Recently in BF's Toe-Up Category

Pattern: Toe-up, as with all my socks. Judy Becker's Magic Cast-on, matching raised increases, short-row heel, 1x1 ribbing in the arch and the leg, tubular 1x1 rib cast-off. All these techniques are Google-able. Googly-woogly.
Yarn: Zitron Trekking XXL (75% wool, 25% nylon; 100g; 462 yards) in #61 Green
Needles: US2 dpns

BF: So. Can I finally put my shoes on so we can go for a walk? I need to test-drive these suckers.

BF: These things are warm. And comfy.

MJ: Really. I had no idea. (BF's comment came just after the hundredth "I wish we'd brought the...")

silence

BF: So.

MJ: So.

BF: What's next on the list of things to knit for the boyfriend?

It occurred to me that I have yet to post about BF's toe-up socks, which were completed some time ago. I had originally intended to post installments on the various parts of the sock, but the best laid plans blah blah blah. I did, however, write down some of BF's choice commentary while I knitted them:

BF: Those ridges won't dig into my foot, will they?

MJ: Don't worry, an hour into a hike and sock ridges will be the last thing on your mind.

BF: Where's the other one?

MJ: ...

When I finished one sock, I left it on the yarn just in case I ran out on the second sock. Turns out I had enough.

BF: Will you cut the yarn when you're finished knitting? That's like an umbilical cord or something. Or you know, little kids' gloves connected to each other so they don't lose them.

MJ: Wow, you're pretty creative there.

BF: You're going to cut the yarn, right?

BF: Are people really interested in that much detail on a sock?

I'm a form-follows-function kind of girl, so I make do with yarn loops as stitch markers and safety pins as row markers. Here they mark the beginning of a row as well as every 10 rows.

BF: Hey. These. Look. Good.

Finito. Early morning insomnia results in two finished socks. (I remember the early morning, 3a insomnia. I remember dreaming about finished socks. And then I woke up...) I used a tubular bind-off, a great technique that gives 1x1 ribbing a finished look. BF has big feet (don't snicker): these things are practically long sleeves on me.

We're going on yet another trip, back up to Utah to climb and witness fall in all its mapled glory! Six days in Maple Canyon. Margene asked once how I could do this climbing thing: the fear, the danger, the sheer height. It's an obsession to me the way that knitting is to some (and you know who you are). In addition, being out surrounded by natural beauty and calm does wonders to the soul. It certainly doesn't hurt when I successfully redpoint--or even onsight--a particularly hard climb! Have a good weekend.

Blogworthy:
◊ A Breakout-type game that's interrupting my freelance a bit.
◊ Via Kottke, news that Bill Stumpf, maker of the Aeron chair, has passed away.

BF: I know you didn't do any knitting at all during the trip. So are you going to get back to the socks after all this.... this spinning stuff?

MJ: You bet your sweet little bun bun I am!

BF: (rolls eyes) I've been dreaming about those socks.

MJ: Hey, I found something called the Twisted German Cast-on. Does that mean it was invented by a twisted German, or was it from Germany and has a twist to it?

BF: I'm going outside. I think I need to go back to Maple Canyon.

You'd expect me to use the Twisted German Cast-on, wouldn't you, for the German Boyfriend socks, right? He he. These socks will be my attempt to try new techniques, the first one being a different cast-on. I decided to go with Judy Becker's Magic Cast-On. It was a little fiddly at the beginning--but toe-up sock cast-ons always are, anyway.

Then I decided to do something different with the arch. BF has a beautiful arch on his big ol' foot, and I want to make sure the sock is flexible in that area and not have to stretch rather unattractively over it. Rather than have plain old stockinette throughout, I decided to incorporate some ribbing. 1x1 ribbing, done in a smaller needle size than the rest of the sock. Switching needles wasn't too much of a challenge. I rather liked the break in the knitting. But 1x1 ribbing, gah. I'm going to take up Marnie's offer on a better technique for it.

Also: Who wants to try rock-climbing? Don't say you're afraid of heights, because yours truly is. Honest. If you're interested, and if you happen to be in the L.A. area, let me know! :-)