The Ironworks Distillery was, by happy coincidence, conveniently located just down the street from our lodgings in Lunenberg.  We were able to stop in and get a wee restorative sip for him (it doesn’t take much when you’re a sock).  So as not to be rude, we picked up a bottle or four for ourselves.  I can officially recommend the vodka, and I am nigh on heartbroken that the rum won’t be ready until November.  Should you happen to be in the area, I highly recommend stopping by.

The afternoon featured a long (twisty) drive and gave me plenty of time to finish Socky’s toe.  He felt that being complete would give him a much better chance of fending off any more wild life, and was quite relieved.

I’m trying to figure out how to bring it home (it’s rather large).  I could take it to Canada Post, but I think it would be cheaper to buy it its own seat on the airplane.  I have a feeling I’m going to end up constructing a box for it and checking it as a piece of ‘luggage.’  Customs will be fine with that, right?

Alas, all was not well.  There are perils in the deep, and Socky was menaced by sea monsters.

He lived to tell the tale and will be back to relate the rest of his adventures soon.

Well, not at this particular moment.  Right now I’m packing.  You see, I’m off for a bit of a jaunt next week to Nova Scotia.  I hope to return with completed sock pictures for Gramercy.  The pattern is finished (save for the final read through which usually reveals at least one extra space or missing comma), and as soon as I’ve got pictures I’ll be ready to release it.  I’d also like to return with some yarn.  Nova Scotia is the home of Fleece Artist and their sister company Handmaiden.  Their wares can apparently be found at the famed Baddeck Yarns.  I could suggest that I mean to be restrained and responsible in my yarn purchases, but I really have no intention of doing any such thing.  I more or less plan on buying anything that sings to me, and I’m bringing a large suitcase.  Anything else I should check out in NS?  I’m totally soliciting suggestions (restaurants and general sights as well as purveyors of yarn of course).

Now it’s a bit hard to see exactly what’s going on, as these are two rather colorful yarns, so I did a bit of a solid color swatch to see if I could figure it out.  That’s over there on the right.

Alas, they are decidedly non-stripe like.  They are a few other things though…namely stretchy, seriously smooshy, the same on both sides, and completely curl proof.  It might have potential.  But before I get too distracted by it, I should figure out a few things.  First, what the heck is it?  I’m sure it must have a name other than bungled brioche.  Second, where should I go to figure out the proper way to do brioche (as I apparently can’t simply intuit it on my own)?  Does anyone recommend a particular book or website?

So far they’ve been shown to entertain me (not that challenging really), The Boy, the kittens, various other knit-susceptible friends, and a marauding three year old who wandered by.  I’ve chosen to keep mine in the little charging caddy I have on my desk (seemed fitting), but they’ve also found themselves posed with coffee cups, absinthe bottles, various houseplants, and wee tiny lego men.  The possibilities for wasting alarming amounts of time are more or less endless.  Flee while you still can.

There is a wee bit of progress on the knitting front, but it’s also a bit scattered.  I’m working on the second of the blue lacy socks.  They’ll likely be called Gramercy and they’re coming out some time in mid September (assuming of course I can get the second one done and take it out for photos between now and then).  I’ve cast on a was-supposed-to-be-mindless-but-then-I-went-and-shot-that-all-to-hell sock that I’ll be able to show you soon.  I’ve got Heather’s What Would Madame Defarge Knit socks well underway.  They’re damn cool, but the very antitheses of mindless.

And then, somewhere in the middle of all that, I fell pray to the knitting equivalent of crack.  I lost all track of my good sense and spent a lot of time knitting tentacles.  Yes I mean that in the most literal sense.  Stand-alone, three-dimensional tentacles…those grabby squirmy things hanging out on your favorite sea critter.  As an aside (and a deeply pedantic aside at that), the things on an octopus, and most of the things on a squid or cuttlefish, are technically arms.  Squid and cuttlefish have both arms and tentacles, while some beasties have only tentacles.  Arms (well, cephalopod arms, likely not your arms) generally have suckers all down one side, while tentacles usually have suckers only at the tip.  Got all that? Excellent.  So with that background I can clarify and say that I’ve been knitting cephalopod arms and blithely calling them tentacles.  I have every intention of continuing to call them tentacles too, as ‘cephalopod arms’ just doesn’t sound as cuddly.

One of the themes that often pops up in Miss Manners’ writing is that of holding up your end of the social contract.  That’s really what you’re doing when you r.s.v.p. promptly or invite your friends over for dinner or send off a thank you note.  The goal is to extend kindnesses to others and to return the kindnesses that have been extended to you.  The napkins and stationery are just window dressing.  They’re nice, but they matter much less than the underlying intent.

So with that in mind, I want to send you all a thank you note.  Now I can’t really do this in the traditional sense.  I can’t get out a note card and a nice pen and write to each of you.  What I can do is realize that by making my socks and testing my patterns and voting for me on SKA and spreading the word about this odd little endeavor of mine, you’re doing me a kindness.  I want to thank you for it and do something for you in return.  So I’ll be releasing the next pattern (the lacy ones I showed you last month) for free.  The pattern is with testers now, and I’ll be working on the second sock over the next few days.  I’ll be spending a few days somewhere picturesque at the end of the month, and with any luck I’ll have these ready to release in early September.

Now I already have a pair of exceptionally useful sock blockers in the size needed for my rather generously-sized feet.  I even already have a pair of lovely mitt blockers.  What I need is pair (or maybe a few pairs) of pretty sock blockers in a ladies medium or so for the book.  If you know of someone who makes lovely sock blockers, or if you make lovely sock blockers and would like to talk about having them in the book, leave me a comment and I’ll be in touch!

Heather Ordover, English teacher extraordinaire and the genius behind Craft Lit, has had what may well be the best idea in the history of thinking.  She’s doing a book called What Would Madame Defarge Knit: Creations Inspired by the Classics (see, you know she’s cooler than I am, because she already has a subtitle)!  It’s a collection of patterns, some by Heather and some by other folks, all inspired by characters from classic literature.  The very concept made me squee with delight.  Why yes I was a frightfully bookish child, why ever do you ask?

It’s coming out this winter and is being published through Cooperative Press (the same place that’s doing my book).  Through a fortuitous series of events (weave your own scandalous tale of bribery, blackmail, collusion, and general knitterly skulduggery at will), I get to do a pattern for it.  The glee generated by this has been nigh on overwhelming.  More details will be forthcoming over the next few weeks, but I had to share just a bit right now!