I started knitting red a fortnight ago: inspired by the scarlet-faced birth control panel mentioned in the previous post, I hauled out my scariest yarn and cast on Scylla by Fiona Lucas. Its high colors seemed entirely appropriate for the high dudgeon of the moment.
Scylla in Greek mythology was a much-pursued virgin who was transformed by jealousy into a voracious sea monster. The usual rationalization is she was an ancient hazard to navigation, possibly a rock outcrop, precise location uncertain. At least that's what male scholars say. However, her description – a woman with a beautiful face and bare torso, yipping dogheads erupting from her groin, tentacles instead of legs, a scaly fish/snake tail, and several additional long-necked heads with triple sets of teeth – sounds to me more like a vivid personification of male anxieties about female sexuality. For that matter, ditto that birth control panel.
Meanwhile, Scylla the sock is meant to tame unruly pooling and flashing in variegated yarn by means of two kinds of slipped stitches. On the foot of the sock, the slipped stitches on the instep cause the fabric to pull in compared with the stockinette fabric on the sole. This causes the untenanted sock to curl amusingly, like Shahrazad's slipper, although the fit is actually very good.
Wonder of wonders, I'm liking this toe-up sock. Can it be I've finally found the correct toe-up formula for my Frankenfeet?
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