It’s Furious Balancing

The college I attended – Kalamazoo College – was very big on the Foreign Study bit,¹ and I spent six months abroad at the University of Nairobi in Kenya.

While there were times I questioned the wisdom of sending a wet-behind-the-ears 20-something to Nairobi, I have to admit that the experience changed me for the better.  I became less self-centered, more aware of my cultural biases,  more tolerant, less judgmental, etc., etc, — all those good “personal growth” phrases you toss out in those situations. I learned self-reliance, and when not be so self-reliant that I couldn’t ask for help when I needed it.  I learned how obscenely wealthy America is.  I learned patience.  I learned not to be a diva.  I figured that if I could travel to Lake Turkana and stay at a place where the toilet facilities consisted of a hole in the ground with cockroaches crawling out of it, I was up for pretty much anything.

Well, that was twenty years ago, cats and kittens.  I now admit to being a Wimp.  I admit to being very much in touch with this Inner Wimp, who, upon discovering that the electricity went out during the night, packed up a suitcase and high-tailed it to a hotel.  Heat.  Light.  Internet connection.  Room service.  I’m doing much better than I was two hours ago, let me tell you.  I do miss my kittens, but they have a thick layer of fur (I don’t) and can see in the dark (I can’t).  The prospect of sitting in the dark and wearing my winter coat to bed just didn’t appeal to me.

I’ve been lax in my posting, but I’m going to chalk it all up to work stress and knitting obsessions.  I’ve discovered sock knitting, and am well on my way to finishing my first (completed) sock.  My very firstest ever sock only got a little past the heel turn, then I decided my gauge was off and my gusset was full of holes and that it would just be a better idea all together to start afresh.

WIP Project:  Pagoda Socks

Pattern: Garter Rib Socks, from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch

Yarn: ShibuiKnits Sock, 100% superwash merino, Pagoda colorway (S1675)

These are looking on the large-ish side as well, but not as much as my first attempt.  I’m trying this one on as I go, and I can tell that there will be some bagginess at the ankle.  I have very muscular German Potato Farmer calves and tiny, high-arched feet (I wear a ladies’ 6.5 shoe), so the quest for the Perfect Sock Pattern or the Perfect Mods for Existing Sock Patterns will be ongoing.  Considering that I’ve bought enough sock yarn to last me through 2009, I think it’s do-able.

I used Silver’s One Sock on Four Double-Pointed Needles Tutorial for my first sock-making attempt, and I heartily recommend it to other beginners.  Once I had worked my way through the heel turn and the start of the gusset, I was able to approach the instructions in Charlene Schurch’s book with more confidence.

A note to aspiring sock knitters – That heel turn really isn’t as impossible as it seems the first time you read through the instructions.  In fact, after I did my first heel turn, I thought it was absurdly easy. Ridiculously Easy.  Easy to the point where I didn’t want to mention it to other knitters because I was worried they would impale me with their DPN’s.   If you can count and can tell your right from your left (most of the time), you can turn a heel.  It’s more difficult picking up the gusset stitches, to be honest, and that isn’t even that difficult.  I discovered that sitting in front of my computer with the Sock in Progress in hand worked really well.  Just reading the instructions didn’t clarify it for me; to really have it “gel,” I had to Just Do It (or Just Knit It, as the case may be).

I should have a finished sock to show you soon.  /knock wood.  Heck, if the power doesn’t come on at home by this evening, I should have a picture for you in the next day or two.

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1. And the Senior Thesis bit, and the “oral and written comprehensive exams in your major” bit, and several other bits that comprised the K College experience. [↩]

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 28th, 2008 at 3:18 pm and is filed under Knitting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.