I'm Moving...

My relationship with Blogger is coming to an end, unless typepad doesn't live up to the hype.

The new blog is:

www.autumnsweater.typepad.com

Now I have to figure out how to import these posts to go over there, and assorted other technical stuff.

Another happy customer...

Back in August, I started knitting this assortment of off-white and nearly white yarn. My friend Sofie was having a baby of undetermined gender. She was afraid that people would inundate her with pastel pink or blue if they knew what was coming. So, I took on the challenge. And just as I was seaming this thing up, Greta was born. So by the time I rushed the gift over (this was October, pre-blog) I knew she was a girl, and was lamenting all of the tastefully girly sweaters I could have knit.

Luckily, Sofie was happy with the gender-neutral sweater option. And she just sent me this photo of Greta modelling for me. The sleeves used to be long enough, but you know, it's been a whole winter since October...

Meanwhile, work is being the stressful. Let's just enjoy the happy baby, shall we?

Finally! An almost FO

So here is Kiri, all pinned down to my new blocking board. I really truly tried to follow Polly's instructions and cast off fairly loosely. I sized up 3 needle sizes. I didn't use any tension. Yet, there are no scallops to speak of, and the top edge just will not be straight, because the bottom edge is just too tight. I want to rip the last two rows and try again, maybe do a slew of increases in the next to last row.

These photos are somewhat dishonest, because at the moment she is off the blocking board. Actually, we must interrupt this post to talk about the board. This thing rocks! Despite my problems with the top edge, I can definitely see how my appreciation of the wet block is going to a whole new level in the near future. And the pinning is just so satisfying! I may need to invest in several more boxes of pins.

But as I was saying, Kiri came off the board to visit Melissa and the rest of the Splinters this weekend. The consensus is not to rip, but I am obsessing anyway. Here's a close up of the lovely pattern. Polly's pattern is great. She got me to do something I never thought I could actually do, even if I did spaz on the cast off. Yay for knitting lace!!

Well...

which is more exciting?

-the sunset?

-Clapotis?

-my new table that seats 8 knitters?

Confession...

Hi Melissa...
I don't think you read this normally, but hopefully you read my email and have found yourself here.

Have you seen the green Kiri at Valentina's? I was thinking you might be able to use one, possibly in an off white wool/silk blend, not quite so fuzzy as Kid Silk Haze. I have about 15 rows to go, but then will have to block the %&*@*!! out of this thing in order for it not to look like a crumpled up tissue.

Of course, were I a better suprise artist, she would be done and showing up in box at your front door by now. Just so we're clear on things, if this doesn't work for you for with The Dress, we'll find some fun color to dye it for more casual usage. No biggie...I'm thrilled to have learned that I can knit lace in any event. Actually I can now knit lace on the subway. I'm feeling pretty clever with the lace.

Kiri here conspired against me by hiding out in my storage bench (where I normally keep linens, not knitting) for most of the month of March. Otherwise Miss Thing would be pinned like a butterfly to a blocking board by now. But she hasn't escaped her fate that easily...Muahahaha.....

Yes!!!!

I've been meaning to get some photos up....but that won't happen until the weekend. Work is very intense at the moment. Not bad, just keeping me wrapped up. However, I have to share...

I found all the missing knitting! V. long socks, Kiri, a strip of Manos afghan, and my alpaca order. All were in a big bag together, that I "cleverly" put into this storage bench of mine the night I drunkenly moved the Stash. I am such a "genius:....hah...

I know tonight... she blogs

So, I am back in the country, and so much has been happening that I have been neglecting to feed the BlogMonster. Let me try to recreate the "joy" of the first half of March.

*A four day trip to Hong Kong. One day flying, two days working, one day flying home. 13 hour time difference. During said flights, knitting a bit of Clapotis, and knitting a lot more to finish the 13th pattern repeat of Kiri. All I have to do now is the edging! Why is there a photo of Clapotis but not of Kiri? Just wait, and all will become clear...

*Moving into my new apartment (!) a mere 12 hours after landing back in JFK. This in fact was truly joyful. No sarcasm. After waiting for 4 months to get into the new apartment, I am so thrilled with it, it's not funny. Also, I had movers getting my stuff out of storage, so I was just directing, not lifting. And paying an arm and a leg for the privilege.

*Watching the kittens get acclimated to the new apartment...see below for the joys of the New Window.

*Moving the rest of my stuff from my Mom's to my new place in a series of late night cab rides after late nights at work. One of which being on last Friday night at about 3 am while drunk. The moving of the Stash...

*Realizing that I have no furniture, due to my decision to not move any furniture that I don't like. Ok, not NO furniture, but no dresser. And a lot of clothing. I do work in the "Fashion" industry after all. This is resulting in trash bags of clothing EVERYWHERE.

*Did I mention working lots of late nights?

*Renting a van last Sunday when the BF and I realized we both had more straggler items than we could ever hope to move in any number of cab rides.

*Discovering last night, while sorting through the Stash that certain items have not made it here from my Mom's. These items are:
(1) Newly received gobs of alpaca from Elann
(2) My completed, but ends not yet woven in V. Long Socks
(3) Kiri !!@#!@!!!
And Mom's place is pretty completely cleaned out, so if these things aren't here, they are very likely to be in some cab's trunk. Like, for example, if a slightly drunk, slightly tired person were to have left one bag of yarn and knitting in a trunk Friday night. After carefully picking the most important yarn and kntting to leave behind. Truly it's remarkable that Clapotis beat the odds.

Of course there is still the vague possibility that Kiri et al will show up in some bag of clothes that I packed in a daze. But eternal optimism aside, this really looks like the end of the lace knitting experiment and the long socks.

Goodbye for now...

Just a quick note from the airport to share the joy...I was able to take my knitting (Kiri, Clappy, and some Regia Silk that I think wants to be diagonal rib socks) through security and my 16+ hours of impending plane time will be productive. Although I am also travelling with a nasty cold and a bottle of Nyquil, so we'll see who wins. I'll be back Saturday night, moving (finally!!!) Sunday, and may regain sanity and internet around mid-month.

Cough cough, sniffle

Thank you all for helping to keep me sock motivated! After a week of very little knitting, except for Tuesday night at Beverly's, I ended up spending the afternoon in bed, with the socks, yarn everywhere, and dpns that kept getting lost (white dpns, white sheets, bad). While I really want to take them out tomorrow night, the garter contraption has not yet been started, so it seems unlikely. I'm facing technical diffilculties with the suspender clips. Also, I have 74 million ends to weave in. I wouldn't normally be so picky about ends, but they are really bunchy in there.

I feel hugely antisocial right now, but not on purpose. I've been fighting off a cold with little success this week, and really need to stay home and get healthy before getting on the flight to Hong Kong on Tuesday. The BF is playing at Arlene's tonight, and I am staying here. (pout) I can't sleep, due to congestion, so I'm still knitting. Next up...more Kiri...


p.s. These socks are very hard to photograph on self while wearing. Sorry for the odd shot. Maybe I can enlist a photographer's help later on.

Very Long Socks

Very Long Socks. You might have heard of them. I seem to have fallen out of love with the poor things. For the last 2 weeks, I have done almost nothing on them. I blame the socks.

For starters, they just do not make for good subway knitting anymore. They did once, but now they are long and unwieldy. I suppose their name should have tipped me off to that one. Also, they are not cashmere. Between the Subway Hat and Clappy, I may have raised my yarn snobbishness to new and completely unrealistic heights.

And finally, at the zero hour, when I got the longer of the two on to the Bry Flex dpns, I started having major gauge stress. It seems, when looking at the mms, that my US #2 Addis and my US #2.5 Bry Flex dpns were the same size. I soon will be embarking on an attempt to rid my head of US sizes and only refer to needle size by mm...we'll see how that goes. However, the needle material difference has resulted in the same stitches per inch, but really different rows per inch. So I had to rip, and start making all the stripes on the dpns 14 rows instead of 15rows.

All this being said, I am aware that it is almost March, and that if I want to wear these this winter, I need to get a move on. So...starting today I wil try to get back in love with the @%^&*!! socks...

Wow...

I just re-read that last post, and I am scared! No, I am not!! on crack...it was a result of taking a bunch of pictures, wanting to fit them all in, and rushing a post just to get it out there. So, my apologies for the completely dreadful writing. It is taking a lot of self restraint to not frog...er...delete the whole thing and start over.

Let's try this with some sanity...As previously mentioned...er...babbled about, I started Clappy on Sunday. Here's the view on Valentina's table. I am not happy with the colors in the photo, they are much better IRL. Next time, perhaps I should take a photo in V's bathroom? Sunday night and Monday all day were spent in a hotel at 28th and Park with the BF, in an attempt to take a mini vacation from our stressful living situations in limbo. Not too terribly much knitting happened.

Tuesday I went back to work, and had my appointment for my expedited passport. When finishing up my paperwork before my appointment, I realized that the passport people still have their nasty rule that only a driver's license is a form of ID. A NYS issued non-driver ID or learner's permit is not acceptable. Of course, I had to suffer through just as much at the DMV to get aforementioned learner's permit (except for obviously the road test) but they don't care. So I put in a desperate call to the BF to see if he could meet me at the passport place and sign an affidavit saying that I am me. Since he passed a road test, apparently his word means something to them? After arriving at 11:45 for my 12:30 appointment, I was given a number, and told it would be about a 2 1/2 hour wait time....It was a bit longer... Luckily the metal detector guys allowed me to bring my knitting in, and I got almost up to the straight part of Clappy. And, with the BF there to sign the "I know her" paperwork, I now have a passport, just in time to fly off to Hong Kong on the 1st to work with sweater vendors there. Which is so not the fun you might expect. There is a big difference between the yarn I like to knit with, and the yarn we can afford for work to produce hundreds of thousands of sweaters that retail under $30.

What the @#&^$*@ have I been doing?

I have been meaning to blog lots of things...but I have been bad! For starters, last week I got my pretty yarn from Axelle...not only is the yarn itself pretty, but look at the lovely way it came all wrapped up! Gotta love opening a present... This yarn is soooo soft... I am loving it! I am having total ADD with my knitting lately, and can't figure out what to work on. Since I was at Valentina's this weekend watching her and Jackie both working on beautiful Clapotis, I had to cast on (all 2 stitches) and my attention was captivated for at least 2 hours. Then I picked up my first attempt at lace knitting, Kiri, and tried my hand at that. Tuesday I was waiting at the passport office for an expedited passport (going to HK on March 1, don't ask where my old passport is. Trust me!) and all I did while waiting was knit Clappy...Very long socks? What are those? I seem to have kicked the crack sock habit... Yes, I need to post pictures of all these new things.

In non-knitting news, I did actually make it to Central Park...

where I realized that the hat I've been working on for the BF is in fact the same color as the Gates. What's that? You thought it was a dark green hat? Oh yeah, so did I. Then I ran out of yarn.
He suggested I rip back a bit and make the dark green a stripe and finish in orange. Not the hat I had intended, because (shhhh..) I really don't care for orange. But I put that behind me, because it's not for me after all. So I ripped (which was funny, because he was quite surprised that all I did was take out the needles and pull.

He seemed to expect it to be more complicated. It is finished now (phew, one finished thing for 2005!) but I'm posting this pic anyway, because I'm amused by it. Of course, there is a post-completion saga, because the theme of my year seems to be one step forwards and two steps back. But I'll drone on about that next time.

Retroactive Gratutious Cookies

So here's something totally outdated, from before I got the internet set up here at the temporary abode... This was the scene on Valentina's table late on December 23rd after Night #3 of the 1st Annual Christmas Cookie Bake-a-thon. This is what I get for saying "I can't bake cookies." I suppose I was proven wrong...
For more details look here. And yes, I am just showing off. If you complain, I'll bake for you.

It's all about Cat Pee.

As most of you know, Fred has had a rough week. The peeing blood problem sent me rushing to the vet Sunday at 7pm, and again at midnight. And Monday at 11am, for good measure. That time they kept him, hooked him up to an IV and a mini cathader, and tried to flush all the nasty crystals and blood clots out of his little kitty bladder.

I went to visit him at the vet yesterday night. He was all tubed up, and I was very excited to see the pee in his pee bag was properly colored! They decided he doesn't need surgery right now, and hopefully with a controlled diet they can change the pH of his pee and dissolve the rest of the crystals.

This morning I got the call that I could come pick him up this afternoon. So Fred is now back home, in isolation from the other cats, so his litter box use can be monitored, and he can get his new prescription food.

He has a shaved chest and two shaved patches on his arms (those are from the IVs, no idea why they shaved his chest? Maybe from when they had the lampshade on his head?) and looks really goofy, but I am so happy he is back from the vet!!

It turns out to have cost about $800 less than I expected to get my kitten's bladder fixed, so I splurged on this. My first ever cashmere-for-me purchase! (from Axelle) There is a Clapotis-to-be...

Genuine Knitting Post!

In reality, I am obsessing on my sick kitty right now. But instead of posting about him, and a bunch of cute photos of him, I'm going to try to focus back on the yarn. Tomorrow, when we have more kitty news, I will pay homage to Fred.

I've started a hat for the BF. Been meaning to for a while, the yarn's been sitting next to my stash taunting me for 2 weeks now. It's super yummy 65% cashmere/35% silk from Downtown Yarns. Well, the green and the orange are. The natural color is cashmerino aran, because for 2 rows, who could tell the difference? I've been scaring subway riders everywhere. I cast on at home, but joined and started knitting on the train, standing up, during rush hour. The first few rows, with the dpns flopping all over the place, had quite a few people staring at me in horror. Tee Hee! So far, all progress has been made while travelling to and from work. This photo shows the lovely Lafayette Avenue subway station platform in the background. Woo!

The results of last week's Elann Alpaca Binge showed up this week. The skeins are kind of little (110 yds I think) so 14 skeins seems really moderate right now. I'm going to be working with Jody to copy...er...be inspired by.... some really cool sweaters she has. They're basically a tube and a shrug, sewn together. Lots of potential! Of course I need to turn right around and buy yarn for a Clapotis too, so it sure is a good thing I didn't make a "No more yarn buying" resolution.

Just to keep track, here's a list of UFOs. Maybe I'll link photos at some point in time. Maybe someday I'll figure out how to put all of this in the sidebar...

On the Needles:
-Very Long Socks
-Manos Afghan
-David's Subway Hat
-Cabled Zara Armwarmers

Needing Finishing:
-2 Felted Bags...belated pressies!

In Theory:
-The Jody Sweater
-Clapotis
-Womb!

Sigh, if only I didn't have a day job.

Reality Check...

Just in case the previous post about music and boys in bands confused you....


I saw this link over at Kellee's and had to find out my score. I thought by now I was only slightly nerdy. I mean, just because I can identify the fake in a list of programming languages doesn't make me a programmer!

We will soon return to our regularly scheduled knitting.

Tag? Tag??? TAG???????

Um, how did I get into this...? @#$%!&!! V!!!!

1. Total amount of music files on your computer: This is embarassing! Ok, not actually on my computer, but on my separate FireWire drive, because the computer didn't have enough space...131GB However, of that, 28GB is mine mine mine. The rest is still part of the separation proceedings from my ex BF. I copied our entire 200GB joint music drive when we broke up, and never finished sorting through all his stuff to see if I wanted it or not. I seem to have gotten though 69GB though!


2. The last CD you bought was: Interpol Antics Because in fact I am easily influenced by cute boys who mope. Interpol is also the last band that I saw live(not counting bands that I know members of) which led me to realise that they were too cute for one stage, and in fact, likely to cause hormonal overdose. Not that I don't feel the same way about watching the BF on stage, but there's only one of him, and sometimes I actually go home with him.


3. What is the song you last listened to before reading this message? Well...it was Saturday night, it was in a bar, in a blizzard, we were dancing around like dancing fools to some 80's stuff...I'm going to say either "Don't You Want Me" by Human League or "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles. But if it wasn't either of those, I'm sure I'm making the genre perfectly clear.


4. Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you.

I am so obsessive. I still, at the ripe old age of 31, get into an album and must listen to it EVERY DAY for a month. So I can't chose anything that I listen to a lot recently, because I know I'm fickle. I'm self inflicting a rule that I can only chose songs I've been listening to for at least a year.

1. The Pixies. Okay that's not a song. Were I to pick one, it would be Where Is My Mind. Or maybe Wave of Mutilation, or Debaser, or Stormy Weather, or Bone Machine. So I checked my most played list on iTunes. Where Is My Mind wins.

2. The Dark is Rising, Mercury Rev. The end bit "I always dreamed I'd love you, I never dreamed I'd lose you,In my dreams I'm always strong" just kills me

3. Center of Gravity, Yo La Tengo. This applies more to the "means a lot" category rather than the "often listen to" category. I got married with this playing on repeat. Not that the marriage thing worked out that well, but still...'Nuff said.

4. Whisky & Water, Tindersticks. The chorus on this is just incredible. And I love the deep deep voice. There's more that I want say about this song, but I am too clueless about how to talk about music to even start.

5. A Night Like This, the Cure. Rumor/Goth Kid legend implies that Robert Smith wrote this at the age of 17. As I spent the majority of my gloomy years with the Cure as my "favorite band", this seemed to me to be proof of his near-god-like genius. Retrospectively, it's the perfect mix of idealism, romanticism, optimism and hopelessness. And a quick check of my iTunes reveals 4 (!) different versions of this song. None are on the top 25 most played though. Maybe I grew up a bit. Or maybe I should go listen to it right now.

Now that was therapeutic...

5. Who are you going to pass this stick to? (3 persons) and why?
I wonder what ladies who knit long socks like to listen to. So I'm tagging inertiacreeps, ihanna, and kellee. You're (collectively) it!

Felted!

Last night, while out lamenting Jesika and Andrew's imminent departure (pout), I found out that Dana's camera fits in the little felted bag I gave her. Yay for functionality!

Maybe now I'll be inspired to tackle some of the other felted things I want to do...or...not so much.

In other news, I'm going to knit the knitty womb. My first reaction to the pattern was "Ewwwwwww, why would I want to knit that??" But I'm all into this knitting as protest thing. A day of wombing shall be planned in February.

The only thing I've accomplished today is thigh-of-long-sock knitting. No bills were paid, no laundry was laundered. The thighs are looking pretty funny though.

Manos Envy

Lynne is hiding her face, but I know it's her and her afghan. Since the photo was taken, she finished the last strip of squares and put it together and I am so @&*!! jealous! It looks amazing, and only the very lucky shall be made warm by it. Yay for Lynne!

My very long socks are on hold, due to the lack of colored elastic in NYC. When I first ordered my yarn, the very nice lady on the phone offered to dig up some elastic for me. I got everything, did some swatches, and after initial math, cast on 118 stitches and knit 12 rows in 1x1 with elastic. It looked ok (my 1x1 rib is always a bit huge and funky...don't know why...) so I switched to the next stripe color and knit a few rows. Then I looked at my remaining elastic and realized there was no way I had enough for another 12 rows. While in denial, I cast on the 2nd sock and tried...in vain.. to make it work. I then desparately called the place where I got the elastic to see if they had more (it's a bit old and faded, so another fresh bit won't really match.) She said she'll look when she gets a chance, but it's been over a week now, and I'm not holding my breath. So I gave in and ordered (from a different place) more elastic, and smaller needles to re-do the rib. Estimated date of arrival... unknown... hopefully by next weekend.

In the meantime, I have been inspired by Lynne to seriously work on my poor neglected afghan. My mom saw my working on square #11 (squares #1-10 are posted below) and made some joke about me finishing by 2008. Thanks Mom! I was aiming for 2007... Photos of new knitting to follow.

Nostalgia

Here's an old picture of Cat hiding behind a bunch of Cascade. I was getting ready to knit felted bags. I was still living in my apartment. I thought I had a tenant lined up for Dec 15th. Sigh...those were the days...

Ran myself ragged so far this week trying to keep up at work and show my apartment to possible tenants. In the rain. I'm too sick to knit right now, and am just taking a break from doing the math to convert the knitty very long socks from 5 sts per inch to 7 sts per inch. Hopefully I'll be back to normal soon.

Get Ready...

Lots of changes lately. I'm between apartments, and without reliable internet. Xmas pressies have been knit, cookies have been baked and in the frenzy I have taken not nearly enough photos. And at the moment I can't get the photos I have taken out of my camera because of a missing cord.

But on Jan 15th, I'm starting the thigh high socks from knitty, my first ever knit along, compliments of Valentina.

Yarn has been purchased, worsted weight per the pattern. I want these to actually be functional and keep my legs warm in winter, and I would like to finish before 2007 and not spend $6 million on yarn. So I tossed my previous idea to use a ton of sock yarn. We'll see if I live to regret that.

So, sock along. You know you want to. Or at least, read all about it here.

Socks, the Sequel.

Tada! Ok, not exactly finished, but anticipating that Sock the Third will look like Sock the Second (despite being made from the recycled carcass of Sock the First). The shortrow heel and toe were very reasonable once I got the concept down. The only sticking point was "p3tog TBL". The first few times I didn't twist the needles around properly and didn't actually end up in the back loops despite my intentions. But after a few funky ones (that hopefully aren't too obvious to the untrained eye) I think I got it! Yay for the pattern for Priscilla's Dream Socks!

Ok, must stop rejoicing and go pack my DVDs or something.

Noro vs. Noro

After almost 3 weeks my 1st Noro from ebay arrived. Yay...or not. My plan was to dash through some basic 4 hour hats as Xmas gifts. On the left you see the photo from ebay that convinced me to buy this color. On the right you see my actual yarn with the beginnings of the basic hat.

Apparently I thought I was buying green with some yellow, peach and red accents, when in fact I was buying yellow/khaki with peach and green accents. Yes, I am an idiot. I should know better. I hate it! And stockinette isn't helping any. This means I am headed back to ebay, where the same seller offers the patterns for 6 Noro hats for $4.95, so I can at least make the hat interesting even if I don't like the yarn colors.

In other non-jarn related news, I may be moving in a week. Eeeeeeek!

Coming soon...Orange Sock Redux.

To frog or not to frog?

I was left to my own devices today, as the bf deemed me on the road to recovery. And here we have the fruit of my labors. Ugh, the lumpiest, bumpiest, most oddly shaped sock ever. So I now could knit another of the same, or rip and start over, or buy more yarn and keep this "creation" for posterity.

With hindsight being 20/20 and all that cliche, I would have done the entire leg of the sock in 1x1, not just the cuff. And I would have done the heel in stockinette with nice neat short rows instead of the texture-y slip-every-other-stitch thing that the pattern called for. Of course, there would be *something* that would bother me about the resulting sock. But the basic shape would be more sock-y.

I'm on a 6 hour plane ride to LA Wednesday... Valentina (the only person reading this) help! What should I do??

Manos Anonymous

So I've been really sick since Friday. In bed, no voice, hacking cough, impossibly sore throat, constant runny nose, sleeping 22 hours a day. If you can imagine...too sick to knit!! The bf came over with matzo ball soup from the 2nd Ave Deli, and juice, to make sure that I survived. Which meant that when I got enough of my head back to be able to knit again, I couldn't work on the sock. Because it's supposed to be a surprise/Xmas gift type sock.

Since I only have about 44 million unfinished projects floating around, I pulled out the afghan. Back in March (?) or so I bought obscene amounts of Manos. At the time, I thought I was going to use the afghan as a sort of TV cozy/cover for the 52" monster my ex had left in my living room. So the suggested size of 12 squares was not enough for me. Oh no, I needed 20. Since then, I have put the monster into storage, and finished 10 squares. At this rate, I'll have an afghan in 2007. In the meantime, Lynne got a nice normal 12 skeins of Manos last month and probably has an afghan by now. Yes, I am jealous.

I missed Sunday's get together of the LES Splinter SnB (tm Valentina). Which is extra sad, because in addition to not getting to knit and swear and cause mayhem, I didn't get to ask for sock advice. And to round out the bad news, I'm still waiting for my Noro Silk Garden that I bought on eBay to make Xmas hats with. It was apparently shipped on the 18th, and I am getting nervous... I want to make hats!

And so it begins...

Okay, I'm not really expecting anyone to read this. So this might just be me talking to myself about yarn and keeping all my notes and photos in one place. I have to vent *somewhere* about these socks I'm knitting on toothpicks....I mean....#2 itty-bitty Bry-Flex bendy dpns.

Every time I've asked about sock yarn at either Knit New York or Downtown Yarns, I've been shown the painted yarn that makes the pattern when you knit and Koigu. Well, for my first pair of socks on needles smaller than a #7, I went for Koigu. I made the Koigu baby blanket from the SnB book last year, and was totally happy with it. And, Koigu has a nice orange. The bf likes orange, to the point where it's becoming a running joke. So of course the first thing I'm knitting for him ever is going to be orange. (Oh, and the "curse". I know. Taking my chances...)

Newsflash- Koigu in rib on #2 needles seems to come out kind of...bumpy. Also, following the top of the Yankee Knitter pattern was a big mistake. The 1x1 rib at the top is much wider than the 2x2 rib body. Here's the sock so far (I started Saturday night) and really, I don't typically have problems with tension. What the @$%^@!!!

So now instead of deciding if it's time to rip, or working on this sock that I want to have finished by the end of the week, or sleeping, I'm venting here and searching online for other sock yarn options. They must be out there somewhere??
Argh.