Kitty No. 34 and some Stripey Socks
Hello! It’s me again–Kitty No. 34! You must be delighted to see me again! I’ve been spending the inclement weather of winter indoors, snug and warm. But now it’s Spring! Flowers and trees in bloom, Brenda is sneezing, but most importantly the weather is warm, and the pavement is dry. So I am out and about in the perfect weather. Or is the weather perfect because I am out and about? That must be it; that makes much more sense. I journeyed over from No. 34 to No. 30 to dig in the new mulch of Brenda’s and M’s garden and to let Brenda scratch around my chin and behind my ears. I behaved very graciously by purring a lot and shedding all over Brenda. Aren’t I just a perfect kitty! Yes, of course I am. Well, I think Brenda wants to talk to you about her sock knitting. What sorts of creatures need socks? Not perfect ones, that is for certain.
Even though I have spent time entertaining Kitty No. 34 on our patio, and getting coated in tabby fur in the process, I have made excellent progress on my February sock, the second Retro Rib:
The navy blue yarn makes it hard going in the evening to knit, so I decided, I was far enough along to risk starting a sock in lighter colors for late evening knitting when I don’t want hundreds of watts of light messing with my circadian clock.
For sentimental reasons I decided to knit a new pair of Rib and Cable Socks by Nancy Bush (IK, Fall 2005). In my very first blog post, I wrote about the first pair of these socks I had knit. However, they have succumbed to 3.5 years of wear.
I’ve decided I should always have a pair of these socks, because they were the first socks I knit that were more than just a simple rib, and the Welsh heel and star toe were fun. I’m using some Panda yarn from Seacoast Handpainted Yarn in the Truffle colorway, which I bought eons ago. And it’s knitting up stripey!
Well, it’s still daylight now, so I should work on my Retro Ribs or my Frosted Diamonds shawl, which is black. Much easier to see when I’ve repeated a double decrease instead of a single in the daylight. Don’t ask me how I know that.
Love the yarn and patterns of all the socks – and Kitty No. 34 is beautiful. How nice to be knitting where there isn’t 30″ of snow on the ground (like there is at my house…).
The stripey is very cool – reminds me of flowers.
I think you should darn the Rib and Cable socks. They are too beautiful to throw away.
I love knitting socks but have yet to knit a pair that fits me! I don’t know why I bother with a gauge because they are always too big. The next pair I try will be knit on No 1 needles. Of course, my extended family love getting the socks that are too large for me so they are never wasted.
Are you following the Retro Rib pattern as written? I was thinking of starting another pair but skipping the knitting through the back loop part, because it’s so tedious for me. But I’m curious as to how much the look would change… Your sock progress is very exciting!
How nice that you have a kitty to visit you! And that you can be outside now! We’ve got a couple of feet of snow.
That’s a great idea to replace an old pair of socks with the same pattern. Your socks in progress are pretty.
Brenda- That’s a pretty good life span for a pair of socks. I like the truffle ones too.
I love the stripey socks! The brown and lavender go nicely together. Are you going to patch the originals? The retro ribs look like they are coming along nicely.
I love your socks in progress. And No. 34 isn’t half bad either.