Letter from the Idit O'R.

Dear Guinness Marketing Department: Although I think that the idea of making St. Patrick's day a national holiday is idiotic, at least the commercials that you came up with this year have some comedic merit. Perhaps you should have a chat with the people at Hallmark before their big "Step-Parent's Day" launch. LLD Last year I had a plan to knit a pair of socks each month. I think I made it to 10 pairs (if you count the 2 pairs of footlets). March's socks were the Djungle Djaywalkers - which knit up quickly in sportweight on 2.75mm dpns, but since I did not read the pattern all the way through, I didn't decrease the number of stitches when it came to the sole of the first sock, and it was too wide. I adjusted the stitch count appropriately for the second sock, and figured that I'd get around to re-knitting the first sock later. Fast forward almost one year to last Friday. While rearranging tidying up my stash in preparation for a potential inlaw visit, I remembered the Jaywalkers. Perfect socks to wear on St. Patrick's Day - because even though I have absolutely no Irish descendents whatsover, I am currently in a "wear green on March 17" phase of life (Childhood - wear green because that's the colour of clothes that get laid out for you; Adolescence - don't wear green to look cool, Early Adulthood - wear green because it's ironic and you are hip; Adulthood - wear green because it means you have one less decision to make in the morning; "Middle" aka "A Certain" Age - wear green because you have an adorable St Patrick's day themed shirt; Old Age - wear green because that's the colour of clothes that get laid out for you). So I ripped back the socks and re-knit the foot part of Sock A. Now, it also turns out that there was an issue with Sock B - even though I had decreased the number of sole stitches appropriately, I had knit it with a short row toe, which ended up being somewhat wonky when it came to grafting the toe shut, since the number of stitches on one needle didn't match the number of stitches on the other needle. So I ripped back the last few inches of Sock B, and re-knit the toe with the appropriate adjustments. Here's the finished product in all their (ever-so slightly mismatched) glory: There was a bit of variation in the colour repeats - different dye lots, maybe? The "I don't know how to dance a jig, but I can sure polka" shot And here's the part I am most proud of - the kitchener stitched short row toe: Guess where that grafting is - I dare you! Actually - you might be able to tell on this sock: Although it's tedious, I do get a kick out of doing kitchener stitch - even when it's 32 stitches across! Talk about rewarding - a new pair of socks after just one weekend of knitting! Now where I did I leave April's socks that just need to be grafted shut...?