FO: Loooove Monkeys

*contented sigh* Alpaca is awesome. Socks are awesome. <3Love<3

And now that these are out of the way, my dpn's are ready for the Ravelympics!

Oh, and I started my Cherie Amour the same day I finished these. At first I didn't know what size to pick, and the pattern says the S is for a 34" bust, but the finished S is a 41" bust. I am no way close to 41" 'round there, so I asked some people on Ravelry, and those who have made the pattern recommended the XS, which finishes to a 36" bust, for a closer fit.
Luckily, I started a sleeve before all the size debating, and the S and XS sleeves are the same :)

I shall leave you with another FO, my still-life that I finished in class at the North Hills Art Center (I vastly improved from last year).

Ciao!

In case you were wondering, "Where'd the love go?"

First sock is DONE!


Actually, has been done. Since like, April :P Yeah, I know, lots of un-posted and un-updated projects on the list here, but I'll get to them all (eventually).

Here's the deal:

~When I finish all the gloves, I'll go back to Trendsweater.
~When I finish Trendsweater, I'll go back to the second Loooove Monkeys.
~When I finish the socks, I'll go back to either designing a new pattern, or doing whatever ;)

In the midst of all this, I'll be working on my mom's Wisp.
In November, I've promised myself to start a Cherie Amour out of my Manos del Uruguay (for NaKniSweMo).
Plus, my dad announced he'd like a cycling jersey, old-style wool.

Oy. Vey.

Hand allergies, happy pictures, and Capitol cables

That newspaper was wrong, I am not dead. I was in Washington, D.C., thankyouverymuch.
:P
So, I have decided to share with you my favorite shots of the city as seen through my lens (captions also provided). You can see more as I add them gradually at my Flickr page.

*Note: Some of the names of the places may not be exactly right, but you get the picture.
No pun intended ;)

Air and Space Museum

Doesn't my shift of position make this shot the cool pic it is? :P

Supreme Court Building

This is the original marble spiral staircase, and it's so old that they rope the entire section off so no one can walk on it with their dirty shoes and come crashing down when the step underneath them breaks. So to take this picture, I had to lean backwards over the rail (which they allow you to do, surprisingly) with my camera strap constricting my wrist, because if my baby falls, well, it falls (and no way is security going to let you climb down the precious marble spiral staircase to go and collect the pieces).
Painful, but so worth it.

The Marines National Monument

Interesting fact: As you circle the statue, the flag actually appears to rise. I made sure in this shot it was perfectly straight :)

The Lincoln Memorial

Taken from inside the building.

The Washington Monument as seen from the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Monument

Lucky for us, the cherry trees were in bloom all week!

By now you are probably wondering "What about the other things mentioned in the title?" Well now I will answer your question.

I had been getting these weird red bumps on the backs of my hands next to my fingernails. At first I thought it was the yarn I was using: Koigu wool, since the bumps were where the yarn slid through my fingers as I knit. So I finished my first April Showers sock, and put away the Koigu. Then they continued as I knit with other various hand-dyed yarns, so I thought it must be the dye I was allergic to, including the dye in the yarn for my Loooove Monkeys.

Finally, I have discovered that it is in fact an allergy to the aluminum sock needles I was using (my aunt has it, too)! So to fix the problem, I just need to get some bamboo US 3 dpns, and the Loooove Monkeys can continue!

Also, I am halfway through Trendsweater's second sleeve. After that, the seaming fun can begin!

And finally, I will leave the knitters with an amusing picture I took when I visited the Capitol Building. Does the pattern beneath the window remind you of anything? ;)

A better way

Okay, so for the Loooove Monkeys, I wanted a sturdy heel flap, cause I plan to give them a lot of use, you know? I decided to use Eye of Partridge stitch, which looks like honeycomb when you look through it, or hold it up to a light. But the problem was that this heel flap turned out to be more holey and seemingly flimsier than plain stockinette.
Well, a kind sock knitter on Ravelry showed me a better way to do an Eye of Partridge heel flap, so I am going to pass it onto you :) It gives you both a pretty and durable heel flap.

Regular Eye of Partridge stitch goes like this:
Row 1: [Sl1, K1] across
Row 2: Sl1, P across
Row 3: Sl2, [K1, Sl1] to last 2 stitches, K2
Row 4: Repeat Row 2
Repeat rows 1-4 for heel flap

^Muy confusing!

The better Eye of Partridge stitch:
Row 1: [Sl1, K1] across
Row 2: [Sl1, P1] across
Repeat rows 1 and 2 for heel flap

*Note: While it is sturdier, Eye of Partridge tend to be a little tighter, so you may have to knit more than the recommended number of rows for your heel flap (but I assure you, it's worth it to have a sock that fits!)

Who knew popularity had a reason?

On Tuesday, I had this craving. I needed to knit socks, and nothing was going to stop me. However, there was a downside to this. You see, the Koigu yarn (KPPPM) I used for my first April Showers sock made my right hand (the yarn-holding hand) break out in what looked like small blisters all over my fingers. It's probably a bad reaction to the dye, and people on Ravelry said I could cure it by soaking the Koigu in soapy water, but I am still hesitant to pick up with the April Showers Socks.

Then I found this Filatura Lanarota Cuzco I've been saving since me and my mom went to Penn's Colony last fall (the name of the booth I bought it at escapes me). I had used a skein on my Fetching (what was I thinking??? Fingering-weight yarn held double on US 9 needles?!), but still have 340 yards left.

The yarn is very squishy and soft and delicious. It is 100% sport-weight alpaca, and I <3<3<3 the pumpkin color. I am making Cookie's Monkey pattern, and this is where the post title comes in.

If you are on Ravelry (which I suspect you are, since this is where most of my traffic comes from), you will surely have noticed the alarming number of people who have made this pattern. If you haven't, that's good, cause I'm gonna tell you anyway:
4192
Four thousand, one hundred, and ninety-two people have made these socks. That is so freaking insane.

At first I was all, "It's cute, but eh, I don't know. Surely it will not seduce me into knitting them."

But it has.

And it is addicting. And I love it. Just like those other 4192 people.
Henceforth, these are the Loooove Monkey socks.

Oh and by the way, I finished the back of Trendsweater. Onto the left front, my comrades!
If I can figure out how on Earth to do all these increases. Yeeeesh.