I've always prided myself in being someone who was a little ahead of the times. I started collecting teddy bears when I was in high school and after I got sick of getting teddy bears in every conceivable form, I was pretty tired of them. Then teddy bears became popular and I was really done.
I've also always collected tacky plastic snow globes from places I visited. At first it was hard to find them. They were totally out of favor and only the most tacky dirty places had them like rest stops along highways and scary looking little shops on busy streets. The search was half the fun! But then I started receiving "gifts" of snow globes. Soon everyone was bringing me snow globes from all over and it was getting easier to find them... They have made a comeback! I was on the "cutting edge" of snow globes and now they are everywhere. I don't think I'll give up my collection --it brings me too much pleasure. I just love the hunt and I still try very hard to find the tacky plastic ones. Since they have become popular, they are often have resin bases and glass (!) globes... Don't get me wrong, they can still be tacky but I love love love when I find the plastic ones.
A number of times in my life it seemed I was interested in something right before it became really popular. Hmmmm wonder if I can make this talent work for me somehow. A predictor of trends.....
Okay, so what was my point? Oh yes, ME...ahead of the trend. So when the knitter world started getting excited about socks and sock yarn, I resisted. I'm not jumping on the bandwagon to start knitting socks. First off, they look scary. Second, I'm not doing it just because everyone else is.
Then, I started touching sock yarn and seeing other knitter's sock projects. And it appeared to be a portable project...at least that's what the other bloggers said. So I succumbed. How hard could it be? I can do all the typical knitterly things. I'm no longer just doing garter stitch. I've successfully cabled a whole bunch of really cute headbands. So last weekend, I headed off to my favorite yarn store and interviewed the ladies there about the best method, tricks of the trade, etc.
I decided on a project and decided to use a simple pattern and 5 double pointed needles after rejecting the double circular needle method, the magic loop method and an interesting approach that the shop lady showed me where she knits almost exclusively on a 12" circular needle.
So here is a picture of my project from yesterday afternoon when I loved my sock.
Since this picture was taken, I have knitted the heel flap and attempted to turn the heel. This was not pretty and I was practically in tears at something like midnight when I finally gave up, put the sock down and walked away. This morning, I reviewed some other patterns and do believe that I was a victim of poorly written instructions. So later today...much later today...I will sort through my other patterns and see if I can figure it out.
So instead, I'm moving back to a cool quilting UFO that is partially quilted...my first machine quilting project (other than a small bag I made to practice free motion quilting). I started this a few years ago and am now eager to get started on it again.
It is a series of fabric origami squares. You actually fold the fabric just like origami paper and then sew it into a frame. You can actually pick up the little flaps of the origami. I've already done a "stitch in the ditch" outline around each white background using white. I think the sashing and border with be done with a cool metallic in the same colors as the quilt. I haven't decided what I'm doing with the white background of each. The origami itself must stay un-quilted so the flaps still move. Here's another picture:
So little sock, you must now take a "time out" while I work on something that doesn't require holding five needles at once and reading some very bad instructions...
Maybe joining the crowd wasn't such a good idea.
