03 August 2006

Sock Warrior in Training

It has been hot here. I know that's not a real news flash, and I know that there are folks in other areas who are even hotter, but it's still not fun. David tells me that the heat index got up to 104º today (That's 40ºC for you metric types). The highest I saw on our thermometer was 98.6º, which means it was as hot outside of me as inside me. Yuck.

So I spent most of the day hiding in the bedroom, which is the only air-conditioned room we have. I got David to knock off work early and join me, and we watched DVD's on my laptop. And I also worked on this:

080306Sock_training

I figured if I'm going to have a chance at being an effective sock warrior, I'd better get some training under my belt beforehand. Toe-up methods appeal to me more because I can't necessarily trust that a standard ball of sock yarn will actually last to the toes if I start at the top (Have I mentioned yet that I have big feet?). So I started it with Duffy's patch toe method, making the patch a bit wider, as my feet aren't terribly pointy. For the heel I'm planning on trying out the heel method from Widdershins in the latest Knitty. The yarn is Lang Jawoll. I had remembered it being a dark charcoal, but when I hauled it out I found it to be a nice staid navy. Either way, it's a color Franklin would like.


Utilikilt Is Here!


It arrived Tuesday, actually, before I made my way home from work and post-work errands. Because of the heat and because the pleats were a tad wonky after being folded and stuffed in a mailer, I didn't wear it terribly long. Instead, after returning from a trip to the beach with David's friend Katharine (the one on whose property David & I peed in Hawai'i) and her daughter Liz and taking my second or third cold shower of the day, I opted for the sarong I bought in Hawai'i because of the lighter weight.

Ted has already requested photos, though, and they shall be forthcoming. Unfortunately, the belt that I ordered to go with the utilikilt is on backorder and won't be here for a few more weeks. Kilts really call for a wide belt - thin ones just don't cut it. Of course, I generally try to avoid leather (It's not very vegetarian), but it is pretty much impossible to find a nice, wide pleather belt. I really did try, but I gave in and went for dead cow skin, so I suppose Ted will just have to deal with pics with me using my old thin pleather belt. My hiking boots, at least, are leather-free.

I'm a Dog

One last thing, which I have Liz to thank for.

Or maybe you are a mosquito, you certainly can't be human.

The highest pitched ultrasonic mosquito ringtone that I can hear is 21.1kHz
Find out which ringtones you can hear!

6 comments:

yarmando said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
yarmando said...

I'd originally written that I was jealous of your dog-like hearing, and a bit frightened that I could only hear the 10kHz tone. But I just noticed that I can hear higher tones from the mp3 link than I can from the Flash link. They don't seem to match (at least, on my computer).

I don't know what I fear more: that the Sock Wars pattern will have some unusual construction technique, or that it won't, and I'll be forced to knit a pair of boring, top-down, heel-flap socks.

Anonymous said...

If you wear that utilikilt to SPA, I will buy a plane ticket just to see that.

FiberQat said...

Thanks for linking to my patch toe! I hope others find it easy to work with. If not, they can holler at me.

I tried the ringtones and apparently my hearing range matches my appearance as thirtysomething. ;)

Looking forward to the utilikilt pictures! Stay cool!

Anonymous said...

I really love the idea of knitting sock. I have even knit a few pair for my 2 year old niece. I made one for myself. That's one sock, not one pair. I just kind of lost interest. I never thought I would fall victim to "Second Sock Syndrome," but apparently no one is immune.

-Sean

Liz said...

hee, hee, hee - glad you had fun with the ringtones, you mosquito, you.

Thanks for the links to Sock Wars and the reminder about LangJawoll, which I do love but have languishing as an argyle UFO at the moment.

Also fab tattoo--the touch-up looks great.