Tuesday, July 8, 2008

You Ask For A Miracle...

...I give you the World's Ugliest Socks. (Apologies to Alan Rickman a/k/a Hans Gruber in "Die Hard.")

Now really, I find these awful. I was going to do some sort of cable or ribbing so I wouldn't keep making plain ol' stockinette socks, but it would have been like pearls before swine, or some such metaphor. These didn't even rate a ribbed top. Plus, they were horrible to knit. I thought I'd overdone it for SOS and ruined my hands, because they would hardly work. But it was the yarn, not my hands, because as soon as I cast on these:
...ahhhh, it was like buttah.

I have no idea what the Ugly Sock yarn is. I bought it at least five years ago. I had actually started knitting a sock, but I kept stopping and starting (I wonder why?) and the gauge was all wonky in different parts. So I ripped it out and rolled it up and it hadn't seen the light of day until SOS called.

Now, in the picture, they really don't look so bad. But trust me, in life they look like someone threw up a meal of grape jelly, mustard, spinach, and red Kool-Aid. None of those colors alone is bad, but together? Blecccch!

The orange socks are Marigolds by Pamela Wynn, and they're a free download on Ravelry (thanks, Pamela!!) Hers are yellow, but I like orange marigolds, and this yarn is perfect. I'm thinking about digging up some clear beads for the leg part so I can have dew on my marigolds. (The Ugly Socks have driven me to new heights of creativity in an attempt to get them out of my brain.)

Aren't the stitch markers adorable? You can get them here at Wee Ones' etsy shop. I've sworn off looking anymore, because the monkeys were the second set I bought, and I have three more custom-made sets on order. I don't really need the markers for this pattern now, but they make me so happy that they're staying. Again, the Ugly Socks have taken their toll. I need all the fun and pretty things I can get!

As you can see in the sidebar, I've succumbed to Plurk.com. Don't ask me to explain it. You just have to check it out, and you won't really understand how fun it is until you join and start collecting friends. So jump in!

I went to the Pilates studio this afternoon for a session of Gyrotonics, and I feel pretty good, but tired. Gyrotonics is not so much a workout as gentle stretching and loosening of the muscles, with just a little strengthening thrown in. It's perfect for me because my muscles are so tight, and I need gentle work because of the Fibromyalgia. I haven't taken ballet since February, and I want to get back to it this fall, but I need to get some strength and endurace built up. I feel a little soreness starting to creep up, so I'd better get away from the computer and move a little.

But first, I have to check Plurk!

5 comments:

DPUTiger said...

You evil person. I'm totally gonna have to cave on some Wee Ones stitch markers. Guess it's good they're for larger needles. I went nuts on sock-sized ones recently. I DON'T NEED MORE STITCH MARKERS! :)

Lisa said...

Oh but I'm sure you can get them with smaller rings for your sock needles (evil laugh.)

sara said...

Omigosh what a funny post...

Wait, your pain is 'causing me merriment.

Crap. Sorry. I just can't help but laugh. You don't know how many balls of future ugly socks are in my stash. I don't know why I bought the stuff.

The marigolds are lovely.

Batty said...

Wow, those are... they are... really, I'm not sure what they are. Stripy is the best I can come up with. Stripy in the worst imagineable way. But they're done and your hands are still working, and you're now knitting happy orange socks from a very nice-looking yarn (hey, if you check my blog, you'll see I'm knitting orange socks too). So it's not all bad.

Trying. To. Resist. Stitch. Markers.

Daniele said...

Hmmm. They just look, well.... BIG. You didn't want to go with the ribbing, huh? The colors are not all that complimentary either. Okay - UGLY -- although I will say that I'm almost sure I've seen that sock yarn before. Hopefully I don't have it! Are you going to post them on SOS? You should at least keep a hold of them in case you need a tie breaker. Those "ugly socks" could end up winning for you! I haven't been on SOS since yesterday, but I see someone has 10 pairs....

Beautiful orangy goodness you have now to work on...