Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Tidal (Title) Struggle

Personally, I think the hardest thing about writing this blog is coming up with a catchy title that ties in with the theme of the knitting shown here. This time was no exception. I look at the sock and come up with lots of titles and then think how silly they sound and 86 the idea. I wanted to tie the theme and the photo of my latest project with the official title of the design name. It's been tough. Does anyone else out there in blog land have this problem besides me?

I truly think that fall is my most favorite season for so many reasons. I am built for cold weather (this means I am overweight). Fall colors are my most favorite colors because I think on some subconscious level I have memories attached more to those colors. Things like seeing the leaves change while driving across country with my family and when I was a kid. Halloween is not my favorite holiday, but I do love the shades of orange in the pumpkins and seasonal squashes. I love the shades of the old football mums we wore at the homecoming football games. in high school. Christmas has my most favorite color with so many shades of Green. So most of my knitting seems to be earthy and warm tones of fall colors. So it's no surprise that this latest project has shades of brown and beige.

I did a search on Ravelry for free sock patterns. I found a ton of them but then had to weed some out. Cuff down, toe ups? I only know cuff down so I try to only favorite the cuff down socks. I also have to be sure that the directions are not mainly charts and that they are usable for dpns. I knit socks with dpns only. Ever since I learned to make socks I have really taken to using dpns.

So I had this pattern as a favorite for a while now and decided I needed to do them. I am one pair of socks behind since joining The Great Sock Off 2009. I missed making socks in May and started my socks late for June, but they are done and I have already picked at pattern for the July socks which will be cast on here shortly. I don't want to get behind again.

So here are the June socks! They are titled Tidal Wave socks, hence the title for this blog entry (play on words-Title-Tidal). They were very easy to knit. It was only a 12 row repeat. The pattern is pretty straight forward. I had some Plymouth Yarn Rockin' Sox in a variegated brown.
I was not sure that the pattern would show up very well but it did just fine. I loved that the foot is just stockinette so the pattern is only on the leg of the sock. So if you are a newish knitter, this would be a great sock to save after you have your first pair under your belt.

I read about 10-12 blogs on a regular basis. In some of those blogs I noticed that they are using a leg or half a leg to model their socks. I really love the way that looks so I got myself one. When I slipped my sock on the form I did notice that the form's foot is a wee bit slimmer than mine so the sock does look a little big. So here is one of my Tidal Wave socks on the new model.


Like I mentioned above, the 12 row repeat pattern is concentrated on the leg. I did 5 repeats. After trying on the socks, I discovered that the cuffs are a bit snug for me so an adjustment will be made on the next pair of socks that I am knitting for the month on July. So there are the Tidal Waves socks; simple yet sturdy.


10 comments:

Paula said...

Oh that is so beautiful!
I'm glad I'm not the only one built for cold weather... *chuckle*
I don't have too much trouble with the titles- it's writing all the rest of it that I struggle with sometimes! I think the first thing that pops into your head is usually the best... unless it sounds dirty.. LOL

vlb5757 said...

That is too funny! Yeah, I think I am built to live in Alaska or Maine! lol!

kemtee said...

I blogged about titles last year. When I was in journalism school, they always told us that the hardest bit of the article to write was the lead paragraph. Now, twenty years removed from those classes, I call BS. I can write a lead with little problem. I CAN'T title the dang thing for love nor money.

But then, that's what copy editors are for, right?

vlb5757 said...

Truly! I wish I had a copy editor to help me write my blog and a graphic designer to help my blog have a better lay out! Maybe I could spend more time looking at how to perk it up? Nah, I would rather knit!

Ria said...

Another cold weather afficionado here!

Those socks look great - where do you get half a leg??

I thought your tidal title was cool - I can't come up with titles either.

vlb5757 said...

Ria, Store Supply Warehouse is where I ordered my half leg. I did look locally but they didn't carry them. I would have had to get the whole leg which I then would have had to cut. I think with s&h it cost me about $32. You might find it cheaper someplace else, I don't know if you can get it cheaper or not but I was very happy with what I got!

Kathy said...

I am so very new to knitting. It seems to have skipped a generation in our family as my mother was always knitting argyle socks for my grandfather and now my daughter knits beautifully. My goal is to become proficient enough to make some socks out of my own Shetland yarns.
Now if I can keep my brain in gear when I do them, I'll be OK.
Thanks for the inspriation! And I loved about fall and the drives with family! I grew up in the Midwest and Upstate NY where falls were gorgeous. We have them here, but not nearly as grand.
And Thanksgiving is my fav holiday. It seems to have everything I love: the colors of fall and the snap of cold in the air, and remembering family and dear friends - and you've got to love all the food! :)

vlb5757 said...

Kathy-thanks for stopping by! My mother used to crochet but because of something to do with her elbow she quit crocheting. My maternal grandmother crocheted and knitted like a fiend. She is the one who set me on fire with fiber. I have two sons so I guess the knitting gene stops here for a while (no grandkids yet).

I seem to have taken to socks because they are pretty quick and are a short term project, unlike a sweater for me. Everyone has something that they love knitting. I found mine pretty early on. My feet are all too happy about it.

Sharon said...

I absolutely love the make socks and always have at least one pair on needles. I might need some passenger knitting or something!! Yours turned very nice and yes, they do look autumnal. Autumn is my favorite season. I just get so tired of being hot and the Fall colors around here, while subtle, are delightful.

I need a foot form too. I was thinking of getting one of the flat wood ones, but haven't invested any energy into locating one. My daughter did give me a glass head she found when cleaning out her garage, so it will be appearing in my blog at some future date.

I never gave a thought to catchy titles. I just write for a while, then go back and stick something in.

vlb5757 said...

Sharon-I love the idea of the glass head. I got mine from the place where I buy my hair dye. I might try to upgrade but for now it's good enough. I do love the half leg form. Makes my socks look so much better than on my legs. I was thinking about buying a second one!