…As long as it’s a nice autumnal desert island, so I can wear my new Crusoe socks:

I finally got around to finishing Sock #2’s neglected toe, so I’ve officially completed my very first pair of socks. In anticipation of wearing them this fall, I bought these on sale in North Carolina:

Yum, Dansko clogs. I’ve wanted some for a long time, and the need to show off the socks I’m making finally pushed me over the edge. I’m glad I caved in: they’re very, very comfortable. Of course, it’s not exactly closed-toe-footwear weather in New York City yet, and it’s certainly not wool sock weather. In fact, it was rather a struggle to wrestle the socks onto my swollen feet (they’re only swollen from the heat – just because everyone else in Knitblogland seems to be getting knocked up doesn’t mean I have to jump on that wagon just yet!). But I’m glad these little puppies are all done.

Notes on the Crusoe Socks (pattern from Knitty): I used Knit Picks Sock Memories merino in colorway “Hawaii”, thoughtfully gifted by Mia for my honeymoon, and US size 2 Brittany Birch dpn’s. I knit the smaller size, which was a mistake. The extra four stitches would have made them a lot easier to get over my heel. These socks are SNUG. But they’re comfortable once I’ve spent a minute tugging them into place. I love the short legs – no need to worry about the sock saggage. On both socks I came out with funny math at the toe: I was supposed to wind up with ten stitches to kitchener, but I had twelve, as given for the larger size. And I had to do some rearranging to get an even number of stitches on my two needles. But these are very minor quibbles, and quite probably my own fault. In all, I loved knitting this pattern and will probably make these socks again.

In other knitting news, there was a Spiders & Friends yarn swap at Kaitlyn’s house this weekend, and a good time was had by all. No squabbling or cat fights over a whole sweater’s worth of Debbie Bliss cotton alpaca whatsoever, and lots of good yarn found a new home. I’ll be showing off my scores when I cast on for new projects. I’ll just leave you with this parting shot, as a cautionary lesson: don’t give knitbloggers too much rum punch. It lowers their inhibitions. And then they make their friends do ridiculous things so they can post pictures on the web. “Roll in the stash, Katie! Just roll in it!”

Ah, the beautiful summer weekends in New York City. The thrill of the triathlon. The cheering onlookers. The smell of the Hudson. And then, the monotony of waiting in line for free Shakespeare in the Park tickets. It was an eventful Sunday indeed.

The thrill of the triathlon belongs to my husband, who found out he’d gotten off the waiting list at the last moment on Saturday. Dauntless, he merrily prepared his gear, despite not having trained as he would have liked. And of course I had to turn up to support him. I was down at the river by 6:45.

This was the scene – you can see the dock where the athletes climbed out of the water after the 1.5k swim. That’s not Adam. He was actually so much faster in the water than I expected that he appeared before I could get the camera ready. I watched him head out on the bike around 7:20 and then booked it over to the park to get in line for Shakespeare tickets. The theatre distributes the tickets at 1:00, but you need to be in line before 8:30 to be assured of getting any. We’ve done this every year since we’ve lived in New York. So while I waited, I knit. I worked my apricot jacket sleeve up to the shoulder cap before I ran out of yarn (I’d foolishly left the remaining two balls at the office – yes, I have stash overflow there.), and then I spent some time with the sock. I took a break to watch Adam run by:

He joined me after he finished in the excellent time of 2:39:38. Yay, Husband!

And there was more than one sock on a bike this weekend:

And when I tired of the sock stranding (I’m working the foot), I cast on for a new project. It’s design number five from the Vogue spring/summer issue, but I’m making some modifications, including removing the arms. I’m also knitting it in some nifty French yarn, courtesy of Becky. It’s Bouton d’Or Organdi in color “tilleul”, which means “linden”, my favorite tree. The Organdi is quite intriguing in its content and construction. There’s a viscose/polyamide core of chain links, rather like Southwest Trading Company’s Bamboo yarn, only more pliable when knit, and it’s woven together with strands of linen. The result is a fairly soft but textural yarn with a lot of shine, and the color is a beautiful greeny gold, like a field of wheat.

Since Vogue is so pathetic about naming their designs (this one is called…wait for it…”Short Sleeve Top”!), I’ve taken it upon myself to give this one a name. In honor of As You Like It, which is the play we saw, I shall call her Rosalind.