Wild Socks

"Wild Socks" is the name of the pattern, and it came free with the purchase of the yarn. As you can see, left, I decided to go ahead and knit both at the same time, since I have two pairs of the size 5 needles. I don't really like to do a project twice, and was afraid I'd get bored if I finished one, and never finish the other.

Both sets of needles are Crystal Palace bamboo. Generally, wood or bamboo is what I prefer, as I dread dropping stitches. In this case, though, I was really getting frustrated with them. Perhaps it was my tension, but I'd have to really pull the stitches from one needle to the other, and then other stitches would also drop off, which was very frustrating. I have loosened my tension a bit and that has helped.

I also had a day where I did something wrong--I don't know what--and ended up with strange-looking stitches along the side, and also too many of them. I do know how to tink, but I still ended up just pulling them off the needles and ripping it out. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

But I have now turned the heel on one sock:

Sometimes the instructions made no sense, but once I did the actual knitting they became suddenly clear.

Another angle:


And here is where I am now:


I believe I am ready to start the toes, but will actually go back and knit up to this point on the other sock now. I was advised to do the gauge, but I did not, not because I am foolish but because I knew I didn't have enough yarn to make big enough socks anyway. I really really wanted to learn to do this. Next time, though, I will do the measurements and buy enough yarn and do it right.

Meanwhile, I started a small crafty project: Washer pendants:

I saw this on a local TV program a few months ago. You paste paper onto a washer, and then use pourable resin to finish it. So here are three pendants I have modge-podged, along with a plain washer so you can see that that's really just what it is, and a bottle-cap. For that, I am using the same techniques to make a fridge magnet. I saw these at a local arts/crafts festival and thought I could try to make my own. So far, I actually like the bottle-cap the best. Go figure.