However, I've decided to rename these socks The Battleship Socks. Because much like the movie of the same name, these socks were a bit of a slog and quite frankly, fraught with problems from the get-go.
First, one should use the proper equiptment. I chose a very nice blue self-striping sock yarn from Opal. Then I decided to try out my new Blue Sky needles, which are extremely dark and only four inches. I had never used sock needles that short before and they took some time to get used to using without poking myself in the palm. Once I figured that out, I was sailing right along. (Get it? Sailing? Battleship? tee hee)
Until that evening. Once I lost the light of day, it was really difficult to knit with dark-ish yarn on the Blue Sky needles. Man, those things are dark. It was hard to see the stitches. So these became my only knit during the day socks.
And then I broke a needle. And since I hate--I'm using the word hate here-- knitting socks with four needles, I stopped working on them until I could get another set of the Blue Sky needles. Couldn't I have just subbed in another needle from a different set? Yes, except that my other pair of US1s was (and still is) in use on another pair of stockinette socks that I actually could knit at night.
I brought them with me to Squam. sigh, Squam. They (actually at that time, these socks were an "it", one sock only) saw some knitting time there, but not much. Socks are not the best project for evenings around a campfire. Not enough light for me, and maybe a little too much talking. Oh, and some wine. (Note to self: next year, pack knitting projects that aren't socks.)
Just like any other stockinette socks I've made, once I got into a groove with these, they were finished rather quickly. I actually took them to the movies with me on Saturday night. What movie? Yup, Battleship. It was playing on base, and Mike wanted to see it. I'm going to have to assume some of the fault here, because I was the one who pointed out that it was playing on base. I managed to knit three rows before the movie started, and about ten rows after I left the movie to sit in the lobby and wait for Mike.
I have left three movies in my entire life. I love movies, even bad ones. But I couldn't take this one. Oh, is was sooooo bad. And loud. The glass in the trophy cases in the lobby was shaking. Mike liked it, but he rates his movies by the amount of explosions so this rated fairly high.
To summarize (points can apply to either the socks, the movie, or both):
:: Cast matters. Sometimes you don't need $25 needles, when $5 ones will do. Or sometimes you don't need a big name actor.
:: Know what is going to happen after a couple of hours. If you are going to lose the light (or the story) assess your materials honestly and create a back-up plan. Something to knit only at night. Or a side story involving a model-turned-actress.
:: If something breaks, find a solution. I bought a new set of needles. I don't know what the producers of Battleship did. Nothing is what I would guess.
:: Always bring knitting with you, because you never know when you can get in a couple of rows.
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