Socks socks socks... and chocolate

You ever have those days where you really want something chocolatey, but just can't figure out exactly what you're craving? Candy? Cookie? Brownie? Ice cream? High quality dark chocolate bar? Nope, nothing is calling out as the exact right item. That's how people end up drinking mexican hot chocolate and eating dark chocolate covered dried plums. Oddly, it seems to be satisfying the craving. Hooray!

Ok, I'm not really talking about chocolate, I just wanted to set the stage for my real post. SOCKS! Last month I dyed a sock blank with my SIL. In case you're asking what the hell a sock blank is--I used a knitting machine to knit up yarn into a big chunk of fabric, then we dyed it, then I unraveled it and used the yarn to knit a pair of socks. Ridiculous? Just wait till you see the final product! Dyeing the yarn this way allows for color gradations that wouldn't be possible if dyeing the yarn in a skein. And for some magical reason using this yarn and pattern makes the sock knitting go twice as fast as normal. I had these done in about a week! Holy speed knitting batman! Here's the awesome socks I knit for my mom's birthday present. Dang, I sure hope she doesn't see this post before her party. And best of all there's enough dyed yarn left for a pair of knee socks for me!

Second sock-related item: I've been trying hard to keep up with the laundry and not doing a very good job at that. But how can I be totally to blame when the Sock Monster is hard at work disrupting my sock matching? Sure, I can accept having one or two mismatched socks in the middle of a laundry day, but this is just ridiculous: I know in this photo they look like matched pairs, well maybe not the knee socks, but in reality they are all different sock patterns. I really don't know where all the sockmates are, I hope they turn up in the next load, or things are going to start looking silly. Because handknit rainbow stripe socks aren't silly at all.