Actual Socks

First of all, Z and John and I would like to say thank you so much for all the birthday wishes.  They are much appreciated and made us all smile.  Ms. Z had a lovely first birthday, filled with family and friends and some good chocolate cake.  Her favorite gifts so far are the "Bee Bop Band" -- a collection of music making toys in a drum -- and a card from her grandparents that plays the Chicken Dance.  The Chicken Dance is low down on my list of favorite tunes (John and I informed our wedding band a long time ago that they would not get paid if we heard the song at our reception), but it's totally worth it to watch her bounce to it.  She spent her whole party walking around like a pro.  Crawling is definitely out, now.  Walking is definitely where it's at.  John and I are both losing weight chasing her around.


Speaking of walking and chasing, I'll have a new pair of socks to walk around in once it cools off enough for it to be wool sock season.  These sock are of my own design and are knit from sKNITches Syncopation Sock Yarn in "Brick Layer" that I purchased from the Loopy Ewe some time ago.  The socks were knit toe up with a short-row heel on 2.5 mm Harmony DP needles (US size 1).  I found the yardage to be extremely generous and had plenty left over, even with longer than my usual leg area. 

I chose the "Vine Lace Zig Zag" pattern from Barbara Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns because I wanted something that would create some motion in the stripes but wouldn't be too hard to memorize or work without much effort.  In fact, if you're looking for a nice pattern for striping, or even non-striping sock yarn, I highly recommend this one.  It's easy to memorize and the results are very satisfying.

I was very pleased with the resulting socks.  Not just because they matched, but because they matched so well.  I think this speaks volumes to the care that is put into hand-dying sKNITches yarn.  The color intervals were regular, the areas where the colors met were not muddy and throughout the skein the intervals remained regular enough that I was able to get beautiful results. 

Since there was a good deal of yarn left over, I have been thinking that I might use it for Z's first pair of fall socks.  But I'm going to wait a while to start on that project. She's growing so fast, right now and I want them to last most of the winter.

And When I Was One, I Was Just Begun

Finished Fairy Wings, Revisited

Not only was my "finished object" post for the Fairy Wings missing functional comments, but I did receive messages from people that they thought it was missing a child as well.  I couldn't agree more with that last statement, but when I finished them, I didn't have a child who could model them for me (Ms. Z would not have sat still for it and they would have been hopelessly large for her anyway), but I didn't want to put them on any child until the special recipient had a chance to take them for their first flight.

The weekend of th 4th brought the long awaited birthday party and the wings got to meet the little girl who would wear them.  My very sweet little niece is definitely a girly girl.  Princesses, pink and dress up form a very central part of her play time right now.   I wanted her to have a handmade gift that fit in with the things that matter to her, which is why I decided to make the wings and why I selected the colors I did. 

The funny thing about this project is that I was actually quite nervous about how she would like them.  She's got a definite sense of style and taste all her own and she's not afraid to let people know when things don't quite fit in with that (which I think is perfectly delightful -- children should always be encouraged to have their own opinions!) and when we wrapped up the box with the wings in it, I was hoping, but not absolutely sure that she would like them.

From what I could tell when she opened them, they went over well.  But there's nothing quite as heartwarming as seeing a child play with something you created for them.

Now that I have a child of my own, I am discovering how children bring a special excitement to simple things.  They can believe in magic.  A knitted gift can give them flight.

One of my favorite movies ever is Toy Story.  A toy is given a special life when a child loves it.

I think my niece has given these wings some of that life,  and they have most certainly taken flight.

Thank you to my sister- and brother-in-law for not only taking these pictures, but letting me share them here on my blog. And thank you to the most lovely Miss O for being such a beautiful model.  May these wings help you fly wherever your dreams take you.

Silk Road, Friday

Silk Road, Thursday