Thursday, January 15, 2015

Yarn Along

This is the Yarn Along version of a #Latergram, as in I finished the socks in time for Christmas and the book last week. But I wanted to share both of them, so here they are!

The socks are Sweet Georgia sock yarn which I really like----soft and sturdy. The pattern is just a basic sock using the Fish Lips Kiss Heel (which costs $1 and is totally worth the money for this easy heel pattern and the tips on how to make socks that fit!), Judy's Magic Cast-on (for toe-up socks that don't require any seaming!), and Jeny's Suprisingly Stretchy Bind-off, plus a basic 2x2 rib. I combined all those features for a men's size 12 sock that didn't need a pattern. I love that with toe-up socks you can just keep trying them on to see if they fit----which I did to all the size 12 men around except the gift recipient!

All those tips just might turn me into a sock knitter! Except that there is still the pesky problem of gauge when you want to go a little crazy, knit a little faster, and use a size 3 needle!


My book is The Martian by Andy Weir, which was a Christmas gift. I heard about it (repeatedly) on the Catholic in a Smalltown podcast. Mac liked it so much that he kept talking about it, forgetting that he had already reviewed it once. I put it on my Christmas wish list, and I was not disappointed. It was one of the best books I've read in a long time!

Mark Watney is part of the Ares 4 manned mission to Mars, and on the 5th day there's a disaster that (supposedly) causes his death and the mission is aborted. The other astronauts must leave the surface quickly and don't have time to search for his body. As you might have guessed, he's not dead and the crew has no way of knowing that. Mark knows that he has to find a way to survive for 4 years until the Ares 5 arrives---3200 km away.

The Martian is really well thought out in terms of the scientific realities of what conditions are like on Mars and what kind of gear Mark would have available. It could have gotten dull with just his log entries and long, scientific explanations of what he's doing, but Weir manages to vary the storytelling and keep the explanations understandable for us (extremely non-scientific types).

Now I need a new book to read....got any recommendations? I know, I can just go read all the Yarn Along posts at Ginny's!

3 comments:

  1. Your socks look great! Lots of questions:
    Did the sizing suggested in the pattern work perfectly for you?
    Did you knit two at a time?
    Whose cute legs are those? ;-)
    I love socks from the toe up by Wendy Johnson, but I am curious about this fish lips business!

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  2. Thank you!

    Answers: I'm not sure what you mean about the sizing suggested in the pattern. I didn't use a pattern at all. I just tried the socks on size 12 feet until I reached the heel. I think the method of making a foot pattern that is suggested in the Fish Lips Kiss heel will work perfectly if you're not trying to keep the socks a secret. :-)

    I knit only one at a time. I'm not sure I'll ever knit 2 at a time because I didn't really enjoyed using 2 circular needles and switched back to dpn's.

    The cute, hairy legs belong to Pippo who was the recipient. He saw me knitting them for a month, but I think he assumed they were someone else's!

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    Replies
    1. In Wendy Johnson's Socks from the Toe Up she offers a formula of sorts for figuring out sizes. It worked for the few pairs of socks I've made, but I never tried it on a large foot. I'll have to try your method...sometime. Right now I have too many projects planned.

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