I started the Sockzilla Prodject two whole summers ago and I may actually finish it one of these days. They are in a loverly beach/woods colored yarn and the pattern is called “Mouse Says Do This Next”. And that’s why it has taken me such a blasted long time to finish them. Because after I got through one sock and got started on the second one, Mouse went back to Kzoo and then Senegal and then Kzoo again and she wasn’t around to tell me what to do next or frog my mistakes or re-do those bloody wrap stitches that are involved in forming the heel. The heel that I messed up so many times that I finally showed her the blasted sock every time I finished a row so she could check it and tink out my mistakes every time. Frog? Tink? Listen to me talkin’ like a knitter.

And yes of course she had school breaks and yes of course we could’ve probably squeeeeeged some time in here but you know how it goes. “We’ll just do it later.” And then later comes along and we’re all off doing other things or drinking gin margaritas or whatever.

Mouse is an expert knitter and when people ask me if I’m a knitter too, my standard answer is, “I know how!” Because I do. I wasn’t a bad knitter back in the day. I could follow patterns like nobody’s business, making intricate color and stitch patterns. But. I rarely finished anything. I dunno. Knitting was just different back then. First of all, it was hard to get decent yarn. And even if you could get the *yarn* you wanted, you couldn’t always get all of the colors you wanted or enough of each color you wanted. And did I mention I was a pattern follower? Meaning that I wasn’t a very creative improviser if I didn’t have exactly every thing I needed. Plus I would just get bored. I was stuck on trying to make sweaters. Second-sleeve syndrome, anyone? And I hated blocking. Or maybe I just never had the patience to learn how to do it properly. And then the darn sweaters didn’t always fit. Or they would be too blasted hot. Or whatever. My knitting skills languished for years.

But I *like* to knit. There are so many beautiful, amazing, natural fiber yarns on the market now. And socks are quick to knit. Really, they are. And so are scarves and things. And shawls offer a chance to do fun and fancy stitches but they don’t have to *fit* you exactly right.

So. Today I got re-a-started on Sockzilla. We were sitting down by the water here at Houghton Lake. Mouse figgered out where I was on my second sock and what I needed to do next. And then I (very stoopidly) did it wrong, so she frogged it out (and I think she tinked a bit too, listen to me trying to talk like a real knitter). And I have two ridges or four rows until I get to those scary wrap stitch thingies again and after that, the heel is done and I can work on the straightaway of the foot for a while during my lunch hours. And then I’ll need a bit of help with the toe but that’s pretty easy. And then. I have a scarf and a shawl to make… Oh yeah, and there’s another unfinished prodject that I haven’t posted about in a long time either…

I’m on yet another (yikes) “social” network. Click here for my Ravelry profile! And join if you are a knitter.

Love y’all, KW!

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 12th, 2008 at 6:46 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.