I finally finished Mark’s socks this weekend. They were knit with love, spite and sheer determination. But mostly love. 
(Yes, he did object a bit to having to sit so awkwardly with his feet on the chair. It was taken early Monday morning before I took the train back to Tilburg, so the light was a bit wonky.)
Pattern: Hug Me Socks by Terry Morris [rav]
Yarn: Madeline Tosh Sock in Fjord (83 grams/ ~264 metres) and Lana Grossa Meilenweit 100 Tweed in white 106 (21 grams/ ~88 metres)
Needles: 2.25 mm. Knit Picks DPNs
Modifications: Changed the toe and heel to a sturdier yarn, otherwise none
Cast on: October 9th, 2011
Cast off: February 5th, 2012 Let’s pretend it didn’t almost take me five months to finish these. I got severe second sock syndrome; the pattern was dull and the socks are huge. Mark wears a European size 44, so that’s a fair bit of knitting. But he loves them, which is the most important thing, and he thinks they are soft and comfortable. I told him that if he wears a hole in them any time soon, I will do unspeakable things to him – and not in the kinky way.
We’ve had lots of snow here this past week, meaning that the entire Dutch infrastructure has broken down. I don’t understand; we have far more snow in Denmark, but the country doesn’t stop. It slows down a bit, but it doesn’t come to a grinding halt. It took me 3 hours last Friday to get from Tilburg to Leiden, a trip that normally takes half the time. Train upon train was cancelled, and there was no guessing whether your’s would be next. I’ve been missing the snow and the cold, but it’s definitely a different experience than in Denmark. My bike is unstable and the tires are thin and worn, compared to my bike at home which has thick, patterned tires. The bike paths haven’t been cleared, and neither have half the roads. At the first sight of flakes, it seems the Danish trucks and sweepers are out in the streets, salting and removing snow. Hmm… 
That long strip in the middle is actually a frozen channel. Within minutes of taking this picture, it was full of children and adults on skates, sweeping away the snow so they could skate back and forth, back and forth. They continued until well after the sun had set. It was nice to watch; I’m not really into skating myself but it was fun to watch the youngest children walk around like Bambi on their skates.
After the horrible socks of doom have come off the needles, I feel free to cast on something new. I don’t know what and I don’t have time to figure it out right now – I’m finishing up my thesis proposal which is due tomorrow at noon, and my superviser has apparently gone on vacation and forgotten to comment on my final draft I sent him over the weekend. Academic life is always exciting here! 
I’m going to pick something from this shelf. Something colourful, I think, and soft and fun. I need it.
