So, exactly how much knitting can you complete when you have little else to do except knit? Here’s the picture of the sock I started on Thursday:

I spent at least two hours knitting on them yesterday and close to four hours on them today:

I’m turning the heel. How do I know how much time I spent on the socks? Yesterday is an estimate, but today I watched: Thursday night’s Grey’s Anatomy, Wednesday night’s Bones, Rome episode two, and The Sentinel pilot. To add to the tv marathon I’m guessing I’ll be watching either Deadwood (season 1), Ugly Betty or Studio 60 tonight. I should be able to turn the heel during that.

I’m on tv overload, but it is nice to get caught up. (Feel free to email me if you want to talk about tv. I have a lot to say, but I doubt if my dear readers are that interested in my viewing habits).

Now, you know how I get so much knitting done. I sit, watch tv, and knit. I guess that’s better than just watching tv.

Back to Sock Talk. I’m not sure I like the way the sock has made a swirl with the purple. I’m going to make the second sock in a different rib pattern. The first sock is K1, P1. (You already knew I’m not one for convention; matching socks is not a priority). I’m thinking maybe K3, P1, though I could be talked into K2, P2. Hummm. Or, maybe just stockinette? That would be faster.

Any other options anyone would like to offer?

I make a lot of socks. Really, a lot. I keep them all for myself because no one appreciates them the way I do, so, everyday I wear hand knit socks. On sock washing day, my clothes line is covered with my socks. All different colors, but almost all the same style.

As I was thinking about writing about socks, it dawned on me that I should see what socks I’m working on. I found four pairs in my knitting bag and purse. I carry in progress socks every where I go. You never know when a kid will be late and you’ll have to sit and wait. I go prepared with a sock to knit; usually one that’s in an “easy” phase. You see, socks being knit go through phases.

First is cast on and initial ribbing. This is something I need to do without interruption. I have a problem with counting to 56 (to cast on) and the first few inches of a socks are a prickly mess. The needles go every which way and I’ve been known to growl at them.

Second is an easy part: the leg. Six to eight inches of knitting a simple rib or stockinette. Occasionally (very occasionally), I’ll knit a pattern in, but I typically let the yarn speak for itself.

Third is the part that strikes fear in the hearts of new sock knitters: the heel and gusset. The only fear I have is that I forget to 1) measure the heel, 2) count the short rows, or 3) not decrease on the right rows. I’m able to handle all these things, but they require thought. And, I’m a bear of very little brain. I usually do this part when I’m alone after the kids go to bed and sometimes, at knitting group. I like to do the whole thing in one setting, which takes a hour or so.

Fourth is the very easy part. All the counting and thinking is done. Now, all I need to do is knit around in a circle for six inches. This is the home stretch, which goes fast and is very rewarding.

Fifth is the toe. It’s not difficult, but it does require some attention. At this point you need to decrease, then do the Kitchener stitch to close up the end. My one bit of advise: NEVER stop in the middle of the Kitchener stitch. You’ll regret it.

For the record, here are the five pairs of socks I’m working on right now:

From left to right:

Austermann’s Step (sock yarn with aleo vera). I’m almost to the fifth step on the first sock.

Brown Sheep Wildfoote Handpaint. It’s close to the final fifith step, too.

Cascade Fixation (cotton and elastic yarn). I’m just starting the second sock and using the Waffle Sock pattern from Knitty.com. These are “strawberry waffle socks”, I’ve also made them in blueberry.

The Great Adirondack Yarn Company handpainted sock yarn (green/purple in front). I’m just starting these as well, but I love the yarn so much I wanted to get going. So far: yum!

Briggs and Little Durasport, handpainted by me. I’m knitting the dreaded heel. I wrote about this colorway earlier in this post.

People often ask me what spinning wheel they should buy. When I tell them I’m not the right person to ask, they push me to tell them how I bought my first wheel.

But, I did it all wrong. And, not just my first wheel; all of them.

My good friend, the Yarn Demon, had told me that the most beautiful, best spinning wheels were made by Rick Reeves. Not knowing anything at all, I did a few web searches and looked at his wheels. They were, indeed, very beautiful. But, I had just started knitting a few months earlier and didn’t think it was a good time for another hobby.

Unfortunately I started searching eBay for spinning wheels. One day, right after my birthday, I spotted a Reeves wheel that wasn’t all that expensive. It was the small saxony wheel–19″ diameter.

Oh, she was a love. She arrived the first week of June and I immediately sat down and had no clue what to do with her. I found a class nearby and jumped right in. Yes, three hours of class plus three hours of practice every night will make you a great spinner in only a month. I was addicted. She spun like a dream–the footman action was perfect heel-toe, her bearings ran smooth, and she needed very little tuning to keep her happy.

It only took a year for me to get the urge to buy another wheel. I inquired about a number of Reeves wheel I found for sale online and, after much thought and pulling of my hair, I decided to buy a Reeves Norwegian wheel.

She’s a very different looking spinning wheel, she’s also heavy, and persnickidy. I’ve decided she’s better to look at than spin on. I used to take her many places, but the movement of the van would make her “lose her tune” and I would take 30 minutes to get her spinning again when I arrived at my destination. The parts that hold up the wheel move and they seem to move whenever she gets moved. Then she slips her drive band or doesn’t take up.

She and I have agreed that she’ll stay home so I’m not caught saying four-letter words in front of small children.

A year after my acquisition of the Norwegian, I emailed a women I has spoken for during that search. I asked if the 30″ production wheel she had offered a year before happened to still be available. I was shocked to hear that it was.

And, that’s how the big wheel came into my life:

This wheel will always be my favorite. She’s right here beside me right now, in the middle of my living room. Up until this last summer she’s the one that travels with me everywhere. Yes, she’s big. Yes, she’s flashy. Yes, I can spin two ounces of 2-ply sport weight yarn on her in less than 2 hours. She’s only dangerous during football season. I get way too much twist in yarn during football games with her. She needs a slow, steady foot and will produce miles and miles of yarn that way.

Some people laugh that I haul this big girl with me when I spin in public. Actually, it’s usually my friend and partner in crime, PJ. It takes a minivan to haul this wheel and, when mine’s not available (or it’s PJ’s turn to drive), we have to reconfigure the seats in her minivan to get the wheel in. But she puts up with it as I promised to leave her my Norwegian wheel if I die first (note to self: this has now been said in public).

This same friend forwarded an email to me last spring about a spinning wheel on eBay. Yep, another eBay wheel. This time a small one. One that I’ve been craving for years and years. A Reeves frame wheel.

Now she’s the traveling wheel. The seller had inherited it from his grandmother. The wheel is probably 20 years old and was unsigned; perhaps because it was made before Rick started signing them. I got a good price because it was unsigned and the seller didn’t know (had no way to know) who had made it). I could tell from the flyer and all the beautiful little Rick Reeves’ touches that it was one of his.

So, I bought all these wheels sight unseen. I had pictures of them emailed to me (or saw them on eBay), but I did not touch or spin on any of them before I bought them. I do not recommend trying this yourself. But, it sure worked out for me!