Spot the Difference?

Some of you may be wondering what's happened to the Child's French Socks I started way back on my last holiday. Have I unknowingly fallen victim to the Single Sock Liberation like so many before me?

Well, the answer is, no.

However, perhaps worse than that, the reason why sock #2 has taken me so long to produce, is due to a serious case of dopiness. First I miscounted the number of repeats in the leg (frog #1), then I picked up 1 less stitch on one side of the heel flap (frog #2), then I lost a stitch at the start of the foot and didn't realise until halfway down the foot (frog #3), then I miscounted the number of repeats in the foot (frog #4), then I dropped a stitch in the toe shaping (frog #5), and then the best one of all...

In my infinite wisdom, I decided to use KnitPicks dpns on the 2nd sock as opposed to the bamboos I used for the 1st. I know, I know, it's a cardinal rule of knitting to use the exact same needles but I've broken this on many many occasions, swapping between same sized aluminum and bamboo needles with negligible impact on sizing. (Actually, the main reason I swapped needles this time was because the bamboos weren't sharp enough to pick up the K2tog's and it frustrated the hell out of me on the first sock.)

Anyway, the result is that the KnitPicks sock is about 2cm shorter in both the leg and foot (which you can see from the photo above - it's not just an illusion). When I put the needles through the needle gauge, the KnitPicks went through just a tad easier than the bamboos but clearly a little bit of difference all adds up!

There was no way I was going to remake either sock, so the only way to purge myself of this curse on my knitting mojo was to give the socks away. Which required frog #6 - to make it smaller to fit the recipient. She barely noticed the difference but in my heart of hearts, I know!

More photos here.

Yarn: 4ply Merino in Roses from The Knittery
Pattern: Child's French Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Needles: 2.5mm dpns

Started: 20 April, 2007
Finished: 21 June, 2007

Thanks Secret Pal!

I've been waiting for one sunny day so I can take a proper photo of the haul I got from my SP10.

The fabulous Kae sent me not one, not two, but THREE books...

Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann - my first EZ book and current bedtime reading. This book is even better than I expected. Her no-nonsense writing style really appeals to me and it'll probably be the first knitting book I read from cover to cover. I am tempted to take up her challenge of knitting socks on 4 different sized dpns to see if my fingers will really magically adjust the tension.

I'm already planning to make the seamless jumper with the saddle shoulders (especially after seeing the drool-worthy version here).

Stupid Sock Creatures by John Murphy - This is more an inspiration book rather than a practical step by step. It's laid out a little like a comic book, with stylised illustrations of the sock creatures (some of which, I must admit, are a bit scary looking). Having said that, there are lots of good ideas and techniques that I will probably used in different combinations. I especially like the different types of lips/pouts.

Finishing Techniques for Handknitters by Jane Crowfoot - An informative book on finishing (and other) techniques. I particularly like the very clear photos showing what different types of increases and decreases look like (for increases I've always just picked up the horizontal bar from the row below and knit into the back but now I think I'll use the pick up the stitch from the row below and knit into the back method as it's so much more invisible!)

In addition, I also got the following goodies...

• Cherry pattern by Anna Bell from My Fashionable Life
• 2 skeins of Berroco Bonsai - a surprisingly soft bamboo ribbon yarn
• A pretty spiral diary
• A box of chocolate Pocky sticks (not in photo as it no longer exist)
  

Thanks again, Kae!

Meet Sophie

I made her a while ago for a friend who's expecting her first child. The baby is now a reality and Sophie has been gifted so I can show her off to the world.

I used a pattern from Aranzi Aronzo's Fun Dolls but I had a Japanese copy from my local Kinokuniya. The pictorial instructions are super easy to follow.

It's my first doll creation sewn from scratch (i.e. not from socks/knitted). She's not entirely symmetrical but still very cuddly. I think I'll definitely make more of these.

A couple more pics on my flickr including one of her cute button tail.

Lethal Weapon

It had to happen.

I sustained an injury involving a KnitPicks dpn and blood, real blood, on the train yesterday (okay, it was only a small amount) . I was trying to grab it as it fell out of my hand but instead I pushed it into my leg. It went straight through my jeans, grazed the skin and left a red swollen patch on my inner thigh. Lovely.

The culprit.

In other knitting news, mum's Jo Sharp cardi is making good progress. I've finished both fronts and the back. Now I just need to calculate the sleeve shortening - darn these people with short arms!

And pzzzzt... I'm so excited to hear that KnitCast with Marie Irshad is returning to our podwaves soon!

7 Random Things Meme

Emmms tagged me a couple of weeks ago but I was rude and just ignored her. (In my defense, I was sick as a dog when we first got back and then I was swamped at.... Well, let's not bring that four letter word up here.)

The rules: 'Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.'

1. The name of this blog is a variation of the nickname 'Princess Pee Pee' which my friends gave me because of the frequency at which I needed toilet breaks every time we took a road trip. (You can see why I needed to change it slightly.)

2. 'Sodium' is another nickname I've had. It sounds like my Chinese name. (Incidentally, my friend Kay was nicknamed 'Potassium'. K, get it?)

3. I have eaten dog. It tastes like corned beef.

4. I've never had a pet (possibly due to 3.) tho I've been plotting to catnap one of my neighbour's cat since he wanders into our house uninvited anyway. (He's the brown one.)


5. My favourite number is 7.

6. If I could speak an additional language it would be Japanese.

7. Just for something with a knitting spin, my oldest WIP is a granny smith apple green (what was I thinking?) cardigan I started around 1998. I found it recently and I've actually only got half a sleeve to go. Should I finish it?

I haven't tagged anyone as most people in the blogworld seem to have been tagged already. Anyway, if you want to be tagged, just leave a comment here and consider yourself tagged.

Happy Blogversary

I didn't even realise until now that this blog had its first birthday a few days ago.

In celebration, here's another photo from our recent trip. Taken at Wilfert's in Copenhagen.

Yarn makes me happy. Awwww.