Sockapalooza 4 Socks are DONE!

Yay! They're done! And my new sock blockers arrived just in time to model them. The socks still need to be washed and blocked for real, but I was so excited that I had to post them right away.

There are still a lot of leftovers from the Raspberry Chocolate yarn that is the main color of the socks. How much? I don't know...like fist size when it's scrunched up? Very scientific, I know. See, I never weigh or measure my yarn so I have no clue what I have. I leave that sort of thing to the more organized and anal amongst us. I have to be organized and anal at work, so I save energy by letting my crafts be controlled by fate, luck, and happenstance. A little heartache with unsuccessful projects now and then is worth the freedom of crafting laziness.

Some of the yarn will get wound off to send to my Sock Pal -- along with the leftovers of the green/brown used for the toes, heels, and cuffs -- to fix any holes that might arise after what I hope will be many wearings.

But what to do with the rest? My sister-in-law would really like some little footlets from this yarn, but there's a chance it won't be enough yardage. I think I'll go ahead and take the risk -- use bigger needles, plain stockinette, and live dangerously!

HP in the House

We got one copy of the book just after midnight on Friday evening. A 15 minute drive seemed waaaaaay too long to wait to crack it open, so I had Mr. Hipp read it aloud to me as I drove home.
We finished at 10pm (me) and 11pm (Mr. Hipp) last night. An excellent read indeed! I am sad to think that it is the end of the Harry Potter saga, but at least I have the movies to look forward to.

Speaking of which, have you see the latest movie in IMAX? We saw it before picking up the book on Friday. The final fight scenes are in 3D!

Sockapalooza 4 socks are nearly done and are simply scrumptious, and my order from Halcyon Yarn arrived. That means Mom's Guilt Socks will be on the needles soon!

Southern California Knitting

I was able to make considerable progress on my Sockapalooza 4 socks while the in-laws were in town. After making the toe of sock #2 at the Getty Center, I took out the knitting again to work on the foot while chillin' by the pool. A poolside seat, a sarong, and a flip flop to hold open a Harry Potter book so my hands are free for knitting. What else could a So Cal knitter want? Oh man, I love summer.

More Hipps Than You Can Shake a Stick (or a Needle) At

The Hipp parents and sister were in town last week. We had a great time with them and got to see some things around Southern California that have been on our to-do list for ages.

We all did a 5K walk/run to celebrate the 4th of July. I finished somewhere between 33 and 38 minutes (I didn't time myself exactly); not bad for someone who sits all day at work, then sits at home knitting (or reading blogs) afterwards. We spent some time hanging out on the beach, playing golf, and eating like there's no tomorrow. It was a great vacation and one I sorely needed after an endless parade of outbreaks at work.

Some time was taken from the general gluttony to visit the Getty Center and my dear alma mater, UCLA (go Bruins!). The Getty Center rocks. It is breathtakingly beautiful. But make sure you bring sunglasses...that white travertine is bright with a capital B.



I pulled a tendon in my foot during the 5K, so after hobbling through the Getty architectural tour and a few exhibits, I skipped the garden tour (sigh), propped my foot on a chair, and set a spell by a fountain to knit. I managed to complete the toe finished on sock #2 for my Sockapalooza 4 pal before feeling ready to limp to some fine art.

Yup, that means sock #1 is done! I ended up redoing the entire cuff in 1X1 rib; I think it will help hold the sock up a little better. Linda at Happy Sticks commented that her Roza Socks don't stay up as well as she would like, so I wanted to give it a little extra lift. Does 1X1 rib grip better than 3X3 rib? I'm not totally sure, but it seems like it would.


UCLA was more beautiful than I remembered. Much of the construction that was ongoing during my time there is complete. Powell Library was getting retrofitted for earthquake protection during my first year, and we had a temporary tent-like library that was christened the Towell (temporary Powell, get it?). When Powell was finished, it became a good place to study and, thanks to the cushy leather chairs and hidden desks in the book stacks, a good place to take a nap between classes.


My foot still hurt, but I had such fun poking around North Campus that I barely had time to defend myself against the Bruin Bear that tried to attack me.

I survived. But just barely. I used my knitting needles to poke it in the eye. It's back to work for me. Have a great week!

Comment Spam is Poop

For a blog that gets less than 10 hits a day - most of them from Mr. Hipp - I never thought Hipp Crafts would be the victim of comment spam. For those who don't know, it is similar to the spam you get in your email, but left in comments of posts. To avoid this sort of thing in the future, I've added a word verification feature to commenting. You will need to type in the distorted word that you see before the comment will be published. I really hope that this is not a deterrent to commenters, because I love seeing the feedback! Thanks for your patience. We will now return to our regular programming.

Guilt Socks

My mom seems to think that these Sockapalooza 4 socks are going to make their way to her someday. She has been leaving comments admiring the colors, wondering if the socks will fit a size 9 (happens to be her shoe size), and blatantly saying that she would take them as hand-me-downs. Sorry, Mom, these are for a sock exchange and will be sent to a sock knitter in a far off land!

But then I saw on Grumperina's blog that there is a yarn that wicks sweat away from your feet, and it's worsted weight for quick knitting. I knew the knitting cosmos was telling me "Knit a freaking pair of socks for your mom already!". See, Mom's a big hiker, and keeping sweat away from your feet while hiking is key to avoiding blisters. With fatty yarn, even I should be able to finish a pair of socks in a reasonable length of time, and the result will have the thickness as regular hiking socks.

I dropped a little email to my mom, indicating that if someone wanted to get me 2-3 balls of this cool wicking yarn, I could maybe be convinced to knit up a quick pair. (Mom's not the only one who can drop an obvious hint.)

Four days later, I got a gift certificate to Halcyon Yarn. And what do you know...they sell Wick!


Yarn diet maintained? Check. Mom looking forward to cool wicking hiking socks? Check. I can't back off now, especially after never finishing her Scholar Collar scarf (oops).