One Sock Syndrome

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I finished up the first Mickey Mouse Waterloose Sock yesterday! Yeah Me! Will cast on second

one today to avoid Second Sock Syndrome (SSS). I'm happy with how they turned out and think they may be the socks I wear on the flight to Tennessee.


I got some more rows done on the doggy scarf. No not the scarf for my dog, the scarf I'm making with her fluff! It's nine inches long and I really am seriously thinking of doing some garter and drop stitches as the center of the scarf. Then break yarn, knit up another section of Rabbit Tracks and Kitchener it on the end..... That's the idea right now at 7:13 AM on Sunday, February 10, 2008. The plan may change, without warning, at any minute.

Not much else done yesterday. Oh, the normal, cooking, washing dishes, changing diapers, but nothing else on the fiber front.

One of the "bad" things about reading other blogs is the book reviews. People mentioning a good book, or suggesting a good book.... My list of "To Read" grows daily. Speaking of reading, I didn't use my make shift book holder to read my Nora Roberts novel. I listened to my current audio book instead. Taking the time to adjust after each page was too much. I read so fast that it became a choice of either reading or knitting. Knitting and listening won. This time.

Talked with 3rd Son and his wife last night. Plans are to go to the Ripley's Believe It or Not Aquarium in Gatlinburg, TN while I'm there. Too cool. I love zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens.... And talk of going to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. I hope my grandson likes fish! I just remembered I have a few "loose" fish left over from when I was knitting the tessellating fishes. Maybe I'll make him a couple stuffed fish!

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Wanna knit some Easter Eggs? And there are more patterns for other little toys (Christmas Stockings, Little Cakes for Tea and some cute little kids).

Karen shared some very neat pictures of gargoyles. Go look, they aren't ugly and they tell a story!

Masks and Chows

Eldest Granddaughter brought home her Friday folder of weekly accomplishments from school. They made masks for Mardi Gras this week. I'm really happy about how well she is adjusting to the new school and seems to feel good about it all, and the class feel good about her.

I got over six inches done on the scarf made from my dog's fluff. As I was working on it I kept wondering where the bits of color came from and then remembered I'd spun it with some wool I'd gotten in a swap. Hence the bits of orange and olive. I sure hope dog fluff blocks well, cuz this will have to be blocked. Had to use several pins to stretch it out enough to see the stitch pattern. Think the Rabbit Tracks can pass for Dog Tracks?


Hmmm I'm wondering about using something like glittergirl used in between stretches of Bunny Tracks on the scarf... What do you think?

I did a bit of spinning yesterday, giving myself a treat and working on more mohair. Knitting today has to be sock spiced up with scarf. Yet what I really want to do is sit down and read my Nora Roberts book, Seventh Son. She is a good story teller! I don't know if my book holder will hold a paperback well. Seems to me I remember it didn't work so well. It's too light weight to hold it's own with a strongly bound paperback.... And too wide to hold it. Hmmmmmm....

Necessity is the mother of invention:This is the little wire rack my printer sits on. The book fits nicely in the space and is At just the right distance for me to read while knitting. Turning pages will be a pain, but, hey....if everything was perfect what would have to bitch about???

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If you've not seen Dot's blog, check it out. She's a fabric artist and always has something inspiring to share. It is the home of the becoming very famous, Dotee Dolls.

Farm-Witch has some endearing photos of a just born lamb.

Berocco has a new-to-me sock called Comfort Sock. It's 50% nylon and 50% acrylic. Anyone have any idea why the nylon is there? Don't need it for strength and durability like it's needed for wool sock yarns.... For those that saw, "EEEwh, acrylic socks!!" I have been wearing the socks I made from LionBrand MicroSpun and enjoy them. With that said, I haven't worn them at all when my feet would get overly warm and perspire.

February 5, 2007

Dogs & Shawls

I have been noticing my dog is really shedding alot of her undercoat-which coincidentally is the part of a dog's fur one can spin!! So I grabbed my carders today and used them as doggie brushes. (Yes, I was careful!) She loved it! This is her nasty coat when we started Here's the actual "brushing" On the carders A pile of dog fluff And the happier, lighter, cooler doggie is in the pic at the top of the post. I got a grocery bag full of fluff that I'll hold on to and card with something else--probably wool--and spin eventually.

So, I decided I'd CO the Thinking Woman's Shawl to take with me if I have jury duty tomorrow. The pattern is very easy to memorize and I have some pretty purple wools to use. Edited: Jury duty postponed till the 13th.

I'm so late with my post today because we decided once we got the grand daughter off to school, we'd run down and visit the Gem and Mineral Show in town. My daughter is a beader as well as a knitter and crocheter. She needed some "parts" and I thought I'd pick up some rings for stitch markers. Not gonna make any fancy dangly things. Have some of those. They are nice, but often just get in the way of the knitting! So, I'll stick to just the plain silver rings.

January 29, 2007

Well, I started on the Gunner's Cap, did my gauge swatch, figured out how many sts to CO, and it was too big for me. That's it above. All was not lost, though. I did knit a hem on it (rather than sewing it in later as the pattern suggested). So I learned a new skill before utilizing the old one of frogging!

Then I CO on this hat! It's just a regular hat done in black and white stripes. Nothing spectacular, but, hey, it's still pirate!

So, I did a bit more reading yesterday. I realized that Nora Roberts' Angels Fall movie is on Lifetime tonight. So I dove into the book and got a good 100 out of 450 pages read. I'll save the movie and watch it after I finish the book. In my experience, most books are far better than most movies made from the books. My favorites are those that are both good. Like the Harry Potter ones. Although soooooooooooo very much of the book is not in the movies, the movies do tell a complete story. Practical Magic was another one that was good. Much was left out of the movie, but both were very good stories.

I cleaned up the house this morning. Not fun with a sore back (chronic) and a hurting knee. But, it's vacuumed, swept and cleared off. Looks much, much better. My knee, well, it still hurts if I twist it or sit still too long. Takes a minute to walk the stiffness out of the tendons. Tendons do take a long time to heal, so I imagine this knee and I will be much more conscious of each other than usual for awhile.

The vacuuming is such a hassle. We have a little vacuum...made for clean ups rather than cleaning. And the carpet was new when we moved in. So it sheds, and sheds, and sheds. Makes my chow

look like a shedding amateur! But, I worked at it and worked at it and for the next few hours, the rug looks good!

February 1, 2007

I dyed....

I finally got my yarn dyed for the Kool Aid dye-a-long at Get Stitchy! I used orange KA and yellow food coloring to get the results below. I used balls of yarn as wound by the manufacturer, and a crock pot full of water, KA and food coloring. Dropped the balls in, turned it on medium hot, and let sit till the dye was all gone (water was clear). Then I squeezed in towels, used my niddy noddy to make skeins and hung to dry.

I used Black Cherry, Cherry, and Waltermelon Strawberry for this batch. Laid it in a 9 x 13 inch pan, painted it on, put it in the oven for awhile. Then overdyed with the Watermelon Strawberry for a second time to get rid of the white areas.