Lizzie's Loose Ends

One Sock Done!

I finished up the first of the Hookers' Fingernails Socks. It fits beautifully! Probably the best fitting sock I've every made from fingering/sock weight yarn! The yarn bloomed beautifully when washed, but I was sorry to see it faded some. Oh well.....I've CO the second sock and have about 2.5 inches of the leg done.

Yesterday was hot, muggy, and pretty much uneventful. I didn't knit a whole lot, but read instead. I finished up:

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
It's Buffy the Vampire Slayer all over again! Bubbly blonde perfectly pink accessorized girl, with tall, dark, handsome not human partner battling the non-human dark side. Sound familiar? With that said, it's still a good read. Ya just gotta like the girl, fantasize about the guy/thing and keep reading to see what happens next. I was impressed enough to start the second in the series, Bloodfever.

Today I'm heading out with my BFF, F, and his hubby, B, to see a yard F landscaped and built things for. I'll take pics so I can show you the incredible work F does. We're having lunch after that and then.... I'll take my knitting with, but probably won't get to it. We're also picking up B's friend J who is a movie afficionado. It's always fun to hear what he has to say about the newest releases.

Look at the socks Rebekkah made! Aren't the gorgeous?

HF Socks

I made quite a bit of progress on my HF socks, even more than these pics show...I'm ready to start the toe decreases. And you'll notice there are no DPNs in this picture! I have one l-o-n-g Addi US 2 needle I bought awhile ago to use on socks. Figured I should learn the magic loop method. I put the sock on it just to try it on and though though, why not finish the sock with it?

I did have to use DPNs to get the heel situated (then I switched back to the circular and finished the heel decreases and the foot) and am having to use them again to do the toe decreases. Anyone know of a tutorial that explains how to put the sts so I don't have to switch back and forth? Or do most people switch back and forth?

Have had a bit of a ladder problem with using the circular, but they are small ladders and will probably even out in the wash. I think it's much faster using the circular needle rather than four DPNs, one has to switch needles and adjust sts less often which has to speed things up. All in all it was far more enjoyable than I thought it would be. I may have changed my sock knitting method, in theory. Practically it will take awhile before I can buy enough needles in various sizes to make it a permanent change. Plus, I do like using DPNs. I feel more connected to past generations of knitters.

I also discovered more on customizing socks for my foot, rather than the one-size-fits-most idea. I did find that if I wish my socks to go higher up my leg, I need to start out with at least 72 sts (on size us2 needles) and then reduce down to 64 three and a half inches before starting the heel flap. then stay at 64 sts throughout.

We did nothing for the Fourth. Everyone else went to a cook out and I stayed home with my noise affected dog. I would never feel comfortable leaving her alone on such a noisy night. And we had some thunder, to boot. It's the only time she gets overly affectionate and tries to climb in my lap.

Dexter and such

Y'all know I like Dexter on Showtime and CBS.

He's America's favorite Serial Killer. One of the storylines deals with another serial killer, The Ice Truck Killer, who leaves, as a clue, ten fingertips from prostitutes he's killed, each with a different color of nail polish on them.

This yarn is dyed from the same colors used by the above mentioned Ice Truck Killer.

And here is the start of my H(ooker's) F(ingernails) Socks. They are artfully posed on one of my furbies, Diosa. He's not thrilled, but was tired enough to be compliant. There are several things going on with these socks. First and really foremost, I'm using size 2 needles. I never knit socks with anything smaller than a three. Secondly, I enjoying using them, which has never happened before, either. Go figure. Maybe I'm more tired of using 6, 7, and 8s than I thought!

I'm also over riding my panic button and CO only 64 sts. (Sixty four sts always looks so small on the needles, so I wimp out, frog and CO 72..which is really too loose, but okay.) Didn't do a ribbed cuff, but thought I'd do a rolled edge as they are going to be "play around with it and try something new" socks...after all they are named after hookers.... So I added a band of slip stitch pattern from Crusoe and a round of purls shortly after that. I doubt seriously the socks will match in any way except the same yarn. If by any chance you are interested in obtaining your own Dexter yarns, (and there are numerous colorways) visit Dharmafey's Cosmic Fibers or visit the Dexter forum on Ravelry.

And less you think I'm the only weirdo in the world making socks out of this colorway, here is Lisa, (dixiehellcat on Ravlery) with a very famous knitting person:

These are all the different Dexter Colorways.

This is my newest toy. I'm a gadget freak but don't usually give into my obsession. My youngest found this while we were grocery shopping. It's a cute little thingie to brew one cup of coffee at a time. Yes, I know you can buy coffee makers that do the same thing, but this one was only $6. After a bit of experimenting, I found I like two tablespoons of coffee to a cup. It comes with several little filters, but I found the mass produced less expensive ones for regular coffee makers work, too. Just put in your coffee, pour boiling water over it, and voila! a good cup of coffee. Now I just need to get a teapot to heat water on the stove! The microzapper does it well enough, but a teapot would keep several cups of water hot, rather than doing one at a time. But then, I've wanted a teapot for 20 years and haven't gotten one yet, so I'm guessing the microzapper will suffice for a while longer.

If you like to keep a Pen and Paper Knitting or Crochet Journal, Kathryn Ivy's got it all together for you....for FREE!

Would you like a calendar for your desktop? Dave at Cabin Cove has them!

Merit Badges? I dunno....what do you think?

Strange Weather again, this time in South Dakota.

Magic 28 Socks

Remember the hoodie I finished up the other day?

I finished up the socks to go with it last night. I used the Magic 28 charity sock pattern as a basis.

I may join this KAL...A mystery mitten KAL. Just thought it might be kind of fun. And I've joined Colin, the magical sock knitter's KAL, too. He has developed his own heel, the Andersson Heel. I think it's very attractive and I'd like to know how to do it. However, he knits toe up and I'm a cuff down person, so I'm stretching my boundaries. Will let you know how it goes.

In Passing...

I took the day off from knitting yesterday, for the most part, and read. Just sat and read. Well, between fixing meals, cleaning the kitchen, cleaning my room, stripping my bed, fixing more meals, washing more dishes....

What did I read, you ask? Nora Roberts second book in the Signs of Seven Trilogy, The Hollow. The first in the series was Blood Brothers. The last, Pagan Stone will come out in December. It's good, fast, entertaining reading. I only have 38 pages left on The Hollow.

If you notice on my sidebar to the right, I've started using GoodReads to keep track of what I've read, what I'm reading and what I want to read. I use it to research books recommended by others and I can with one click add them to any of the three above mentioned lists. It's cool!

My local library has summer reading programs for all ages. I decided to sign up for the adult one, promising to read ten books by July 19th. When I finish The Hollow, I'll have eight done! The prize is a $5 gift certificate to be used at the local used book store. They often have a good selection of knitting books: Knitting Without Tears was there once! So, I may just spend more time reading than knitting in the next couple weeks!

I did a little knitting last night, CO the second baby sock to go with the recently finished Hoodie. Just about ready to start the heel flap.

Today is grocery shopping day, so it'll be a day of heat and driving rather than reading or knitting.

Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?

This is the first blanket the Charity Log Cabin Knitting group has finished. It only took us about 2.5 years. Interestingly enough, after I bitched here yesterday, I found a note from the woman that said she'd mailed the blankets. She said the envelope got ripped up and finally returned to her and she'd mail them out again. The note is almost 30 days old, so I'm not holding my breath.

The other three, possibly, four recent losses also turned up found after I wrote a rather adamant e-mail to the group. So, we've only had two or three blankets really stolen. Which is still rather sad. Ann at Sheep Shots wrote about people vandalizing and stealing from food banks. What is the world coming to? I can understand stealing food to eat, but truckloads of frozen chicken? Give me a break.

On the upside, someone was looking for someone to give odd bits of yarn to and she said she send them to me. It's always fun to get the odd balls of this 'n' that to make into baby things or striped blankets. And I've read in several blogs of knitters gifting others so I'm starting to regain my faith in the fiber community.

And then I wonder, why do we jump to measure a community of people by the ones that haven't been "nice"? Why not always jump to measure by those that have done good?

Charity Log Cabin Progress

This is the knitting I've been doing the last couple days. I've done the blue and white striped section at the bottom and am working on the purple on the right side. Both sides are close to 30 inches so it takes a bit of time to do the sections.

We've had some very pretty blankets almost finished this year. Problem is, they have almost all disappeared. Three different women have participated, then disappeared with several blankets. I think we've lost about six or seven of them so far. Two women just disappeared with the blankets and won't answer e-mails or even snail mails. One swore she mailed them to me in May but I've not seen hide nor hair of them. People keep saying that knitters are the nicest people on earth, and I will agree I've met quite a few wonderful people, and even more I wouldn't dare to pass judgment on cuz I don't know them that well. Maybe knitters are like the little "girl who had a curl right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, she was very, very good, and when she was bad she was HORRID!" I'm so disenchanted right now.... I could beat myself up and say, "I should have been a more charismatic leader and sent chit chat all the time" instead of believing they were adult women with a commitment to charity work. Bottom line, I can't make them mail something. There is nothing I can do to make them honor their commitment. Is there?

So, remember George Carlin's routine about stuff?

Well, my BFF, F, is moving to a smaller place and downsizing. So he has all this "stuff". Lots of "stuff" he's getting rid of. So I went through his shit to see if there was any stuff I wanted. Just a few things... A huge Ikea stainless steel salad bowl, a wine rack that will be recycled in to a series of clothes hooks for the granddaughters, a nice table top bookshelf that is just big enough to hold all granddaughters' and my library books, a couple of Pyrex baking dishes, a two quart fake Corning Ware casserole, and a candy jar that is now full of eye candy!

My favorite piece of "stuff" was a pair of slim computer speakers. They work with my MP3 player! Now have a nice listening station upstairs in my knitting nook. Now I need to downsize and get rid of some stuff. Anyone need any stuff?