Doris Meets Otto.....

It was love at first sight! For both me AND Doris!



Yesterday I spent the most lovely day with my dear, dear friend Kathleen. She set up her "Otto" who is an autoknitter sock machine, right across the table top from "Doris." What a pair they make! "Otto" holds 60 needles where Doris holds 72.

I learned so much from Kathleen and it was oodles of fun having our very own "crank-in"! While we chatted away, Kathleen cranked out 4 socks! Yep, 4 socks (two pair). Now how fun is that! And they turned out beautifully and it let me see how different a 60 stitch sock is compared to a 72. I have to really tighten the tension on Doris because there are so many stitches - otherwise the sock would be far too wide. And that can be extremely tiring during the cranking process. Otto whipped those socks out in no time.

Isn't he a dream? So, I've decided that this is my goal for our little (ok, micro) sock business. I'm going to save up and find a friend for Doris. As these machines get more and more popular, that task becomes a bit more difficult.

And then, you won't believe what Kathleen did. She left Otto so that I could practice on him and use up some of my thicker sock yarns. Only a dear and true friend would do such a thing! He'll hang out with Doris until Kathleen and her husband return to their vacation home in Bear Valley. Doris and I are in heaven!

Other news.....

I promised that I'd have an announcement today, so here it is: Instead of the usual giveaway each month of a pair of socks, I thought it would be fun for one lucky person to win a pair of women's handknitted mittens. I'll start working on them this evening.

So, this is how it'll work: just leave a comment on this post and be sure to use the word "Mittens". On March 1st, 2011, I'll randomly draw one name and announce the winner. The mittens will be made of Cascade 220 which is a 100% wool, worsted weight yarn. They'll be quite yummy! So, good luck to all.

And tomorrow is "Ask Mac" and he'll have a few answers for the questions that came in for him. You might want to tune in then and leave him a question for next week because he told me that he'll be doing a little giveaway for one lucky person who leaves him a question each week. Tomorrow he has 3 viewers who wrote in and one of them will be winning a little something.

Have a great, great day!