mind that the colors I got were the ones that would look fabulous on ME...

Meanwhile, I'm nearly done with an Einstein Coat. River Wools recently offered an Einstein Coat class; a bunch of my friends were in it, so I dropped in to see their projects-in-progress, and got inspired. I had a ridiculous quantity of Jamieson's Chunky Shetland in stash and it seemed like a good use for it. I was tremendously pleased that, although at the time I bought the book I would have needed to make the largest size, I can now wear the adult Small. Comfortably. And I only had to make a couple of teensy-weensy changes. First, the underarm bulk was more than I could bear, so I sewed a short seam up each side (connecting the upper right front to the upper back, etc.) to raise the armhole. Perfect! Second, I needed to narrow the neck opening a bit, so I left fifteen bound-off stitches unsewn on each side instead of seventeen. Also perfect. I just have to finish re-knitting a sleeve and I'll be done.