FO - HF Socks

I finished up the Kitchenering last night!

Details:
Pattern: Standard cuff down sock pattern in St St (CO64 sts, Eye of Partridge Heel)
Yarn: Hookers' Fingernails by Cosmic Fibers
Needles: US2 Addi 36 in
Method: Magic Loop
Time: Started July 3, Finished July 7
Ravelry Link

Here is the finished Clue #1 from the Mystery Mitten KAL.
Details:
Yarn: Moda Dea Washable Wool
Needles: US 5

The Tale of Holly How by Susan Wittig Albert

My reviewrating: 4 of 5 stars

The Tale of Holly How by Susan Wittig Albert is the second of The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter series. A sweet cozy mystery that solves the accidental death and mayhem in the villages of Near and Far Surrey.

Beatrix, of course, helps solve the human mysteries, and myriad of animals including sheep, dogs, badgers, a Guinea pig named Tuppence, cats and rabbits band together to save a young mother badger and her babies.

A good read for anyone over the age of eight or so, although it's not marketed as a childrens' book.

View all my reviews.

And that's all the news that's fit to print. Nothing exciting happened yesterday other than it's hot and muggy. The temp is lower, but the humidity is up so it's still uncomfortable.

HF Socks, Yards, and Yarns

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I made some progress on my HF Sock #2. The gusset decreases are all finished and I've just started the foot. I had some help from Deb on how to keep the sock all on the circular and not have to take it off for heel and toe. Although I can do the heel flap on the circular, I liked it better when using two DPNs. So if I'm traveling I can do it with just the circ. Once I finished the heel flap and turned the heel, everything else, picking up the sts, etc., was done on the circ. Old dog here learning new tricks.
I have a skein of each of these and can't decide which ones to make next. The orange and green would be for Youngest Daughter and the Neapolitan would be for me.... These, btw, should you be interested are available at Knitivity. Today is the beginning of the Mystery Mitten KAL. So, that will be my primary project for today with leftover knitting time devoted to the socks.

Here are some of the pics of the yard my BFF, F, built for his friend, N. The bridge goes over the lily pond to the wading pond. N can lay down in the pond for a cooling off!
This is a sitting bench on the opposite side of the yard.
And this is her Yoga Bench.

Resist Felting. No, I don't mean you should resist doing some felting (actually it's fulling). It's a technique so that only some of the knitted fabric will full and other areas won't. Check it out!
This is way too much fun! Click on it and try it! I think you can see a bigger one here.

Middle age, hell, that's my whole life. Asperger's Syndrome, it's not just for midlife!Lest you think this is a sad way for someone to live their life, remember, "Different strokes for different folks." I look at the life of a social butterfly with lots of friends calling, e-mailing and texting and think how wretched that would be. Comfort zones differ for each of us. Although I do like people as a concept, I just find they don't end up liking me and that leads to some very painful "good-bye" scenarios. Far too painful for me to lightly take the plunge of having people around. Enough of that.

One Sock Done!

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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

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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

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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.