Sock Wars, Swaps, Iron Knitter and Broken Bones

It's been a busy past week or so around Chez Sarah! There has been lots of knitting involved though, so I've been having a lot of fun.

First off, I decided to join not one but two knitting competitions this month. They are both through SockWars.org, but not everyone is doing both. Sock Wars started first, on January 15. Basically, you get the name of your target and have to "assassinate" that person by sending them a pair of socks before the person you got your dossier assassinates you. So, it's not just about speed, you have to hope that either your assassin is a slow knitter, or that someone gets them first! Well, I got my part done quickly enough. I did a pair of socks from a pattern called Jeckyll & Hyde, which apparently was the SLOWEST pattern in creation. Even though I got them done over MLK weekend, they took FOREVER. I do think that I was the first person to finish a pair, most other people picked another pattern that was significantly faster. It was beautiful, though, I should know, I got off'ed by a pair!

In spite of my best efforts and mailing out my targets socks on Tuesday morning, by Wednesday morning, I was out. My assassin knit me some lovely purple socks that she had dyed herself with Wilton's icing dye. She also included a ball of yarn and a story about the colorway she had created. She called it Purple Death, after a rare type of coral that is very beautiful and also after the 1918 outbreak of Spanish Influenza that caused it's victims to bleed from the eyes just prior to death. Mshmom is a little twisted like that!

So, here are the socks that I made for Sarahbee, and the stitch markers that I included in her package:

And here are the purple death socks that I got:

In addition to Sock Wars, I'm also participating a Mardi Gras swap. I don't have a picture of the package that I sent to my partner, rms, but I did photograph the handmade item I included. A pair of handwarmers:

I also included the Mardi Gras themed stitch markers that I made.

And here's the wonderful package I got:

She included a beautiful scarf that she made using the Tunisian crochet method. It is super soft and I'm hoping that it's just a little cold during Mardi Gras so I can show it off! She also included three skeins of purple, green and gold yarn from Classic Elite and a bag of gold cocoons. I was a little daunted by the cocoons, since I don't spin, but she told me she likes to use them as beads for stringing or for embellishing. I like that idea because as much as spinning fascinates me, the last thing I need right now is a new hobby! So, at least some of these will become a super cool necklace and then I'll figure out what to do with the rest later. Oh and as a happy little side note, she let me know last night that she had forgotten to put the scarf pin she got for me in the package, so I'm going to get another present next week! You know how I love me some presents! (speaking of which, tick tock, folks, my birthday is coming....)

I got her package the day after I got my death socks, so it helped cheer me up from being knocked out of one competition so early!

Thursday night, Iron Knitter (Rav Link) kicked off. This one is predominately about speed! But, prior to receiving our patterns, we have to solve a series of clues. Our Supreme Commander allowed us to form teams in order to solve the questions (and also to reduce her email load, I suspect!) and that's been a lot of fun. I'm on team Ninja Needles. It's created a great sense of camaraderie, even as we try and win the contest for ourselves as individuals. I definitely find myself cheering for my teammates as we go on.

The questions were released on Thursday night at 7:00 and by 7:36 my team was in possession of the pattern. This is where teamwork ended! I cast on and had just a little bit done before Bean had to go to bed. As I was carrying her to her room, I slipped and fell, landing really hard on my foot. Oh My God, it hurt so bad and I was convinced that I had broken it, or at least sprained it pretty bad. I didn't want to go to the hospital, though, because I was determined to start knitting and even though you can knit while your waiting at a hospital, the constant interruptions are not exactly condusive for SPEED! So, I grabbed and ice pack, propped up my leg and got to knitting. I did end up popping a percocet left over from when Bean was born (you can see how often I take painkillers). By 2:00am I had finished my first sock, and although my competitive spirit was telling me to keep going, my eyes and the percocet were telling me it was time to turn out my light and go to bed! So I did. It was really hard going to sleep though, I kept worrying that taking time out was going to cost me the first position (I really wanted to win at least one round), plus my foot really hurt! Anyhow, I finally got to sleep and dreamed of knitting the whole time!

The next morning, Bean woke me up around 7:00 and I immediately cast on for the second sock. Bean was happy since I let her keep watching cartoons long after I normally turn off the TV. My only breaks from this point on were for food or diapers. Oh and anothe percocet. Two painkillers in a day? Yeah, I was hurting pretty bad! By 1:00, I was weaving in the ends on my second sock and posted a picture on the Iron Knitters group on Ravelry. I was the first person to finish by a couple of hours! Woot!

Here are the socks:

There have been a couple of people on the boards who have basically been commenting that I must've stayed up all night to finish, but I didn't actually. I didn't sleep much, that's true, but I definitely did sleep!

That afternoon, I decided that it was finally time to go get my foot checked out, so when Hubby got home from work, I left to go to the hospital. Fortunately, there was no wait at the ER and I got in right away. They took x-rays and determined that I had a spiral fracture in the second bone of my big toe on my left foot. Now, that's a pretty thick bone and also fairly short, so breaking it like that is quite a feat! (Heh, feet!) Anyhow, I now have to wear a cast shoe for the next six to eight weeks. Which means I will not be wearing fun shoes when I go to the Tucks ball tonight....boo!

Check back here later and I'll have a picture posted of my costume for the ball. I spent most of the day yesterday working on it!