Hosed

Scottische Kilt Hose, from Folk Socks by Nancy Bush
Brown Sheep Naturespun Sport
2.25 mm needles
calf shaping adjusted for the shape of my own calves
toes less pointy than the pattern says



I'm still not sure when I'll wear them, but I'm very pleased with them. Today's late morning photoshoot fashion statement was denim shorts, a yellow tank top, and kilt hose. I don't think that will do for anything but private, in-house photoshoots. I guess I'll have to find a plaid skirt somewhere that complements the socks without making me look like I'm trying to relive the Catholic school girl days I never had.


These socks are finished because I realized that working on the Autumn Color Cardigan was not fun anymore. It will be fun again, but there was no way I was going to have it completed for the county fair and enjoy the process. It's on a short hiatus right now, while I work on other things.

One of those other things is making yarn. I had some problems plying the singles I posted about a couple of weeks ago, and have bought a nostepinne, which might help with the process. I was assured by friends that trying to ply singles from the inside and outside of a center pull ball is not a beginner skill, and that I shouldn't be upset that I had so much trouble with it. A nostepinne might help me tension the yarn better as I pull from the inside and outside of the ball of singles, and I think I'll give it a try this weekend, after I cut off the tangle of frustration I have sitting between my ball of yarn and few yards of ugly 2-ply on the spindle. Right now my goal is to at least know that I know how to ply reasonably well, even if it takes me the rest of my singles to get to that point. It would be nice to have some reasonably okay 2-ply yarn to knit up from that first spindleful, but it will be even nicer to know that I'll be able to create that decent 2-ply on future spinning endeavors. And there's an exciting package on my way from overseas with fibers for me to try out, so I have a lot of motivation to learn how to ply. I don't want to waste that roving, which is a generous gift from a friend.


On the hat pattern... I ran into some trouble with Payloadz, and was so astounded at their terrible and rude customer service that I refuse to use them any longer. Right now this leaves me with 2 options: to use another service that charges $5 a month, or to email each purchaser individually. I think I'm going to do the latter for now, just because I am making so few sales that $5 a month might be all I make. That would leave me with nothing, or very little if I happen to make 2 or 3 sales in a month. I am working on another pattern, and once that is up, I'll rethink things again. Right now sales are still down because I just haven't had the energy to figure out how to set up my Paypal account to do these sales directly. I know there is at least one person who emailed me about buying the pattern. I have not forgotten you, and hope to get things working in a week or so. Thanks so much for your patience.