Sock Woes

Okay, so the day I'm having hasn't been the greatest, but Mom was able to find me a ticket to Hope's play this weekend, and I'm going home so I'll get to see the family, which is awesome!  Hope will be in Bull in a China Shop at Le Petit Theater this weekend, and all the reviews so far have been great!  I'm really looking forward to a little bit of theater with my mommy.

However, my sad news is that the socks I've gotten a good section finished on will have to be frogged back to before the pattern work.  There's several reasons for this.  One -- I miscounted the number of rows I needed in the length, and subsequently forgot to accommodate the extra length of the foot in rows of plain stockinette stitching.  Two -- I misread the pattern when I transcribed it from cuff-down to toe-up and I've been doing a single cable twist over two stitches instead of a double over four stitches, which changes the look of the pattern.  Normally, I would just leave this and keep going anyway, but as these socks are supposed to be a test knit for someone else's pattern, I'll have to go back and fix the error.  At least I'm only about 22 rows into the pattern, which is where I was supposed to start the heel, but am not ready, so I'll just undo those rows, add the extra stockinette rows and start the pattern over.  It's not an outrageous amount of work, but I really hate frogging those little stitches.  Maybe I'll move my Addi Turbo needle to the front side while I work up the pattern and move it back for the heel.  I'll be sure to take a picture before the frogging and after, so I can post them both on here and you can see the difference.  The only thing really making me frown about this is I'll be pulling out the lime green stitches, which have been giving me no end of grief, and putting them right back -- yes, it's still cute, but the other sock is SO much cuter for not having a HUGE break in the color.  You'll see when I put the pictures up.

Workouts have been doing well though, and we're getting closer to the end of the month! Yay!

September 18-19, 2010:  I don't work out on the weekends, because I try not to do much and relax.

September 20, 2010:  8 flights of stairs (up and down, remember) (30 minutes)

September 21, 2010:  8 flights of stairs; 30 minutes of DVD workout.  (60 minutes)

September 22, 2010:  8 flights of stairs (30 minutes)

I'm supposed to be working out with Aaron tomorrow since W will be gone and getting ready for his trip to France.  Let's see how that one goes!

Oh, as promised, here are the pictures of the Soft Rose Wave Socks!

Woot woot!

So, it's finally Friday -- this week has just drug it's feet on some days, and a couple of others, I looked at the clock with a double take that it was already 2 or already 3 (Then the rest went backwards. . . *HMRPH*

Yesterday, I got home from work and picked up the towels -- after stopping by Target and buying way too much stuff, including cake mix, so I can bake cherry coke cupcakes this weekend.  (They had some really cute Halloween cupcake papers and bone sprinkles, but I didn't buy any of them!  I stayed with the plan.)  What I did get, however, was some 1lb wrist weights because with the stairs I've been climbing at work, I'm not doing much for my upper body.  That's what yesterday's workout was all about.  I did the cardio and the upper/mid fix workouts on my Carmen Electra DVDs, to add another 30 minutes to my 8 flights of stairs (That's 8 down and 8 up.)  That means, I got a full hour.  I'm a little on the tense and sore side today, but I have to go get the mail in a few minutes, so I'll try to keep it up.  I've done it 3 days already this week.  I'll also try to get a little exercise besides walking the mall or Boardwalk this weekend -- maybe I'll take a brisk walk around the neighborhood.  I should also probably get on a scale Sunday.

When I checked the mail after my workout, however, my order from 8ty8beauty had come in!  That's right, China Glaze's Awakening Halloween Polish set.  Here's the display image:  

Aren't they just to die for?  I love the purple one (Mummy May I) and the Orange-y one (Ick-a-Body) Ya know, like Sleepy Hallow?  I think they have great names.  The Green one is Zombie Zest and the other polish is a clear top coat, although a moon light white would have been cool too.  I'll post swatches after I paint with them this weekend, although, there are lots of swatch posts all over the web.  (It took my forever to find someone selling these.  I've searched Ulta, Sally's, and all the mega chains -- I finally found them on one of my e-tailers, but the other is still sold out!)

Anyway, I finished the "Soft Waves" sock, (pictures later) and I've got almost two inches of the "Sherbet Socks," so I hope to add to that too, and I need to fix that last image set from the Northwestern game last weekend, and I want to do some more scrapbooking on my Disney Halloween scrapbook, so I've got a lot to do this weekend.  I hope I can get at least some of it done before it's over.

September 16, 2010: 8 flights down stairs and 8 flights back to the office. Then cardio, upper/mid fix from Carmen Electra  [60 minutes!]

September 17, 2010:  8 flights down, 8 flights up, then 3 more down and 3 more up. [40 minutes]

Have a great weekend, mina-san.  And if you'd tried these, or you're doing your own workout plan, leave a comment and tell me about it!

Little Miss Matched

Those of you who know me personally know that I like lots of bright colored socks.  I ran across a company recently that caters to that whimsy.  It's called Little Miss Matched and they carry lots of different styles of socks, including sport length, knee high, and anklets.  More specifically, however, their socks don't come in pairs.  They come in sets of three, designed to be mixed and matched as the mood strikes.  You can see some of the new line below.  They have similar colors and styles, so that they match, but don't.

So, for the second year now,  the company is holding a competition for new socks.  You have to design 3 mismatched socks for one set.  You can send in as many entries as you want and they hold a online vote for the winners.  The winner gets like BIG BUCKS and to see their socks in the new line.  I've done two full color sets so far and I have another drawn to color, so I thought I would share my socks with my readers!  I'll post one from each of the two I've finished because I don't want to give away all of them -- just in case anyone out there wants to attempt to steal them from me.  I'll keep everyone posted on the deadlines and such and I'll post more later.

Ja ne!
HKat.

New Dawn

It's a new day, it's a new dawn -- it's a new life.

It's a new day, it's a new dawn -- it's a new life.

And I'm feeling good.*

Actually, I could be feeling better today, but I wanted to get this blog started so that it can go somewhere.  I haven't decided yet, if this will remain mostly a blog, or if I want to transform it into a sort of web page like my writing blogs, so bear with me while I continue to make transitions.  It's so hard to find a decent webhost these days if you aren't interested in paying.  I know, they're pretty cheap, but when you don't keep it up, it's just not worth the extra money every month.

SOCKS!!

Anyway, I guess my first post should be about socks in general -- I've been trying to get some definitive information for the first socks and where socks come from and here's what I've learned:

Sock, pronounced [sok] is usually defined as a short stocking usually reaching to the calf or just about the ankle.  It has it's origins before 900 B.C.E. and comes from the Latin soccus, meaning slipper.  Some of the earliest socks were found in Egypt, and were noted to be knitted toe-up.  This is important because it allowed easier rework of the toe and heel when they fell out of repair due to use.  These are usually the first parts of the sock to be worn through, and today, they are often reinforced to keep them in tact.  Knitting toe-up also allows the creator to fit the sock as it grows, which allowed for a more uniform and comfortable fit.

Earliest socks were made of animal skins and fur and used predominately by tying them on the feet with strings to protect the foot from cold.    Later, the Greeks used them on actors in comedies as they could be easily slipped on and off.  By 1,000 B.C.E. socks were used as a symbol of purity and status among the nobility, since only the richest could afford decorative stockings and socks.


With the invention of the knitting machine in the 1800's, socks could be produced at a much faster rate and by 1938, the invention of nylon made making blended socks with cotton, wool, and linen easier with ensured fit and stretch.  Today, we still used nylon and a blending method to ensure sock fit.  Creators can blend a variety of colors and designs to create socks in all shapes and sizes from ankle length to over the knee.  Team socks are even used to distinguish one team from another based on the color of the socks.

There are several different types of socks and styles, but we'll save that for another day and I'll leave you with a picture of one of the earliest recorded
socks!

*Feeling Good by Nina Simone