Holy SOCKS!

Wow, lots of great news! First of all, I finished most of the first Tiffany mitten last night while watching our own Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon. [We rent the show on DVD and watch a bunch of episodes in a row--nice for knitting, because I've already seen them all.] I finished all but the "after thought" thumb. Hey, that's what it's called.


The thumb business is kind of freaking me out. Now, you'd think that I'd be so excited to finish (ok, start) the thumb and be done with one whole mitten, but I'm not. Honestly, I spent most of the morning avoiding the whole project. I did important things like clean the toilet and stuff. Finally, I got over it and sat down to look at the darned thing...


What I'm supposed to do is pull out the pink waste yarn and pick up 11 stitches from below and 11 stitches from above and start going, basically. Say what?! What if it starts to unravel, you say? Hmmm...the thought crossed my mind. (Understatement of the year, here) There is an option to pick up the stitches before you pull out the waste yarn. Yes, novel idea, I know...

Obviously, I am going for the "before" version. I did get the ones under picked up, but I guess I don't have a clue how to get the stitches from above onto the needle. Now, I could just start pulling the yarn and try to pick them up as I go, but somehow I cannot seem to wrap myself around that one. Apparently, I'm a "conservative" knitter. Tonight I will look up the afterthought thumb and see if I can't come up with some answers. And if you have any, by all means--share. Really, I'm begging you.

The wonderful part is this:


This is the black and blue together WITHOUT a flash, and I think they look smashing! Who, me? Worry?Woohoo for instinct!

Now, I can't work on my dummy project, because once again, I have run out of yarn on a project. Seriously, what is it with me? And to think when I started at WPI, I was a math major!! While I wait for more yarn to finish the Jester Hat, I decided to cast on my first ever sock. I used Knitpicks Blue Violet Multi Essential sock yarn (I have two 50 gram balls--is it enough?) and cast onto US 1 needles. After perusing Knitting Rules by the Yarn Harlot, I chose to give her basic sock recipe a try. Rather than swatch, I figured I'd just go with it. I cast on 64 sts, over 2 needles, and joined then ribbed. I'll practice, and see how the gauge works out. My work is generally too loose, so my hopes are that the smaller #1 needle will be to my advantage. We will see. (Plus, my #2's are in the Tiffany mittens, you remember.) I think this is just exciting and amazing news. (I can see you on the edge of your chair there--don't fall off...) Here's how it looks:


My last great news is that school starts tomorrow, here. The timing couldn't be more perfect. Last week I hit the wall, wondering when summer break would ever be over. However, now I'm feeling rather melancholy about my oldest starting the first grade. How I will miss her all day--ironic, isn't it? But it's still good news...

Ps. Qutecowgirl, thanks so much for the advice on how to fix the bunchy stitches. I tried it a little and it's working. I'll do more later, but I can see it coming along. Appreciate the help!