So as the eagle-eyed or long-time reader might have noticed, I’m a wee bit of a fan of the Fox show 24 (no, really? I would never have guessed!). While I’m used to waiting a long time between seasons (the show runs uninterrupted between January and May, making for a 7-month hiatus), due to the Writers’ Guild strike, that wait is going to be even longer. This past Sunday should have been the 2-hour premiere of season 7, and instead, sadly, those first eight episodes are sitting in some vault somewhere (you have no idea how much this thought tortures me).
Which is where the incredibly sad, fangirly knitting comes in.
In lieu of a new season, I’ve decided that for the next five months, for every episode of season 7 that would have aired, I’ll watch an episode from seasons 1-6, and review it (reviews are posted on my LiveJournal). And if that wasn’t sad enough, I’ve set myself a knitting challenge to accompany it. My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to knit a pair of socks from the Solo sock yarn I got from A Swell Yarn Shop, in the “Bauer Blue” colourway. More specifically, to knit the pair in the 24 hours of episodes that I’ll be watching over the next few months. The only time I am allowed to work on these socks is when I’m watching an episode as part of the challenge.
Naturally I accepted the mission wholeheartedly.
Which would explain why, on Sunday night, I gathered my supplies and plunked myself downstairs in front of the TV. Armed with the season premieres from season 1 and 6, the Bauer Blue yarn, a brand-new set of 2.75mm needles from Knitpicks, the “Sensational Knitted Socks” books by Charlene Schurch and some popcorn, I settled in to knit. By the end of the two episodes I watched on Sunday I had the toes of each sock finished, and after the two episodes on Monday, I’m an inch and a half to two inches into the foot.
In other yarny news, I’ve been a bad, bad little stashbuster and have added yarn to the stash. Just before Christmas, Miz Violet of Lime and Violet was doing a stash purge of her own, and so naturally, some of her stash just had to become some of my stash. I got two balls of Interlacements Tiny Toes in a navy blue semi-solid, a skein of Cider Moon Glacier in “Wildwood” and the one that I was stalking the site for, some Socks that Rock Mediumweight in the “Lunasea” colourway. I didn’t just buy this stuff because it was Miz V’s, it’s all stuff I really wanted, but I have to admit part of me opened the package thinking “OMG! This is, like…rockstar yarn!”
And then of course there was the trip into Toronto for New Year’s. I went to visit a friend of mine who lives in Pickering, and naturally prior to taking the GO Train from downtown Toronto to Pickering, I had to do a bit of a yarn crawl. I managed to escape that day having only bought two skeins of Koigu at the Knit Cafe in a great orange-red-burgundy-purple colourway, which I intend to use for a pair of the Fawkes socks. This is a remarkable accomplishment if I do say so myself, as Lettuce Knit had Socks that Rock in stock, including some colourways that are not on the website.
But then on New Year’s Day, prior to getting on the bus to go home, I went to the pajama party hosted at one of the newest yarn stores in Toronto, The Purple Purl. I had a great time, talked with a lot of very nice knitters, saw some adorable babies and…of course had to buy another skein of yarn. Indigo Moon sock yarn, this time, in a deep purple shaded solid.
But really, two pairs of socks’ worth of yarn! That’s not that much for a trip to Toronto! Really!
Anyway, it looks like I’ll have more time to work on said projects, as thanks to the Niagara Knitters group on Ravelry, I may actually have a semi-regular stitch & bitch to go to! A couple of us got together before Christmas, and there’s another meetup planned for tomorrow. We haven’t decided on a regular night (and might not, so we can change nights when people have other plans or for those who would usually be busy on whatever regular night we might pick) but there’s at least some indication that we’ll probably get together fairly often–maybe not every week, but every couple weeks would be nice. In case anyone from the area stumbles over this, we’ll be meeting at the Fine Grind Cafe in downtown St. Catharines tomorrow around 7pm. It looks like the Fine Grind will be the usual meeting place as neither Starbucks in the city is an option, really (too busy or not laid out in a manner that would make it easy to gather), and while there’s another cafe downtown, it’s fairly dark inside. Plus, the Fine Grind has amazing hot chocolate, though summer will be tricky as it’s not air conditioned.
Finally, a local knitting community!
Knitwit's Rambles 