Chango

Every time I worked on these Monkey Socks for the swap, Ozomatli's Chango ran through my head.

El otro dia, yo vi a un hombre, un hombre feo, parece chango, chango peludo, hasta la barriga, y su espalda, parece bosque.

The other day, I saw a man, an ugly man, he looked like a monkey, a hairy monkey, down to his belly, and his back looked like a forest.

The song is about 4.5 minutes long. I estimate that it took 25 hours to knit these socks (yes, I am a very slow knitter). That's about 333 hairy monkeys on the brain.

Specs:
Pattern: The ubiquitous Monkey by Cookie A
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM, Colorway P485 (light and dark blue, pink, lavender)
Needles: US 2 KnitPicks Harmony DPNs
Modifications: Cuff is regular 1x1 rib instead of twisted rib, for extra stretchiness a la Octopus Knits, altered left-slanting decrease (see below)

My pal's feet are 9.5 inches around and 9.5 inches long. I ended up doing five pattern repeats on the foot to make it work. It may seem a bit short, but these socks stretch like a mofo. My feet are 10 inches long and 9 inches around and they fit me just fine.

About those left-slanting decreases: SSK was not doing it for me; when followed by a purl stitch, as in the pattern repeat, it came out saggy baggy bleh. I still used SSK when followed by a knit stitch, as in the gusset decreases...then it was perky pretty nice.

I experimented with various types left-slanting decreases with the help of this extremely helpful post on nonaKnits and settled upon the sl 1 k1 psso. Way better results and still really simple to do.

These were my first ever cuff-down socks! I am enormously proud of, and surprised with, how they turned out. The whole toe-up concept just seemed to make much more sense to me when I first started making socks...that's how you put a sock on, so wouldn't it make sense to knit it that way too? That, and I was irrationally frightened of having to graft a toe; so irrational, in fact, that learning a figure-8 cast on seemed way less daunting.

If you have the same phobias, make the plunge and try a cuff-down sock. It's really not that bad! These socks helped me break out of my knitting box and I feel like a better knitter as a result.

All the teeny stitches on socks has left me craving some fat needles and easy gratification...but more on that later. Mom's Guilt Socks have been neglected for too long.

Monkeys Monkeys Monkeys

We've been monkeying it up here at Casa de hipp.

The color is a bit off in this photo. Koigu is hard to capture in artificial light, and I wasn't ready for photo time until late in the day. This colorway is gives a bit of a twist on my Monkey Sock Swap pal's preferences. She likes pastels, which is a major departure from my stash of crazy bright colors. This colorway has the desired soft pinks and blues but with an occasional shot of electric blue for me! Love love love it.

Part of yesterday afternoon was spent on the monkey-themed goodies to go with these socks. I pulled out some pretty pink fabric from my pile of soon-to-be-thrifted clothes and sewed up a little project bag. Don't worry, the thrift pile clothes are all very clean!

The outer fabric used to be one of Mr. Hipp's striped shirts (too big) and the inner fabric used to be one of my dresses (also too big -- do we think we're fatter than we really are?). The ribbon came wrapped around a blanket I bought on sale (of course!) at Target. I sewed two rectangles together on three sides for the outer layer, leaving a 1" opening near the top of each side seam. Then I sewed two rectangles together on three sides for the inner layer, this time with no side openings. I put the inner inside the outer and sewed them together around the top and also about 1/4" below the side openings. Thread the ribbon through the side openings, cinch tight, and done!

This is by no means an original design, but if anyone is interested in seeing more detailed directions, let me know and I'll write up a mini tutorial.

And of course, the monkey face. Ah, I love it! It's an iron-on from JoAnn's. A pack of two was only 99 cents, so the backside of the bag has the same little monkey face on it.

Free fabric + free ribbon + 99 cent monkey face iron-ons = happy skinflint crafter.

Oh wait, is this supposed to be a knit sock exchange? I'm getting distracted by all the other monkey craft fun. Second Monkey sock, here I come!

Time Flies

Where have I been since that last post? It feels like ages have passed. Most of my time has been spent are various local hospitals -- my father had a massive heart attack just over two weeks ago. Since then, he has been in an out of the ICU, in and out of consciousness, off and on a ventilator, in and out of operating rooms...and now he is finally home. The picture above is of us a couple of days ago. He is recuperating fantastically well!

Small public health soapbox moment #1: If you and/or a loved one smokes, please consider quitting and/or encouraging your loved one to quit. My father's decades of smoking were a direct contribution to his heart attack and the pace of his recovery. It is possible to quit and so worth it! There are free online resources and my co-worker swears by Nictone Anonymous.

Small public health soapbox moment #2: CPR really does save lives! If you aren't already CPR-certified, do so as soon as possible. My father went into full arrest (no heart beat, no breathing) immediately after his heart attack. Thank goodness he was at a party with several CPR-trained persons. Their quick and effective actions not only led to the later revival of his heart and lungs at the ER but also kept blood and oxygen circulating to his brain, preventing brain damage. He doesn't remember much about what has happened in the past few weeks, but every other aspect of his memory, mental capacity, and personality are intact. The American Red Cross offers classes in most areas.

On the crafty front, I am almost done with the first Monkey Sock for the swap. It is easily the most beautiful thing I have ever knit. I will take photos of the sock itself later today, but here is a glimpse of the delightful Koigu it is made from:

Have a great Monday. More Monkey news in forthcoming posts.

Monkey Sock Swap

Sockapalooza 4 was so much fun that I signed up for another sock swap. This one is all about Monkeys!

This sock swap has a few rules: You knit some Monkeys for your pal, add in three monkey-themed gifts, some sock yarn, and a Cookie A pattern (she designed the Monkeys and has lots of other beautiful designs). It's going to be fun to work out the specifics to meet these rules.

If you want to sign up, head over to the Monkey Sock Swap blog and contact Rebecca. Sign ups are through August 31st, so hurry!

As part of my enrollment, I need to answer some questions on my blog. Getting these answers ready has made me totally excited about this swap. I can wait to get my pal and start working on some Monkeys!

Do you consider yourself a beginning sock knitter, an intermediate, or have you been doing this so long you could probably knit a pair in your sleep? An intermediate, although I still have a lot to learn about knitting socks.

The measurements:
Shoe size = U.S. ladies 9
Foot circumference = 9 inches
Foot length = 10 inches

Yarn preferences:
What colors do you love? Blue, green, teal...but really, any color will make me happy
Do you prefer solids or variegated? Variegated!
Do you prefer wool, cotton or acrylic yarn? Wool, superwash would be great
What colors would you never wear? There is no sock color that I would never wear!
What are your favorite brands of yarn? Koigu, Regia, Lorna's Laces
Are there any new brands you would like to try? Trekking, Woolmeise, Yarntini, and Louet Gems all look pretty interesting

Cookie A. patterns:
Which of her patterns have you already knit? None
Which pattern(s) would you like to knit and don't already own? Rhiannon, Flicker

Other pertinent information:
Would you be willing to have an international Monkey Pal or do you prefer one in the U.S.? International is fine
Do you have any allergies? None that I know of
Will your knitting be exposed to smoke or animals? It is definitely exposed to two cats, there is no smoking in this house
Are you on Ravelry yet? If you don't mind having new firends, what is your Ravelry name? MrsHipp, but I haven't had a chance to really use it yet; that's one of my knitterly goals for this weekend.

Thanks, Rebecca, for organizing this swap!