Crooked Cables

Pattern: Crooked Cable Socks (.pdf) by Sockbug
Yarn: Brown Sheep Wildfoote in Rhapsody
Needle: US1 Crystal Palace Circular
Changes: My sock pal requested short socks so I only knit one repeat for the leg.
Notes: This was my first garter stitch heel and toe. I'm not sure I'm sold on it but it's nice to do something a little different every now and then. These socks refuse to be photographed well. I can't capture the cable and lace pattern at all. I'll try again tomorrow.

Finished Amid Craziness

I'm having a crazy weekend. I've got one potluck done. I worked today, met Wes and the kids for dinner and then went to babysit for friends. I finished my Sockapaloooza socks! Woohoo! I thought those suckers would never be done--which is nuts because they are the shortest socks ever. Tomorrow I'm off to an all-day spinning event which will include 4.5 hours of driving time. Then another freaking potluck. At least Wes is cooking for that one. I'll try to take a picture tomorrow night. Change your clocks and have a happy Sunday.

Flashing

I'm ready to flash my stash. First I took a swing at setting up a light tent. First I pulled out the kid's playtent from Ikea.



Then I draped a really cheap sheet from Target over it and one across the bottom.



I positioned equally cheap lamps pointing at it. It was okay. The sheets are whisper-thin, like tissue paper so you can see the red and yellow of the tent through the sheet. Next time I'll lay a piece of foam core down under the sheet. Maybe I'll also get all the wrinkles out of the sheet. I also need more/stronger lights.

I realized I've missed quite a lot of my fiber stash but here's what I have so far.

My yarn stash blog.

My fiber stash blog.

If you're going in, bring a snack. It could take a while.

I'm a Joiner

Durrow sleeves and body have been united. It feels like I'm so close to finishing. But in reality the rows are very long and I'm still cabling on the sleeves. I've knit about 12 rows in the last two days.

My Sockapaloooza socks are suddenly and surprisingly almost to the toe. I thought I'd never get there. I have some purplish Koigu on deck for the New England socks for the Knitting on the Road Along even though we're supposed to start the new sock, Denmark, tomorrow. Denmark calls for a heavier yarn and I'm not sure I have anything in my stash that's right for it.

Speaking of stash, tomorrow is I have lots of pictures to take and edit tonight. Maybe I'll finally try out the whole light tent set up...

In crazy, annoying news, my regular mailman was off today. His replacement delivered half of the front flap of a Netflix envelope to me. Really. I found it and chased her down the block. I showed it to her and she said, "Yeah, that's all I have."
"Well, where's the rest of it?"
She shrugged. I handed it to her.
"Do you want me to send this back?" she asked.
No, idiot, I want to keep this half a piece of paper with my name and address on it while the DVD that I'm paying for is floating around in mail-land somewhere.
I can forgive a mistake but someone who just doesn't do a good job and could care less really burns me up.

I'll Be Back...

...after I host the coffee hour at my son's school, go to the grocery store to buy food for the two potluck dinners and picnic we're going to this weekend, go to the bank, make the dish for tonight's potluck, put candy inside Easter eggs for the picnic and drop them off at the picnic organizer's house! I also have a chiropractor appointment (cancelled) but I think I'll have time for a real post before then. Wish me luck.

And I forgot I need to go to the library!

Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?

This week: The Cross My Heart Edition.

From Vogue, the Cross My Heart and Hope to Die If I Ever Appear in Public in This Thing.



From Rowan, the Cross Our Hearts that We Haven't Completely Run Out of Ideas Even Though We've Taken a Cropped Tank Top and Wrap a Humungous I-Cord All Over It and Called It Fashion.


From Berocco, this isn't a place mat. Cross my heart.


And from Classic Elite because it's just so goofy. The extra wide crocheted belt with dangling fruit. (insert standard Carmen Miranda joke here)

You Asked For It

A blog reader told me at the shop that her favorite posts were about my son knitting. Well, it's hard to build up blog content when he knits about two rows a week. But he is still knitting. He has been doing every Harry Potter crossword puzzle we can find for him online. Yesterday morning while I was checking my email he commanded asked me to find him a new puzzle. I waved him off, telling him I was busy and there wasn't enough time before we had to leave for school. In a huff he angrily asked, "Can I at least work on my knitting?" Uh, sure, honey. The small bit of black knitting is the platypus from Kath Dalmeny's World of Knitted Toys. I've done most of the knitting. I did all the shaping. We now need 51 rows of stockinette. He doesn't know how to purl yet so he knits a row and I purl back. As I've mentioned on the blog before, I don't say a word to him about his knitting. I am silent as the grave (for the only time in my life) because I know if I start pushing him or talking about it too much or generally expressing any happiness he will drop it like a bad habit.

Rebecca said she wanted more pictures of Hugo. Since he's turning 10 this summer he pretty much just sleeps all the time. The camera flash woke him up.



Have you ever read The Vegan Lunchbox? The blog in which a vegan mom documents the elaborate, tasty, nutritious lunches she lovingly packs for her child each morning. There are fresh baked goods, cute little notes and all sorts of healthy goodness. This morning as I put the finishing touches on my son's lunch I had to laugh at what a slacker mom I am.



That's two cold pancakes, two fruit leathers and a sour cream container filled with Cheddar Bunnies. This is a huge step up from the usual PB & J with a baggie of chocolate chips. As Wes and I always say, it's a wonder the children have survived this long.

If You Think the Hedgehog is Cute

Check out Susan's new baby pygoras. Look! They're romping.

Meet My Leetle Friend

Pattern: Huggable Hedgehog by Fibertrends
Yarn: Cascade 220 Quadro for body, regular Cascade 220 for Paws and face, Mustachio for fur
Needle: US10.5 Bryspun Circular
Notes: This little cutie was super-fun and fast. Two paws up!

Weekend Photo Round Up

We have massive spring cleaning to do around here today. Here are a few pictures of what I've been doing with myself lately.

For the shop I've been knitting this Fiber Trends felted hedgehog pattern. It is super cute and really entertaining to knit. I thought it would be fun to do it in non-traditional hedgehog colors, hence the lavender and purple hog. After I shot this photo I felted him last night. On Monday I'll take him back into the shop, give him a face and stuff him.



This top-down sweater from Knitting Pure and Simple is another shop project. I was teaching a class on it. Let me tell you. It is hard to knit an entire adult sweater while at work. I took this with me after work last night to finish knitting the body. I forgot to bring extra yarn with me--again--and had to stop about two inches shy of the bottom. The yarn is Madil Merino Mix. I used it to knit my devil hat last year. It's really nice stuff, very soft with a nice hand. Heavy, though.



I'm still plugging away on Durrow. The second sleeve is growing steadily.



I've been avoiding my second Sockapaloooza sock. I think I said before that something about this pattern/yarn/needle combo is not happening for me. I find it really tedious to knit. But with nearly one and a half socks done it's hardly the time to start over. I just have to push on through it.



That's it! No light tent yet. Now off to clean this pit.

Adjusted

I swear I try to do things other than complain on this blog. I haven't mentioned all the neck and shoulder pain I've been experiencing for the last few days. I don't know what caused it but it's been getting tighter and tighter. Finally last night it seized up so badly I could barely move. I was in so much pain that I couldn't get into bed so I sat on a chair next to the bed and cried. I was kind of laughing while I was crying because I couldn't believe how pathetic I was. I managed to get into bed and sleep on and off while wincing and whimpering. I'm sure Wes had a great night. This morning at my son's school another mom gave me the number of her chiropractor. I've never been to a chiropractor and wasn't sure if it was for me. I called my own doctor's office and was told I could be seen at the Acute Care Clinic on Monday. I explained the whole hurts-so-bad-I-cried-all-night situation and she suggested I go the emergency room. I didn't feel hopeful that they would do much for me there other than make me wait a really long time and give me some good drugs. So I went with Plan B. The chiropractic experience was definitely a little more touchy-feely, both figuratively and literally, than I usually care for but I could move my neck with tearing up by the time I left. I'm going back for another "adjustment" this afternoon.

I'm knitting away on the second Durrow sleeve. I've also picked up some fixin's for a light tent. I'll experiment a bit this weekend with it.

Again With the Template

Blogger ate half of my template today--again. I don't understand what's causing this but would love to know. I think I've got it all back now.