Yo La Tejo

Letters! We get Letters!

(cue the Paul Schaeffer orchestra swinging into the CBS Mailbag song.)

We get STACKS and STACKS of Letters! Leeeetteeeerrrrrrrs!!!

Just kidding...I do not get stacks and stacks of letters, but I think my last post drew the most comments I've ever had! Which, my roommate pointed out, will happen when you don't post in a week and a half.

I've been off doing school stuff, reading about Puerto Rican transnationalism, migration, and displacement, but I've been thinking about YOU all every day, and sneaking peeks at your blogs whenever I can. Commenting, even, once in a while, but even those have had to be plenty abridged. So this weekend I get to take a breath and catch up a little bit.

I haven't had the chance to respond to all of your sweet comments about my socks, so let me take this opportunity to say thank you! I wore them until it was clear that they needed to go in the wash, and since I haven't done the wash, there they stay.

On that note, though, I thought it would be good to review some of the comments I got over the past week and a half, and share them with you all for your edification and reading pleasure.

On Cascade Fixation.

Amanda exclaims:

Gorgeous socks! And I'm so glad to hear good things about the Fixation. I've been eyeing some, myself, but have wondered if it affects your gauge at all? (I'm sort of a tight knitter.)

I can't answer this with absolute certainty, Amanda, because I would rather stick hot needles in my eyes than do gauge swatching, and so did not do one for these socks. But I'm sure that there's a little compensating/adjusting to be done, because I noticed that I was pulling/stretching the yarn as I knit, which probably made for a tighter fabric. But since I'm typically a loose knitter, maybe that canceled it out. Maybe if you're a tight knitter, you're going to need to try and hold the yarn more loosely or go up a needle size.

Kathy notes:

Beautiful broadripples. Love the colorway. Tell all your fixation friends, that it is fun to knit with, but an uncomfortable wear. Truly. Nothing like some nice superwash wool. Fixation actually hurts my heels when I wear it. Sorry. Just my experience. I ve heard it from others as well.

So, all of my Fixation Friends (I love this! Should we start a club?), beware of the heel rubbing. Mine were nothing less than comfy, but I wore mine with backless clogs, so maybe there was a lot less rubbing potential there. If my socks start bugging me, I'll be sure to give fair warning.

On other knitting-related matters.

Thank you all for your input on the sock yarn color dilemma I had regarding all the scrumptious Hill Country Yarn colorways. I loved them all, but finally chose the green and brown Pecan Tree colorway, and...drumroll please...the Longhorn burnt orange! Gah! Why would I do such a thing? Well, my sockpal sister helpfully suggested I just ASK my sockpal (ooh! lightbulb moment!), so I sent her a little email and she really just loved all the colorways except the sandstone, because she is a redhead. So, I ultimately liked the Pecan colors for her, but I also have friends who bleed burnt orange, and I'm sure one of them would appreciate some Longhorn socks.

Which brings me to my next letter.

Daily Texican writes:

I find it quite disturbing that I continue to read about knitting. Nonetheless, I seem to be drawn. And, I must disagree w/ your dislike for burnt orange.

Daily Texican! The power of the yarn compels you. The power of the yarn compels you! And see? I did choose the burnt orange. :-)

And in response to my plea for your honest opinion.

Anonymous says:

Be honest, eh?

All right, fine.
One time I threw up in your car. I like to kick cats. I never vote. I sometimes don't flush and I never wash my hands. And while we're at it, I don't really care for knitting all that much. I buy my socks at Target. They're a beautiful off-white. Wait, why did I join this knitting web-ring anyway?

At first, I was completely befuddled. Was this pure, unadulterated snark? Or was this good-natured ribbing? Then, I realized...oh, it's Mike.

Y'all, Mike is one of the funniest people I know, and likes to go undercover to harass me anonymously about my knitting. Once I realized this, I just laughed my ass off.

Now he's started his own blog. Go on and check it out, and don't forget to say howdy! Don't be afraid to leave a little good-natured snark...he likes it!

posted by Olga @ 2:58 PM