The Problem with Pairs!

All of my recent projects seem to have come in pairs – socks & mittens.

The problem with pairs it the simple fact that there are two of them! Finish a mitten or sock and then you’ve got to do it all over again!   The other big issue is making sure the two things actually match!

Taking meticulous notes comes in very handy with the latter.  For instance, on the purple socks I wrote down that I did ten rounds of ribbing at the top and ten pattern repeats for the leg.  Now doing #2, I know exactly where to switch to the next step!  I also have a nifty App on my iPhone called StitchMinder to help me out – it has four built in counters so I can keep track of my progress on various parts of a project.

I haven’t yet found a good solution to the former.  There is a method called ‘magic loop’ to do socks two at a time but I don’t think I’m not ready to try it just yet.

Bruce’s Troiclaux mittens are done so it’s time to share some photos.  Anyone catch the troi in the name?  Yes, these are mittens Mr. Spock would appreciate (and the reason Bruce thought they were so cool!).  As you can see from the fuzzies, they were grabbed and worn before there was a chance for photographs.

So, the only active project on my needles right now is the second of my two purple socks.  The leg is almost done and the plan is to have it done this weekend.  With the start of the Olympics, I think I’ll be getting a lot more TV (and knitting) time in over the next 16 days!

On a side note, in this week’s story Bruce talks about my 100 day geocaching challenge.  Yes, I finally succumbed – a number of friends have completed it and there’s even an event next month surrounding this accomplishment!  Today was day 74 so I’m definitely on the downhill slope.