Oops, so much for posting twice more this week - although if I post again tomorrow I suppose I will have managed it.

I've had a few days of quiet knitting time - Ramadan started Thursday, and coincidentally we had Thursday and Friday off for Rosh Hashanah. It's been really nice to not have to go to work for the first few days of fasting, and I've been able to start and (so far) get through the heel turn and flap on the second Luna Park sock. I have to say, it is hands down the best-fitting sock I've ever knit for myself (well, the first one is, and hopefully the second one's going to resemble it). I'm definitely converted to heel flaps, although now I'm not sure what I'm going to do with variegated yarns that will pool with a gusset - I might have to knit short-row heels, knowing how badly they're going to fit (they slip and slide around on my foot - down into my shoe, or up over the heel - everywhere but where they're supposed to sit).

My newest knitting challenge just transpired to be much bigger of a challenge than it was supposed to be. I finally remembered to have Sweetie ask my mother-in-law (I could've asked myself, but I forgot until I'd passed the phone onto him) what size her foot is and what color she'd like. She insisted to him that I already knew what size her feet were, and exactly what color she would want, but was inveigled into giving away her foot size at least. But now I have to pick out The Perfect Color of Her Dreams, and of course I have no idea what it is. The only solution's going to be to knit at least 3 pairs in different colors and hope that she likes them. Gahhh...

The Happy Orange Trekking Sock is coming along - I've turned the heel and done the heel flap (it goes in that order toe-up, of course) and I love how it looks!

I'm using leftover 110 for the heel flap - I might have enough of it left over to do the same thing on a pair of BLUE Trekking socks, and that would be cool. I couldn't decide whether to use what I had on the orange stuff, or wait for the blue, but maybe just maybe I can do both.

I just wish I could knit more - I'd either have to slack off on my work, or my housework, and while last year I pretty much had to ditch it all and knit just to preserve my sanity, at this point I think I need a clean house to be sane.

Apologies for not being around! I've had quite the week - ridiculous, funny, but stressful nonetheless. To sum it up, I had the police called on me at work! (Not by my work) On a complaint that would have been serious if it had any basis in truth, but since it was all made up it was quickly dismissed. After all, there were over 20 witnesses! The whole thing was pretty funny, but still stressful.

I've been hoping to move on to more complex patterns in my sock knitting, but now that I'm back at work again, I'm having to accept that I'm just not going to have the time and concentration I'll need, and I shouldn't feel bad about knitting stockinette sock after stockinette sock.

On that note:

Here are my latest efforts. This is Luna Park yarn, which I came across in a yarn store and just had to buy because I'd never heard of it before. I bought this rainbow-y colorway, and a pretty olive and navy one.

Then there's the Happy Orange Trekking sock, on which I'm also plugging away, and which I think I'll work on today since I could use that orange color's powers of cheeriness.

Next week I'll make it my goal to post at least twice.

Here they are...

but I kind of want to put that in tiny letters, because these socks too are *sigh* deeply imperfect.

I still love my idea of these socks; they are for an "Anne of Green Gables" craft-a-long. The guidelines were simply read the book, and do something inspired by your reading of the book, before September 1st. I was inspired by the scene at the end of Anne's trip to White Sands to recite at a concert at the hotel.

The girls are talking about how fancy and impressive everything "in town" was, and Jane says "Did you see all the diamonds those ladies wore? They were simply dazzling. Wouldn't you just love to be rich, girls?" and Anne answers "We are rich. We have sixteen years to our credit, and we're happy as queens, and we've all got imaginations, more or less. Look at that sea, girls - all silver and shadow and visions of things not seen. We couldn't enjoy it's loveliness any more if we had millions of dollars and ropes of diamonds. You wouldn't change into any of those women if you could. Would you want to be that white lace girl and wear a sour look all your life, as if you'd been born turning up your nose at the world? Or the pink lady, kind and nice as she is, so stout and short you'd really no figure at all? Or even Mrs. Evans, with that sad, sad look in her eyes? She must have been dreadfully unhappy sometimes to have such a look. You know you wouldn't, Jane Andrews! ... I don't want to be any one but myself, even if I go uncomforted by diamonds all my life. I'm quite content to be Anne of Green Gables, with my string of pearl beads. I know Matthew gave me as much love with them as ever went with Madame the Pink Lady's jewels."

So my socks are Anne socks; she was wearing a white dress in that scene, though (with a pearl bead necklace) and I just can't make my handknit socks white. So I used Claudia's Handpaint in Butter Pecan - it's a cream sort of color, with shots of a yellowy color that reminded me of the infamous ugly yellow dress Anne first wears, and another color that sometimes looks purple and sometimes looks auburn. Purple reminded me of the amethyst brooch of Marilla's that Anne admired so much and then was accused of stealing, and of course auburn would be for Anne's hair. So instead of white for the dress she's wearing in that scene, the socks represent the things that have helped make Anne who she is.

I'm also working on a pair of "Pink Lady" socks with crystal beads that will be a frilly, lacy pattern, but I haven't finished yet. Unfortunately, my Anne socks a) don't fit me and b) don't match each other. The second one is smaller than the first, but even the larger first one won't fit on my foot, and I'm kicking myself. Right now I think I'm going to *gasp* frog the second one and re-do it to match the first, and then I'll find someone they fit and give them away. But I'm really mad at myself for having stopped trying them on once I turned the heel.

Confession Time!

Those Trekking socks which Hilary so kindly admired (by the way, those other socks were Claudia's Handpaint Sport and the toes/heels were sportweight Lorna's Laces! And I'm starting to think I really need comments I can answer with e-mail...) - those socks have problems. Well, one problem, which I artfully disguised with photography when I posted them and tried to pretend wasn't there.

Why am I confessing now? Well, those craftalong socks I haven't posted yet are done, and they too have problems. I'm starting to think the past several weeks of my life have been a time of general imperfection, and that it's time I face up to it and try to do better. So I'm vowing to try to do whatever I do with more attention, because these sock problems are getting ridiculous.

If you've ever considered doing your gussets wrong as a design feature, I can tell you there is apparently a reason (beyond the aesthetic) that they're placed how they are - the messed up sock is a huge pain to get onto my foot. It will go on my foot, just not very willingly. Why didn't I rip? Well, by the time I noticed (and yes... if it's occurred to you to ask, this was the sock I was knitting while absorbed in The Deathly Hallows!) I was simply too lazy to rip all the way back. I didn't think it would matter that much.

It did. I think, at some point, I'm going to have to learn to frog.

A little more for good measure

Does it get more cheerful than that? That's Fleece Artist, and it turns out that when you buy FA from a store instead of online, you don't know what colorway it is! Their dyelots vary significantly, so I'm not sure- is it Jester? is it Rainbow? I guess all I really need to know is that it's so beautiful it calms me right down to look at it.

I've been putting in a lot of hours at work this past week (you thought I quit? So did I! I guess it wasn't my fate to leave quite yet. The main reasons for my wanting to leave have been removed though, so I have a good feeling about it - I really do love my job) but I'm free for the rest of today and I'm taking the next day and a half off. I've felt slightly battered by my personal life lately (not Sweetie - he's my rock, just want to make that clear!) so I think it's time to knit and nap and lick my wounds.

Oh, and next time I have a major confession to make!

I need a little cheer today

and just thinking about an orange this bright helps.

There is the promised knitting content! That's also at Natural Bridge (Virginia). More about that sock later. I promise, when I do catch up with my knitting there will be a lot of it!

Today is Independence Day for the Republic of Rahime - I took the bus! And got to work, all by myself! Backstory: the buses in my hometown are pretty bad, and I never ever used them ever. I was afraid of them. The buses in Brooklyn are nice, and safe (I think) but I still found them intimidating and developed a sort of phobia of the bus. So, in two years, I've never used them (okay once but I was with a friend so it doesn't count). But this year I've realized it's just too impractical (and uncomfortable, when I have to wait) for me to rely on Sweetie to drive me everywhere. So since last week I've been trying to psyche myself up to take the bus to work, and today I finally did it! And it was really, really convenient, comfortable, and easy. I had to fight the urge to stay on the bus and see where it went - now I'm frantic to get a bus map so I can see where else I can go! My mind is full of possibilities. Next step: knitting on the bus???

Wow.

I can't believe somebody identified that statue so fast. Congratulations, Bryony! I am definitely sending you a prize, because that was awesome. I just need a little time to get it together. (It was at Natural Bridge, Virginia, a much more historically legitimate attraction than some of the other destinations associated with it. The statue was an ad for Dino Kingdom, and you should definitely click on that link for an entertaining anecdote about the role of dinosaurs in the Civil War.)

And now I can post my Foamhenge pictures! I was so worried that if nobody guessed the location of the cowboy statue, I wouldn't be able to show y'all Foamhenge, and now I can (assuming Blogger cooperates). In case you were wondering, here's a general statement of fact and purpose:

Here is part of it, looking Stonehenge-like:

And here are two theories regarding the construction of the original Stonehenge:

And a statue illustrating the second theory (there was one of the first too, but it wasn't quite as compelling somehow)

And no, I don't think those things are considered exactly normal in the US. Taking pictures of them was a source of much hilarity for our group, at least. Sadly, I don't know if any of the dinosaur statues within the "Dinosaur Kingdom" part of the Natural Bridge complex of tourist attractions had cowboys riding them, because we didn't go there - we just hiked to the bridge and had lunch and giggled at things like the Instant Civil War in the gift shop. Oh, and went on possibly the most uninspired cave tour ever.

I'll put some knitting in my next post, promise!

I wanted to post today

I really really did. And then I picked up my purse on the way out the door to work, and something in my neck went (my purse is not that heavy!). And I went to work anyway, and it hurt, and I took some painkillers, and it got worse. So I came home early and I can't move my neck, and it's cloudy today so there's no picture-taking light. (Not that those things are related...bear with me, I'm in pain.)

So I had the bright idea to just post some pictures from my recent vacation, and set up the camera, and was briefly very confused, forgetting that Sweetie kept borrowing my camera while we were on vacation - there are many pictures on there I didn't recognize, not having taken them myself, many of them featuring my own unsuspecting rear end as I was walking around at various tourist attractions (is that something all guys do? Or does my Sweetie just find stalking his own wife endlessly entertaining?). Once I realized what was going on I felt much better... they're so hilarious I would post one, if it weren't for the fact that I wouldn't be able to control who actually ogled my rear on the internet.

In lieu of that, here are some wacky things we encountered.

A cowboy riding a velociraptor! Double the excitement of regular cowboys and regular dinosaurs! (If anyone [who wasn't on vacation with me] knows where that is, by the way, tell me within a week and I will send you a prize. I don't think I have such an extensive readership that I need to worry about multiple correct responses, but if I get them I'll either send smaller prizes or randomly pick winners. Um, duh, but I just realized that since I provide no e-mail address, the only venue for answers is comments, which will then be visible to everyone, so I'm changing it to "the first correct answer, ever, will get a prize." Still only applicable to people who weren't actually with me at the cowboy-dinosaur statue.) Then we have

Instant Civil War!

We weren't seeking out weirdness, exactly. There is more of it, but I'm afraid posting it would give away the whereabouts of the raptor-riding cowboy so I'll wait. I did knit a little too - and I have pictures, but the camera battery just died and my neck can't stand any more computer.

I got my computer back!

Oh happy day! (And my camera, and ipod cables, and my diary and the yarn and beads for a second sock I desperately need to knit...)
So of course I got up at 5 am, brewed some hotel-room coffee (double strength - those little packets of coffee they give you are always so disgustingly weak), and gorged on all the knitting blog posts I've missed while I was computerless. And by the time I finished there was some light and I could take this

...a mess of Trekking. Someone and I went in on an order from Astrid's Dutch Obsessions, and it was well worth it. We splurged for the priority, signature-required shipping (what if something happened to the yarn?? Can't have that - better get insured) and it still came out to about $9/ball of Trekking. It's only a good deal if you're going to get a lot. (But who would be able not to? Certainly not me.)
Those unpostable socks haven't gotten much further (see above for the newly recovered yarn) so all I have are a fairly boring Regia Mini Ringel pair for sweetie - I've discovered that knitting socks for him is a useful way of assuaging or deflecting any, ahem, guilt I might feel from my yarn-buying habits. Just don't tell him that's why I'm doing it.

Sorry for the absence! I'm just coming off of 4 days of thinking both my laptop and camera (plus the yarn for my second sock - the mysterious ones I'm not posting yet) were gone forever. It turns out they're not, but I still don't have them, and won't until the weekend. However, I'll be in transit then - the blog pickings are likely to be slim hereabouts. (Oh man, sorry - I've been reading fiction set in the boonies and it's getting to me. I also keep wanting to add "That's what!" to the end of everything I say.) Anyway, point being: no computer + no camera = no posting from me. So hopefully I'll have some dramatic never-before-seen FO picks when I do post!

It's hard to know what to blog when I'm trying to keep the only thing I'm actively knitting on a surprise. I could let that tempt me into casting on something bloggable, but I'm trying to be monogamous because the craft-along project I'm working on has a deadline, and I'm probably only 10% into what I ultimately want to do. And I have about a month, during which I will be on vacation, which means, while I'll certainly bring the project along, I can't count on having much knitting time. Which I suppose should inspire me to stop putzing around on the computer and start working!

I'm still here...

Re-reading Harry Potter 4, 5 and 6 and then of course number 7 (and yes, I did re-read it too, as soon as I finished it the first time), and then absorbing it all, distracted me somewhat. But I was knitting while I read, and here are those Trekking socks finished! I have a surprisingly large amount of yarn left over, so this colorway might pop up again.

I promised to update with whatever I decided to cast on next yesterday, so here it is:

Yep, Trekking! I think I'm going to do another plain stockinette sock, although I might do a heel flap this time.

I've also been knitting this

and knitting a laceweight that fine on size 10 needles is not as easy as I thought it would be. It's like trying to knit cobwebs. Here it is side by side with the Trekking for comparison

I also need to get moving on a project I'm doing for an Anne of Green Gables craftalong, but I won't be posting about that here until it's all done - I like the element of secrecy!

Here's a pic of them on (I had help! It turns out to be so much easier that way!). They're so soft and squishy - really comfortable.

As Promised!

I finished the cuff late last night and bound off this morning before my eye appointment (I'm getting new glasses! The ones I'm wearing are around 8 years old - I can't remember exactly, it might even be 9).
I'm away from home, housesitting, which means I'm very limited in what I cast on next - I can only choose from what I brought with me. Update tomorrow!

Why I love sportweight sock yarn

This is two days of knitting (Tuesday and Thursday - Wednesday I didn't get to it). I've turned the heel on both socks. It may look familiar, unfortunately.
This time there are no pooling issues, and hopefully will be no fit issues (if there is one it'll be bagginess). I'm using beaded rib, which isn't my favorite for this yarn but if it means I don't get crazy pooling I'll deal. I'm hoping to have an FO post up by Saturday!

One more pair done

The Geranium socks are done! And here they are:

I really wanted a picot edge at the cuff, but after some googling and thought I decided against the kind where you do a row of yarnovers and then keep knitting a stockinette bit that gets turned inside the sock and sewn down to the inside edge - I don't yet want picots that badly, i.e. I'm too lazy. I tried Knitty's picot tutorial but found it was rolling. So I ended up doing 3-4 rows or so of 1x1 rib and using a sewn bind-off as usual. The very tiny bit of ribbing is also cute - not quite as cute as picots, but I like it too.

I ended up frogging that Fleece Artist sock - once I got up close to my heel, it was too tight. I keep forgetting that I should make them a little *too* big down by the toe in order to end up with a sock that fits exactly how I want. Oh well. I've set it aside for now because that failure killed my motivation for working with it for the moment.

So now I get to go shopping (in my own stash, of course) for my next project. Excitement!

In the knit-blog tradition of doing things with strawberries, taking their picture and then blogging about it, here's what I was doing last weekend:

I was in Connecticut visiting my sister, and we went to a u-pick farm and picked a ton of luscious strawberries (plus some barely ripe raspberries and more summer squash than we knew what to do with - I just finished eating it yesterday). She made gluten-free strawberry shortcake out of it but I think I forgot to take a picture of that.

No way this weekend is going to be as fun. But I am going to make good old-fashioned all-American hamburgers (and fries and macaroni salad) for some guests from Far Far Away, who may have never had any ever, tomorrow - if I remember I'll try to take a picture.