Lotsa brown

Thanks for all the book suggestions--having great readers like you all is very nice.  I was looking at some blogs yesterday (for work, really) and I noticed most of them never have any comments.  It was weird--why blog if you don't have people pop in and say hello? 

Anyway, the weekend was spent painting my upstairs hall.  The only vestiges of green left are around the fireplace which will be our first spring project (power tools are best for outside).  I need to paint the kitchen too, but it's yellow so it's not so horrible.

The other brown thing I finished was Uncle Ken's sock--the first one.

I used the Timberline sock pattern from Lucy Neatby's Cool Socks Warm Feet book.  I love this book, it's full of great ideas for socks and good technical advice for doing heels (like doing the heel with a separate ball of yarn--even taking the yarn from the other end of the ball to make a nice clean heel and so the pattern continues on the instep).

I used the short-row garter stitch heel (my favourite) and garter stitch toes.  I even started the second sock--the tubular cast on is *not* subway knitting.

And you may notice this sock fits me perfectly.  We have the same size feet (I snuck a look at his boots when he was visiting).  I love these socks, but Ken painted a good portion of my house; he deserves them more than me.

Comments

[Kat]

"It was weird--why blog if you don't have people pop in and say hello?"

Ugh. How offputting.

We have our reasons.

[Karen B.]

Cool socks. They're perfectly patterned, too! What yarn did you use?

Re: the "why blog" question, whether or not anyone reads or comments? Sometimes you just need to say it - even if no one hears.

[Bethe]

Just because there are no comments doesn't mean people aren't reading.

I am a lurker by nature and rarely leave comments, but I read many blogs.

And, for what it's worth, I second the "Ugh. How offputting." comment from Kat.

[Cathy D]

I have Lucy Neatby's book but have yet to knit anything from it. Your "Uncle Ken's sock" has inspired me; next pair of socks will be from that book. Time to try something new.

[Katherine]

I read your blog frequently, but do not often comment. Sorry!

I occasionally ask if "anyone is out there" on my blog, and it turns out that they are--reading, but not commenting. I even meet knitters in knitting groups who comment on something I have written, but they didn't comment at the blog. Anyway, it's a good question, and something to think about.

[anne]

I suppose there are a lot of reasons for blogging. I do it to get myself in the habit of writing regularly.

That said, I'd love a large audience and lots of comments. But there are an awful lot of blogs so it can be difficult to get noticed.

I do like your blog very much.

[brenda in toronto]

Many reasons to blog...

Curious: did you pop in and say hello to any of the commentless blogs?

[jen c]

i blog for my family and friends. they rarely comment - but instead pick up the phone and call or email me privately. they like to know where i am and what i'm doing (i've recently relocated 4 and a half time zones away). i don't care if anyone comments - i know the people i love are reading. that being said, i read a ton of blogs (your included of course!) and do i ever comment? rarely. i usually am echoing thoughts of other commenters anyway and so it would be just the same old whatevers.

[MARTIN M]

How come is comment and centred?

[Corvus]

My blog is relatively new (less than two months), and while I've been slowly gathering an audience, it'll take a while. It takes a lot of brainstorming to find ways to get the word out into such a large forum. We'll see.

I can see where your phrasing is offputting, though I assume it was unintended. A blog can be an outlet even if it never gets read. It can be a way to motivate oneself, or just a healthy habit. People have kept journals all through history for thousands of reasons and with thousands of mediums- the internet-with-commenting aspect is just a recent feature, and by no means required for motivation.

[Kim]

I've discovered that there are many more lurkers than regular commenters on my blog. My brother-in-law, a cop, told me that he reads the blog at the police station and other cops read it too. None of them comment and that's ok. It kind of freaks me out to think the cops are reading my blog. I am so grateful for my regular commenters and the occasional commenters.

[Seanna Lea]

I'd say I'm a new blogger, but I really am not. I've been doing it for over a year, but I've never really generated comments. Part of it is finding my voice, my way of saying things that indicates my personality, and part of it is just a record of my days (so I don't inundate my livejournal with tons of knitting and crafting related posts). I know my husband reads it, but anything else is just icing.

[minnie]

i have to say that i blog for me. if i have readers (and commentors (sp?)) so much the better. and i know several people read without commenting.

and if your uncle painted your house, i think he deserves an entire knitted SUIT if he wants it, lol.

[lekkercraft]

now that is a great looking sock! I'll keep in mind the new ball of yarn for the heel trick. I'm interested in learning more about the garter stitch heel too - thanks for sharing :)

[inky]

What Kat said.

[Chrissy]

I've been wanting to try that pattern. Your sock looks great.

[deeni]

I only post when I gots somethin' to say. lol

Aren't Lucy's patterns cool? I love that sock book. I also have several of her other patterns in my stash. I find I always learn something new while knitting one of her designs. And you know what got me first to even buy one her designs? Her funky hair colours. I never buy anything based on a person's appearance, not knowingly, but the hair so intrigued me....Never regretted it. Enough raves about Lucy. Nice sock by the way. What yarn?

[Geertrude]

I have a counter on my blog, so I can see there actually are (few) people (other than myself) reading it.
I started blogging in 2001, way before the comment thing was invented. Being in linklists and receiving an occasional email was enough back then.
I have to admit, there are times when I would like to post a "hello, anybody outhere?", but being a lurker myself most of the time, I can hardly expect other people to comment on my blog...

Oh and I like the sock! (Have to learn to knit socks!).

[Mary de B]

The blogger just writes the blog, and can't control the comment side of it. Should I stop blogging because people don't always stop and say hello?

[christine]

Oh my, more drama in blogland! I've been blogging for almost 2 years, and look forward to hearing from my usual readers, but I'm also aware that many people read my blog and never comment. Oh well.......perhaps I just don't provoke them to comment for some reason.

[Melody]

i cant believe the attention your one little question got? i love comments.. it's not the reason i blog,but I love the attention when I get it, thats fo sho!.. lurker or commenter.. it's all good.

[Kari]

Your comment is short-sighted at best and rude at worst. Why make assumptions about why someone blogs?

[Margaret]

I started a blog to motivate me to think about my knitting and creative process more, and to hopefully empower others both through my trials and successes. It is nice to get comments, and I would like to build some community through my blog, but for me, that isn't the main reason why I do it. I have never been much of a commenter until recently, and I've never commented on your blog before because I just didn't have anything to say.

[Ruth]

I started blogging for myself - my statcounter tells my I have plenty of regular readers - but I admit I do love comments. Sometimes I get a bunch, and then sometimes days on end with none, and I wonder if nobody loves me anymore and then give my head a shake and get on with life. When I start feeling bad about the lack of comments, I just follow the "do unto others" rule and discipline myself to leave comments on other blogs - it's so easy to just think things and not take that extra minute to type them.

[Helen]

Hmm.
I blog because I enjoy it. But comments DO inspire me to do it more.
I also blog because I know that my friends afar have a way to see what I'm up to if they want to look. Lets me be lazy and not write to each of them everytime something happens.

As for commenting,... Often, I enjoy a blog but don't have anything to add. Comments that say nothing more than "great blog" or "interesting point" or "pretty" don't do much for me as a reader, and so I don't send them much. I prefer to comment when I can engage in conversation (and yes, I do answer most comments made on my blog)