Anyone Got a Spare Week?

I'm a bit self-centered. I suppose we're all a bit self-centered but my case of narcissistic behavior tends to crop up at times that make me look like an exceptional shit.

And here's today's example:

B's uncle, Gerald, has colon cancer. He was diagnosed in September and it's pretty bad. It's spread, the tumors can't be removed and he's undergoing chemotherapy every couple weeks in an effort to extend his life at least some. It's awful to see how cancer has ravaged him and all the while he's trying to be as upbeat as he can. Gerald truly is a calm, thoughtful man. He loves his books, he loves to listen to opera and symphonies and he likes his quiet life. So one would think that those of us who care about him would put him first, right?

I've failed that test.

Remember how a couple weeks ago I mentioned that I'm trying to knit a cowl for Gabi for Christmas? I've made some headway on it but I changed the pattern and as the cowl grows I can see it's likely going to be too...I dunno...ribby...to be a good cowl. It's a basketweave pattern that tends to draw in the fabric. It's hard to stay interested in a project that's probably not going to be completed so I've put it aside. In the meantime I've joined a knit-along group to make an advent calendar scarf. Instead of each day opening each little door of an advent calendar I will instead get a piece of the pattern for a lace scarf and by Christmas morning I should have a completed scarf. Actually what I will have is a lump of knitting that resembles a pile of limp noodles until I take the time to block it but that's beside the point. The point of the project is to knit the same thing each day that knitters all around the world are knitting, share our experience with it and take time out during the busy holiday season to be restful and still and creative. I figure that to keep up with the project it'll take me somewhere between two and three hours of knitting each day, which is pushing it for me finding free time.

I decided that I really want to work on this advent scarf and then search for a different lace cowl for Gabi and do it for her birthday in January. So that I'd be ready for the first part of the pattern to be given on December 1st I've found the proper needles in my gawdawful nest of circular needles, bought new yarn and have been giving myself a bit of a pep talk each day to convince myself that I can really get this project done by Christmas. I normally have to take long breaks during lace projects because of the frustration that can go along with a lace project. This time I want to plow through it without a pause.

Here's where my character flaw comes in.

Back on the day Gabi was dropping hints about me knitting a cowl for her she also thought that a pair of hand knit socks was just what Gerald needed. I agreed that he could definitely benefit from a pair, what with him losing weight like mad and him being unable to keep himself warm, and while I didn't promise anything, I decided that I'd knit him a pair. A few days later I remembered that I had a pair of socks already finished that should fit him (and Darling Mollie, we maybe need to discuss how I gave away your socks before I could make them to you). Gerald got the socks, they fit, he loves them and I understand he has trouble letting them go long enough for them to be washed.

Tonight Gabi called and again raved about how Gerald loves the socks I knit. They're just the right weight, they're warm, they're comfortable and so on. I love that Gerald loves his socks. It makes me happy that he's got something going right for him during these weeks of a shitload of things going wrong. And if I'd been even sort of perceptive I'd have known that he'd want another pair of socks and I'd have already started them.

I'm not that perceptive.

Gabi has begged for another pair of socks for Gerald. And there's no question that I'll knit them for him. But December 1st - the date my knit along starts - is a week away and under normal circumstances I can only get one sock knit in one week. The selfish side of me is hollering loudly that it's not fair that I have to crank out a pair of socks before I can finally knit something for me. The sane side of me is saying "Shut up. Do you have cancer? No? Then shut up. Just be sweet for someone who's suffering".

If I don't have the socks finished by December 1st I have a few choices. A. I can knit both the socks and each day's piece of the scarf all at the same time and likely become a snarling bitch or B. I can finish the socks and then start the scarf late and perhaps knit two days worth of pattern pieces each day until I'm caught up or C. skip days of the scarf pattern...it's supposed to be possible that a day's pattern can be easily left out or D. knit like a house a-fire and get these socks finished by December 1st.

I think option D has potential. The socks are simple - it's just straight stockinette stitch. No cables, no lace, no textured pattern. I can give up some spare-time activities like reading and knit every spare moment I have until they're finished. I'm a pretty slow knitter and so getting a pair of socks finished in a week will be one of the biggest knitting challenges I've given myself but maybe a good challenge is what I need.

So how about y'all cheering me on? I'll knit these socks, give y'all updates here and if I'm lagging you can give me a virtual nudge forward. Anything will help. The real advantage is that the sooner they're finished the sooner Gerald can have them because let's face it - he needs all the things he can enjoy that he can get. And I need all the lessons in putting others first that I can get.

Friday Shuffle - Don't Promise What You Can't Deliver Edition

Once in a while I have to remind myself yet again that there's a reason why I don't knit things as gifts for others. Let me correct that. I knit virtually everything as a gift for another - I just don't knit them as a specific gift for a specific event or holiday. That's because I'm almost always doomed to either not finishing it on time or picking a project that's so irksome to knit that I'll give up in the middle of it.

B's aunt - the one that I switch from being very grateful for to her being the one I'd like to strangle - is one hell of a hint dropper. The other week when she was here visiting she gave me a wink wink, nudge nudge that she's not only like a pair of hand knit socks but she'd like a cowl. Or snood. Or wimple. Or smoke ring. Whatever you prefer to call it. One of those tube-like scarves you wear around your neck and then can pull up over your head like a hood.

Socks are easy to dole out. I tend to have a supply of hand knit socks at the ready. A cowl is different. I didn't let on like me knitting a cowl for her would be possible but after she left and after I kicked around the idea a little I thought that I'd have enough time to knit for her a simple lace cowl for Christmas. She's a pain in the ass to find a gift for anyway so this project would save me all sort of frustrating and fruitless shopping trips.

I found a simple pattern I like. I ordered the yarn - very nice, high end yarn. Even ordered new circular needles because A. I didn't have circular needles short enough for the project and B. I never know where in the hell my circular needles get off to anyway.

I've started twice now to knit this cowl and twice now I've ripped it out. It's not a difficult pattern to knit but it's one that can be easily screwed up by failing to do one increase or one decrease. And goodness knows I despise fixing an error in lace knitting. I despise it even more when I've got 132 stitches in a round to hunt through to find the error.

Finding another pattern to knit - one that's not a lace pattern - seems to be a good alternative but it's got to be one that's going to be able to use this yarn with these needles. I could go with other yarn but these needles will be a must since I really don't have any circular needles that aren't too long to accommodate a cowl that's about 22 inches in diameter. So far I'm not having any luck so the other alternative - make 22 stitch markers, stop whimpering and just knit the lace - seems more likely.

On to other things.

It's likely passe and cheesy to do an iPod shuffle on Fridays but my friend, Jane, likes it. And if I can't give Aunt Annoying her cowl for Christmas the least I can do is give Jane her Friday Shuffles. Plus y'all need to meet my new iPod, Bastian. Let's go.

1. She's A Beauty - The Tubes
2. Fallin' & Flyin' - Jeff Bridges and Colin Farrell
3. Affection - The Lost Boys
4. I Drive All Night - Roy Orbison
5. The Belgian Tune - Blackbeard's Tea Party
6. Queen Bitch - David Bowie
7. Mrs. Vandebilt - Paul McCartney & Wings
8. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding - Die Toten Hosen
9. Town Without Pity - Gene Pitney
10. Selfmachine - I Blame Coco
    

Custom Built

I have to admit that I like doing for others more than I like doing for myself. It's not that I don't like making or doing things that are just for me. The drawback seems to be that what would be unacceptable for another becomes perfectly fine when it's for me.

Case in point - these socks:



Pause for yarny talk:
Pattern: King Charles Brocade by Charlene Schurch
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill
Colorway: Spring Frost

I almost never knit socks for myself but I made an exception and knit this pair for just for me. I simply loved the yarn and I greedily wanted it for myself (Thanks for the yarn, Kay!). I'd grown tired of knitting lace and decided on a pattern that would be textured without it being ribbed (ribbing tends to bore me).

Now I have somewhat chunky calves so I decided on using a larger cast-on number than what is usual for a lady's leg, especially since I didn't believe this pattern would give much stretch like ribbing and lace can. It's a fun pattern to knit, fairly easy to do but honestly probably not the best choice for this yarn because the variegation of color in the yarn makes it harder to see the crosses. Or diamonds if that's where your eye is drawn to on the pattern. Had this been a sock for someone else I would have ripped it back and started over with a different pattern but hey...they're just for me.

I also figured that when it was time to knit the foot the larger calf wasn't going to do for my more normal sized ankle and foot so I would have to decrease from 72 stitches to 64 stitches to get a proper fit in the heel, ankle and instep. Unfortunately with this pattern you can't make the crosses run down the instep with 32 instep stitches. I could have adjusted the pattern to center the crosses on the foot with some plain side stitches but hey...they're just for me. Having just a plain-all-around stockinette foot is fine.

I finished the socks and upon after seeing them on the sock blockers I declared them to possibly be the goofiest looking socks I've ever knit. A baggy-looking calf, a heel flap that looks way too short for the sock and an uninteresting foot. But then I put them on and declared that, while I seldom ever knit socks for myself, these were definitely the most comfortable socks I've ever knit. The yarn is dreamy soft anyway and while the calf turned out to be a bit too wide for me, it's stays up and doesn't bind my leg anywhere. The heel is perfect and the foot, while being plain, is wonderfully comfortable on my foot when I'm wearing the socks with shoes. All-in-all these socks are not very attractive. They're full of quirks and changes that I likely would never make with a pair of socks I'd knit for someone else but that's what makes them just right for me.

Friday Shuffle - No Fluff, All Business Edition

Completed socks!



Yarn stuff:
Pattern: Tidal Wave
Yarn: Regia Galaxy Color
Colorway: 1555

Time's a wastin'. Let's get to shufflin'!

1. Live To Tell The Tale - Nightwish
2. Love Is Noise - The Verve
3. Bound - Christopher Jak
4. Untouchable - Glenn Tilbrook
5. Glad All Over - The Dave Clark Five
6. Alex Chilton - The Replacements
7. Bikini Girls With Machine Guns - The Cramps
8. Books From Boxes - Maximo Park
9. (Now And Then There's) A Fool Such As I - Raul Malo
10. Jack Ass Ginger - Poi Dog Pondering
    

Two Things Autumn Brings

Socks and NaBloPoMo.

First the socks. I finished them tonight as I was watching The Sopranos.



Quick yarny talk:

Pattern: Stems by Charlene Schurch
Yarn: Regia Galaxy Saturn (lovely to work with as all Regia yarns I've used have been)
Colorway: 01584

I noticed the Saturny look of the yarn was lost in the lacy leg so instead of running the leg pattern down the instep I just knit it all stockinette so show off the pattern of the yarn. Plus I think it'll make wearing them more comfortable.

As for NaBloPoMo, I'll be participating again this year. I know that these days one can participate any month but since it originally was a November deal I'm going to stick to tradition and make my month of blogging each day be November. However, this time instead of getting halfway through the month and having my blog entries consist of a lot of "Whine! It's hard to think of something to write!" I will go into this deal with an actual game plan - I'll be writing with a theme in mind: Favorites. Each entry will involve something that's a favorite of mine - book, song, album, band, movie, TV show, food...you get the idea. You may have to read entries about my favorite nut (which is the pecan, by the way) but going into this with a goal in mind should help tremendously.

What about you? Are you planning on NaBloPoMoing this November? Never tried it before? Then jump on over here to sign up and take on the challenge.

Looky!

Socks. But then you were already expecting that, weren't you?



Gratuitous yarny talk:

Pattern: Spring Forward
Yarn: Gedifra Socks Color
Colorway: 7059

I always try to include the gratuitous yarny talk even if a vast majority of y'all don't give a crap about what pattern the socks are or what yarn I used. Still if I didn't do it it would feel funny. The world may go out of balance if I didn't tell y'all all the little details. It's been rumored that the current economic crisis in America may have been caused by a knitting blogger not giving project details. Do not piss off the gods o' fiber arts!

Things were all cosy and nesty today here at Casa del Peach. Crap weather was braved in order to get the supplies to make beef stew (crap weather and beef stew - a marriage made in heaven...or at least in my kitchen) and I then spent the rest of my free time watching Twin Peaks on DVD and knitting on a scarf. I once read that in Germany Twin Peaks was pulled from TV after only a few episodes because a competing TV network revealed early who actually killed Laura Palmer. Assholery is alive and well on German television! In any case it was almost comforting in a way to find that the creepy parts of Twin Peaks still creep me out in the same way as they did the first time I watched it. Comforting like a big cup of hot cocoa on a windy, rainy afternoon. If it were served to you by a serial killer.

Creepy, But Still Soft And Fuzzy

All in all it was a pretty good weekend. Sort of crappy weather but I was in the mood to be all nestled in and snuggly.

The highlights:

• Yesterday B told my MIL that while he appreciates the help Gerd gives, he should not go behind B's back again to make appointments for him or anything else along those lines. Ask B first and then proceed - it's that simple. My MIL thought B was overreacting and insisted that Gerd did it with only good intentions. Yeah, we get that but it's not the point. My MIL is the sort of person that thinks nearly everything can be overlooked if the offender didn't mean any harm. And at the age of 74 we're probably not going to be able to change her way of thinking. Stay tuned to see if things subside in this area or if more hours of grumbling and being pissed off are in our future.
  
  
• Thank God and all his angels for the medications the doctors give my mother for her Alzheimer's disease. We spoke with her early Saturday evening and she was lucid for the entire hour we were on the phone. So many conversations with her have had her drifting off or her sort of checking out on us - she'll suddenly sound as though she's drunk (my mother does not drink at all) or is falling asleep - or she'll suddenly start talking in nothing but non sequiturs. This time she was as sharp as a tack. I know these sorts of encounters will eventually be fewer and farther in between until they stop but I'll take as many as I can for as long as I can.
  
  
• Last night B and I watched Zodiac and I'm happy to report that the story of the Zodiac killer still creeps me out no end. I remember my friends and I talking about this story back when I was maybe nine or ten years old, a couple years after the murders had stopped - this story and the Charles Manson murders - and it scared us all silly. Little kids being spooked by murders that happened a few thousands of miles away from us. It was the sort of thing we'd talk about at slumber parties and every creak of the house would make us jump with fright. But what made the Zodiac thing even creepier is that he was never caught. And I credit blame it on starting me on my true-crime story fascination.
  
  
• It's been a festival of yarn here today. Remember my lovely friend, Kay, who sent me a fabulous box o' yarn a couple weeks ago? She sent more. She's crazy like that. Crazy sweet and crazy generous and she's spoiled me like crazy. This time she sent another couple balls of the Rowan Soft Tweed yarn like what was in the last shipment - yarn so lovely and soft I want to kiss it - but she also sent eight balls of Gedifra Belisana in an incredible shade of lavender. It's wonderfully soft but not kissable as it's made with a lot of kid mohair, a sure fire recipe for fuzzy lips. Then there is my knitting pal, Alicia. Alicia and I belong to the same knitting website and we belong to a group that has taken on the challenge to knit a pair of socks each month for a year. In order to keep us motivated many of us have taken on accountability partners. The rule is that if we fail to knit a pair of socks by the end of the month, we must send our accountability partner enough sock yarn to knit one pair of socks. Unfortunately Alicia had a very busy August and she failed to meet the deadline. I was willing to let her slide but, as Alicia wisely pointed out, it wouldn't be much of an incentive to keep on track if we let one another slide and not pay the penalty. And I was glad she was insistent about paying up because today I got a hank of some truly stunning hand-dyed sock yarn that she picked up at a fiber festival. And it's done in shades of purple and green. I can't tell you how much I love purple and green together, especially if it's in muted hues like this yarn is. You know normally I knit socks for others but this time, the socks I make from this yarn are going to be mine, all mine.

The days are turning colder already. I need to knit faster.

Just Happy

Someone who is very generous and very kind and very, very sweet has sent me a great big ol' box of yarn. Not plain Jane stuff. Really gorgeous, luxurious and interesting yarns. Yarns for socks, scarves, wraps and blankets. I am so overwhelmed by her generosity that I can hardly describe how special she's made me feel and how grateful that I am.

And I cannot leave this box of yarn alone. It's getting ridiculous. I keep looking at it and petting it and reading online about the qualities of each kind she sent me. I look up projects made with this yarn and think about what I want to knit with it.

What's worst of all is that I want to knit it all. Right now. All at the same time. I can't decide on what yarn to grab first and cast on. I can't make up my mind which project I want to tackle now and which ones can wait a month or two.

But what I think about most is how lovely people are to me. How sweet and thoughtful they are. The lady who sent me this wonderful gift wished to make me happy but I'm not sure if she knows how deeply her kindness has touched me. But it did. And I just had to brag on her (and, I'll admit, show off about the fabulous additions to my yarn stash) and once again affirm that there is a lot more right with people than there is wrong. There is a lot more generosity than selfishness. There is much more joy taken in the happiness of others than joy taken at the misfortune others experience. The world may make us feel more cynical but I'm convinced that in the end we're better to one another than we give ourselves credit for and that's most reassuring.

Gotta Get It Done - And I Did!

My fingers feel all cramped and my left arm aches. When I started knitting this afternoon I had about 2/3 of one sock finished and 1/2 of the other foot left to knit before I could start on the toes. I watched two episodes of Weeds, two episodes of Desperate Housewives and a whole soccer match before I had to stop to make dinner and make sure my husband wasn't completely neglected. There were a few times when I thought "This isn't even important. Just stop knitting. Who cares if these stupid socks get finished today?" but I kept going anyway because I wanted to see if I really could do it. Around 9:15pm I started on the toes and when I had clipped off the last bit of yarn from weaving in the loose ends it was 11:50pm. I skidded in under the wire.

I would like to now present the socks I thought I would never finish.



Yarny bits:
Pattern: Froot Loop
Yarn: Gedifra Socks Color
Colorway: 7007

All afternoon and evening while knitting my mind wandered and I thought of Hurricane Gustav that's bearing down on the gulf coast. My deadline to finish these socks was self imposed. While I really wanted to get them done on time in order to meet the goal I'd set for myself to knit at least one pair of socks every month, nothing bad would happen if I didn't. The world would still turn, the sun would still rise and I would suffer no ill consequences from not meeting my goal. I wish those who are living on the gulf coast, especially those I know and love, could say that about the pressure they're currently under. Folks like Marsha, who lives on the gulf coast of Mississippi have evacuated. Katya's in Mobile and while she's outside the cone of the storm, she still has to keep alert in case things change. Michele's staying put in Baton Rouge and she's collected her folks to come stay there but it's still going to be hard on them.

Preparing for a storm is hard work. If you have to evacuate you've got to get your stuff together and get out before it gets too late. If you're staying you've got to make sure you've got what you need to ride it out. First responders and organizations like the Red Cross have to make their preparations. They're all under an tremendous deadline and unlike me missing my sock knitting deadline, missing their deadlines can have life-or-death consequences.

I'm praying for them all. I can't imagine their worry and I can't imagine how they can keep going while under so much stress. May their efforts be blessed and may they all remain safe.

Gotta Get It Done - Day Six

I am so behind on this knitting. No time to tell you about it. No time for a picture of it. Only time to mash the panic button. Hard.

Shall we take bets on whether I make it? Just under 27 hours left!

Friday Shuffle - The Big Push Edition

It's day five of my self imposed challenge to finish a pair of socks by Sunday and right now, while I'm still feeling fairly confident, I also know it's going to take a lot of work this weekend to reach my goal.

Good grief - Did you ever imagine I could yap this much about the same pair of socks?

Here's what I've accomplished in 24 hours. Roll your cursor over the photo to see my progress as of this moment.



The sock on the left has seven pattern repeats complete (four rows, or more accurately since socks are round objects, four rounds make up one pattern repeat) and the foot is roughly halfway finished. The sock on the right has the gusset decreases complete and it's up next for having the foot worked on. I'd like to get at least four pattern repeats finished on the sock on the right before I go to sleep tonight and have the feet finished on both by bedtime tomorrow so that on Sunday all I need knit are the toe decreases and graft the toes shut. I don't normally like to set such strict knitting milestones to meet by certain times but I'm about to become desperate. If I don't become more strict with how much I get done then it's possible that it'll be late Sunday night and I'll still be knitting.

Regardless, Bixente the iPod has time to shuffle. There's always time for a shuffle.

1. Getting Ready - Miranda Lambert
2. Untitled #1 - I Am Kloot
3. Starlings - Elbow
4. Police On My Back - The Clash
5. Kentucky Woman - Neil Diamond
6. So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star - The Byrds
7. King Of New Orleans - Better Than Ezra
8. Run To - Emerson Hart
9. Come On Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners
10. Hello Goodbye - The Beatles
    

Gotta Get It Done - Day Four

Know how when people are on a weigh loss regimen and after a while they can't seem to lose any more weight even though they're still on the regimen? They plateau for a while before their weight loss resumes.

Here's how they looked yesterday. Roll your cursor over the photo to see how much I've progressed in the last day.



"But Dixie! It hardly looks any different!" I know, I know. I'm getting tired of forsaking everything else for knitting every moment I can grab out of my day. But the gusset decreases are finished on the left sock and are about half finished on the right sock. This is the point of the sock where we narrow down from the widest point of the sock - the heel - and transition to the sole and instep. Time consuming and you don't feel like you're making much progress. Plateauing. The only answer is to slog thought it.

Yesterday when I was lollygagging around taking a well deserved and much needed break I looked around at the message boards to which I belong on Ravelry and found this quote from Fandom Wank:

Sock knitters are the elite of the knitting world. Socks are the most difficult items to knit, and it takes a true knitter with skill, intelligence, and pure raw talent to appreciate the wonder of knitting socks. It's true: just ask any sock knitter.

I laughed because I know of sock knitters who truly do take this to heart. As for myself I knit socks almost exclusively because I'm too impatient to get a certain gauge and I'm too damn dumb to piece and sew together various parts of a sweater and have it actually look like a sweater.

Enough lollygagging. Back to the needles with my pure raw talent.

Gotta Get It Done - Day Three

We've reached the 50% complete mark on the pair of socks I'm knitting this week. I don't measure the halfway point in terms of length or stitches knit. Half finished to me is when progress on both socks has stopped being vertical and has begun to go horizontal.

Here's how they looked late yesterday afternoon. Roll your cursor over the photo to see how they looked this afternoon, 24 hours later.



They look close to being at the same point but the sock on the left has already had the heel flap stitches picked up and it's ready to have the gusset decreases knit. On the sock on the right you can see the heel flap as it's knit - the heel flap being the part that covers the back of your leg from the ankle to the bottom of your foot. And if you look closely you can also see the heel turn - the point at which we switch from the leg to the foot. From now on it's strictly footwork with these socks.

I would have liked to have knit more on it today but I stayed awake too long last night watching the Democratic convention and this afternoon my progress was somewhat curtailed by my falling asleep while knitting. When I'm at the point where my eyes close and I begin to drift off while in the middle of a stitch I know it means I'd best put down my knitting or else I'll foul it up to the point where I have to tear it apart and start over. While that would make the efforts to get this pair of socks finished by the end of the month more of a challenge, I don't believe the world is ready for the string of expletives that would burst forth from my mouth should I have to rip back one of these socks in order to fix it or even start it over again.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with my hairdresser. Prime knitting in public time.

Gotta Get It Done - Day Two

God love y'all. You're very generous in your estimations of my mad knitting skillz and speed. I would love to be down to turning the heels by now but I'm just not that good. But I did make progress even if my elbow is cramped and my eyes are feeling sandy and scratchy from knitting in the dark. It was rather overcast today and I couldn't be bothered to get up to turn on a light. I was taking advantage of every spare minute I could find to knit and I didn't want to waste time with doing something like turning on a lamp.

In an effort to make this even vaguely interesting to you For a little kick I'll show you yesterday's photo and then roll your cursor over it to see a photo of the progress I've made in the last 24 hours.



The difference may be hard to see but the legs on both socks are now complete. I've also done the set up to knit the heel flap and the sock on the left has two rows of the heel flap complete. "So?" you ask. "What does that mean exactly?" I means I've added another 1070 stitches to those socks.

And now I'm going back to it. Maybe by tomorrow they'll start resembling actual socks.

Gotta Get It Done - Day One

I shouldn't be here. I should be knitting. I have a pair of socks that must be finished by August 31st and I should be working on them.

But I've missed you so much and just had to drop in so you wouldn't feel abandoned. I just had to give y'all a bit of sugar.

While it's a semi self-imposed deadline, it's still one I'd like to meet so I need to put myself under the right sort of pressure to keep at it. I've got seven days to make this happen so how's this for a deal: I will post a picture of the progress of my socks each day until they're completed. Or until it's Sunday and I'm weeping bitterly that I'm just not going to make it. If I'm trying to show off for y'all with amazing "Damn! Look how much she got done!" pictures, maybe I'll actually complete my task.

Here's today's snap:



I knit both socks at the same time, working on one and then another. This pair of socks is roughly 25% complete. Each leg is halfway finished - the one on the left having just a few more rounds completed than the other. Here's what's left to do: finish the legs on both, knit the heel flaps, turn the heels, pick up heel flap stitches and knit the gusset decreases, knit the feet, do the toe decreases, graft the toe closed. Simple, right? I can do all that in the remaining seven days I have to knit, right?

Leave me a comment, if you wish, and make a guess on how far I will have progressed in the next 24 hours. A picture will show who has guessed best!

Friday Shuffle - Meeting My Commitments Anyway Edition

Sorry to be a drag but this week has not been a good one. I came down with a UTI a few days ago which has done an outstanding job at making me miserable. Trust me, if I'm up, washed and dressed at 7am - if I even am awake enough to acknowledge the existence of 7am - in order to go to the doctor by 7:30am in hopes that she'll fit me in long enough for me to wee in a plastic cup and get a script for antibiotics, I'm miserable. And now the antibiotics is making my digestive system all wonky.

Envy me. You know you want to.

And remind me not get myself tangled up in too many knitting projects all due at the same time. I should know that one on my own but evidently I missed the memo reminding me that I suck at getting things done on time without it being a big production. I did, however, finish the scarf that I had originally wanted complete two days ago if I was to stand a chance of getting a pair of socks done by the end of the month.

Here's the proof:



Yarny-type talk:
Pattern: One Row Handspun Scarf
Yarn: Fearless Fibers Alpaca and Wool DK
Colorway: Tulips
Yarn gifted by: Kara

Expect much weeping and gnashing of teeth as I try to get socks finished by next weekend but finish them I will because not finishing them would mean me breaking a streak I've got going. Plus concentrating on sock knitting will get me out of vacuuming. Again.

Bixente the iPod is committed to you to shuffle each Friday. Hit it.

1. What's The Frequency, Kenneth? - REM
2. Village Green Preservation Society - The Kinks
3. Room At The Top - Adam Ant
4. Melissa - Allman Brothers Band
5. Beautiful - Carole King
6. Smoky Mountain Rain - Ronnie Millsap
7. Atlantic - Keane
8. Tennessee Flat Top Box - Rosanne Cash
9. There She Goes Again - Marshall Crenshaw
10. Close Call - Rilo Kiley
    

Over the Weekend

• I went on four walks in three separate parks.
• I went to a hot air balloon festival - specifically to one of those balloon glowing things. I imagine there's a proper name for it in English but I only know it as balloon glowing thing.
• I went to two different cafes and to an ice cream cafe.
• I watched the Olympics. Lots of the Olympics.
• I drove to a friend's house to give her some stuff I got for her from the Internet and to have a brief swim and a visit with her.
• I watched two movies and three episodes of Grey's Anatomy on DVD.

And their common thread? I knitted during all of it. I'm thisclose to being finished with this scarf that I am quickly becoming sick of.

Baby, you haven't lived until you've knit by the glow of a few dozen hot air balloons.

Blame the Chinese

Or blame the International Olympic Committee. Or blame my weakness for watching sports. You can even blame Michael Phelps for having an incredible physique. They're all really to blame for my scarcity these days.

I blame knitting as well. I don't know if watching the Olympics while knitting is considered multi-tasking but at least I'm half finished with the scarf I've been working on.



If I can get some more Olympic hot body competition time in I may get the other half finished by the end of the weekend.

C'mon back tomorrow and we'll shuffle.

Friday Shuffle - Putting Things Off Edition

The knitting thing - or lack of knitting thing, actually - has become out of control. In August I have to knit a scarf during the time the summer Olympics is in session plus a pair of socks and finish a pair of footies for Hilda.

This shouldn't be a problem - I'm fairly sure I can knit an entire five foot long scarf in 17 days if I stick to it. I get easily bored with scarf knitting and the thought of 50%wool/50% alpaca yarn laying on my legs in August does wig me out a bit but on the upside, it's a pattern that lends itself to knitting while watching TV. I call it "zen knitting". B calls it "I can talk with her while she's knitting without worrying that I'll cause her to screw up some tricky lace stuff which will in turn cause her to give me the laser death stare knitting".

And that still leaves me with over two weeks to knit a pair of socks. I can definitely knit a pair of socks in two weeks. So there's no problem, right?

Sure. No problem. Except it's nearly midnight on August 1st and I haven't knit a lick. I haven't picked what sock pattern I want to knit. Even picked what yarn I want to use which means it's not been wound into even center-pull balls.

So when I'm down to the wire and I'm in the midst of panic knitting, remind me of how I tarried and wasted my time and didn't get promptly started on my projects when I should have. Of course it'll only roll off my back. I've had plenty of experience in this arena. I'm fairly certain that every term paper and essay I ever wrote was started in a shit hemorrhage panic with a deadline looming over me like an August thunderstorm.

Let's waste some more time. Let's shuffle.

1. Glorious Day - Weezer
2. Wouldn't It Be Nice - The Beach Boys
3. 11:11 - Rufus Wainwright
4. Cartoon Music For Superheroes - Albert Hammond, Jr.
5. Brainstorm - Arctic Monkeys
6. Plasticine - Placebo
7. Anywhere On Earth You Are - Alan Jackson
8. Here And Now - Great Big Sea
9. Run For Your Life - The Beatles
10. The Happening - The Supremes
    

Friday Shuffle - Pastel Sweets Edition

I finished these last weekend and waited until I had nothing to write for just the right moment to show them to you.

Hey look! It's the right moment!



Yarny talk:

Pattern: Spring Forward
Needles: 2.5mm double pointed needles
Yarn: Austermann Step
Colorway: 0010

I've been trying to connect my July blog posts to the subject of food so what do these hand knit socks have to do with food? The muted, semi-pastel colors of the socks remind me of the colors you find in a roll of Necco Wafers. I never was a fan of Necco Wafers (few things are worse than the black licorice flavored ones) but at one time they were quite useful when my friends and I found that we could trip the toll booths around Richmond by flipping in a Necco Wafer instead of an actual coin.

Let's shuffle.

1. Someone Like You - I Am Kloot
2. Mrs. Robinson - The Lemonheads
3. Call It Love - Poco
   
4. This Is How I Know - Ron Sexsmith
5. Wooden Heart (Muss I Denn) - Elvis Presley
6. Here Comes The Rain - The Mavericks
7. All Over You - Live
8. Your Own Worst Enemy - Bruce Springsteen
9. Long Cool Woman - The Hollies
10. Vince The Loveable Stoner - The Fratellis