sock porn for knitting voyeurs.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

One fish? TWO fish!

My name means "fisherman" (I'll let you figure out which one), and is entirely accurate-- I have the blood of fishermen running thru my veins. My grandfather's solo vacations several times a year consisted of piling aboard rickety boats with other 60+ Japanese men headed to Alaska, the California coast, Mexico to fish for the big fish. He'd bring home the giant IGLOO coolers, always the red & white ones that had his name in block Sharpie lettering on all 6 sides, packed with glassy eyed giants... break out the good, heavy knives and fillet them all himself, get on the horn and within the next few days a small flood of people would come to visit and leave with pounds of fish (always leaving something behind... chocolates, crates of seasonal fruit, teas and cookies). I never had sashimi (or sushi!) in a restaurant til I was in college, it was always in my grandparents' kitchen, with a plate of shoyu for dipping and maybe a smear of wasabi if I wanted to be tough like grandpa that day. My favorite remains yellowtail, sashimi and cooked. (And don't get me started on hamachi kama, yum!!)

My favorite fish story from my grandpa... He came from a family of 12 brothers and sisters (!!), and the brothers loved to fish as much as he did. He and two of his brothers, and all of their sons (including my father, age 7), got up in the dark of morning, got dressed, headed to the all nite diner for a 3am breakfast. The boys (my father and his cousins) were stuffed to the gills with pancakes, waffles, all of the sweet breakfast foods while the adults sipped coffee, waking up for a long car ride. Clamboring on the boat, the kids were bundled against the cold but not against the rocking of the boat... on the ocean face, sick kids leaned over the boat rails and purged their sickly sweet breakfasts into the water, supposedly attracting fish for the catch.

My grandfather said it was cheaper than buying the chum at the dock. Yes, it was on purpose. No, my father doesn't fish now.

So, in honor of that, one fish...

sockfish

Isn't this cute?! Zonda made me a sockfish for being the 1st commenter on her 100th post (hm, good idea! I just sent my 1000th commenter, Anastacia, some sock yarn to celebrate happy 1k to me-- but since it was a surprise I'm not going to post a pic!)

stmarkers

She also tucked in these adorable, perfect for socks stitch markers...

I am so spoiled sometimes :) I am waiting to use this bag to house my morale builder stockings... I'm still waiting for my acid dyes to start them! I was hoping to have them *done* by the first of September, but I don't think so now... :(

BTW, anyone care to share their favorite lace panel motif? I'm looking for something "leafy" to face downwards on my stockings... I still can't find one, my favorite points up not down (I don't have too many st dictionaries and don't know how to change it)... any suggestions? Something about 30-36 st wide, either single or doubled...? I'll be poking around online later today, hoping to find one...

Hm, did I say two fish??

pom1
Pomatomus by Cookie A., Winter Knitty 2005
Started: July 15, 2006
Finished: July 26, 2006
Trekking XXL yarn, colorway #100
US 1.5 (2.5mm) dpns, 4
16 gm left over from 100g ball
(this pic's for HPNY knits!)

Yeah, so its my favorite pattern :) Knitting it again (my 3rd time), I kept thinking... its like that boyfriend who was absolutely fabulous but yall broke up since it was too soon, you were too young, it wasn't right at the time... and then when you get back together again later, its even better than before-- no awkward getting to know you conversations but just where you left off with someone who knows you inside and out and just happy you're back in the arms of a good friend (i've got the Matthew Sweet "Girlfriend" album running thru my head lately)...

hm. maybe i took it too far that time.

pom3

Anyway. Third verse, same as the first-- the Trekking yarn (coloway #100!) seemed to make it fly off the needles as well, I was just fascinated watching it change over the "scales". It is a *warm* sock yarn, I don't know why but it feels like it will be warmer than any yarn I've used so far, interesting. It's not a soft yarn, not like the merinos, but just fun to watch knit up (not scratchy, but not soft being knit... not sure about after the wash). I found a few spots of overtwisting, but nothing that didn't even out over a few yards. I thought it would be splitty with the distinct plys of yarn and all, but no-- I didn't have any problems at all with it. I also had a lot of yarn left over-- I kept the sole at 36 sts (instead of 32) for a slightly wider foot, and did 3 repeats + 5 rows of chart B for the foot length (10.5" incl. toe, that was longer than the patt given the larger # of sts), and still had 16 gm of yarn left over.

pom2

I used the Holz & Stein ebony dpns I reviewed when knitting them up, US 1.5 (2.5mm). Tell you a secret, I didn't swatch this time-- I knew how stretchy the pattern was and that I was planning on adding a few sts @ the sole for a wider foot, so no worries-- I just dove in. I just measured the stockinette sole: 8 sts/inch and 11 sts/column inch on US 1.5 dpns in the round. I like the fabric it made.

pomR

pomL

My non-feetie pyjamas make another entrance. :)

Previous posts on Pomatomus in Trekking:

July 18, 2006

Previous posts on Pomatomus in Lisa Souza (2nd knit):
June 25, 2006
June 19, 2006
June 14, 2006
June 12, 2006

Previous posts on Pomatomus in Fleece Artist (1st time knitting the pattern):
January 3, 2006
December 28, 2005

36 comments:

insaknitty said...

I love the rainbowiness! what fun! also, that story about the fishing trip is pretty gross... but funny. :)

Lanea said...

Holy crap, I love that bag and must make myself one.

Jason said...

Love the story. Love the socks. Love the colors!!! Gotta get me some of that yarn too! :-)

Melissa said...

I love that freakin sock fish bag thing!! I can't sew, but that makes me want to learn!
OK...you know your the mother of a toddler boy when.....
I totally noticed Thomas in the pic before the socks even got a glance.
We are total Thomas nuts at our house!

Alyssa said...

Very very nice. The trekking looks great with that pattern.

Chris said...

Your P socks are stunning! Stunning. Stunning.

Could you knit your socks in the other direction so the lace points the right way?

Coleen said...

I absolutely love how those socks turned out. The colors and the pattern work so nicely together!

Love the fishing story too!

adrienne said...

I love the socks! I think that's my favourite colour of Trekking, and it looks so good as pomatomuses!

Jenny Raye said...

I love that Thomas is on in the background of one of your photos! As the mom of a 3yo, I can sooooooooooo relate!

Of course, I love the newest embodiment of your P-socks. Trekking--Love. It. Since the Trek Along with Me started, I have seen so many new colors that I want. I already have a very plain pair in the 100, and they are one of my fav socks. I have some 105 to knit up--and saw a color that is similar to the 105, but more vibrant--must find out the # because I need some of it!

Jennifer said...

Lovely socks! Such a cute bag too.

Anonymous said...

Glorious socks as usual. How do you knit them all? I think you're hiding the fact that you can also knit with your toes.

cpurl17 said...

I am also the proud owner of a Zonda sock fish bag. I took a project out in it and everyone was going nuts over the bag!!

Those socks are fabulous. I have to try anything that challenging in my sock adventures yet.

Dave said...

Wonderful fish all the way round! The fish bag is really cute, and I love the way Trekking stripes up to make ..... Rainbow Trout!

soapy said...

Zonda is such a sweet person!!!! Love your bag & socks,, even with Thomas the Tank in between was tooo cute!

Zonda said...

Love your socks!! Yeah, inquiring minds do want to know if you knit w/your toes ;) hehe!

Loved the fish story too! Glad you like your bag! :)

Anonymous said...

Those are my fave of all of the P-socks I've seen so far. Really smashing!

Anonymous said...

about that lace motif—do you knit toe up or top down? simply switching direction could solve your problem

Stacey said...

what a great (and sick) idea for chum - makes perfect sense when you think about it!! :)

I love your sock fish!!!!!

The P's came out great - glad you finally decided on that pattern!

Rhonda the Stitchingnut said...

Love your sock! Love the funny fish story, LOL! And love, love, love the fish bag. What a nice gift you got. Really!!

Anne is right about the leaf motif ... switch the direction that you knit your socks. Otherwise, the book "A Treasury of Knitting Patterns" by Barbara Walker has a nice leaf [point side down] on page 217. Called the "Drooping Elm Leaf" and it's in a multiple of 15 plus 1 ... so 31 will include a repeat. See if your town Library has the book. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Lovely sockies! And a cute bag too!

I really like that sock pattern. I might have to try a pair of those after I finish the RPMs I am working on now.

Love the RPM pattern btw. The spiral pattern is nice and easy to do while I am watching tv or otherwise engaged. Thanks!

lexa said...

I love that pattern, too. They turned out gorgeous!

Love the fish bag. Too cute.

PBnJ said...

I love that bag! Too cute! And the fish story is gross, but funny. Pretty clever, Grandpa! :P

Gorgeous socks!

And thanks for the fast package of STR! I love it! :)

knittingbytheriver said...

I think Cascading Leaves is pointing down.
There's a KAL starting in Sept (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cascadingleavesKAL/ )
or you can start knitting now by getting the pattern here
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TownsendSocksKnitALong/

And at TownsendSocks, there's an ablum of STR colors

HTH

HPNY KNITS said...

Pomatomus in Trekking XXL is so delightful. It really shows the subtlety of the yarn. The textured surface gives a nice play of light on the color changes. Its great. I also adore Trekking XXL. I could not put it down the first time I used it.
And hello Thomas! You are a very useful engine indeed........ Helping to show off the lovely socks!!
" Third verse, same as the first" = I'm Henry the VIII, I Am?

HPNY KNITS said...

A lovely leafy pattern is in sensational knitted socks page 63- the Oriel stitch pattern. I have enlarged it thinking I'll use it some time "soon"...
and in Knitty
Leaf-motif lace pattern "branching out"
http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring05/PATTbranchingout.html

yarnivorous said...

Pomatomus looks great in that Trekking colourway! The fishing story is funny and gross :-)

Jerry & Maxy said...

Super bionicalyy cool Poms! And I rec'd the needles...

THANK YOU! I LOVE THEM! I haven't test driven them yet, but will soon!

Rachel said...

Those are gorgeous! They're my favorite of the 3 pairs you've knit. I think that pattern is next on my sock list.

Anonymous said...

Oh Wow! The P-word socks and trekking 100 are a match made in heaven. That is the best use of that particular colorway I have ever seen.

Froding said...

I do love this yarn and the socks!! Perhaps I take the pattern RPM with me on my trip to Gotland för the knittingevent for 4 days!! I should have something to knit on train. I have also packed my shawl ICARUS from Interweave, and I do it in thin Flax!! Bye for a while

Deby said...

I have the yarn now I know what pattern to use with it. Your socks are just great!

Merry said...

Love the fish bag, So original!
Beautiful yarn and OMG the wonderful job you did knitting!
I especially love the picture you captured of THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE in the background!
He was my DS's hero for a few years! Thanks for the wonderful pix! Great JOB!

Anonymous said...

Love the cute fish bag. The P socks are gorgeous, but caused me to have a flashback to all those twisted knit stitches. One pair is enough for me!

Term Papers said...

Your name means "fisherman" and you have the blood of fishermen running thru your veins,that's mean you can also fishing like you father.


Term papers

hallsarah204@gmail.com said...

I'm loving your soft and cozy socks! In general, your hand made works look more than simply great!My congratulations to you! Your ideas often inspire me... But I now need to complete my home work as it is due tomorrow! So, I'm leaving! See you!

b1-66er said...

Saw this in the NYT today and thought of you... As near as I can tell, you're impossible to communicate with, so it goes here.

Rarely Seen Photos of Japanese Internment https://nyti.ms/2kLFdCJ

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