Noro Sock Fraternal Twins

I'm not so sure about these Noro Kureyon socks. They were a pleasure to knit, therapeutic and tendon-healing. However, they are not identical. Okay for twin siblings, but not for twin socks that I will wear. They bring out the Monk in me. I think if they were less close to being identical I could tolerate them better. Since I knew they would not match, I should have made sure they were far from matching. As they are, they look like a mistake. No? Maybe it's just me . . . and Monk. I guess one reason I'm so bummed out about them is that I could have made them identical. I thought that the long color runs would make it impossible, but I had well over two color pattern repeats in the skein, more than enough to make two identical socks in my size using my own basic sock pattern and Magic Loop method.

Anyway, the boring, mindless, resorative knitting was just what I needed. In fact I think I need some more. Just as well because I'm going to knit another pair of Noro socks in the same colorway and see if I can get two pairs of matching socks. God forbid I should end up with four mismatching socks. Or maybe that's the answer! I'll make sure the next two are far from matching each other or either of the first two, giving me four different socks with just the same colors, two pairs of really fraternal twins! I've already purchased another skein of each of the Noro colorways in my stash. I could be knitting Noro fraternal and identical twins well into spring.

Now about those Blueberry Waffles . . .

This is where I left off when tendonitis reared its ugly head and my mind had turned to mush. Yum, yum, blueberry waffles--NOT! My waffles stayed in the waffle iron too long in some places. Looking back on my work I can see my brain was in turmoil and knitting these socks did not put me in the zone. Look closely:

See where the waffles waffled a bit on two rounds? See where the 2 x 2 ribbing decided to be 1 x 1 instead? Those are brain blips. This sock is a picture of my mental turmoil at the time. Now of course nobody will see that when I wear the socks because, quite frankly, anybody up my pants leg (I only wear socks with pants.) and that close to my calf should be my spouse and he never notices anything. However, Monk and I will know those brain blips are there. To frog or not to frog? That is the question. Maybe I'll start the second sock and see if my state of mind has improved. I could compare the two and then decide.

But right now I have a Noro Kureyon Sock marathon looming. Boring stockinette stitch in the round with a heel turn thrown in for excitement at the halfway point. I love it!

Bona Fide Knitter (aka The Sock Lady)

I Like to Knit

Yes, I like to knit. Before you accuse me of stating the obvious since I have blog about knitting, let me 'splain. I like to knit. I mean I like to KNIT. I like to do the knit stitch, over and over, ad infinitum. Purling is okay. I have nothing against purling and I do it well. It's just that I like to knit. Knit and knit and knit. Borrrr-rrrring! I know. But what can I tell you? I like it.

I am a thrower. English or American as opposed to Continental. I've learned Continental and do it with color work, but otherwise I'm a thrower. Continental is said to be faster, less arm movement. I don't care. I like throwing. I also like using circular needles exclusively. They really make the method faster. With the yarn in my right hand, wraped around my little finger, under my ring and middle fingers, over my index finger, I've become a pretty fast thrower. Especially when I'm knitting what I like and get into a zone. When the stitches are at the right place near the tip of the needles I need only flick my index finger to throw the yarn. I go into Zen mode. I can do it with my eyes closed. I can do it in my sleep.

I am a sock knitter. I like to knit socks. Socks, socks, socks and more socks, in the round, on a 32 inch Knit Picks circular needle, usually size US 1 (2.5 mm) and using sock weight yarn. I know what I like. I used to be strictly an Addis girl until Knit Picks came along. I still like Addis, but my Knit Picks cables are more pliable more consistantly. That is because my Addi needle collection contains some Addis purchased during a period of producing stiff cables the company went through a few years ago.

I am a plain knitter. I like knitting plain socks. I'm happy without waffles, jaywalkers, cables, ribbing and the like. I do succumb to 1 x 1 ribbing for the cuffs and will even resort to knitting, slipping and purling for a heel flap. Sometimes I go so far as an Eye of Partridge heel flap. Wooohooo! I never have Second Sock Syndrome. I like starting the second sock so that I can watch the same miracle happen again, preferably identically. Turning a heel turns me on. What can I tell you? I'm easy.

You probably wonder why I ever consider knitting anything else. So do I.

Bona Fide KNITter

We're Waiting . . .

The projects are waiting, all lined up, for me to get back into the swing of things.





In the meantime the therapeutic sock knitting is going well. I took a few days off from knitting, totally off, and spent a few days knitting a few hours. The Noro sock is coming along nicely. You will not believe how much just plain stockinette knitting in the round (all knit stitches) soothes my soul. Some say it bores them to tears. For me it stops the tears, the pain, the mental turmoil, or whatever else I'm going through. I reach my Zen.

Before I slip completely into the raptures of the knit stitch, let me tell you about Noro Sock. I like it . . . I think . . . with qualifications. The colorways are lovely per Noro fame. The hand is a little scratchy, there are some barnyard elements here and there (dried grass bits or something--not excrement!) and so far I have not come to a knot that I did not put there myself. Which brings me to trying to wind Noro Kureyon Sock onto a cardboard cone for my sock machines using an electric cone winder. It was a nightmare!! The yarn sticks to itself. It tangles unmercifully. I had to break it many times and tie knots. There was no way I would run that knotted cone through a sock machine and try to catch all those knots before they knitted up. So handknit it is for the first of four skeins of Noro Kureyon Sock.




So far the knots have not posed a problem handknitting. I just make spit splices (my own version) eliminating the knots and breaks and keep on knitting. The twist of the yarn varies from tight, tight thinnest lace-like to puffy, fuzzy untwisted roving-like slubs. I don't think any of the four skeins I've purchased will be machine knit. Even rewinding the coned yarn into a yarn cake on the manual ball winder was a test of my patience, I who have the patience of Job . . . so they say.




The yarn is not soft. From the reports of others who have washed it, it does soften up a bit, but does not become an Opal or Lorna's by any stretch of the imagination. However, the wearing is said to feel just fine. My next step is to buy two of my remaining three colorways over again so that I might make socks that match. Remember, I have this aversion to fraternal twins. The socks I'm working on, colorway S92, will look like two completely different socks having the same colors in them. I will wear them though. Heck, if I can wear shoes painted that way on purpose, wearing the socks should be a breeze. However, most of any other pairs of Noro socks I make will be identical. I only wear socks with pants and mainly clogs. I want my heels to match! So sue me.





No Super Bowl for me on Sunday. My husband will sleep through it and I will watch reality show reruns while I compete in my own personal Sock Bowl--a pair of machine socks and more hand knitting on the Noros.




Bona Fide Knitter