toothpicks & paperclips....oh my

OK...so this would be my inaugural post. I'm not sure if I will have anything of any great interest to post, but I will give it a shot.

I guess first and foremost I should tell you a bit about myself. I am 31 years old, live by myself in the old part of East Plano in an apartment that used to be a storage closet. I have a serious addiction to yarn and all things knitting related, along with a passion for movies, books and food.

For the most part my friends are my family and they are by far and away the most important thing in my life. My best friend (most people think we are sisters...HAHAHA), is my knitting guru and I am sure that her name will pop up from time to time in this blog....but anyway.

As far as knitting goes, I work on some pretty basic projects. I like to knit bags, hats and things of that sort. I am currently working on my first sock, which is what the title of this blog eludes to. I was sitting at work the other day (which is where I do a LOT of my knitting), looking at yarn on the internet and realized that most of the yarn I was coveting was sock yarn....so, I figured maybe it was time to learn how to knit a sock.

I had already planned to take a beginner sock class at the Woolie Ewe (my favorite LYS) as soon as I got my income tax check into my hot little hands...but alas, as usual I did not have the patience and just could not stand the wait. This led to my stand MO...."Laaaarrrraaaa....will you please teach me how to...insert technique here". Which luckily was received with a resounding, "Sure will, when and where?".

So, there I was Friday afternoon learning how to do a "Turkish Cast-on" for Toe Up socks, while sitting at Mr. Wok eating an afternoon snack. I was surprised at how easy and fast it was to cast on, and the yarn (colorway 310) that I am using for this particular sock is LOOOOOVELY.

So, as usual, I have gotten off track. Started the cast-on on Friday...knitted all Friday night...again on Saturday morning and afternoon, more knitting yet again at Stitch & Bitch Sunday afternoon. Everything seemed to be going really well for the most part. Dropped a few stitches Sunday morning while at the guy's house, this was where my TOOTHPICK save came into play....eheheh...

This was how it played out....
ME: "Grrr...Hey hon, are there still toothpicks in the cabinet?"
GUY: "Yeah, why?"...
ME: "umm...I dropped a few stitches and don't have a crochet hook here with me."

So, minor cursing and slight struggling come to pass and I have picked up my lost stitches. Nothing major or catastrophic, just some mild angst and annoyance. Gotta love the handy dandy toothpic!!! NOTE: I HATE dropping stitches...cuz I suck at picking them back up again.

Onward and forward now we trek. Sunday night, Lara and I manage to turn the heel on my new sock in preparation for Monday morning "work knitting"...feeling all proud and such, I try it on....too small. We commence to froggin' the little bugger and try again. Success!!!! Now I have the wonderful knitted object that actually resembles a sock and not just a really pretty tube.

Alright, Monday arrives. I take my sock to work for a daily does of knitting at my desk while on the phones. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, seemed to go right on Monday. I dropped stitches left and right, including a runner that went almost 6 rows down into the turn of my heel.

Enter PAPERCLIP!!! Yet again, I have left home without my crochet hook...DOH!!! So there I am taking a call from a customer and freaking out all at the same time as I am trying to pick up stitches and listening to a customer scream in my ear. All I wanted to do was ask the person to give me just a moment while I picked up my stitches and I would then be able to give them my undivided attention.

But, needless to say...I managed to get the stitches picked up and figured out (YAY me!!), but I promised myself to wait until I finished work for the day to touch my knitting again, for fear that I would drop more stitches and just get too frustrated.

Insert deep sigh of relief here....left work, had some culinary therapy (again, at Mr. Wok) and commenced to knit again...starting on my increases up the back of my sock....

I haven't picked up my knitting yet today. For some reason, working internet retail can really make a girl hate her favorite holiday....Valentine's Day....sheesh!!!

Anyway....I hope this didn't completely bore anyone...I will try to have some pictures posted of my FO's soon and pics of sock in progress to follow....

Happy Knitting....