Radioactive Cat

Another hard day at work. I'm trying to finish a pair of socks for Afghans for Afghans in time for their shipment to children's rehabilitation and health centers in Kabul and Bamiyan. They have to receive the items by Oct 12, which means I need to get these in the mail soon. I'm using yarn sent to me by another knitter, and once I got the leg of the first sock done, I started worrying (natch) that I wouldn't have enough. So, I whipped out another set of size 5 DPNs, and started the second sock from the other end of the ball, which is why you see a forest of needles. I weighed the ball of yarn before starting and after completing the second leg, and I should be OK, especially since I'm using other yarn for heels and toes.

Speaking of heels, I decided to try the Sherman heel for this sock. I referred to instructions here, here, and here. I must say that this is my favorite short-row heel technique that I've tried. I do have a problem with the corners of the heel pulling at the adjacent stitch, though. I think you can see it in this pic.

If anyone else has experienced this and found a resolution, a post in the comments would be most appreciated.

I have another ball of yarn that is probably enough for a pair of socks, but I'm thinking that I'll do the next pair toe up, with Sherman heels & toes. Seems like a perfect time to learn a new technique, and maybe alleviate some anxiety I always seem to experience when using yarn of unknown yardage.

In other news, the b/f recently bought a Geiger counter. (Why? Who knows? But it seems to make him happy.) While roaming about the house with his new toy precision scientific instrument, he discovered that Hilfy is slightly radioactive. Theories include that she is actually a space alien, or perhaps an early Terminator prototype with poor shielding on the power supply.
Personally, I think if she was a Terminator, we'd be mincemeat by now, so I'm leaning towards radioactive space cat.