A sock has got to begin somewhere

A couple of days ago, I was sitting in the break room at work, knitting on my Sockapalooza 4 pal's socks. I don't get much time at work, maybe two, three rounds (knitted two at the same time on two circs), but having so little time to knit these days - that's really important. Anyway, one of my team members goes past the door and sees me knitting (freaking muggles, stop looking at me funny and asking stupid questions unless you own a pair of needles and some yarn you're eager to learn how to turn into something useful). Here's the dialogue that followed:

Pal: "You're knitting baby booties".
Me: "No, these are adult socks".
Pal (raises an eyebrow): "They don't look like adult socks".
Me (stretching the toe and half the instep to show that the width alone negates baby socks): "But they are, look - that's the toe..."
Pal: "They don't look like adult socks".
Me (sighing to myself): "Every sock has got to begin somewhere".


These are the Spring Grass socks and I love them. The pattern is simple and easy to understant and by lucky alignment of the stars, the Lorna's Shepard Sock yarn on size #1 needles works perfectly for the gauge required to fit my pal's feet. Which brings me to the only bummer about this Sockapalooza project: my pal's feet are significantly smaller than mine, by both length and circumference. I'm talking about at least a size and a half down. I can't even have Ant try them on (yes, his feet are smaller than mine). I'm plotting making some sock blockers to her feet's specs, but it just ups my enxiaty levels about fit quite a bit. Cross you fingers for me everyone! Please?


There's another half a pattern repeat done on them now, but it's not yet worth more picture taking.

I changed my mind...

Hello,

Well, I bought the yarn and I had a pattern that I thought would work and I determined that size 3 needle would be needed for this pattern ... However... I cast on tonight, just to see if it truly would work and it didn't. I have to go down a needle size and pick a new pattern. So the search begins again.

~Saffron

http://www.saffronknits.net/

Should I be worried?

I haven't heard from either of my pals. I'm trying to decide if I should be worried. This is my first swap ever, so I really don't know what to expect.

I have emailed my giftee and left a comment on her blog, but she hasn't been there in a while - busy with school I think. I do have some beautiful yarn for her socks, and last night I cast on for the 1st sock. It was pretty late, so I need to go back today to see how it really looks.

I hope the Paloozer who got my name isn't hesitant because I don't have a blog. I check my email obsessively, and am excited to answer any questions she might have. I will stay over at this blog for now because I haven't figured out the "pligg" thing yet.

Hello out there!

Wow, this is exciting - I got my pal's info earlier this week, and she likes the same colors as me! This will make it really easy to pick out a yarn, at least - I think I have a skein in my stash that I will use. But I still have no idea what pattern to do - I hope inspiration strikes soon, because I want to get started. Hello? Patterns? Any one out there going to inspire me? Must go looking for inspiration this weekend...

And if my pal is out there, hello! I haven't heard from you yet, but I hope you're watching!

Jen

Got my sock yarn, need to make some decisions.

I received my yarn for my sock pal today. I ordered two different potential choices, and can't decide between them. It may come down to which will look better in whatever pattern I settle on. If you want to see and voice an opinion, check it out on my blog.

Hello out there!

Wow, this is exciting - I got my pal's info earlier this week, and she likes the same colors as me! This will make it really easy to pick out a yarn, at least - I think I have a skein in my stash that I will use. But I still have no idea what pattern to do - I hope inspiration strikes soon, because I want to get started. Hello? Patterns? Any one out there going to inspire me? Must go looking for inspiration this weekend...

And if my pal is out there, hello! I haven't heard from you yet, but I hope you're watching!

Yarn - Check! Pattern - Check! Ready Steady KNIT!

Found the sock to knit and the yarn (although I can't remember if I have this one or the lagoon colourway... anyways it's blue). The pattern I don't actually have - it's a Sockmadness sock, but I know the lace from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury - tilting ladders - and I love what the designer has done with the the twist up the heel flap. I'm going to knit it toe up with a gusset and flap. I think it will have good give and be comfy. And I hope the colourway works well with it! I haven't heard back from my secret pal (spoilee) yet, I think she might be on hols. Hopefully I will get an email back from her soon as I have lots of questions to ask! I have alot of KIPs on the needles, but I know they won't keep me from casting on for this!

As for my own secret pal - drop me a line! I'd be thrilled to hear from you! In the meanwhile am having alot of fun reading through the entries and visiting blogs.

Missmalice

So difficult to choose!

My pal has no fiber preferences or favorite colors, only some shades she doesn't like so much. She told that I should pick a pattern which is fun to knit.

I'm lucky because her foot measurements are almost same as mine, only one cm bigger, so it'll be easy to knit pattern in the right size.

Sock Pal acquired!

I'm completely thrilled. I got my sock pal today (as did pretty much everybody else), and I am going to start rooting through my sock yarn and see if I already have a good match. While I ponder the appropriate yarn, I have a question (or a request for advice).

I've been making socks for a couple of years now, but I've only finally gotten to the point where my socks fit me pretty much all the time. (I have a tendency to come out a little big). Any advice on how to make sure that the socks I'm making will actually fit the intended recipient (her feet are a little bit bigger than mine, so trying them on as I go won't really cut it).

Thanks! See you here and at my blog!
Seanna Lea

Missing from database?

A few days ago I went to update a bit of my measurement info in the database and it said that my address wasn't in there - I figured someone was playing with the data and I would check back later. Yesterday I found out that folks were getting their sock pal matches. I haven't received an email about a sock pal, and the database still says that my email address doesn't exist in the database. I *am* listed on the list of participants though, and did get the Blogger invite.

Any ideas?

All fixed -- Please ignore!

welcome!

Welcome to the home of sockapalooza four! Blogger cannot, it turns out, handle a blogging community this large, so we'll probably end up using this blog much less than I had imagined. Certainly those of you without blogs should be able to use it to post your progress but those of you with your own blog may find it easier just to post updates there. I will continue to use this blog to share info about sockapalooza. Once the usage dies down, those of you who have had problems posting may find it worth trying again. And for all of us, my techguys have worked out an awesome system for staying in touch with each other and following everyone's progress. Info coming soon!

We will be posting our updates here this time. Everyone has now been sent a Blogger invite to join this blog. If you have a problem with your invite or didn't receive one let me know (alison AT knitsmiths DOT us) and I'll resend it. Follow the instructions in the invite and then start posting! (Never used Blogger before? Here's Blogger Help and Dummies Guide to Blogger.

You can write full posts here or just refer folks over to updates on your own blog. Link to your flickr or Photobucket progress pics too. Use the labels provided at the end of the post so we can keep track of progress updates and finished sock posts, etc.