Halp!

I finished the heel on Ziggy last night and tried it on. It fit perfectly. Now that I'm continuing up the leg I can't get it over my heel. I'm not very experienced with toe-up or stranded knit socks. Anyone have any advice here?

Happy 4th of July

Two Timing

Wednesday night I was knitting away on my Ziggy socks when I thought I'd try them on to see how much further I had to go before the heel. They were looking really good.



But they did not fit. At all. Like couldn't get them over my toes.

So last night I ran to the shop just before closing and got a new US2 Addi Lace needle. I ripped out my Ziggy back to the end of the toe increases and started anew.



Like night and day, right? Okay, I'm kidding. They may look the same but the new sock fits--and believe me I'm trying it on every 30 minutes or so to make sure it continues to fit.

In other repeat news, Wes and I took the kids to see Wall-E on Saturday. I love this movie. It's complex yet simple, elegant, beautiful, silly, sweet, sentimental in the best possible sense. Love, love, love it. So when Wes got the day off yesterday I decided to take the day off too. We went downtown and had dim sum, visited the new Wing Luke Asian Museum, visited the downtown library, went to the Seattle Art Museum for the Inspiring Impressionism exhibit and got lunch at Serious Pie with dessert at the Dahlia Bakery. And we went to see Wall-E again by ourselves. I think I love it even more now. I want to see it again.

I've also been working on and off on a Totoro doll. When I first saw the pattern I only read the first bit and thought it made a little amigurumi doll. If I had delved further I would have seen that it makes a GIGANTIC doll. So it's taking a lot longer than I expected.

Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?

We've all heard that old saw about real estate. Location, location, location. It applies to knits as well.

This circular motif placed at the end of a scarf is a pretty and interesting accent.



Placed squarely over the model's crotch. Not as attractive.

Ravelry Rave

Have you seen the new Friend's Activity setup on Ravelry? Too much fun. Goodbye, free time!

Confusing Headlines

In the past few days I've seen some headlines that have really confused me. I think headline writers value brevity and snappiness far above comprehensibility.

Knitscene Preview

It's up. Your thoughts?

Summer Watching Options

Thanks for new show recommendations in the Swingtown post. Some of them are on Hulu so I'll check them out soon. They've just added Raising Arizona so I know a good way to kill a few hours when I hit the summer doldrums. Or you can go watch ALF if that's how you roll.

As some of you suggested, Netflix is a girl's best friend when TV is on hiatus. Do you know about Roku? Wes and I just got it a few weeks ago. It's amazing. For $99 you get a set-top box the size of a cd box set. It connects directly to your tv and if you have wifi you can watch anything on your "Watch Instantly" queue from Netflix. The picture quality is very good compared computer streaming video. It takes very little time to start up and only rarely hiccups or pauses to buffer. You can watch an unlimited about of instant content from Netflix. You can also rate the films or remove them using the remote. It's a much nicer viewing experience than watching movies on the computer and it's great for you Mac users who can't otherwise use the "Watch Instantly" feature.

One more thing about Swingtown. Debbie commented "It's on network TV. How sexy can it get?" I think there's a huge difference between sex and sexy. There have been many good sexy tv shows.

Zombie at Work

When I came downstairs this morning I discovered this on the newel post.




A corporate zombie at his (popsicle) desk with a (Fimo) computer monitor and keyboard, telephone and pencil holder.

Crocheted Eco-Friendly Carryall

Pattern: Crocheted Eco-Friendly Carryall
Yarn: 2 skeins of Allhemp3 (free from a Purlygirl)
Hook: Boye G
Notes: Man, I suck at crochet.
I thought this would be a one or two day project but it's dragged on for a week eating up all my crafting time. I had a very difficult time with the instructions for the ends of round for the mesh which caused the bag to grow a little wider as I worked on it. When I finished I though it looked foolishly short and stout but once I stuck a heavy box of cereal in there it stretched out to a remarkable size.

Overheard

Younger Son: (with pride while demonstrating in the shower) [Big Brother], wet armpit farts!
Older Son: (in agreement) They're better when you're naked!

Grim

Pattern: Grim Reaper from Creepy Cute Crochet
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash and Lamb's Pride Worsted
Hook: Boye E
Notes: I worked this guy at a much tighter gauge than the other two from the book. The results are great but the kids don't like that he's smaller than the zombie and vampire. I got Fimo clay for the scythe and asked Wes to make it for me last night. He's much better at stuff like that than I am. I used buttons for eyes with a shank on the back so they seem kind of bulgy. The first time I sewed them on I had them too far set and it looked just like Igor from Young Frankenstein.