Sunday FOs

May I present my new socks?
Specs:
Yarn: Cabin Cove Kalidescope
Needles: US1 dpns
Pattern: Monkey designed by Cookie A and featured in Knitty.

Really, really fun to knit. The foot part fits really well and I love the fact that they didn't have a pointy toe. I shall have to do this more often. And even the kitchenering went fairly well although I think I still need more practice. The top felt a bit loose but they were still pretty damp when I put them on. They're back on the cookie rack drying in front of the open storm door.

Now what to do next. I'm thinking I want to do something with a sort of monochromatic yarn. Not a solid, but a pale something or other that isn't all one color. Like shades of blue but none too dark. And not stripey. Of course, I have nothing like that in my meager stash so I'll have to get out of that mood LOL.

Gussets and Wishing

Yay...one of the Monkeys now has a gusset and I managed to even keep the pattern going down the top of the foot. I think that the vibrant colors in this yarn sort of obscure the pattern (the original at Knitty was made in a light greenish color) but I don't care. I just love the look of the colors! And sometimes I amaze myself. Something will go a bit off, and I can figure out what happened..and more importantly, Shazamm! correct it.

More would have been done but Mary, the old kitty, wasn't feeling her best and was in need of serious cuddling. So she snuggled and I sang her silly songs about IKEA. A catalog arrived in the mail yesterday (still no yarn). OMG, it's probably a good thing that the nearest IKEA is in Texas. I really get off on storage and organization and there is an abundance of options in their catalog. It's just huge! In my mind I designed a whole new living room and turned the second bedroom into a crafting haven, but with optional sleeping. I've often visited their website but it's much easier to imagine when you have a two facing pages with options. In this older house I am blessed with great kitchen storage, and a pantry. But closet space just is barely there. So pages and pages of bookshelves and drawers and tables and and and were just too much fun.

I guess it all firmly locked in my mind because I dreamed of furniture shopping, and I was wearing the Monkey socks *G*. And I apparently was having a great time dreaming because I turned off the alarm; convinced Mary to go back to sleep for a bit and slept until 5:30.

Clever Business Practice??

A couple of weird things happened recently. Yesterday I had reason to call and speak with someone regarding a credit card account. The lady on the other end of the phone asked for my zipcode, which I gave. After just a moment of convo about the matter at hand she said something like "Ohhhh you live in __ ____! Do you go downtown on Burger Day? I used to go to that every year before I moved. And then went on to mention other places she liked to frequent in this area.
Now this would be really funny except that a few months ago I had reason to call them and that time it was a guy who also was from this area. By the time I finished talking to him, I thought we were best friends and totally changed my mind about what I was going to do. What are the odds that both of them are from this area? Maybe I'm just cynical, but I'm thinking they googled my town.

Then just moments ago, I was emailing my responses to my last posts and an ad came up on the side of my Yahoo page to entice me into setting up my own domain. For a knitting store?? Another coincidence? Or are they realizing that most of the mail that comes to this addy has to do with knitting or fiber? :::shrug:::

I am happy to report that Monkey #2 is now through the 3rd repeat. A couple of stalls while I picked up a stitch but on the whole all went well. I read somewhere that the reason for all the difficulties lately are because Mercury is in retrograde. Any one know how long this lasts???

SSS

Second sock syndrome or Stupid Susan Syndrome? I just can't decide.

Happy that it was time to start the second Monkey sock, I got all comfy on the loveseat. Cats properly arranged. Pattern by side. TV tuned to Sunday morning news shows which require no actual watching. And I proceded to totally screw up the ribbing! WTF? How can you screw up ribbing? Well if part of the time you knit into the back of the stitch and part of the time you knit into the front it really doesn't look good. Honestly, I messed with this all morning and finally put it all back into the sock bag.

Afternoon arrived, and I switched to fabric mode. I got all the squares sewed up and attached to each other and discovered that I am still short. Not by much. I can't decide whether I want to order another packet of squares or figure out some sort of border that takes up about 8 inches. Or something. Only problem with a border is that I would have to cut it. And I hate cutting. I find it odd that using a guide and a new blade on the cutter I can still screw up stuff. However, it is farther along. And folded up neatly and back in the drawer.

Evening arrives. There is NOTHING on tv. I'm not a big fan of the Academy Awards, and besides I would have to keep looking up to look at people's dresses, or the lack thereof. A book on tape seems the answer. The batteries in the radio thingy are dead. I change batteries. It still won't work. I investigate. I put them in all backwards. That fixed, I settle in. I've listened to this book so many times that I can practically repeat it along with the reader. So no distraction, just some company.

Shazamm, the ribbing is done and correctly. I happily knit the first row. All is well. I start the second row. I screwed it up so many times that I finally just cut the yarn. I knit slowly and carefully. And still, I messed it up. Finally, in tears, I cut the yarn; stuffed it into an envelope and sealed it and put it at the bottom of the bag in case I need it later. I thought about smudging it, but figured I'd burn down the house. I thought about blaming it all on cough medicine. But that doesn't work for the morning fiasco.

Moving on, I tidied up the desk. Oh great. The checks I wrote for bills are still stacked neatly for mailing. And it's a short month. And they will probably all be late. :-0

At this point, my goofy mind was scaring me so I went to bed. And before I went to sleep, I realized that in spite of having a functional vehicle, the only place I'd been was to Walmart! Maybe I am turning into a hermit! But even so, it had been a fun weekend. I do love weekends!

Smoky Sky for Saturday

Hi, sorry to have been among the missing. I really wasn't, I just couldn't think of anything to say. Fortunately, this pic was really taken on Thursday. A planned grass burn that got a bit carried away with itself. No structures, or people or animals were injured. It did, however, impact my work as I spent a lot of time taking pictures outside. Grass fires=spring in Oklahoma. The wind today is a major problem. Wayyyyyyyyyyyy windy, but clear and in the 50s.

And while I've been gone, knitting has been happening. Behold Monkey #1. It still needs one more repeat to finish the leg. I can't tell you how much fun I am having with this pattern and this yarn. Dave..you really outdid yourself this time! I'm not going to set any speed records, but that's ok, because that just means I get to enjoy them longer. Hopefully this evening, I will get that last repeat done, and then start Monkey #2.

There's been other SUKCC going on also. I've been made aware that the hat I made for The Girl using some sort of cheap camo yarn has become a pawn in a power struggle between her and her older brother. So I thought I should make him one even though it's not really cold enough now to wear it. But I didn't have any appropriate yarn. Only worsted I had was turquoise. Or just left overs from other things. And since I've been without transportation, shopping wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Yes, I could have ordered something, but the night I decided to do it...I wanted to start it RIGHT THEN. I'm like that. So delving into the good yarn stash, which is mostly sock yarn, I realized I had some lovely varigated browns dyed by the infamous Dave. And, it was already wound into two yarn cakes. So...using two strands of sock yarn I started this hat. 2x2 ribbing and then plain stockinette. Hopefully it will fit him. As soon as it gets a bit bigger, I'll check it and try to figure out how far to go before the decreases start. And it's really really soft and pretty.

Today though, it's going to be sewing time. Way back some time ago, I stitched together some precut squares to make a summer quilt top. It wasn't quite big enough but I put off buying more squares because other things demanded my check book. This week, though, I discovered that the place I'd ordered them before Fat Quarter Shop had them on sale. So I ordered some and very quickly they arrived in the mail. And this morning, several more rows have been stacked for sewing. Originally, I tried to make sure that there weren't like colors touching. This time, I dumped them in a sack and just picked them out randomly. The colors and the simplicity of this quilt (in my brain, at least) sing to me of summer naps with that soft, soothing fan noise.

And there's another sewing project that I haven't quite figured out yet. I want to make a bag for my swift. Since it has to stay in a small closet, I don't want to risk damaging it by it tumping over. And besides...the fabric is here. I don't know what it was supposed to be originally but I think it will work well for this.

There's yarn in the mail, or so I'm told, so it's all quite exciting around here. And once I balance the checkbook and pay the latest batch of bills, I may have to go back to Walmart because I discovered an ever-so-cute Rubber Ducky bathroom trash can LOL

But, wait! Really important news! My vehicle is running again!!! I asked my friend Richard to call the mechanic and see when he could get to it. (Mechanic talks over my shoulder. If there isn't a male standing behind me, he talks to the wall! But he's very good and reasonable and I have other wars to fight). He said that it would be Tuesday or Wednesday before he could start it but in the meantime, could Richard check the solenoid which is somewhere under the car. This had been discussed before, but apparently, if it goes out...it goes out. The car isn't going to not start one day and start the next. But Richard checked and guess what. There's a wire that goes to it, and it was barely connected. Apparently on the days it wouldn't start, it had wobbled itself away from contact. And then, maybe because I was stomping and cursing inside, it wobbled itself closer and would start later. Until recently when it wouldn't even try. He tightened it up and so far, I have driven home from work and to the store this morning. And, on the way home I discovered that gas has gone up 20 cents since the last time I bought any. :-( That's just not fair!

Now off to the sewing machine. What are you going to do today??

ShutUpAndKnitYourCabinCove

Part 1. Well not really. I started out thinking I was going to use one pattern, then switched to another pattern, but that one didn't show up well. So I settled on a 3rd. This is my first attempt at knitting something other than 2x2 ribbing and whoa is it ever fun! I'm knitting Monkey from the winter 06 Knitty. And it's also written in words instead of only having a chart. It took me all evening to get this far since I was going really slowly and carefully. And so far, no miscounts, no mistakes, no tinking. However, when I stuffed my foot through it to see how the pattern looked when it wasn't all scrunched up I made a rather important discovery. I think it's too big! Maybe it's too soon to tell? Maybe I need to do a swatch????? But even too big, it's surely pretty! I love the 1x1 twisted rib ribbing. I love how the colors shift sideways. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE this yarn. Absolutely no splitting or any other little traits that make knitting more difficult. It's a good thing there is no time limit on this KAL because it will, at this rate, be quite awhile before I have one sock, much less two. But it's just soooo much fun!