Cookie, Canning & a Contest

So my toe-up sock with Cookie A. Thursday night was a lot of fun. The perfect way to end a workday. We made a small sample sock so that we would have time to knit all the hard parts, i.e., the toe, the heel, the gusset, the bind-off, etc. For some, this sample sock made perfect baby socks. They could go home and practice further by making a matching sock and have an instant baby gift on their hands. For me....

It would have to be a baby with mighty fat feet. I put the pen in for scale. The sock doesn't look as big in the picture as it really is. I think these would even be too big for a 3 year old. We used worsted weight yarn, size 7 needles. Oh yeah, and I'm a loose knitter (get your mind out of the gutter!). So no matching sock for this lonely sole. (heh) I bound off to pratice the sewn cast off rather than continuing up the leg.

The class accomplished exactly what I wanted.

• It was a refresher on making socks. I had taken a top-down sock class a few years ago at Stitches, but never actually made a pair other than the class sample.


• It renewed my interest in making socks. I've been thinking about them ever since! Maybe I'll actually make a pair this time.


• I met Cookie! She's very down-to-earth, approachable and patient. Things you would want in an instructor. Her designs are amazing. I bought several patterns.

The Thelonious Sock,

Millicent,

and Rhiannon

But first I'll try something a little more simple! I'm glad I took the class. I don't have a preference to top-down vs. toe-up. I think I have to actually make a few pair before having an opinion. I find it interesting that a lot of people prefer toe-up because they don't like doing the kitchener stitch over a few stitches at the end, yet they'll do a sewn cast-off over 64 stitches. They seem very similar to me. Maybe they do a different bind-off. I know there are other benefits to toe-up. You get past the fussier parts at the beginning and you can knit until you run out of yarn. I wonder what my prefernce will be.

My knitting hiatus seems to be ending. What did I do in my free time if I wasn't knitting, you ask?

I've been playing in the kitchen. We have an apricot and plum tree. We've been told the apricot tree is dying, but it put out a good crop this year. I didn't want the fruit to go to waste like it has in the past, so I made preserves. It's been fun! And tasty! I'll definitely do it again.

On a final note, Ali at Skeins Her Way is having another contest. Let her know I sent you. Good luck!