FO: Proletariat Socks

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My stepdad's socks are done! I know I'm already a few months late, but I'm starting to really bang through the sock queue! It's a good feeling. Check out the progress:

1. Charade socks for Brian
2. River Rapid socks for Jennie
3. Vinnland socks for Van
4. Millicent socks for Sam
5. Rhiannon socks for Mandy
6. Spiral boots socks for Leila
   
7. Socks for Mom
8. Socks for Stepdad
9. Something sockish for Dani (possibly booties?)
   
10. Indestructible socks for Jon

Despite the top picture, I think these turned out pretty good. They're totally inoffensive to one's masculine, both in color (a nice manly gray) and texture (just ribs and seed stitch), and machine washable to ensure optimal low maintenance care.

Yarn - 2 skeins of Knitpicks Swish DK (123 yards, 100% superwash merino) in mist. This is awesome yarn for thickish socks - it's squishy and soft, but still stretchy and not too heavy.

Needles - magic looped 'em on my trusty 40" size 3 addi turbo circulars

Pattern - I totally made this up as I went along at the socialist thingy. Here's how it went:

• CO 28 sts using figure 8 technique, and increase 1 st at beginning and end of each needle every other row until there's 60 sts total
• For the top of the foot: p1, k2, p2, work 20 in seed st, p2, k2, p1. Knit across sole.
• Around round 40, start gusset increases by increasing 1 at the beg. and end of the sole section every other round. Continue the top of foot pattern. Repeat until you have worked 10 increase rounds.
  
• For the heel: p1, k2, p2, work 20 in seed st, p2, k2, p2tog. Turn work and sl1, then: p2, k2, work 20 in seed st, k2, p2, k2tog. Repeat until all the increased sts have been used up, which should be 20 rows (PS - notice something missing? Like short rows? Yeah, I totally blanked on that. I think they turned ok anyway).
• Keep knitting the leg in the rib/seed st pattern as established until you run out of yarn. BO loosely.
  

Fighting the Good Fight

So, as alluded to in my last post, I spent the weekend at another one of those three-day-long socialist meetings. These meetings are so odd - on the one hand, I really enjoy them because I no longer live near a proper branch and thus no longer get these kinds of awesome conversations and get all pumped and inspired to do stuff (instead, as you know, I watch a lot of of ANTM). On the other hand, as much as I like the people there, they do tend to be a bit pretentious and drop terms like 'historical materialism' and 'radicalized youth' like they were the names of celebrities and they were desperately trying to get in to a club on Saturday night.

Mostly though, it was just exhausting. I stayed focused by writing really detailed notes and by knitting these socks:

Check out the TV: It's SPRING BREAK and I'm rewatching as much of Lost as is humanly possible.

They don't really have a name yet, but they're gray, not fancy at all, and for my mechanic stepfather. Given the atmosphere, I was toying with calling them proletariat socks of something equally ridiculous.

If you've ever wondered what our kind does for fun, stay tuned - Dani and I blogged the Oscars and it will be posted this week.