frak ‘em all!

I totally missed my deadline on the Viper Pilots. In retrospect, it was such a totally arbitrary deadline that I don’t really care. In the end, I have a lovely, finished (!!) pair of socks, and I got to meet both Chief and Tigh. That’s really good enough for me.

Comic Con was totally overwhelming. I’m really glad we met the BSG cast members at the beginning, before our brains/retinas/feet had burned out completely. We saw a bunch of steampunk kids, lots of superhero costumes, some artists we really liked, and spent altogether too much money. I was initially most excited to meet Aaron Douglas (who plays Galen “Chief” Tyrol on the show…actually if you don’t watch the show, you might just want to skip ahead to the socks), because he played on of my favorite characters. He seemed either hung over or jet-lagged, and not too enthused to be there. Regardless, I still think he bears a striking resemblance to my cousin Dave, who came with us (not as much as when they were both bearded, but still). See? They even pose at the same angle:

Michael Hogan (who plays Col. Saul Tigh, a raging alcoholic among other things), on the other hand, was a totally unexpected pleasure to meet. He’s much smaller in person than he looks on TV, and seems laid back, humble, and in posession of a great sense of humor. I got the feeling that he really enjoys meeting fans, and we certainly enjoyed meeting him. When I came up to his table, I told him his character had made BSG the best drinking game ever. He seemed to like that. When he signed my picture, he wrote “Frake ‘em all!” and then yelled it really loudly in classic Tigh fashion, in case we didn’t get it. He signed “XO” under his name, which he explained to me was “my rank, or a hug and a kiss.” I saw other photos of him from that day playing wth babies in strollers and being a geniunely entertaining guy. It was the highlight of the day (week) for me. Also, he was enthusiastic with the hugs:

So that was Comic Con.

On to the socks:

FO: Blackbird Socks

Pattern: Viper Pilots by Glenna C. from Knitting to Stay Sane

Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Mediumweight in Shadow, 1 skein (barely squeezed 2 socks out of this)

Needles: US1

Mods: because of my row gauge/foot size, I had to shrink the heel and toe considerably. The modification was made easy by the very well-written pattern.

End results: Loooooove these. I actually ordered lightweight yarn from someone’s stash on Ravelry, but was sent mediumweight. As a result, the socks are made of a very dense fabric – they fit well, a tiny bit on the loose side, but between the density of the fabric and the cabled pattern, they won’t be doing much slouching. I considered sending the yarn back, but I kind of like the results from this substitution. These are some seriously tough socks – the kind you put on when you can’t find your slipper,s ot you need to wear them under heavy boots. It’s coming up on summer, I know, but I have a pretty cold house, so they’ll see a lot of use well before fall.

The pattern itself is beautiful. It’s very well written, and I would totally make these again (in a lighter-weight yarn). The modifications I had to make were really no trouble at all, and the charts and instructions are very easy to read. The cable patterns are just difficult enough to stay interesting, without being mind-blowingly hard. A gold star for you, Glenna C.

In other news, I’ve cast on for the Featherweight Shawl (which I’m taking the librty of renaming my lettuce wrap, because it makes me chuckle a little):

You can’t tell from the picture, but the Malabrigo is so soft and fluffy I keep wanting to eat it or something.