the Akamai Knitter

I finished the first Pomatomus sock today and as you can see, my cat Cookie is simply thrilled. She is a constant source of love and support when it comes to my knitting endeavors. She is constantly fascinated by my flashing needles and waving string.

Okay well, obviously from the picture that is all a gross exaggeration. In truth, Cookie is one of the few cats I know who seem to be truly bored by my knitting and spinning fun. She seems to be happy to just sit by my side and watch the world turn and wait for her next meal.

What makes me truly sad is if I dangle some acrylic yarn in front of her she will show some interest and she’ll play with it to her heart’s content. But she’ll ignore the finer stuff! Really!

I’m not sure if she’s being senstive to my sensibilities or if she’s truly just got bad taste.

I was digging for more sock yarn to continue my new obsession and found these. I was thinking of using one of them to do the Reptilian Lace in the Summer Knitty. I also really like the Widdershins pattern. I love cables in socks. From the far left, the yarn is Black Purl from Lorna’s Laces, Koigu, and Watercolors again Lorna’s Laces.

I don’t think the Baudelaire would show very well in a variegated yarn. So I dug even further and found these. I’m not sure which one I’ll use but I’ll have plenty of time to simmer over the choices as I finish sock 2 of the Pomatomus and continue to work on the Flirty Ruffles.

Pomatomus Progress – Heels & Gussets (Sock 1)
Originally uploaded by AkamaiKnitter.

I turned the heel on my first sock of the year. I can’t really even remember the last time I last knit a sock so it’s past time I started up again.

I forgot to mention in my last post that I modified the Pomatomus pattern and did it all in k1p1 ribbing instead of the seed stitch used for part of the “circles”. I think I will knit up another pair one day and go exactly according to pattern just to see what how the two look next to each other.

The next pattern I’d really like to do though is the Baudelaire sock from the summer Knitty. It’s from the same designer that did the Pomatomus, Cookie A., her and she co-authors a blog here.

Wendi asked how my joints are doing and I have to say my wrists are much much better, though my right knee is really acting up. It’s hating stairs and I’ve got to re-schedule an appointment with my rheumotologist. The reason I haven’t gotten to that is because my mother is home recuperating from back surgery. The surgery went really well, but she is still in a lot of pain and she can’t move around very well. Still, she’s in excellent spirits!

Thanks for all the compliments on my sock. I’m so thrilled with it! I think the reason I’m zipping away on it is because I’m desperate not to get the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome. So I figure the sooner I can cast on for it, the sooner I can get it done. Hrm. I know that sounded logical in my own head….

Pomatomus 1
Originally uploaded by AkamaiKnitter.

… or something like that.

Yesterday I finally re-started the Pomatomus socks and I found a really pleasant rhythm that took me through 1.5 repeats.

I’m using Regia sock yarn and I’m not sure what colour it is as I lost the yarn bands on both of the balls. Quelle horror! The needles are a tiny size 2US and they seem much smaller after being on a long knitting hiatus. It’s really delightful to knit though and though I thought the pattern would be devilish to get through, it’s really not.

What makes it seem tricky is all the ribbing, but it’s basically just got a travelling k2tog through the back loop for the first half of the repeat then a travelling YO for the 2nd half of the repeat. The lovely stitch definition that really gives this pattern distinction is made with knit stitch through the back loop. Clear as mud? I blame it on the early hour of the day.

My life has been revolving around my cat’s feeding schedule. She wakes up at 5am and demands to be fed. Since I get to bed at around midnight or later, I’m a pretty tired Opal in the mornings. And I’ve never been a morning person. Never ever in my life. This just goes to show how much love and devotion I have for this 18 year old critter. Or it might posssibly show how truly insane I am. :-)

Shaped Triangle
Originally uploaded by AkamaiKnitter.

Here’s the easy schmeasy shawl that I’ve been working on while I talk on the phone or when I’m watching a partcularly gripping tv show. It’s the Shaped Triangle from a Gathering of Lace. I’m using Jaggerspun Zephyr in Admiral from Sarah’s Yarns.

Beware of her site because she has a sale right now on all her Zephyr cones! I’ll probably be picking up another cone to use for the Rose Of England Knitalong. I’m still trying to decide on a colour and believe me it’s not an easy task as Zephyr comes in the most amazing colours. I do know it will be in a shade of green and not a red. If I do decide to use a red, then I’ll use the Ruby that I have on hand.

For those of you wondering about whatever happened to the second Diamond Fantasy Shawl, it’s sitting and wating to be blocked. Pictures will be up as soon as i get that beast pinned out! I’m so happy that it’s finally done, but I’m so sad that I don’t get to knit with that beautiful yarn anymore. I’ll have to pick up more yarn form FurrYarns again since I loved it so much.

Flirty Ruffles 8-6-2006
Originally uploaded by AkamaiKnitter.

I was able to get the first chart done of the Flirty Ruffles and I’m really happy with the way it’s turning out. Angela, from Food And Yarn, just finished the same pattern in black and you can see what a different look the shawl has with the darker yarn. I still kind of wonder if I might not like it more with the darker colour, but I think I’ll wear it more in a lighter colour as it will match more of my outfits.

I am finding that the lighter colour is just as hard to knit with as some of the darker colour yarns. It’s so light that I can’t really see the stitches. Isn’t that odd? I think it’s because I need a new pair of glasses and because I have really bad lighting in my living room. Thank goodness for OTT lights!

I hope everyone survived the heat wave relatively well on the mainland. I heard some people here in Hawaii complaining about the heat here when it reached 90F and all I could do was point out the 120F weather in Oklahoma. Yikes!