Vacation, all I ever wanted...

It was brought to my attention last night by my bff that I have all but fallen off the face of the earth. So I thought a quick update was in order.



I finished these the other night, my second pair of Summer of Socks socks. I highly doubt I'm in the running for most pair knit, hehe. Anyhow, these make me happy beyond all reason. The colours don't match up and I like them even more because of it. Oddly enough, the striping pattern does match, which is just a little bit more awesome. These will get a lot of wear when sock weather comes.



I started these, pair # 3 last night out of the new (reborn??) Bernat Sox, pink camouflage colourway. I lurve Bernat Sox. It was the first sock yarn I used to learn to knit socks and it holds a special place in my heart. Glad to see it's back. I do love the self striping, but I was a huge fan of their solids, so I hope they introduce some of those again as well. Added bonus; now brought to you in 100gm skeins, enough to knit a whole pair for...wait for it...$5.95!! Can I get a WHAT WHAT?? That's right people...I bought enough sock yarn yesterday (pink plus a blue skein...shocking that I would pick blue I know) for two pair for $12.12 after my frequent buyer discount. Holy Carp. Yes yes, it's acrylic and all that jazz, but when you're jonesing for sock yarn and need a fix bad, you really cannot go wrong. The yarn is an acrylic nylon blend, knits up pretty and wears like iron. I have a few pair of Bernat Sox that I use for everyday wear...love them. Anyhow, these will be for my mom's birthday...which was last Sunday. Hehehe...

Other than that, we have company right now and then we're on some serious vacay. The constable actually has time off...what a treat. He needs to wind down. Oh, FYI, Hank dislocated his jaw (my hubby's jaw, not Hank's)...about a month ago. He's been complaining of pain for a while now and it got so bad this past week that he finally went to the dentist to get it checked out and sure enough, he's got that TMJ or whatever it's called. It finally dawned on both of us that the only time he sustained trauma to the jaw was when he was playing with the dog. Hank has lightning quick reflexes and sometimes when you're cuddling him with your face too close, he'll whip his head around and crack you right under your chin. It's happened to me too...and it really really hurts. SO, be forewarned...an eighty pound playful pup can inflict serious injury!!

Anyhow, I'm going dark for now but I'll be back in a few weeks with lots of knitting and stuff to share I'm sure. For now, it's max relax (even though I'm supposed to be working on the house...bah) and I'll catch ya on the flip side.

Enjoy the summer!!

Until later...

FO's, WIP's, and a few words...

I'm starting to sound like a broken record...maybe just to myself but the mantra 'I'm so tired!' is starting to sound a little tired. But it's true. This harried pace at which we've been going at for over a year now with regards to this house project is really starting to test my stamina apparently. Exhaustion just isn't a big enough word. Thank goodness huge leaps and bounds of progress have been made in the last few months. We're actually at the point where we will be moving furniture this week. Yes, furniture. From the apartment to the house, from the garage/shed to the house...to fill the house (as much as our paltry assemblage of belongings will fill it once all is said and done). I'll post some pics of all of that later on. For now, it's all about the socks.



I wasn't much of a joiner until this whole knitting thing exploded in my life, and even at that, much of the joining is virtual. But it's still a lot of fun. So I joined Summer of Socks and find that I'm getting pretty into it. My goal was not to knit the most but to try some new patterns and techniques. First pair now finished, started Jun. 21/08, finished Jun. 28/08. Toe-Up Totem pattern, Fleece Artist Somoko Mill ends, 2.25 mm needle. Mods; my own bastardized version of a toe up and an afterthought heel. Short row didn't go well. I have bitter feelings to resolve. Love the final product. Easy pattern to memorize, can't rave about the yarn enough. So warm and cozy. Totally in-house socks only...yarn is too precious for shoes. (New sock blockers...found them at the 'antique' shop in town for $15.00, which I thought was still a pretty good deal. They'll be great for blocking all of the kilt hose I plan on knitting too...totally kidding.



'Nother photo using the flash. You can get a better idea of the mottled/shaded effect of the yarn. And you can see my new pretty carpet again too. Has that new carpet smell. Called 'off gassing' which probably isn't good for you, but like the smell of gasoline at the station, you kinda like it anyway.



Pair # 2 in progress. Regia Nation Colour 5399, acquired at Have a Yarn on WWKIP day. Love love love. Needed an infusion of cheeriness and colour yesterday as I was awakened at 6 am from a nightmare and couldn't get back to sleep. Very cranky all day (feel bad for my husband and dog). Generic toe up in an effort to perfect my toe up skilz. I will be attempting the short row heel again, this time with an instruction booklet that a fellow knitter vouchers for being very straight forward. I plan to keep knitting up the cuff until the yarn runs out so that I have gigantic rainbow legs. Methinks these will be in-house only as well. The colours make me happy. As happy as one who can barely string a full sentence together can be at this point.

So there you have it. Not sick of knitting socks yet, although it's been so chilly and dull here the last three days I've been seriously contemplating casting the Central Park Hoodie that I bought the yarn for not that long ago. I could see actually needing to wear it this 'summer' (summer, I've discovered, is a very loose term out here).

Anyway, gotta get back to polyurethane-ing a floor. Until later...

Progress...

Yesterday the constable and I took a drive to the city to order some new livingroom furniture. I don't know which was more exciting...the prospect of new stuff or the fact that I got an hour and half each way to sit and knit without feeling guilty that it was taking time away from real work. Either way, it was a good day. New furniture in as little as ten weeks! Whoo hoo! Very exciting.



I finished up the first sock of my first pair for Summer of Socks '08 and got started on the other. I so heart this yarn. I've said it before yes, but I just can't stress it enough. Seems to me that I'm going to have to get used to this particular perspective of my feet and legs, which make me look really tall with ginormous calves. Only one of the prior is true (I'm actually 11 feet tall).



Love the pattern, am giving short row heels a time out at the moment (afterthought heel on this pair) after our little mishap the other night. Spent an hour fiddling with it only to not have it work out in the end (waaay too many sts after decreasing). What gives? Am I making the whole short row heel thing too complicated? It just seems so incredibly piddly to me. Not straight forward. Maybe it's just still something that I don't entirely 'get' yet. Sometimes things have to marinate a while before the flavour really gets in there. And I'll have to take these outside for the final photo so that you can really appreciate the colour of this yarn. Even without the flash, just the 6 am sunlight streaming in, it looks washed out.

Yes, I'm blogging at 6 am. Shift work can be a b*&ch...for both people. Even though he's off for a couple of days, the constable still seems to be in night shift mode and came to bed at 5am. Which woke me up, to the tune of pre dawn light and talkative birds. Which sealed my fate. I tried to get back to sleep for about 45 mins. and then threw in the towel. Just gives me more time to get more stuff done I suppose. I fell asleep on the couch at like 9:30 last night anyway, so I'd met my sleep quota for the night. The dog though...he's all messed up. I kicked him out of the bedroom last night so I could close the door (his head was in the way...yes, the apartment is that small) so he hung out with the hubs while he played video games. Hank was quite excited to finally be going back to bed when I decided to get up. As I was walking around, getting the coffee ready, he more than once grabbed his stuffed dog Roscoe and made moves back towards the bedroom, looking at me with pleading eyes. He finally settled on sleeping near the sofa. He does this big grumbly-sigh type of noise when he's particularly tired. It's freakin' adorable.

Anyhoo, I should really get crackin'. The day is a-wastin! It's already 7 am!

Until later...