It CAN be done!

Okay, so I did complete a pair of socks in less than a week! Cast on June 21 and was finished June 27. And that was even taking a day to work on the cowl.

I found out, though, that some folks finished a pair of socks in a couple of days. That just seems impossible to me. Even so, I was glad to see that I could, indeed, knit a pair in a week.

I've cast on for a new pair of socks.

This is the Mud Season yarn from Spunky Eclectic. It was between the Koigu and the Spunky yarns, so I did a little drawing and Spunky won. I also decided to "come out" and photo ALL of my sock yarn.

I actually thought I had more. And for this week's challenge, I am attempting to knit two socks at the same time on one long circular needle. I'm using the Tofutsie's yarn for that pair. Right now, however, it just looks like a tangled mess.

I had the house to myself last night, so I watched HGTV. I noticed that a gal I went to high school with is a host. I smell a boob job and dental work.

CSA Booty, FO, and one down

The first tomatoes of the season! And a bag of FRESH green beans. We had catfish last night using Barbara's recipe last night along with the green beans. I'm a convert now too. This is a terrific and easy recipe.

Today, I made a vegetarian cabbage Borscht soup using the cabbage from this week and the beets from the previous weeks. Tonight, I will make the very first BLT's of the season. It's hard to beat BLT's with vine-ripened tomatoes.

The Peacock Cowl is done.

Cowls are a terrific short project. Perfect for gift giving. I highly recommend them. They are also good because nothing is hanging down. Nothing gets in the way when you are picking up dog poop or riding your motorcycle.

I've completed the first British Columbia sock and I'm about 5 1.2 inches on the cuff of #2. Thanks to the craptastic picture, my foot looks like a tree stump, oui?

Please cast your vote for the next sock or I might be forced to draw numbers!

Finished!

Here is the Baby Surprise Jacket.

What I learned: Be sure to slip the first stitch when making this for cleaner selvages.

Yesterday was the first day of Summer of Socks '08, which I am participating in on Ravelry. I cast on for a pair of socks using the sock yarn I bought on vacation. By last night, I was making the heel flap. Consequently, my fingers were a bit sore. So, today, I've taken a break from actual knitting and finished up the jacket and plied the multicolored roving. The yarn is drying. I plied it with a purple-ish sewing thread.

We also made garlic scape pesto.

One Month

It's hard to believe that I've been on vacation for more than a month. It sure doesn't feel like it at all. As usual, I guess I had lofty goals set.

Recently, we made some Limoncello to add to our homemade moonshine. It uses 2 pounds of lemon zest to one quart of liquid. So, I have tons of lemons to use up. We used some of the lemon juice to grill some shrimp on the barbie along with chipotle pineapple. I just love grilled pineapple.

I've finished the Baby Surprise Jacket. I just need to sew it up and add buttons. I'm particularly proud of this because it's the first thing I've made made with my hand spun. The colors look like a sunrise to me. I rented the DVD from the library to help me out. I'd love to make another one, but I don't really have a baby to give it to. I just thought this pattern would work well with hand spun yarn and I wanted to give it a whirl.

While making the jacket, I had to stop and ply some more yarn. So, in a fit of startitis, I cast on for a cowl. Kim says that cowls are all the rage to make instead of scarves. These are great projects for gift giving.

The yarn reminds me of peacock feathers.

Here is the booty from our CSA bag this week.

Check out the wild purple cauliflower! I just love it when Dan gives us wonky veggies. I've made Cauliflower with Panch Phoran for my lunches this week. Later today, I'm going to make some Cabbage Borscht Soup with all the beets I have.

Here is the latest spinning. I love the colors of this one.

Back to the Midwest

Why is it that one needs a vacation after a vacation? I thought I had left the house in good shape before I left, but, alas, it seems that things got messy while I was gone.

It appears that it has rained and rained in my absence. It is hot and muggy here. I was glad to get home, though. I was SO glad to be able to take a long shower. You know how you have to have good bathroom manners when staying at another person's home (the 5 minute shower). I was very glad to be able to spin for a while last night. All my peeps were snuggled around me during the thunderstorm.

I've completed the Victoria Socks. I guess when you are only knitting on ONE thing, it goes fairly quickly. I finished them before my flight out, so I worked on the Perfect Storm Socks until my fingers told me to quit. A responsible knitter would work on the projects that she needs to complete. I'm fighting the urge to cast on for a new pair of socks or to start the thrummed mitten kit I bought in Victoria.

The last day of my vacation, I went to Buchart Gardens.

More stories and photos to come. Many thanks to Joe D. and San D. for taking care of my dogs.

Happy Feet and some FOs

Tonight is Spinning and CSA pick up. The weather continues to be gray and wet. So, no wool processing. But, it's supposed to be nice for a few days, so maybe I'll do some tomorrow.

I got some new shoes. I love the colour.

And I finished the second Snow Squall sock. (It's about time!)

I wanted to get my size 3 needles cleared off for Vacation Sock knitting. Currently, I'm working on plain stockinette socks using the Perfect Storm colourway from Spunky Eclectic. It's all fine and dandy, but I'm knitting them on size 0 needles. I know I'll love them when they are done, but they will take for-freaking-ever. So, I think I'll bring some new fatter yarn for socks for vacation knitting and then pack these in case I actually get the vacation socks completed.

I also finished both pairs of the Felted Mocs for Caitlin and Danny. It's a pattern from Little Turtle Knits, which is out of print now. Too bad, because it's a great pattern. I'll take pictures when they felt them to fit. They are very cute felted up.

I'm knitting my first garment using my own hand spun yarn. I'm making the Baby Surprise Jacket. I've been reading about this pattern for some time on Ravelry and I wanted to take a swing at it. Supposedly, hand spun yarn makes the jacket look even better.

I realized that I missed my Blogiversary. I thought I had started last year on Memorial Day. But it was May 20. I'm always a day late and a dollar short. I'll have a celebratory give-away once I return.

I've decided to upgrade my Spunky Eclectic from the Sock Club to the Fiber Club. Now that I'm feeling a bit more confident with my spinning, I think I'll enjoy the fiber more. Plus, I have enough sock yarn to last me for the rest of my life. And then some.

Here Comes the Rain Again

It's raining cats and dogs right now.

Unfortunately, I have a puppy that doesn't have sense enough to come in from the rain. It even hailed for a few short minutes, and she ran all over the yard trying to catch the hail pieces like they were popcorn falling from the sky. I'll probably be washing and drying dog towels all weekend long. Now when any hail falls, she runs to the door and can't wait to get out. Silly puppy.

I had a wonderful Glorious Night. I started out with a nice long bath, stopped off at the library to pick up some reserved books, and then had soup and salad at Whole Foods. I got my first bundle of fiber from PJ. It's hand-dyed merino. I'm a little worried about starting up with nicer fiber. I just don't want to waste it. But, I'm so sick and tired of spinning with undyed wool.

One of the gals brought me a beginning spinning video to watch. And there was a new woman that brought llama fiber to sell. I bought two sandwich size bags for 75 cents each. Another woman had made these adorable felted cows using sticks from her yard as the legs and then felted wool bodies and head. Then, she added all of this great needle felting. Another woman had completed a Baby Surprise Jacket, but she used the waist band, button band and collar of a toddler's jeans jacket. She had made oddball yarn to use for it. It was really cute. I guess the majority of the women are gearing up for a guild sale of some sort.

Strangely enough, Sam went to the doctor two weeks ago for a complete physical. This is just not like him. He explained that he hadn't had one since he was in high school. Considering he will be 40 next year, I think it's about time. The company I work for sponsors a free all-inclusive blood screening every other year, and his last one was horrible. So, maybe he just wanted to know what was going on. On his follow-up visit this week, he was prescribed high blood pressure medication and advised to get his cholesterol down or he would have to be put on medication for that as well. All of this means lighter cooking. We've been having a lot of Asian foods, fish and tofu. And, that's fine with me, I could easily be a vegetarian.

I've finished the Landscape socks. I fiddled around trying to use a new method for grafting this morning. I have never been quite satisfied with my results. But, this new method was a PITA , and I went back to using my tried-and-true instructions from The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd.

I've got about 6 inches done on the second Snow Squall sock. I've been feeling kind of "meh" about my knitting lately. Perhaps it's having to finish up things and there is none of that initial excitement like when you are working on a new project. To remedy this, I cast on for the fingerless garter mitts from Weekend Knitting. They go really quick. I am using Visions Artisan Yarn that I bought at Cottage Fiber. It's a celery green color. If I get to be better at spinning, I would like to make these out of my hand spun someday.

Tomorrow, we will pull this gawd awful carpeting up out of the family room. Then, the painting begins!

Finished!

I finished the knitting portion of the Lady Eleanor wrap on Friday night. It's a crappy picture because we have no sunlight. All that's left is blocking the piss out of it, adding the crochet edging, and then adding the fringe. I've read that other knitters find adding the fringe a PITA. When I added the fringe to the Nicco Wrap it was annoying; however, it was the beads on the fringe that sent me over the edge on that one. (I still haven't gotten that done yet.)

I'm back to knitting on the Landscape socks now. I wasn't able to translate the pattern I used on the leg portion to the tops of the socks after I picked up the stitches for the heel gusset using the magic loop method. So, it will be plain stockinette. Crappers.

It feels good to finally get something done.

Sam is making chicken enchiladas for dinner tonight. I haven't done much around the house today at all. In fact, I even took a nap. I hope that doesn't jump up and bite me square in the ass tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Mom

My Mom is 88 today. But, in Real Birthdays, she's only 22. (She never gets tired of that!) I sent her 2 dozen roses. And she's celebrating all weekend long. That's good, because she's been stuck in her house all winter long.

I finished the Clown Socks. I didn't think I'd like this colourway to begin with, but I really do now.

We went to Costco to try to return my dumb cell phone. But, I've had it too long, so I have to go through Sprint. They tell me a cell phone is only supposed to last two years. Like Joni Mitchell says, nothing lasts for long. We also checked out the flooring, and it is substantially cheaper. What I thought would cost around $800 will end up at around $300. Not much selection, though. I'm not sure the wood types they had will look good. I'll paint the walls before I decide on the floor.

I got my new makeup in the mail today. Maybe I won't look like a hag for my passport photos. I also got a size 0 42" circular needle from KnitPicks.

Tonight, it's grilled tri-tip, hassleback fingerling potatoes, and a salad.

It's sunny and mild--perfect for grilling. All you gals on the East coast: this weather is coming your way. Hang on! Relief is on the way.

The drawing is tomorrow. Thanks for all the comments!

I've Got the Power

For now anyway. We lost our power at about 5 a.m. Wednesday. The reason that I knew this is because the stupid janitor at the elementary school we back up to was running the snow blower at 4:30 a.m. Always the optimist, I figured that it wouldn't be long before it was restored. However, it was around 11 p.m. when it came back on. So, I took the day off and watched the temperature drop. Once it dropped about 10 degrees, I built a fire. Without power and very little sunlight, there's not much to do. But, I had my trusty Beagle and wiggly Basset to snuggle with.

I managed to finish the Corporate Camouflage shawl. I really like it. It was an easy knit. I'm thinking of making another. Maybe with some of my hand spun yarn.

I joined the Spunky Eclectic Fiber club, so I will be getting fiber to spin in January. Hopefully, I will get the spindle I want for Christmas. I also got the pencil roving I bought from Etsy. in the mail.

I'm back to working on the KP&S Top-Down Cardigan. The weather is perfect for a nice thick cardigan. I'm going to make French Onion Soup for dinner tonight.

Yarn Porn Friday and two Finished Objects

Here is some hand-spun yarn I bought from E-bay about 10 years ago. It's undyed too. I'm going to mix it with this:

and make the Knitting Pure and Simple Cardigan (KP&SC).

The Watercolor Socks are finished. I know I started these this calendar year. They sat partially completed in the pile of UFO's for a while. The Fetching Glovelets are also finished. The only thing worse than knitting with black yarn is trying to take a picture of it. These are a quick project. I really wanted to cast on for the KP&SC, but then I thought that I would finish another project out of the pile of UFOs. Then, maybe it will be okay to start another project.

So, out of the dregs I bring you the Hyde Park Pullover. The cats are already competing to sleep on it.

Tonight, we are making kabobs.