The Joy of Christmas

I'm home and still in one, recently modified, piece.

Ankle

It has now been two weeks since my surgery. I spent the first 8 days in the hospital. Overall, they took great care of me and, as much as I love being home, I was glad to stay there and let them take care of me. There is a lot to be said for IV pain medicine and that orange nurse call button. So, first week there, second week home. I did basically the same thing both weeks: slept, took my meds, drank a lot of water. Yesterday I went to the doctor to have my stitches and staples removed (16 and 6, respectively) and to have my cast changed. The new cast is glow-in-the-dark. Umm. This is the highlight of the news from my corner of the world. (ha)

Thank you all for your emails and your kind words.

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Knitting

I've been doing some knitting, mostly simple little bits and pieces that lend themselves to dozing off in the middle. Last week, I got yarn in the mail. Always a good thing. I got new yarn from the one and only fabulous Susie. Two skeins of something secret (I'll show you eventually) and this beautiful skein in her colorway November 15. This yarn is (likely) going to one day become hunting socks for my husband.)

Susie (generous, kind soul that she is) also sent me this bag of mini/scrap skeins of her hand dyed yarns, for me to use for tiny socks. (See those above? Those are her yarns.) Thanks again, Susie!!

Christmas

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Christmas was wonderful here. We were all together (my parents, the siblings/spouses, and the children) and that in and of itself was fabulous. I received so many great gifts and enjoyed so much delicious food. My sister bought me a skein of beautiful handspun alpaca (which I haven't taken a picture of yet) and a cute little sheep finger puppet.

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Remember I told you about my brother-in-law, Jeff? Well, Jeff occassionally reads this little blog and apparently he has been paying attention because look what showed up in my Christmas goodies: The Loopy Ewe kit I had been longing for! When we got home from my parents, I immediatley sat down and started trying my luck at needle felting. The legs are sort of hard and I am sort of sleepy but here is my progress so far.

So, that's it. Now I think I'll sleep some more.

Today's Quote:

"The earth has grown old with its burden of care

But at Christmas it always is young,

The heart of the jewel burns lustrous and fair

And its soul full of music breaks the air,

When the song of angels is sung."

-Phillips Brooks

Zoom - Whishhh....What Was That Noise?

That was the days f l y i n g by.

Three whole weeks and not a single post. Shame on me. What the hell is my problem? Where does the time go? Crazy, crazy, crazy. I have been thinking about ya'll. Really I have. And I have been reading blogs but haven't taken the time to leave comments. (And I thought my blog stalking days were over.) I've been thinking about blogging...I've twice maxed out my memory card (roughly 160 pictures) taking pictures with every intention of writing some profound something about every single picture....Not gonna happen.

If I try to tell you everything at length, I'll never get this posted so instead I'll try to give you the high points and a few pictures.


Section I: Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. It didn't snow while we were in Oregon but it was very cold and that made me happy. If I pretended real hard, I could imagine the heavy morning frost was snow. (I'm easily contended.) By all accounts, the sweaters were a huge success, both at the Oregon Thanksgiving and at the festivities at my parents' house here. Mama says these were the best ornaments yet and I was so glad to hear it. Hopefully the tiny socks will be equally successful next year. (See? I'm already planning ahead.)

While we were at my MIL's, I took a ton of pictures. My mother-in-law lives down a rural road and the scenery around her place is beautiful. There is a small creek that runs under the road on the way up to her house and it is such a pretty area. Every time we visit her, I tell myself I am going to walk down to the creek and take some pictures but I never do. This time I finally did. I took nearly 100 pictures on that walk. It has been a relatively dry year so the creek is low but that just serves to show off the rocks. It was cloudy and gray and cold that afternoon and it was really just perfect for a picture taking walk. Here are a few.

Section II: Knitting

I've been working on a secret project. Not secret because it is a surprise for anyone - it's actually something for me - but secret because I am thinking about submitting the pattern for something. Anita at the LYS has agreed to test knit the pattern for me (as soon as I get the pattern worked up to a point that someone other than me can read it...) Anyone else interested? It is a felted something, uses a single skein of Cascade 220 or similar feltable wool. If you'd be interested in doing a little test knitting, leave me a comment or send me an email. (crickitleigh at hotmail dot com) No hurry...it can wait until after Christmas, even after the first of the year.

I've also been working on socks for Lori. Once I've got it all figured out, I'll share the pattern with you. I am very happy with them so far and (hurray) after turning the heel, it fit Lori. I'm still fiddling with the leg pattern. The always fabulous RC is helping me work out the pattern. Here's the sock so far, relaxing in my as-yet-undecorated Christmas tree. (I've only had the tree since Saturday. I'll decorate it soon. Really, I will.)Sunday night I made these stitch markers for Deb. Now I just hope she shows up at knitting tomorrow night...I also made stitch makers and earrings for Trixie but, in my enthusiasm to get them in the mail, I didn't take any pictures. Maybe she'll take pictures once they arrive on her end.

Section III: My BIL Jeff

I've talked frequently about my SIL Lori and my sister Katy but I've never talked much about my BIL, Jeff. Jeff is more like a brother than a brother-in-law. My oldest sister, Carrie, to whom Jeff is married, is 10.5 years older than me. I first met Jeff when I was 5. When we were little, we thought for sure Carrie would marry her friend Sam (when you're little, sometimes it is hard to distinguish friends from "friends") but we have always been glad she married Jeff. Jeff and Carrie are the parents of Whitney and Tegan.



So during the last few years, Jeff has been working on getting his private pilot's license. Friday I had the distinction of being the first adult in the family to fly with Jeff. And we had such a good time. Thankfully I remembered to take along my camera. I took tons of pictures, most of which are nearly indistinguishable if you don't know what you are look at. Here are a few that are easily identifiable.



Jeff after completing his pre-flight check.

My neighborhood is so peaceful from up there.

Here we are at 2500 feet ASL.
This is my first go at using the video feature on my camera and my first go at uploading video in a post...Here's take off.

As Jeff is fond of saying: take off is optional, landing is mandatory. Sadly, I was distracted during landing and didn't get a picture or video then. I am happy to report, however, that we did indeed land safely. And it was a very smooth landing at that.



Thanks Jeff!

Section IV: The Crazy

Things have been crazy here and that can be largely attributed to Tuesday's upcoming ankle surgery. Between trying to get everything at work all caught up and on auto-pilot as much as is possible, and trying to get all of the laundry and Christmas shopping finished at home, I feel just the tiniest bit overwhelmed. I'm sure it will be pretty steadily hectic until next Tuesday morning. Hopefully I'll have a chance to post before then....time will tell.

Today's Quote

"An idealist is one who, on noticing that roses smell better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup. -H.L. Mencken

All Sorts of Good Stuff

Gnomes!

The internet is a treasure trove of crafty goodness. Not that this is news, I'm just sayin' is all. Earlier this week, I was reading Marit's blog, where I happened upon Silja Devine's blog. It was Wednesday when I first stopped by and this was the post at the top of the page. Gnomes!!! I immediately knew I had to have gnomes of my own. Luckily Silja posted her pattern. My mama agreed, so we went to Michael's and procured the Fimo clay. We decided they would make excellent Christmas tree ornaments and decorations for wrapped gifts. I made a bunch the size according to the pattern (all the ones on the lower shelf above) and then I made four small ones. I need to make more of the small ones. They are so freakin' cute, both sizes.I haven't put the beards on yet (other than the one) but I will.

Squares for Oliver

I took a brief hiatus from sweater knitting the last couple of days to knit squares for Oliver. One from the leftover yarn from my doctor's socks (top left), two squares from the Cherry Tree Hill in Peacock I used for my very first socks (top right and bottom left), and then one more from the yarn from Tegan's socks (bottom right). Now to put them in the mail to Kay.

Socks for Me

Speaking of Tegan's socks, you may recall that I was knitting socks for me out of that yarn, too. I finished the first sock on the airplane to North Carolina back in September and I thought I'd finished them both but yesterday afternoon, I went looking for my size 1 DPNs and found them in my little sock knitting bag...still in a sock. I had three rows still to knit on the cuff. So, while sitting by the fire on my parents' patio last night, I knit those three rows and - abracadabra - I have my very first pair of handknit socks all my own.

I used the Sherman Heel again and I'm really pleased with the look of them.

And they fit perfectly.

Now I really do need to knit some more sweaters.

Today's Quote:

"For it is in giving that we receive." -St. Francis of Assisi

In the Wool of the Night

I have never ordered anything from The Loopy Ewe. Not for a lack of fabulous things to buy and not because I haven't wanted to. I first started looking aroud at their place because of Susie. When she started selling her stuff through The Loopy Ewe, I started looking. So much fun stuff. I do a lot (a lot!) of window shopping there but thus far, that's all.

I have wanted to try needle felting for a long time. In fact, I have a needle felting tool that I got and used for putting eyes on hedgehogs last Christmas, but that is the extent of my experience with needle felting. I really want to do more but I haven't worked up the courage to try. (I hate when I suck at something and I worry that I am going to suck at the needle felting.)

Imagine my surprise when I was at TLE, innocently shopping around for a sock blocker keychain kit (which they were out of, by the way, and I finally found at Diva Knitting) when I happen upon this little guy.

(picture from The Loopy Ewe product page.)

I think I'm going to have to have this kit. I think I'm in love. Is $22 crazy for a felting kit? It doesn't say how big the finished ewe is, but from the pictures I'm guessing he's about 3 or 4 inches tall. He is modeled after THE loopy ewe in their logo. (actually....she, huh? Ewe. She. Anyway....)
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I was thinking I would order this for myself but I didn't.... Instead of the felted sheep kit, I made a donation to Oliver's Fund. Did ya'll know that Michaela is putting together a blanket of donated 4" sock yarn squares and then raffling the blanket off? I have read Emma's blog for a long time and have such a soft spot for her Oliver. You don't have to knit a square to get in on the raffle. The raffle tickets are extremely affordable: £1 GB or about $2 US. You can pay via PayPal (that's the link above). I know there are at least a few of you who might be reading this who live outside both the US and UK so I'm providing you with this chart:

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Raffle Ticket Costs in Currencies Other than GB Pounds or US Dollars.


Australian Dollar: 2.25
Canadian Dollar: 1.93
Euro: 1.43
Hong Kong Dollar: 16.19
New Zealand Dollar: 2.69
Norwegian Kroner: 11.16
Swedish Krona: 13.25



If none of those currencies apply to you, there are currency converters all over the internet and it is a small number. Barely more than a bottled water.

Why am I telling you all of this? Basically, because it is a cause that matters to me and I hate that they are having a slow time of selling raffle tickets. (As of last Thursday, only 17 sold.) If you feel compelled to buy a raffle ticket by making a donation to Oliver's Fund, click here and do it. I'll wait here. Then leave me a comment saying you did and I'll send beaded stitch markers or earrings (recipient's choice) handmade by me to the first five commenters to tell me they've purchased a raffle ticket. It only takes one to get in the drawing and get something from me but if you buy 10 tickets or more, I'll send you stitch markers and earrings.



A Bouncing Baby Skein

The new Raven Clan of colorways over at Blue Moon are very beautiful and did not disappoint. They are striking, actually. I love the usual beauties of Socks That Rock - the Cockamamie, the Loch Ness, the Fire On The Mountain - but I was struggling with finding the right yarn to knit socks for my sister-in-law (who has a birthday today.) I want to knit her socks that she will like but, more importantly, I want to knit her socks that she will actually wear. And the Raven yarns? They fit that bill perfectly. Beautiful, special yarn in colors with depth and dimension, but also suitable to wear to her office job. I decided on Korpii for her
and the Count Cluckula for me. (I'm short and therefore my pants are all long so I don't have to worry as much about loud socks. 5'2" has its advantages.)


So maybe I will knit socks while I am laid up. I have well and truly fallen in love with the sock knitting and the last few days of knitting sweaters, I have been longing for those tiny needles and the socks. Funny how our preferences as knitters change, huh?
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I also want to knit this No Tie Hat that RC recently finished. The hat is cute and I love the nifty construction. There is a new baby that joins us frequently for Wednesday night knitting. Surely she needs a hat.


Today's Quote:

"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, / Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before." -Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven

You Give Me Fever

The other night, I got a text message from Lori. It said and I quote:

"Having a problem. I need your help. I feel the urge....to.....embroider something. Perhaps a pillow....my jeans.....something. Help ME!"

What self-respecting craft lover can resist that kind of invitation?

I texted her back with an enthusiastic "OK!" and within a couple of hours, we'd gone to the craft store (luckily it doesn't close early on Saturday night), picked out fabrics and threads and were back at my house, where Lori was learning the gentle art of the figure-eight knot. (The figure-eight knot, for those who don't know, is the knot used in candlewicking. It is my knot of choice, as the french knot makes me curse and throw things.)

She is making a pillow (two pillows, actual. Lori is ambitious.) She is doing a square, instead of the circles, a la Purl Bee. Here she is, showing off her very first knot. Last night she went to Borders and bought an embroidery book, then today she told me that she didn't want to do work. She wanted to work on her pillow. I was nearly moved to tears of joy.

I felt a bit like the blind leading the blind on this one, as I am certainly no expert when it comes to embroidery, but she seems happy and now she has her book so all is well.

I have been working on a connect-the-dots pillow for my mother. I am pleased with the way that it is coming along and should have it done soon.

The fabric at the top will be the back of the pillow and the front will be the embroidered piece. The colors aren't exactly true. In this picture they appear to be red, yellow and white but in reality they are more like a deep burgundy, dark dark mustard and a cream that is almost tan.

On the knitting front, I am working on a pair of toe-up socks for me. Yep, for me. I am using what was left of the yarn from Tegan's socks. These socks were not planned but I am glad to be making myself socks. The night a few weeks back when my husband ended up at the hospital, he was taken there by ambulance and the whole thing was kind of frantic, as one might imagine, and I didn't have much time to plan for knitting. I grabbed the little bag with Tegan's unfinished socks and was out the door. Shortly into that all night ER vigil, I finished the socks and realized I didn't have anymore work-in-progress knitting with me so I cast on for another pair of socks. Since I knew the gauge of this yarn/needle combo, I measured my own feet and started knitting....and I was once again oh-so-very thankful to call myself a knitter.

Thanks again to everyone for participating in the contest. The air conditioning is finally fixed at my house and I can comfortably do something in my home other than gather up clothes to take to someone else's house to sleep. I boxed up each of the prizes last night and will be taking them to the post office tomorrow.

Today's Quote:

"Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't." -Eleanor Roosevelt

Little Victories & Simple Pleasures

Things have been hectic and down right nutty around here in recent weeks. Last Tuesday, my husband gave me a bit of a health scare that landed him in the hospital for a few days. He is fine now - went back to work today - and we don't anticipate any lasting effects but it did make for a long, tense week last week, which did not include any blogging (obviously) and very very little blog reading. I tell you this and beg the forgiveness of everyone whose comment I didn't acknowledge (I got them! Thank you) and anyone who's email I have failed to respond to this past week or two.


So the socks are done and the package is all packaged up. One finished sock on my foot. It is a bit snug, as she has much smaller feet, but I wanted to see it in action. Note the requested short cuffs. And let me say again, LOVE the Sherman Heel.


It should be noted that my husband voiced his objects to my tattoo making an appearance in this picture. I did end up cropping it out but not because of the tattoo....because of my hairy legs. (TMI? Sorry. My internal filter is apparently on the fritz.)

One thousand and one thank yous to all of you for the care package suggests. Please know that I've made a master list and will likely make use of every single one. I have plans in mind for a Father-of-Dr. B-esque package to include some sort of cleverly presented quarters for laundry. (If you haven't read that post about Dr. B's daddy, you should. So sweet!) Every suggestion is now on the list. Thanks again! Let me know if ya'll think of anything else.


EnnaVic and I must have been on the same cosmic inspiration train. Saturday I got out the molds and the bricks of glycerin soap and coconut oil soap and all of the necessary accoutrement and made a batch (or two or three) of homemade soaps. I should have plenty on hand for a while.


Homemade soap is lovely, of course, but seemed a bit of an odd accompaniment to handknit socks. With a few quick waves of the hands, hocus pocus, Tribbles....masquerading here as "bath poofs".


I whipped up a handmade card and all is well with the care package world.

Here's the homemade goody portion of Tegan's package:Soaps wrapped up.



Some of the soaps unwrapped.

I also included a box of microwave popcorn and some Easy Mac but they didn't make it to the photo session.

Lastly, take a look at this picture and come back later this week (probably Wednesday).
I've decided it is high time to have a contest around these parts. Just giving you a heads up.


As I think I have mentioned here before, I sometimes develop strong feelings for television commercial. My favorites at the moment are both Fruit of the Loom commercials. See them here. There are four in the series but my top one and two (respectively) are Overlove and Apple of my Eye (featuring Vince Gill.) Seriously, though, Overlove...how can you not love a commercial that includes the line "...And even though his hamster died, he finds comfort. this I swear. 'Cause you can't overlove your underwear, cause comfort ain't just found in teddy bears..."

Today's Quote:


"The cynic is one who never sees a good quality in a man and never fails to see a bad one. He is the human owl, vigilant in darkness and blind to light, mousing for vermin, and never seeing noble game. The cynic puts all human actions into two classes - openly bad and secretly bad. " -Henry Ward Beecher

Feeling Clever

I've tried three different heel styles and the first two were complete disasters. I will not tell you which two tutorials/patterns crashed and burned because (while I would like to blame the patterns) I can acknowledge freely that it was probably my ineptitude that doomed me. As a general rule, I would say that I do very well at following directions but I have been a massive failure at knitting the socks from the Interweave pattern. Lucky for me, I have my own personal, long-suffering sock guru RC, who once again pulled my socks out of the fire. (Thank you, again, RC!)

Her simple-enough-for-Kristy instructions on the Sherman Heel were lovely and clear and produced a beautiful heel - nay, TWO beautiful heels. See?

So that's all the news that is news around here. Hopefully I can finish these socks up today, then I can go over and play around on Ravelry. (Which I am still finding highly intimidating.)

Oh and by the way...any thoughts on a few little tidbits for me to mail along with Tegan's socks? Katy and I are going to get together sometime in the coming weeks and bake for her but I thought I'd send the socks early this week (she said, optimistically, assuming the socks would be finished). She is 2500 miles from home and for the first time in her life, quite far from her entire family. I have a couple of things in mind but, as is well established around, I rate very high on the lame-o-meter and could maybe use some help.

Today's Quote:

“Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” -Alexander Pope

Fabulousness

(Please forgive me in advance for the abusive overuse of superlatives in this post. Really, I'm sorry. Disgusting, sticky-sweet perkiness is not normally my style but there seemed to be no way around it.)

I have found an excellent way to delay making the decision about the heel for the toe-up socks - spend all of my knitting time doing a photoshoot with my yarn and handknit gifts and then blather on about it on this here blog.

Secret Pal Love

I have been ridiculously and shamefully neglectful in posting pictures of the super stellar gifts that Joanie sent to me at the close of the Secret Pal exchange. Neglect no more!!

First up we have two skeins of Dancing from Knit Picks.

Have any of you ever used this yarn? It is a cotton/wool/nylon/elastic blend. It is beautiful and I have tucked it away in the yarn drawers until I can find the right pattern for it.

Joanie also did a most wonderful thing...just wonderfully kind and marvelous - she knit something for me. For me!! Look at the beautiful fingerless mitts she made for me. Though we have never met and she has no idea what my hands look like, they fit perfectly. They are soft and just perfectly....lovely. Thank you so much, Joanie! I have once again been happily paired in a knitting exchange.

Yarn Shopping Settles My Nerves

Dogs have their favorite bones, winos have their favorite wines, gamblers have their favorite casinos....I have my favorite handpainted sock yarn supplier. That ever-talented darling Susie. Last week was a bit of a stressful week for me and I just happened to stumble over to Susie's place and order some yarn....600 delicious yards of 100% Superwash Merino. Ahhh, Passionate Kisses.

I have never been much of a shopper but somehow, the sock yarn, it soothes me. Some people have a soft spot for other goodies but I have come to terms with the fact that I am a sucker for Susie and her magnificent sock yarn.

I have plans for this yarn. Big plans. (Overly ambitious plans.) I have a pattern that has been on my to-do list for a while now and I've looked high and low for the perfect yarn for it. I think Passionate Kisses might just be this patterns long-lost love.

If you have a few spare moments, stop by Susie's blog and send her some virtual love. She's resting up at home after a medical procedure last Friday.

One of the Cool Kids

You'll never guess what showed up in my email inbox today. Actually, ya'll probably would guess so I'll just tell you - my invitation to Ravelry! It is amazing what a person can do with Ravelry. I am in awe. And I am so SO very excited to get started populating my little corner of the community. The pictures, the patterns, the yarn, the knitterly friends....It really, really must wait, though, until the socks are finished.

As for the Socks...

I think I've decided to follow RC's lead on the heels and go with the Sherman Short Row Heel. That is, if I can decipher the tutorial. I'm a bit intimidated but I like the look of this finished heel. I'm still contemplating this tutorial Charity recommended. Does anyone have two cents to spare on this topic?

You may recall that I originally intended to knit my first toe-up socks for me. Well, when I ripped the first go, I decided I needed some making-something-for-someone-else mojo to help me get through this. That means, of course, that these socks aren't for me. These socks are for my niece Tegan. Her parents and twin sister delivered her to college this weekend (she had to report early, for cheerleading camp.) I talked to her tonight and she is already a little homesick. This is a big, big move for her and I'm planning to send her these socks in her first care package, thus the delay in diving in to Ravelry.

Today's Quote:

"Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation; for ‘tis better to be alone than in bad company.” -George Washington

On the Go with Toe-Up Socks

My gosh! Where has the week gone? It has been a busy, hectic, crazy week. A productive week on many fronts but a terrible blogging/blog reading week. I hate when I get behind on reading blogs. It is like not talking to friends for too long. I've missed ya'll!

Generally, these busy weeks mean very little knitting gets done. This week, oddly, lots of knitting (for me) has gotten done. Of course, most of this weeks knitting has been done in snippits and I haven't had my camera with me so all of the pictures have been taken with my phone and are, therefore, a bit fuzzy. In spite of the fuzzy, here we go, a quick week in pictures of toe-up socks.

Tuesday evening, I went to my sisters house for dinner and I let her try on sock #1 in progress.

By Saturday, since sock #1 was to the point of starting the heel, I employed by usual sock knitting plan and cast on Sock #2. Saturday, Katy, Lori and I went to San Francisco for the day. Here are Katy and Lori on BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit.)

Though I have ridden BART before, it was my first time knitting on BART. It makes me half wish (only half, the other half of me has good sense) that I did the commute everyday.

The sock on the BART.

(As a side note, that is my new brown shoe. Nothing fancy, but they are celebratory shoes that I bought myself when I found out I didn't have to wear the ankle brace anymore. Comfy, flat and with good arch support.)

And here are both socks, just before I started typing. The sock on the right needs 3 more rows to match the other and then I really have to make a decision about the heel. Charity and RC have had much to say about the heel portion of the toe-up socks. RC in particular has expressed some discontent with the heel in the Interweave pattern and Charity recommended this pattern for heels. I am so painfully indecisive at times and this is one of those times. Umm. With those three more rows, both socks will be the necessary length so I'm guessing some decision will be made tonight.

I'll let ya'll know.

Today's Quote:

“In America, every day is a new beginning, every sunset is merely the latest milestone on a voyage that never ends. For this is the land that has never become, but is always in the act of becoming.” -Ronald Reagan

Toe-Up Socks, Take Two

My first attempt at the toe-up sock was enlightening. I learned the following:

1. I like a less pointy toe than I was getting before.
2. I want a snugger (is that a word?) fit for my socks than I was getting.
3. While I am a process knitter, that doesn't mean I want to intentionally and/or knowingly make socks that won't fit me - or maybe anybody.
4. I love - love! - that yarn.
5. There is no reason to torture myself by knitting an all knew technique (toe-up socks) with a yarn that is such a tiny gauge. (10.5 stitches per inch.)
6. Charity and RC are excellent knitting support group members. At this point, I am not sure who is whose sponsor.
7. There are so many excellent resources on the internet and in books for knitting socks toe-up. I have absolutely no doubt that I will be able to do this. (This is a bold statement for me.)

So rather than torturing myself any further or wasting a yarn I adore on socks that I know won't be what I want, I decided to rip that sock out and start again with a different yarn. Many moons ago, I won a contest Susie had and I've decided to make a second attempt with one of her beautiful creations. This yarn is 400 yards of 100% merino superwash in the Am I Blue colorway. It is very soft, a bit thicker and knits at a much more manageable first-time-for-toe-ups gauge of 6.5 stitches per inch (when I swatched), 7 stitches per inch on these first two inches worth of knitting the sock. (I am not too worried about the precision, as I am confident they will be a nice fit. I am using 56 stitches for the foot, which is where I am knitting now.)

Here we are at the beginning of a new week, with a new sock to knit.

Today's Quote:

"An inventor fails 999 times, and if he succeeds once, he's in. He treats his failures simply as practice shots." -Charles Kettering

Toe-Up Sock-o-rama

A-ha! I borrowed the Mister's camera for a few minutes this evening . . . just long enough to take a few pictures of my toe up sock-in-progress. The yarn is Incognito, a wonderful sock yarn from my stash.

I've been anxious about how it is coming along. It seems awfully pointy. Not that this should come as a big surprise. The pointiness of handknit socks generally makes me nervous. I've just finished the last of the increases to get to the appropriate number of stitches for my foot and it is just shy of 2.75" from the toe to the end of these increases. Is that too much? It seems long but it is hard to tell when I try it on....

As mentioned previously, we are using Ann Budd's toe-up tutorial in the Summer 2007 Interweave. I really like the tutorial. The instructions are clear, particularly the cast on instructions. I've had to do a bit of fiddling because the smallest gauge in the article is 8 stitches per inch and I'm getting 10 stitches per inch on my size 1 Susan Bates metal needles. I am very happy with the resulting fabric so I've adjusted the pattern rather than struggling for gauge.

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Like RC, I decided to ditch the M1 increases and I've gone with K1f&b increases. I am loving the results...both the look of the sock and the ease of using this technique. I tried the M1 increases. I really did. I had to start over at least 8 times because trying to manuever the M1s resulted in accidentally pulling the carefully balanced stitches off the needles. Do you remember that line from the movie Uncle Buck? "It angers a lot of people, just the sight of it." That's how I feel about the M1 increases. There was much foul language and questioning of Ann Budd's parentage (my most sincere apologies to Ann and her parents) and some throwing of knitting. Only the redeeming love of the K1f&b saved me.

As an aside, I am most seriously tempted by these KnitPicks sock needles as discussed in the Yarn Harlot's post from earlier today.

Sadly, the camera battery didn't make it to take pictures of the goodies from Joanie. It is charging now.

Today's Quote:

"We've all heard that we have to learn from our mistakes, but I think it's more important to learn from successes. If you learn only from your mistakes, you are inclined to learn only errors." - Norman Vincent Peale

The Trouble with Tribbles

I have both broken (not fatally, just damaged) and momentarily misplaced my camera. I am certain that I will both a) figure out where I put it and b) take it to Best Buy and hope they will make good on the extended warranty my husband got on it when he bought it for me. (I do love Best Buy.)

Last Friday was Friday the 13th and I have a confession: I fell off the Resolution wagon at about 11:30 p.m. on the 12th. See, my dearly beloved sister-in-law visited RC and saw this post about her dish rags and really really wanted a Tribble. Lori is good and kind and sweet to me and doesn't ask for much and so, I gave in and knitted Tribbles for her. This is not to say that others are not good and kind to me, nor do I mean to imply that others are not equally deserving of the knitted things on my docket for them. Put very simply, Tribbles are a nifty pick-me-up little knit - nearly instant gratification knitting, that uses very little yarn...and I am weak.

Speaking of Lori, if you haven't seen the short film The Landlord with Will Ferrell, stop by Lori's blog and watch it.

I took pictures of the of the Tribbles but alas, as mentioned above, the camera is temporarily out of commission.

I am going to need to revisit my knitting Resolution list, add and subtract (mostly add, I'm guessing) as appropriate and perhaps give myself a little extra time. Perhaps I'll have more success between now and the next Friday the 13th. June 13, 2008. I like realistic goals.

Beyond that, I have accomplished very little knitting in the last week. I have knit and unknit about 700 miles of yarn in the last 8 days because I am trying valiantly to learn to knit socks from the toe-up, based mainly on the article by Ann Budd in the Summer Interweave Knits. RC and Charity and I are having an informal little knit-a-long of the toe-up socks...I think this amounts to more of a toe-up sock support group than KAL. Call it what you will.

Tomorrow I am going to borrow the Mister's camera because I have goodies to share! I got a wonderful package in the mail on Thursday from the ever generous Joanie. Two skeins of yarny goodness from KnitPicks and something wonderful and perfect that she knit just for me! I am so jazzed - knowing that another knitter has taken her precious knitting time and made a beautiful something for me is simply magnificent. Thank you so much, Joanie!!! I love my gifts and I'll be posting pictures soon.

Today's Quote:

"A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way." - Mark Twain

Stand and Delivery

I'm not sure if ya'll can appreciate why I took these pictures. You see, I realize that most of you live in places that have weather on a regular basis, as opposed to the place where I live where, generally, from some time in early May until at least late September, every single blessed day is clear and sunny and dry and hot. Every. Single. Merciless. Day.

Apparently today was an exception. Do you know what you are seeing there? GREY SKIES! Gloomy, heavy, grey skies and wind and humidity and mild temperatures. It didn't even reach 90 degrees F (32.2 C) at my house today. In July. JULY! I am beside myself happy about this beautiful weather. It never rained here (that would be asking too much) but somehow that was ok with me. I was content with the clouds and mild temperatures. There was rain in the foothills, which is good news for the drought and for the fires... That's good enough for me. Hurray for clouds and gloominess.

Seems like the perfect weather for sharing good news...My visit to the ankle doctor yesterday was a success. He liked the socks and was surprised. Really, it was borderline sacrilege that a man who makes his living of feet and ankles has never owned a pair of handknit socks. Problem solved....I told him that I hoped they would fit (they were a surprise, so I had to do a little guessing on the size) and also that they would erase all memory of the unfortunate baby-handknits-for-the-non-existent-baby incident. I didn't muster up the nerve to have him pose with them for a blog picture. ha.

Prior to the handing over of the socks, he examined my ankle. (Imagine that!) Things are looking pretty good....good enough that I have been given permission to go without my brace the vast majority of the time. Hurray! It is healing a bit slower than would be ideal and I have to start physical therapy this week and see him again in a couple of months but all-in-all, not a bad visit. Not unlike knitting, progress is progress.

Thank you all so much for your encouragement and warm thoughts and kind words. It has been a long year and I'm so blessed to have had so much support.

Now, I really need to go watch Hell's Kitchen from last night. Ahh, the miracle of Tivo.



Today's Quote:

"The ankle was obviously a bit worrying at the time, but I've always felt confident that I would get back and be as strong as ever." -Jamie Redknapp