Keeping Traditions Alive

Did you see this on yahoo news? A Polish town known for traditional lace is keeping it alive with lace thongs. As one woman pointed out, it takes a lot less time to make than a table runner and there is more of a market for lingerie.

Mad (Cape) Cod

mad (cape) cod
Originally uploaded by waegoogin.

Finally finished. I held it under my desk and knit the final cuff while my students did their sustained silent reading today (about fifteen minutes). I'm pretty sure I'll frog them and reknit them with five repeats on the foot (serves me right after I left the gauge out of the pattern) and change it to a heel flap.

I prefer heel flaps, but short row heels are easier and the pattern was supposed to be suitable for a first-time sock knitter.

I do really like how the colors work together. There is fawn in the Cape Cod, but the solid stripes prevent the pooling that drives me mad.

Now I have to see if I made the cut. When they last posted, there were only four slots left in my division.

The original Mad Cows were knit in Filitura Cervinia color 012 (black, white, and gray variegated) and some random black yarn (I knit them on vacation and didn't save the ball band), both 100% merino.

pattern 1 yarn

pattern 1 yarn
Originally uploaded by waegoogin.

My Mad Cow yarn.

Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

Today is the day that Sock Madness kicks off (yukyukyuk). I finished my last project Thursday and am ready to go. Some people seem to take this waaaaaaaay too seriously. I've participated in a couple of similar knitting "events" and there are people who seriously seem to take leave from their job or otherwise make said event the center of their lives. I will concede that there is little opportunity for competitive knitting, so competitive people may look forward to the few chances that do arise more than the rest of us, but come on. It's just a game.

I'm patiently waiting for the email of the pattern, even though it won't arrive until early tonight or later, because there is about a fifteen hour difference between the hosts and me. I have gathered my knitting accoutrement and have them patiently waiting, though. :-)

That's about all that's going on around here. My days pretty much consist of going to Korean class, teaching, and doing homework. I knit on the train to class and on the bus to work. The end. My exciting, exotic life in Asia.

Last week I recorded my first episode of the podcast. It was a lot of fun. Mostly we just shared our views on expat life in Korea. So, you know, the same crap I sit around talking about all the time anyway, just with a mic in front of me.

The new Knitty is out. There is one gorgeous sock pattern which brings to mind Cookie's recent patterns (if you click through, scroll all the way down, because there is sock after sock each one more beautiful than the last), which I will never knit because it is knee high (so about a foot taller than I find comfortable), one very cool stranded pattern that I will never knit, because my goth days are about 20 years in the past (but I would have totally knit them back in high school), one beautiful pattern that I might knit if and when I get through the current queue of beautiful patterns (that only grows, because I generally just end up knitting my own patterns anyway), and one very basic pattern. I think I have just broken my standing record for longest run on sentence with the most parenthetical asides and a few dangling modifiers thrown in for good measure. Yes, I teach writing, but I'm off the clock. ;-)

I was heartened to read Cookie's post today about writing a pattern just like Queen of Hearts, because I just finished knitting two pairs of socks that I intended to submit to MagKnits (one was a more advanced version of the other). About the time I cast on the fourth sock, I saw a VERY similar, though not exactly identical, sock from Sensational Knitted Socks. I even thought I had very cleverly come up with the lace pattern myself. Hahaha. Since mine is *somewhat* different, with lace panels and a fold-down cuff, I'll post the pattern once I get it typed up. I haven't had time or proper natural lighting to take photos yet, but they are pretty, if I do say so myself.

Can a person knit to death?

I realized today that I have signed up for two knitting contests that start this week. Hahahahahaha. One is Sock Madness that I've been going on about for ages. The other is yarnmonkey's knitoff. Both are elimination tournaments. Both of which I'll probably get knocked out of in the first round.

I've also signed up for another month of Korean class, even though it may kill me. We covered one hundred pages in a month!!! I thought I was off the hook because it looked like there wouldn't be enough students to open the class (about half of my class is going to be overseas for the month of March). Today, the last day of class, I found out the minimum had been reached. At least that's like two knitting hours a day on the subway. Of course, if I didn't have class, I would have the two hours of class plus the two hours of homework time to knit...

At least my Korean is improving. And I'm learning useful phrases, like, "What would you like to fix on your face?" since the Korean verb for getting plastic surgery is "fixing". Of course, it's pretty disheartening that my Korean had devolved to the point where I can see improvement in only a month.

I found out that I will be knitting against Miss Violet herself in Sock Madness. I'm such an uber-dork, I know.

As if all that weren't enough, I'm joining a podcast, Seoul Survivors, this weekend. Hopefully, since it's an expat/ teacher podcast and not a knitting one, I won't be hit by the knitting podcaster's curse. Has anyone else noticed the regularity with which knitting podcasters have been struck with serious illness? First was Marie Irshad the knitting podmother, then someone whose name I've forgotten (from Texas, maybe, I don't know, it was one I only listened to a few times), then Miss Violet, and now the venerable Brenda Dayne.

As a completely unrelated aside, since I seem to be rambling more pointlessly than usual, the new Magknits is up with three sock patterns.

Since this is an otherwise photofree post, I'll put in my random sighting of the week, even though I saw it a few weeks ago. This is the art installation in front of some random business in Seoul. All the Dwarves are there, just some are hiding or around the corner.