my new sock blockers from The Loopy EweToday I got a set of sock blockers that I ordered from The Loopy Ewe. Yay!! Now I can block Flavio's socks (well, when I finish them). I love knitting things for him. I'm always thinking about him, of course, but even moreso when I'm knitting for him. I think about these socks keeping his feet warm while he's walking to the metro in the rain. I think about our future life together, knitting blankets for our home and toys for our babies. Yesterday I bought some Christmas-y fabrics to line the stockings I'm going to knit for our first Christmas together (next year).
Last night I watched a really wonderful movie while I was knitting: Ballet Shoes, based on the Noel Streatfeild novel of the same name. It's about three orphans growing up as sisters in the 1930s, each aspiring to do something great. It was a really lovely movie, and now I want to read the book. I've been really into children's literature lately...yesterday I bought The Tale of Despereaux, which I'm very excited to read after I finish Little Women. I think the movie looks so cute!
I've been on a real knitting kick lately. I'm sure it's the cold weather. Nothing warms me more than curling up in my big red chair with a little knitting project in my hands and a sweet little movie on the tube. Got any movie recommendations? Right now, I'm especially interested in film adaptations of children's literature and period dramas set in the late 18th- to early 20th-century (American or British).
Last night I watched a really wonderful movie while I was knitting: Ballet Shoes, based on the Noel Streatfeild novel of the same name. It's about three orphans growing up as sisters in the 1930s, each aspiring to do something great. It was a really lovely movie, and now I want to read the book. I've been really into children's literature lately...yesterday I bought The Tale of Despereaux, which I'm very excited to read after I finish Little Women. I think the movie looks so cute!
I've been on a real knitting kick lately. I'm sure it's the cold weather. Nothing warms me more than curling up in my big red chair with a little knitting project in my hands and a sweet little movie on the tube. Got any movie recommendations? Right now, I'm especially interested in film adaptations of children's literature and period dramas set in the late 18th- to early 20th-century (American or British).
3 comments:
Hmmm... what do sock blockers do?
I need to learn to knit socks... our toes are cold, and the yarn stores are full of soft wools!
Here is a wikipedia article about blocking. Basically, sock blockers provide a foot-shaped form over which to shape a knitted sock. I'm going to be honest: I almost never block anything, and I almost never measure gauge. I'm a bad little knitter! But I wanted to block Flavio's socks because a) I can't just try them on his feet to make sure they fit because he's a bazillion miles away, and b) the foot is done in (mainly) stockinette, which makes it difficult to get the two socks to be exactly the same length (blocking will help to even out any inconsistencies). I'm just a little OCD about symmetry, and I want his socks to be perfect. :)
Also: socks are really easy to knit, no matter how tricky they look. I recommend using bamboo needles because they're lightweight and not at all slippery, which is extremely helpful when you're learning. If you find tiny needles daunting, you might want to try knitting a Christmas stocking first. You can learn the construction of a sock on bigger needles, and you don't have to worry about making the second sock (I always get bored and move onto something else after I finish one sock).
Oh p.s. Lori Ann: you should take a picture of one of the yarn stores there sometime. I'd love to see what a Chinese yarn store looks like! The only yarn store I visited in Italy was in Venice...it was two tiny rooms: one filled with buttons and ribbons and beads, and the other had shoe boxes up to the ceiling, filled with cotton and cashmere and weird novelty yarns.
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