Color! In Which Dr. Inkenstein Swatches

Dr. Inkenstein already suffers from Too Many Loaded Pens Syndrome, so when in the mood to play around comparing and contrasting inks, I don't want to load another fountain pen.

Most of these ink swatches were done with cotton swabs, then a glass dip pen, and therein lies the problem.

Can you say 'frustration?'  I'm sure you can.  None of my glass dip pens wanted to write (The swab below is Herbin Poussiere de Lune).

Enter The Goulet Pen Company.  Dr. Inkenstein eagerly watched a video demonstrating glass dip pens and knew something was wrong.  Mine were not writing like the pens in the demo.

The glass pens in question did not come from Goulet, but a now-defunct art supply store.  I'm pretty sure they were not J Herbon.  I don't even recall the brand.

After some intensive Customer Service courtesy of Brian Goulet, I conducted a science experiment and found out one of my culprit pens actually had a broken tip.

Out came the manicure tools.  In a matter of minutes, Dr. Inkenstein had inhaled a lungful of glass dust, and the pen was writing.

Then my new J Herbin glass pen arrived.  BIG difference.  Smooth as, well, glass.  Right out of the box.  Ink is happy.  Dr. Inkenstein is happy.

Colors prettyyyy.

COUSINS! In Which Count Sockula Gets Modern

Ever hear of this company?  Little MisMatched, or something to that effect.

No, the above are mine, not theirs.  But.   Evidently, mis-matched socks are 'teh thing' these days, and they sell some, and COUNT SOCKULA WANT. 

So I'm right up there with the times, until they pass me by again.  (These socks are a BIG mis-match.  Not even cousins.  Maybe an uncle and a niece.)

With Count Sockula's flea-like attention span, I get bored knitting a pair of socks that exactly match.  And it's a big relief not to have to think too hard about starting a sock at EXACTLY the right spot in the yarn so the second one will be an exact copy of the first.   It is just not in Count Sockula's nature.

I am also still playing around with heel types.  Therefore , the instant I heard this existed, I wanted to try a Sweet Tomato Heel with at least one of my latest pair, but these are 'Throatlatch' socks and it won't work. 

All right, since you insist on knowing: I got the pattern for that sock from a sock book whose name I forgot and made up the sock name because I knit my first such pair while watching the Preakness. 

These socks have got a huge opening, a yawning, gaping throat really, because you knit the instep short, then extend the sole and heel, after which you pick up a LOT of stitches around the opening and make the cuff.

 My first pair was so loose around the cuff I had to weave in a yarn 'ribbon' and tie them so they won't fall off.  Which worked so well I decided to leave them that way.   And of course the ribbons do not match.


More mismatch.  Though of a more subtle nature.  See?  Confined to heel.   

As for the latest Throatlatch pair , Count Sockula promises they do not match either.   Once they're finished, the picture will go up here.

One day, Count Sockula shall knit a sock with a Sweet Tomato Heel.   And you shall see the mis-matched results!  Muahahaaaa!