where are they now? or: a day late and a dollar short

Whatever happened to your __________?
Write about the fate of a past knitting project. Whether it be something that you crocheted or knitted for yourself or to give to another person. An item that lives with you or something which you sent off to charity.

We here at Hungry Knitter like to play fast and loose with deadlines and other such rules, and in the spirit of said ... spirit ... I'd actually like to tell you about two past projects instead of one. One is a shameful admission, and the other one will hopefully redeem the first. Now let's go ahead and get the shaming out of the way. That big picture up top is of me and what I think is my oldest WIP - the oldest that I actually plan on finishing, that is. That's a Deep V Argyle Vest that I've had on the needles since (according to the rav) the original Vestvember, in November 2009. I suppose in the grand scheme of WIPs that's not absurdly long. I think I originally set it aside because deadline crafting got away. Then I resurrected it, and after that I was in serious exam crunch mode and stranded knitting was too mentally taxing. Excuses aside, however, it is completely ridiculous that I haven't finished that vest. It's going to be fabulous on me and I really love it as a garment. And I get to cut my first steeks! So terrifying and exhilarating! Really, after I'm done with the current WIPs I need to dedicate myself to finishing this. Of course by that time it will probably be 9000 degrees and humid as hell in Chicago but, you know, I'll have it for fall.

Shameful admission behind me, I'd like to tell you about one of my oldest and best-wearing knits. You can tell this is an old one by how shitty these pictures are. I would have taken some new shots to show how well they've held up, but I just wore them yesterday so they're not looking their best.

Too close! Too close! Weird perspective! What's with the pots and pans in the background?!

What the hell am I, Godzilla in handknit socks, crushing my mother's poor Christmas village? This picture is so bizarre.

Hilariously crappy pictures aside, these are some of the best socks I've ever made. They fit like a dream, and having vertically striped socks is endlessly amusing to me. The pattern is called Sidewinders, and it's even free! I followed Nona's strict instructions and measured my feet and gauge verrrrry very carefully, instead of just sort of winging it like I normally would, which is probably (okay, obviously) why I ended up with such a good fit. What I'm most thrilled about here is the yarn. That's Regia 4-ply Crazy Color, and it's pretty much the only sock yarn that my hot damp feet haven't instantaneously felted. These socks go in the washing machine on a regular basis (I've actually started hand washing other socks, even though we have a very gentle front loading machine, because I've felted so many god damn pairs of socks) and occasionally even the dryer. And you'd never be able to guess that I didn't just finish that interminable graft up the back last week. These socks will probably outlive me.