Six Blankets....

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I finished up the Granny Square blanket last night. After putting the squares together and adding a border, the blanket measures about 36 inches across, which is a good size for a newborn to toddler. I've started a Diagonal Box Stitch one that is about 25% done at this point.

While trying to decide if I was going to add HBO to my cable along with Showtime (have to watch the new season of Dexter!), I got a chance to watch the first two episodes of a new show on HBO, True Blood. They are loosely, from what I can remember, based on the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. The Japanese have just developed a synthetic blood which is just like the "Real Thing." So, the vampires don't have any reasonn to "stay in the coffin". They are coming out while awaiting the passage of the Vampire Rights Act. Sookie meets her first vampire while working in the local bar. Mayhem ensues. The opening credits show lots of black and white photos and movie clips from the racial efforts in the '60s.

The shows are much better than the books in my opinion. Anyway, if you have HBO, watch them and tell me what you think. Oh, the negative thing...way too much foul language and nudity that doesn't enhance the story. I'm not a prude, but I don't think it needs to be there just cuz it's cable and it can be....

Dexter and such

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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.

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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.

Look what came in the mail...

Okay, it's time to confess one of my dark secrets. I love the Showtime series Dexter. Dexter is America's most loved Serial Killer. It's really sick, if you think about it, to be rooting for the bad guy, but, hey.... he's such a good bad guy. "So what does this have to do with yarn?" you ask. Well, in the first season (which will be aired on CBS next month to fill in the lack of stuff due to the writer's strike), the Ice Truck Killer, the bad killer (not Dexter who is the good killer, remember?) kills hookers and paints each fingernail a different color. Hence this colorway called Hooker's Fingernails.

Where did I get this sick colorway? From Dharmafey of Cosmic Fibers. Only the catch is, you need to be a member of the Dexter group on Ravlery. And if, by chance, you already are a Dexter fan, there several more colorways: Dexter's Canvas, Hawaiian Shirts, Lila, Ice Truck Killer, Dexter, Dark Defender, and Bay Harbor Butcher. Jen has started knitting a pair of socks in the Dexter colorway. If you scroll all the way to the bottom you'll see the skein of Dexter.

So, in another Ravelry TV group, Bones Fans, there is a challenge to knit socks. "Ho Hum?" you say. "Another sock challenge..." Well, in this show, the male lead, Seeley Booth, played by yummy David Boreanaz (of Angel fame) plays an FBI agent that rebels against the suit and tie thing by wearing big belt buckles and wild socks! Also red and white striped ones, red and black striped socks, and socks with white, grey and purple stripes. David Borenaz likes these rather wild socks as well as Seeley Booth. So...I'm thinking maybe I'll make the Hooker's Fingernails into socks for David/Seeley. I'll let you know if I really do sacrifice my yarn to that project or not!

As I traveled through my blog reading today, it was great fun to see who was nominated for the "You Make My Day" award by the people I'd nominated for it. Added several new blogs to my list today upon those recommendations. This was a fun project. Thanks again, Joansie for including me!

My knitting yesterday may have been an exercise in futility. No more comments on it until I decided to keep it or frog it. Let you know....

It's rainy today, but not too cold. Fifty-six right now according to my little computer weather reader. Looks cold and nasty though...grey and wet. Good day for knitting, listening to books or watching old movies and knitting.

Socks are gettin' there....

I didn't do much at all except knit on these socks yesterday. And for whatever reason, it was difficult. I had the toe stitches on a piece of yarn. When I put them back on the needles and distributed them for the toe, I did it wrong and had knit about half the toe before I realized it. Frog and start again. Then I finished the sock okay.

CO for the next sock. Miscounted the sts so CO again. Finally got going on that. But for whatever reason I was in a backwards time warp and just couldn't make a lot of progress. I know it's because I got hooked on watching the first season of Dr. Who on Netflix. (2005 Series with Christopher Eccelston as the Doctor.) I started watching it cuz my DVR accidentally recorded an episode for me. It referrenced Torchwood one of my new favorite BBC SciFi shows. So, I had to finally give in and investigate Dr. Who. These are really good and I may have to find what's out there on CD and watch the far past episodes, too.

So anyway, the time travel in Dr. Who is why I couldn't make good progress on the sock. It's my story and and I'm sticking to it.

Oh, and I started reading the second book in the Dexter series. I got hooked on the Showtime series, watched all the of the first season and am keeping current on the persent season. Dexter is America's Favorite Serial Killer. Yeah, I know, it sounds bad, but...ya just gotta love the guy. The Showtime series is based on the books by Jeff Lindsay. The first one was okay, but I got caught up in the second one and because there was nothing good on TV (read: knitting time), I sat and read about half of Dearly Devoted Dexter. It's really good. There are a group of us on Ravelry that discuss the shows and the books. It's so hard to choose between a good book and knitting which is why I listen to as many on CD as I can.