Got a good look? Good, cuz I got my groove back babeee! Last week I posted about starting my Jaywalker socks over (again). What you don't know is that night after posting, I started over, yet again. I mistakenly cast on the larger size and didn't really realize it until I was about to start the heel. So frog I did,  casted on the correct size, and literally zipped through the first sock. I was knitting in the car over the weekend while me, my sisters Tracy and Jill, and friend Kira did last minute shopping to prepare for Tracy's baby shower this coming weekend. And then finished it up while watching the AFC playoff game with my Dad. And that was slow knitting because here it is early Tuesday morning and I'm about 10 rows from starting the toe decreases on sock two!
Will I ever use Opal Petticoat again? Probably not. I've been really disappointed with it. For example, see that dark orange/red stripe? See those little black splotches? They are all over sock one. And you can see that in the image of both socks, without even trying to do so, I managed to nearly identically line up the pattern upon starting sock two (really, I was floored as I noticed it) But the random orange/pink stripe threw off the rest of the pattern. Honestly I'm not bummed at all about them not perfectly matching. I actually like the mismatch look of self patterning yarn, but its the second quality look of this Opal. I'm not sure if I should email the seller I got it from since its been literally months since I purchased it. But I do have another skein in my stash of Opal Petticoat, purchased at the same time, and I wonder if that skein will do the same thing. Ugh!
Some things I will do different on my next, if ever, pair of Jaywalkers? Either skip the cuff ribbing and do something else, or use smaller needles. I'm just not happy with the loose look of the rib, it looks sloppy to me, despite my efforts to knit it pretty tight. And I would love to try this pattern with a short row heel instead of the flap. But it is a fabulously easy pattern to memorize, and knits, as you can see, pretty quickly. Big footed sister has oogled them, and her birthday is next week. I had planned a Panta headband for her, but I just may pass these to her since she seems to love them, even with the blotchy spots.

I do have some good news. Llamie was surfin' around the internets and found our friend Kate, who I had lost touch with about 4 years ago, and had no luck finding.  Some emails were exchanged and within a few hours, my phone rang...and it was Kate! After nearly two hours on the phone, you can safely assume, we're "caught up" on the last four years and have made a promise that we will not let that happen again (losing touch!)
Other than that, we're ok. We're still in the boondocks. It still sucks. No word yet about serendipitous meeting. I'm still a little freaked out about what may happen. Combine that with the intense misery of living here and it makes Valium look pretty darn good.

Around a year ago on this day..

• Cross Post - 2008
• shrink - shrank - shrunk - 2007