twistedloops

It’s another project from the backlog!

I started this pair of socks back in March, when I needed a new project because I was taking a cross-country plane flight.  I took that flight to get to Oregon for a job interview.  I got that job, and finished this pair of socks on the drive from Illinois to Oregon (I wove in the ends in a hotel in Coeur d’Alene, ID).    So, I guess you could call these my “new job socks”, or maybe my “cross-country socks”, or perhaps just my “I must be totally crazy to pick up and move socks”.

Pattern: Gentleman’s Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern
Designer: Nancy Bush
Source: Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Zitron Trekking (XXL)
Quantity: 1 skein (459 yards/100g)
Color: 69
Needles: KnitPicks 2.0mm 32″

Started: March 13, 2008
Completed: April 14, 2008

Pattern modifications:

• Cast on 72 stitches
• Knit 2.25 inches of ribbing
• Knit leg to 9 inches before starting heel

Yarn overview:

This was the first time I’d used Trekking XXL.  It was thinner than most of the sock yarns I usually knit with, similar in weight to Opal or Lorna’s Laces.  After quite a few wearings of this pair of socks, the yarn is still holding up well.  There’s some slight fuzzing on the bottom of the socks and in the heel, but it seems to be holding up well.  Overall, I think that it’s a great deal for it’s yardage to price ratio.

There has been a lot going on behind the scenes here at TwistedLoops.  One of those things can finally be revealed.

For those who don’t know, Jim and I have been planning to leave the Chicago area and move to Oregon.  In early February, I hadn’t even begun the official big job search, but I did occasional checking of Oregon job postings.  I saw a posting that was a great fit on paper.  Not only that, but it was right where we wanted to be geographically.  It seemed like such a great possibility that I decided to take a chance.  I updated my resume and applied for the job.  Since I wasn’t really job searching, I didn’t think much else about the job after that.

Fast forward a few weeks into mid-February, right around the time that my blogging dropped off.  I got a phone call about the job; they wanted a phone interview.  I did the phone interview.  I never am really sure how interviews go; I always leave them with some concern about my response.  A few days later they called and asked me to come to Oregon for an in-person interview. The next week was a whirlwind of shopping for a new suit and shoes.  I flew out to Oregon (the trip where the Ringwood socks started) and had an interview just before St. Patrick’s Day.  Last week, they called and made me an offer. 

On Monday, I gave notice at the company that I’ve worked at for almost a decade.  I start the new job in Oregon on April 21st.  Two weeks of wrap-up at my old job and then nine days to get to Oregon (2200+ miles) with all my stuff.  I need to find a place to live, and important things like figuring out what yarn to pack to take with me and what to leave in Illinois for now (Kelly insists that I need at least 56 skeins of sock yarn to survive until the end of May).  With such a crazy schedule ahead of me, I doubt that there will be much knitting or blogging.  But, once I get settled in Oregon, I’ll be living alone for a while, which will leave plenty of time for knitting and blogging.  Plus, there are new knitting groups to meet, tons of yarns stores to explore (including an in-town LYS!), and the new to me fiber festivals, like Black Sheep Gathering. 

It is the end of an era…and the beginning of a new one.

Things around here have been crazy for the last month, and I think it will only continue.  Most days I barely feel as if there is time to knit, let alone blog about it.

I’ve currently got Nancy Bush’s Gentleman’s Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern [Ravelry Link] from Knitting Vintage Socks on the needles.  I’m using the Trekking XXL in color 69.  The yarn has such an interesting color quality.  While working on it indoors, it’s a fairly boring brown/green tonal striped sock, just like in the photo below.  However, when I was knitting in the sunlight on a plane recently, I couldn’t believe it was the same yarn.  The colors were so vivid – especially a beautiful purple.

I’ve shortened the ribbing and cast on fewer stitches in order to fit the pattern to my sizing, and so far it’s going well.  I’m through the gussest on the first sock, and a few inches remain until I start the toe.  The pattern is simple to memorize, but a little more interesting than just 2×2 ribbing or stockinette.  I hope to finish sock one this weekend and start on sock two soon.