Seeing the Sights

I spent a week in Chicago, partly to attend the American Library Association’s Annual Conference and partly to play tourist. So, I decided, what could be more appropriate than knitting up my treasured Franklin’s Panopticon sock yarn, part of the Lorna’s Laces Color Commentary series. Franklin is one of my favorite knitbloggers (If you haven’t read about the time he was asked if he’d learned to knit in prison…well, what are you waiting for?) and I’d been waiting for just the right time to cast on with this sock yarn, a birthday present from Alysania last year.

Well. Franklin’s from Chicago. So is Lorna’s Laces. And I was on my way there. Clearly the mysterious perfect time to knit had arrived. So I knit one sock in Chicago and finished it on the way home, promptly cast on the second one, and finished the pair in between unpacking and laundry and those tasks that pile up when you’ve been away for a week.

PANOPTICON JAYWALKERS

Pattern: Jaywalkers by Grumperina
Yarn: Abovementioned Lorna’s Laces Shepard Sock in Franklin’s Panopticon
Needles: US1/2.25 mm
Notes: Sizing seems to be my one nemesis with these socks. The pattern is easy and not really that complicated, but the biasing screws with the ease which screws with everything else. The first time I knit them I went with the 9″ circumference, because I have a rather wide instep. They fit great on the foot, a bit wide on the leg but not so much that they were sagging. So I went ahead and did the 9″ again — and it works fine for the leg but this time the foot was a little too big! I think I will give it a third try and do the 8″ circumference this time, for kicks and giggles. Heaven knows I have plenty of Lorna’s in the stash, especially after that little trip to Loopy while I was in Chicago…

Since I had socks, and I was traveling, you get traveling sock pictures!

My first day in town I went for a walk on Michigan Avenue and found this. I don’t know why it’s there or anything about it, but it made me laugh an awful lot. The sock liked it too, but was more interested in the M&M people giving away free ice cream sandwiches. Yum.

The Navy Pier is a big pier reaching out into Lake Michigan with a huge Ferris wheel and restaurants and amazing views. The sock and my friend J. and I enjoyed watching the sun set behind the skyline and eating mac and cheese outside and seeing night fall over Chicago. It was pretty magical.

This is the Bean. It has a real name but I don’t think anybody uses it. I also think it’s my favorite piece of public art, anywhere. You can duck under it and see the crowd reflected and distorted and appearing six times at once; you can stand back and watch the skyline and the clouds take different shapes. I even saw a bride and groom, in their finery, having a wedding portrait taken. The sock wanted to move right in to Millennium Park and stay there forever, but there was too much else to see to do that.

It was a great trip, and I fell a little bit in love with Chicago. I can’t wait to go back and take another pair of socks for a spin. In the meantime, you can see the full set of my pictures from the trip right here.