Magic Socks!!

Back in the dawn of days (we'll call it the "80's"), I was headed off to college. I ended up going to a Math Intensive Type-school, for reasons that still escape me, other than it was a blast, I had fun, and I managed to leave on time, with a degree that I actually used for a few years. Had I not gone there, I'd have gone to a liberal arts college nearby, and majored in classical history, art and mythology, with a minor in Italian, and what classes I could muster in Ancient Greek. My masters would've been narrowed down to art & mythology; my PhD (well, I would've gone for it, I know me) would've been centered around some theme in Greco-Roman pantheistic mythology. Preferably one where I'd have an excuse to wander around Greece and Italy in search of ruins, art, and local variations on various myths (aka "poking around in old books and museums and libraries and private collections to my heart's content").

The reason I tell you this is so that you will understand why my husband thought I'd been shot when I started screaming (loudly: "EEEEEE! EEEEEEEEEEE! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!") when I got the most recent Fairy Tale Sock Club box in the mail last Thursday evening. Rather than strictly a fairy tale, these socks are based off one of the most well-known of the ancient Greek myths/histories out there: Theseus and the Minotaur. And they're based on one of the most well-known ancient Greek art forms: the Red Figured vase. (Example of the Gods and Goddesses on a vase, here.)


I should also add here that I love the Greek Key motif. My baby grand piano has it carved around the edges as decoration. The lovely treat-dishes on said piano have it. I inlaid the floor on the other side of the chimney from said piano with a Greek Key.

For me, socks really don't get any better. You get the idea now, yes? Anyway, I started them right away - balled up the yarn and everything, figured out how I could follow the pattern and still wear the socks (I'm experimenting with being able to knit much more tightly than I do... more like a 'normal person'...). Squealed a lot more. Loudly. (My poor husband. And he was home sick, too.)

Sadly, I was sleeping much of the weekend, or running around a convention - neither of which is conducive to knitting. So, Friday night, I was this far:


After an entire three-day weekend, I had only made it to the start of the heel flap:


Look at that Greek Key in mosaic stitch.
I'd been doing mosaic stitch wrong for years.
Yay for good directions!!
So Tuesday morning, I finished turning the heel - and was way behind where I wanted to be by then. See?


Now on the upside, I'm learning to knit a bit tighter when it matters, so using the instructions for the Small Sock and size 2 needles (yes, bigger than called for, I'm in training), I'm keeping gauge and getting a sock that fits. I'm quite impressed with myself, unduly so, since being able to knit tightly or loosely seems to be something most knitters accomplish long before I did. So far, Sock #1 actually fits, and quite well... and I've actually got THE NUMBER OF STITCHES CALLED FOR on the needles! Wheeee! As of... I think Wednesday evening, I'd gotten the second mosaic band done (and am in awe of the Clever involved in getting decreases to work in a patterned band... really nifty trick!!) . . .


. . . and here's where I was this morning:


Look! Tiny Minotaur Feet!!
The stranded work is going a bit more slowly than I'd like, mostly because it's the counted cross-stitch of knitting: unlike regular knitting, where even patterned stuff has a repeat that can eventually be committed to memory, trying to commit this graphed image (in its entirety) to memory would result in ME being committed. So, I have to "look away from the knitting" and "count actual numbers" and other things that tend to slow me down. I've almost gotten the hang of socks-on-two-circs at this point, and I'm hoping to have a Finished Sock #1 and bits of a started Sock #2 to show you early next week!