Finished! with time to spare even!

Yay! The Nanners are done! This was a new record and one that I never thought I'd ever make with a patterned sock. I started these on July 25 and finished them on July 28. Wow!

I'm extremely pleased with the feel of this yarn. It's Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Multi (the fanciest sock yarn I've ever used, BTW) in Glenwood. It feels silky smooth, the colors are lovely and well spaced - they just look lovely and feel fantastic. I hope they wear just as well. Yes, it's July and these are 80% merino, but it's only 73 here and I'm wearing these for the rest of the day.

About the photos, the top photo shows my issue with the Russian bind off (on the right) and why I love the sewn bind off (on the left). Maybe I'm just not that comfortable with it, but I think I'll stick with what I know and love and can do well. I don't hate it enough to pick it out, just don't think I'll do it again. But you'll never know if there's something you'll like better unless you go for it. I'm happy I tried it!

And that's about all there is to say about that. I'm quite impressed with myself to have made both July pairs of socks in 8 days and I'm looking forward to August. Until then, I need to dive in a tackle creating a very pointy toe for a pair of socks to fit my mom's size 12 very pointy feet. I'd better have a notepad handy. Wish me luck.

Getting Ready for the Ganseys

I'm nearly done with my Nanners and it's nearly August...so naturally I'm looking forward to the Diamond Gansey Socks for the Socks from the Toe Up KAL on Ravelry! All my stash sock yarn is self-striping and I knew that wouldn't do for gansey socks. Let's face it, I'm a cheapskate and even though I wanted a kettle-dyed yarn, I didn't want to go to the LYS to get it.

So last week was Coupon Commotion week at JoAnn. Armed with six 40% off coupons, I came away with 2 balls of Sensations Bamboo & Ewe in red and Red Heart Heart & Sole; 2 balls of Spring Stripe and 4 balls of Ivory - bring out the Crock Pot and the Wiltons!

I knew I wanted a kettle-dyed look and that was about all I was sure of. I didn't wait for the water to be hot before adding the yarn. It's superwash so I figured it could handle sitting in there. I let it soak some more in the plain water with some vinegar (I don't measure) because I didn't want the dye to have time to soak in all over the place and make solid yarn.

As for color, I pulled out Wiltons brown and burgundy hoping for something resembling fall leaves. I got orange. To make it a little more golden, I added several drops of McCormick's yellow. After I'd mixed the dye in my 4 cup measuring up, I dumped it in. I dumped it fairly evenly over all the yarn, but I didn't touch it at all or take too much care to get it all covered. I never stirred it, never disturbed it once. It soaked in extraordinarily fast so I let it cool, rinsed it, and hung it out on the plant hooks to dry. I think it looks how a kettle-dyed yarn ought to look.

I'm so excited to start the Diamond Gansey Socks!

Sock Mojo Rules the Day!

I'm so happy the sock mojo is still here. It's so fun! I'm having a great time with the Socks from the Toe Up KAL on Ravelry and frankly, still rather amazed that I am actually participating. Yeah it's only the first month I've done it so there's still time for me to fall on my face, but for now, it's all good.

Since I finished the On-Holds on July 25, I naturally figured "why not try to knock out some Nanners as well?" The Nanner Socks are the selected free pattern for July in the KAL. It's a great excuse to use the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Glenwood. I'd bought 3 skeins intending for it to be a shawl of some sort, but I now know I'm not a huge fan of small shawls. Plus, since the sock mojo appears to be unstoppable, why not use it for these? Even though it's multicolored, it's not so busy as to obscure the pattern.

Here's the progress photos...


Pattern: Nanner Socks, size M, 9” long, 6” or so cuff
Began: July 25, 2009
Finished:
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Multi in Glenwood
Needles: Knitpicks US size 2 (2.75mm) 32” nickel-plated circular (Magic Loop)
Mods: none
Toe: Judy’s Magic Cast On
Heel: Slip-stitch Gusset Heel as written in pattern
Bind Off: Sewn BO and Russian Bind Off

Comments: I tried the Russian Bind-Off on the first sock and I don’t think I’m a big fan. I’m going to go back to my favorite sewn BO for the next one. I adore this yarn and it looks really nice in the pattern. The sock is twisting a bit, but hopefully it won’t be a problem during wear.

A little update...

I'm getting ready to go to A.'s basketball tournament, but I have just enough time for a quick update. Yesterday I worked a lot (for the real job) so I didn't get as much knitting time as I'd like, but I still managed to make progress. The sock is continuing down the foot nicely.


And there's my blurry yet still magical gusset. What is it about that little triangle of fabric that gets my adrenaline flowing?


The Hourglass Sweater is moving along like gangbusters. I love bottom-up construction. Just when you're thinking that you can't bear to knit any more, you reach the yoke and it goes faster and faster. Using the 11" circular on the sleeves worked out surprisingly well.


I've completed 9 sets of decreases in the yoke - halfway there! Though I will probaby do a few more after reading what others have done on Ravelry (I luff Ravelry!!). I haven't heard nearly as many sweater growing pains stories from people using Wool of the Andes as there have been from those using other yarns. Let's hope that this turns out as stunning as I hope. I fully expect to finish it tomorrow. I'm almost through a ball of yarn, then I have 1 more full ball and about 1/2 of another. With the circumference getting smaller with every round, I am cautiously optimistic that I will have more than enough yarn, even with a few additional decrease rounds.


The it will be off to blocking, drying, and wearing proudly next Saturday so I can show off my talents to my friends!

I'm looking forward to A.'s basketball games at 11:30 and 3. I'd love to bring the sock, but with the two boys, the only time I'd touch a needle is if my hand brushed past it while digging for a snack in my purse. I'll be fine waiting until football this evening for my knitting time. I'll probably just keep blasting through the Hourglass Sweater. I want to finish the thing, plus, if I need more yarn, I'd like to know that as soon as humanly possible. Perhaps I'll work on the sock for a quarter of the football game as a diversion, but it will still be there, no matter what, so I won't worry about it.

Ok, enough of the chit chat - time to shower up and warm up my lungs to cheer for my girl's team! Mr. T. is coaching as well...that should be interesting!

All About Socks!

I love working from home! When I'm stuck on the phone/computer for 2 hours, I can do something with my hands without getting funny looks!


That was yesterday. Webex training on a new database system. Park the kid in front of the Wii, put the cell phone on speaker, and watch the trainer do her stuff on my computer screen. Perfect mindless knitting time. I chose the second sleeve to my Hourglass Sweater. 37 rounds sure do fly when you're having big fun learning iMIS! Here's the sleeve by the end of the training:


After that, my poor little eyes needed a break from the computer screen. On to the sock.


That's how far I got yesterday. Precisely where I had been when I decided to rip it out the day before. This sock really moves! I think it's a combination of the easy pattern and the patterned yarn. With the pattern being only 2 rows of knit stitches - even though everyone's results are stunning - I still consider this a plain pattern. If I was knitting these in a solid color yarn, I'd be bored to tears and I suspect it would feel like it was taking forever.


That's why I love these patterned yarns! If I don't have an obvious pattern repeat to gauge my progress, I like to use the yarn as my progress meter. I'll say to myself, "I'll knit until the next blue stripe" and before I know it, I'm there. I do the same thing if there is a more complex pattern. That's why I liked the Twinkle Toes socks by Cookie A. and why I didn't get bored making them with a solid yarn. Go once through the chart, you've got another inch! It was great!


I've thought about toe up socks. I've knit toe up socks three times. Duh, Twinkle Toes! Also, I used Ann Budd's On Your Toes basic toe up sock pattern from IK Summer 07.

I have no issues with the pattern. I made these with Patons Decor in First Spring and I love the way they turned out. They look great and the pattern worked perfectly. However, I don't really care for the short row toe or the short row heel. Perhaps they needed to be a little longer for the heel to be comfier, but I like them to be snug. The last thing I need is another pair of socks that end up looking like a flour sack on my foot.

I made the Coriolis Socks by Cat Bordhi and those are nice. I liked the construction of these very much. It was like magic AND they have a heel flap! These were the first socks I ever completely finished and are to date my only finished pair made out of sock yarn. I adore these socks and wear them as fast as I can wash them.

You know what? I really enjoy making socks from top to toe. And I enjoy wearing socks that are constructed that way. I tried toe up socks in order to spare myself the torture that is Kitchener stitch, but even that doesn't scare me anymore now that Sandi Wiseheart has graciously shown us how to graft on the needles AND I have Ann Budd's great illustrations in Getting Started Knitting Socks. I love the feel of a heel flap sock and I can't describe the giddyness I feel as I form a gusset. There's just something about the whole heel area of a top down sock that I find thrilling to knit.

I can't tell you if my sock knitting will continue - I change my knitting moods so often, but I have a goal to make enough socks this year to have them for every day of the week. I'd like to complete this goal by October so I'm ready for the cold. They really are fun!

Gauge....Darn You All to Heck!

That was a quote from Alex in Madagascar. It is a mere hint to the wrath I feel towards gauge. Gauge and my inability to trust my own gut.

How fitting that right now (totally by coincidence) I'm re-listening to Stash and Burn Episode 28: Second Chance and as I typed the title, Nicole said "I have gauge issues with socks." I feel your pain.

Jaywalkers. Dammit!

I shouldn't blame the pattern. It's really all me. The worst part is I was right all along.

Remember how I said that I was concerned that knitting with size 1's would be too tight? Remember how I went out and bought size 2 dpns specifically for these socks and even started them with the size 2 dpns? Remember how I said that I know I knit tight and often have to go up a needle size? I'd even swatched with the size 1 dpns and found that I got 9 sts/inch in stockinette - which is clearly too small for this pattern.

I was knitting along happily with my 2's for about 3". I tried it on and thought "no way, this is way too big." It really didn't cling to my leg, more like skimmed. So I vaguely tried to measure my sock to recheck the gauge and even though I knew it was ok, I switched to size 1's. I thought it looked good after the switch because the baggy look had left and it was all nice and even. My hands were getting sore but I kept on going.

As I neared the end of the leg, I decided to give the fabric a tug. The entire size 1 area had very little give and I started to get worried. I tried to pull it on my leg. Though I did get it on, it was rather a contortionist act and I was terrified I wouldn't get it off again. I did get it off and like an IDIOT, rather than frogging back right away like I should have, I forged ahead, switching to size 2's, thinking that I might be able to save them that way.

R
emember how I said I wanted to turn the heel by the end of the day? I clung to that hope with an iron grip.

I knit the heel flap. I turned the heel. I even knit a few rounds of the gussets. I figured that would be a good time to try it on again and see if the switch to the larger needle loosened things up enough to still salvage the sock. Uhhhhh.....no.

It was still a wrestling match to get it on and then I had the sensation that my circulation would be cut off. To add insult to injury, I took out the tape measure and measured my gauge over pattern and I was right on with the size 2's to begin with.

Through my years of sewing, quilting, knitting and crocheting, I've tried almost every shortcut in the book. Usually before actually trying something the right way. For example, the first time I had to sew a zipper in a garment, I thought "pin it, baste it, then sew it? Pish posh, I can do it without the basting and pinning; how hard can it be? After ripping it out and trying other "short cuts", probably 4 times, I did it the way you're supposed to and it was perfect. There have been many other similar instances where I have been humbled into abandoning "my way" for the "right way". This was one of them.

I frogged back to the original size 2 area of the leg of the sock. Now I'm stuck with a pile of variegated spaghetti. The sock still holds it's charm for me, but I have to say that this incident turned me off just enough to pick up the second sleeve of the Hourglass Sweater. Plus, in a couple weeks I'm getting together with 4 high school friends and we're going to have a portrait session! Sounds kind of corny, but it will be really great, I think! We've been told that solid colors are best so I'm reinvigorated to get this sweater done. Sapphire Heather would be beautiful in a portrait. Now I'll shift my hopes toward having enough yarn on hand to finish it.

The sock rides again

I thought the Hourglass Sweater would hold my attention enough both in it's quick-knitability and because there's an occasion in a couple weeks at which I'd like to wear it, but the Jaywalkers are mesmorizing! I knit a little more on them before the kids woke up and I'll do some more while watching TV tonight.

I think I love them so much because you have to do so little work to make the chevron pattern appear. My first chevron attempt was on size 0's two years ago. After 4 hours of knitting, I'd only gone about 2 inches. I was decreasing and increasing and yarn-overing constantly and I'd lose my place easily. I wondered how the heck anybody could get addicted to sock knitting?

I've been trying very hard to ease up on my death grip on the needles (probably why I didn't actually have to go up a needle size to get the right gauge) so working at this fine gauge has actually been quite pleasant. I'm even thinking about how great it would be to finish these quickly so I could go on to a pair made out of worsted weight yarn!

Ann Budd's Getting Started Knitting Socks has really inspired me. She explains everything so well and the explanation of the sock percentages is eye opening. I'm even excited about doing the plain basic socks. I'd like to use up some odd ball worsted bits to make some thicker socks.

(insert lightbulb flash as I experience boredom with work in tandem with an intense desire to dye some yarn - Break Time!)

When I write my posts, sometimes I leave it up and add to it as I go through my day. After writing the last paragraph, I had a flash of inspiration to overdye one of the gray Wool-Ease skeins I purchased yesterday. I'd intended to use them with some leftover sock yarn to create some kind of scarf for spring, but after getting the Budd book, I really only want to use it for socks.


So I'm Frankensteining what I hope will be a blue-ish purple. I know the color won't take extraordinarily well since this yarn is 75% acrylic, but it should do something. Plus, I just like the process. I used royal blue and violet Wilton icing dyes and I'm trying to drip in blue, red and green food color from time to time. We'll see what comes out!

What I really like about dyeing Wool Ease is that because of the acrylic content, I get subtle semi-solids without even trying. I also like to tie my skeins rather tightly in order to add to the depth of color and variegation.

This might just be the year I totally and completely embrace sock knitting!

Back to the grind...

...but not without getting a fair amount of knitting done. Ever since Christmas I've been all over the idea of instant gratification knitting. After devoting so much time to that infernal blanket, it's hard to look at a large project.

I made 2 more Mason-Dixon Washcloth Reloadeds - that makes 3 washcloths out of one ball of Cotton-Ease! I think there's enough left of each color to combine them into one more washcloth. I'm gonna go for it. This totally fits my definition of a perfect patter - it's beautiful, useful, short, quick, challenging enough to hold interest yet not intimidating and best of all - it's correct! Man, I hate when patterns are wrong. Aren't there people who get paid the big bucks to make sure patterns are right? That's a story for another day.

I finished one Cozy House Sock from 101 One Skein Wonders out of my leftover Shetland Chunky in Rich Teal from the Drops sweater. It's wonderful! I have yet to cast on for the second sock, but it won't be long.

What else...oh - and I got back to my Hourglass Sweater. I'm using Wool of the Andes in Sapphire Heather and it's gorgeous! I finished and attached the first sleeve and started the second sleeve this morning. I made it through the hem and I'm ready to start the shaping.

This whole knitted-in hem thing is a wonderful trick, but somehow it was a real problem until the second sleeve. Both on the body hem and on the first sleeve, I could not for the life of me figure out which loop to pick up unless I went to the wrong side, placed loops onto a fine dpn, then held that needle in my left hand and knit off both needles. With the second sleeve, however, everything clicked and I picked up the stitches from the cast on row as I went and it went as smooth as silk. Yay me!

I also finished the Spiral Rib Tweed Hat and one mitten from IK Holiday 2006. I'm a bit disappointed because the pattern said I should only need one skein of Lamb's Pride Worsted. I made it through the cuff and about 1" of spiral rib and then I ran out of yarn. The set is really pretty (though my husband laughed at me when he saw me wearing the hat) and I really want those mittens, but they will have to wait until Thursday when I can get over to Silver Creek Cabin and buy more yarn.

AND, I started a pair of Jaywalkers. I think I'm the last sock knitter on the planet to make these, but I finally jumped on board and began them today. I went out this morning to JoAnn specifically to get size 2 dpns (about the only size needle I didn't have) for these socks. I figured that since I knit tight, size 2's - rather than the recommended size 1's - would be perfect. Well, 3" into the leg I tried them on and they just skimmed my leg. I prefer a more snug sock and they did look off on gauge anyway. I didn't have the heart to frog them so I just switched to size 1's on a knit row and kept going. I'm 5" down the leg and hopeful that I will be turning a heel at some point tomorrow.

I bought some gray Wool-Ease today to futz around with a scarf design I've had in my head but it wasn't turning out as I'd hoped so I'll probably used the yarn for socks. I bought Ann Budd's new sock book "Getting Started Knitting Socks" today as well. I set out this morning looking for "I Can't Believe I'm Kntiting Socks", found it, but after flipping through it, discovered it really wasn't what I was looking for.

I hung around in front of JoAnn's horribly disorganized book display until I saw the Budd book. It's hardcover (yippee!) yet it still lays flat with minimal contortions on my part. I read it while I knited the Jaywalkers. This book is fantastic! I'm not totally new to knitting socks (I've knit 4 measly pairs) and I have Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks, which I thought would probably be the only sock book I needed, but I was soooo wrong! There were things I'd often seen in patterns or in Charlene's book and I'd think "ok, how exactly am I supposed to do that?" or "why the heck would I do that?"

Ann's book goes into detail, but the explanations are clear and concise. She gives her preferences and tips throughout the book as well, which I find very insightful. This book shows all the different ways you could pick up the stitches along the side of the heel. It has the best Kitchener illustrations I've ever found. I think I might actually be able to do it. It's a great book. If you're really super experiences at sock knitting, you probably won't need it, but I can see myself knitting the basic patterns and the other more embellished patterns for years to come.

More socks!!!

They are the Coriolis Socks by Cat Bordhi and they are AWESOME! I need to take a picture that shows off the swirl a bit better, but they really are great. The yarn is Opal Rodeo in color 1150 (orange, purple, blue/gray, white). This is the very first (and yet only) real sock yarn I've ever purchased. Ok, now here's the story of the yarn and it's evolution into these socks.


For Mother's Day 2006, my mom gave me a $50 gift certificate to a cute little yarn shop called Amazing Threads in Maple Grove, Minnesota. Up until that point, I had never...ever...knit with wool. I'd never touched wool. I don't think I'd ever seen wool. My economizing nature meant that I was going to use this gift certificate as efficiently as possible, trying out as many yarns as I possibly could. I bought S.R. Kertzer Marble (for Aibhlinn - it was great, BTW), Lamb's Pride in Kiwi (for Vino Armwarmers), a couple balls of Ella Rae Classic (ahhhhh!), but I really wanted to buy a ball of sock yarn. I sat, crouched on my heels in front of the sock yarn bins for about 20 minutes before I made my decision - the Opal Rodeo in color 1150.

I'm not sure why I chose this color combination. There were several others that were very beautiful, but I think I picked these because I wanted something different. These definitely don't look like anything you would buy in a store, nor did it look like any other sock yarn in the store.

I started to knit this yarn into a feather and fan pattern in Sensational Knitting Socks (the chevron section for self-striping yarn). I think I was using size 0 or 1 dpns and knitting to a gauge of 9 sts to the inch. Eek! This was my first try at socks.


I brought them along with me to the hospital when my daugter had surgery on her ear. For 3 1/2 hours, I sat there knitting on the leg of this sock and I only got about 3 inches done. It languished in my knitting bag for months and months. I was awestruck that anyone had enough patience to knit a sock, let alone a PAIR of them! I'd heard of people actually addicted to sock knitting. I was convinced they were off their rocker. (So to speak, of course. Not all of us knitters knit it a rocker.)


Well, then I happened upon the Knitty Gritty episode with Cat Bordhi and watched them make the Coriolis Socks. Those look easy, I thought. Thus the frogging of the first attempt.

I had a real fear of running out of this yarn that was the most expensive ball of yarn I'd ever bought so these toe-up socks really appealed to me. I was still skeptical of being able to do a 7" leg. I could have used each end of the yarn ball to achieve the doubled yarn required but I didn't like thinking of the possibility of it getting twisted together. So I took out my little Martha Stewart food scale, put the ball in the basket with one end attached to my ball winder. I wound until half the yarn (or what I very unscientifically viewed on the non-digital scale to be half) was on the winder and half on the scale. Then I cut the yarn and wound the scale half into a ball. Thus I could draw from the center of each ball while I knit.

I brought these on the airplane to Orlando with the husband and kiddos back in May. I finished the first sock on the flight down and bound off with 4 strands, just like Cat says, because she said it would be stretchy enough. It was super fast, but I will add that I only made my leg about 2" long.

Well...at the hotel I tried on the sock. I couldn't have pulled harder on that bound off edge...it was not going on my foot. I had this perfectly formed sock - the pattern couldn't have been easier or have gone more smoothly - and I couldn't get it past my toes! Here I was, at Disneyworld, and I was an ugly stepsister trying to squeeze into the proverbial glass slipper. I didn't knit at all the rest of the week long vacation. I didn't start the other sock either. On the way home I was sitting next to some grumpy woman who wasn't all that appreciative of my efforts, so I didn't knit much then either.

Back at home, I undid the bind off and tried using a larger needle with the 4 strands of yarn. A little better, but not nearly acceptable. The sock could have served as a tourniquet should I have needed an amputation.

I undid that bind off and tried something else I'd seen on Knitty Gritty. Annie Modesitt had demonstrated a bind off method of knitting 2 together then putting the resulting stitch back on the left needle, continuing thusly until all stitches were bound off. This was a desperate measure since I had no idea of this method was stretchy or firm, it was just another way to do it and I was grasping at straws.

The sock sat in that bound off state - still too tight - mocking me from a basket in my closet. I'm not really sure what snapped me out of my sock phobia, but I got going on it again a couple weeks ago. I finished Cookie A.'s Twinkle Toes Socks. These were also toe-up and when making these I learned the fabulously stretchy sewn bind off. Voila! Socks that go on my feet! And they don't cut off my circulation! Bonus!

I finally got the nerve 3 days ago to undo the bind off on my Coriolis sock and do the sewn bind off. I can scarcely put the moment into words. To have my sock bound off, finished, and on my foot looking perfect was almost more than I could bear. But it was still only one sock.

There was no time to lose. When I found the yarn in my closet, I found that I had already completed the square toe section. I printed new directions and got to work. I finished the sock that same day and wore them the next.

Thus is the story of my first pair of socks with actual real live sock yarn.

I made socks!!!

Finished, rather. Yes, I've been bitten by the sock bug, but had hitherto not enough patience to complete the second sock. Sadly, with me, the "second sock syndrome" hit me harder than the "sock bug".

However I have conquered my fear of committment and I finished not one, but two pairs of socks! The first was Cookie A.'s Twinkle Toes socks as seen on Knitty Gritty. To my dismay, I just learned that the Leader deleted my pictures of these socks! Curses! They are a little big, but they are cute. I made them out of Lion Brand Wool-Ease that was cream but I overdyed it with orange and pink Kool-Aid. I like the effect that the dye has when used on wool blends. I'm into the semi-solid thing right now. The yarn might not be the best choice for socks, but I had it on hand and wanted to use less expensive stuff for the first completed pair. To get my feet wet, so to speak.

The second pair, done in Bernat Sox, is pictured above. I did the Garter Rib sock in Charlene Schurch's book "Sensational Knitted Socks". Bernat Sox is not ideal, being 100% acrylic, but it was cheap ($1 per ball at Smiley's) and I thought it a great way to get used to sock weight yarn and a pattern using it. I knit the socks at 7 sts/inch on size 3 circular needles - perhaps a little loose now that I'm wearing the finished socks, but it's still delightful to be wearing my own creation.

I thought I would be clever and try to do them two at a time on two circulars. I'm very new to the technique of using two circulars and equally new to knitting socks, and given my affliction with "second sock syndrome", I had never knit two socks at once. So I got going on the legs, two at a time, on the two circulars.

Legs were knit without incidence, but then I got to the heel turn. I had to transfer a stitch from each needle to the other needle and couldn't figure out how to do both at the same time. So, one sock went on dpns and was set aside while I completely finished the first sock. To my surprise, I actually wanted to pick up the second sock right away and finish it. I finished them both yesterday evening and while I still have issues with Kitchener stitch, they turned out pretty darn good.

My next sock exploit is with Patons Decor in First Spring. I love the colorway (cream, tan, green, mauve) and I love the yarn so I'm excited. I started out with the Round Toe Cast-On in Sensational Knitted Socks intending to then move on to the Fan Lace pattern. The round toe deal went very well, but after two complete pattern sequences in the foot, I decided to rip back and do 2x2 rib. Because I'm still a sock rookie, I want these to go well without having to worry about losing my place in a pattern. Plus, I just like the feel of 2x2 rib and how resilient it is. And heck, I don't want a lacey - i.e. holey - sock what with the winters here in MN. My footsies get cold!

"A sock is but a sock...mere covering for a foot. But personal taste and personal craft, makes a perfect form of art, for the wearer thus clad."

-Me