Summer's over

Summer's over, and I'm feeling a little sad. Oh, we'll have summer weather for a while yet, and it's not like I have to go back to school or anything (actually, I always looked forward to starting a new school year). Maybe it's because we had a casual dress code at work and I got to wear jeans all summer, and tomorrow I have to go back to regular work clothes. Or maybe it's just that now it's September, I know that cold weather will be here before you know it, and I hate cold weather. Whatever the reason, I'm sad that Labor Day weekend is drawing to a close, and it feels like summer is over.

Well, I've spent the summer being a knitting fribble, knitting lots of little things, mostly little socks, with an occasional washcloth thrown in. But now I feel like I need to buckle down and get cracking on some things I'm going to need before the cold winds blow.

To clear the decks, so to speak, I finished up a pair of socks for A4A--the pair on the right, made with some hand dyed yarn I had lying about. I used this pattern, the garter rib variation, only I used 48 stitches instead of 32, to fit the needs of their current campaign for 7-14 year olds. The pair on the left I made a while back with some donated yarn and set aside until someone needed socks that size. Both pair are a little too small for me, so that should be a good size for some teenager. I'll pack them up tonight and send them off tomorrow.

Then, I picked up the socks I set aside way back when, tinked back two rounds (if I had realized I only needed to undo two rounds, I wound't have procrastinated so long), and got back to work. I finished the heel:

so now I only have one sock foot to do, and I have a new pair of socks. Woo hoo!

Next: I'll unravel this sweater and get back to work knitting it to actually fit me!

Why do I do this to myself?

I have been crazy busy lately, mostly at my day job, plus a little consulting work on the side. I have neglected my garden terribly, so it looks like I am growing little besides weeds. So, when they started talking at work about upgrading to a new version of Office, and needing to provide training for the employees, what do I do?

I volunteer.

Yup, I volunteered to teach the training classes. After all, I'm very knowledgeable about Office, and I've taught loads of classes before. Piece of cake, right?

Of course, when I stopped teaching for the community college, I threw out all my training materials. No need to have them cluttering up my clutter room any more. So I had to recreate everything, which added nicely to my workload. And I forgot how, as a teaching date draws near, my stomach becomes more and more tense with dread at getting up in front of everyone and pretending to be an expert. I've been reminded of that quite effectively the last few days. I've decided that "volunteer" should really be a four-letter word. And not a fun one, either.


If it weren't for little woolen socks, I'd be a basket case. I finished the last pair I showed off in progress:


And another pair:


And started yet another:


These things have been my lifeline; I pick up my needles and that knot in my stomach starts to ease. At least someone will benefit from my foolishness. And next time I'll bite my tongue before blithely volunteering.

What a crock

The weather-guessers have been predicting nice weather this weekend; sunny and warm Saturday and Sunday, cooler and maybe some rain Monday. I figured, great, I'd play in the dirt on the sunny days, and maybe bake some cookies on Monday if it was cool enough. Hah!

This morning was cloudy and gloomy. I kept looking from the forecast to the sky; cloudy and getting cloudier. About a couple of hours after the rain started, the forecasts were updated to rain all weekend. &^%$#@!

Since the garden was out, we headed for the movies. Saw Prince Caspian; not bad, but not as good as the first one. If you're a Narnia fan, then I'd recommend seeing it. If you're not, well, it's still worth seeing, but maybe wait until it's on cable.

On the plus side, I did get a little knitting in. I finished one pair of socks for CIC:


Hand dyed Knit Picks WotA. Love those orange toes! I think they might actually glow in the dark.

I started another pair:


using some Cascade 220 I got in a swap a while back. I'm ready to start the toe, which is what the blue yarn is for. For some reason, I get such a kick out of contrast toes. Doesn't take much to amuse me, I guess.

For instance, sneaking up on cats for extreme closeups while they are trying to nap is a hoot.

The things you find

I finished the Magic Slipper booties a few days ago; finally got around to taking a pic today prior to tucking them into a box of clothing heading to the Cheyenne River Reservation. I stuffed them with some oddments of yarn to give you a better look:

While looking for a scrap of yarn and a tapestry needle to tie the booties together for their trip, I found this lurking under the pile of yarn and WIPs that inhabit one corner of our sofa:

A pair of socks just waiting for one final toe to be sewn up! I had forgotten all about these; I think I finished them while I was sick, and didn't feel up to the challenge of Kitchener with a head cold. So, a few minutes later, I had a pair of socks for CIC:

Man, that was easy. I ought to sort through that corner more often.

More better

This cold is hanging on something fierce, but I am feeling a little better. I did manage to command enough brain power to graft the toe on the socks for CIC:

Lion Wool, Ocean Blues colorway, my usual toddler sock pattern. These make pair #4 in my personal Magic28 challenge to make 28 pair for charity. Luckily, I've set no deadline for myself!

I was going to pick up my Weekend Sweater and join up all the pieces, but as best as I can tell, I need a longer circular needle. I thought I bought a longer one, but I can't find it. It's about 50/50 which is faulty; my memory or my ability to find it. So, I'm ordering another needle; as soon as it gets here, I plan to really focus on finishing that sweater. It's cold, dammit, and I need more wool!

Speaking of cold, it's supposed to be brutally cold here today; temps are supposed to drop down to 8 freakin' degrees. I have become a total wimp when it comes to cold weather; I used to be OK as long as it stayed above 0. Now, I start kvetching when it gets below freezing. Anyway, my plans today involve staying inside, resting (to chase away this lousy cold), maybe watching a movie. If I get really ambitious, I might bake a little. Carbohydrates are very good for a cold.

Make room for me, kids; I'm joining you.

A Day Late

I'm afraid I didn't get my warm-up box out yesterday, which was the mailing deadline for the Warm-Up Box Challenge for Cheyenne River Reservation. It wasn't because I failed to finish up the last couple of items I wanted to include. I finished up the Little Sky Booties:

They only took about 32g of worsted, give or take a few g (since my postal scale isn't excrutiatingly accurate). Definitely a quick knit.

I finished a warm scarf for Mr. Teddy Bear:

I figure he can be counted on to warm up someone's heart.

It wasn't because I failed to fill the box; with the help of a few purchased items, it's nice and full of things to warm up a person inside and out:


No, I just couldn't get my chores finished on Saturday in time to get the box in the mail. So, it'll go out Monday. I guess, technically, that makes me two days late. Oh well, even if I missed the challenge, it will still be put to good use.

Now that that's done, I'm returning to knitting for me, since the weather is cold and I want more wool! I'm working today, but I brought along ILG Sock #2. I've downloaded a new audio book, Trent's Last Case by E.C. Bentley. If things continue as quiet as they have been so far, I should make some nice progress.

Wish me luck!

Celebrating Caturday with an FO

I finished up the last three rounds of the socks for Cheyenne River:


They didn't turn out baby-sized after all; they're big enough to fit a toddler, which is what I was aiming for. Sure did look tiny when I started them! The next pair will be baby-sized, though:


I bought Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters and I'm making the Little Sky learning sock. This book is wild; talk about turning sock knitting on its ear! I love the look of having the gussets on top of the foot; looking forward to trying it out in a sock sized for me so I can see what it feels like. I foresee lots of little socks in my future as I try out all the new ways of shaping woolly foot coverings.

In other news, the b/f found a Caturday video online and wanted me to post it, so here it is for your viewing pleasure:

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Happy Caturday!

Changing Colors

The leaves on the trees are starting to change colors. Since we had such a dry summer, the weather guessers say the colors won't be spectactular this year, but they're still beautiful to my eyes. I love the fact that this is the view from my back door.

Today, much of my time was spent on the couch (cat on lap), watching TV and knitting (with occasional breaks to sit on the back porch and enjoy the view). The toe-up socks are done and bathed, and I must say I am quite happy with them.

I used Grumperina's bindoff, and it is quite stretchy. I tested it by pulling these socks on over my feet, and while the socks are nowhere large enough for me, the cuff stretched enough to go over my heel.

Speaking of heels, here's a closeup of the Sherman heel. I cranked up the brightness and contrast, so you'd have a chance of seeing it:

Very nice, and no holes this time!

These socks are #3 of the Magic 28. They will be going to Afghans for Afghans, so my box still has just one lonely hat in it. However, I finished the 11th hour hat today, and gave it a bath. Once it's dry, I'll snap a pic and then the box will have two hats! I'm feeling just a wee bit worried about my ability to fill that big box in time.

I started a pair of child's slippers today, using this pattern. Boy, it's a fast knit! I'm almost done with slipper #1. I'm thinking about making a pair in my size, so I can test some ideas for slight modifications. I would really like to not have any seams to sew when I'm done. We'll see what I can come up with.

Hilfy, back when she was a cute little kitten.

Didn't go out

All weekend, I was seeing ads for Columbus Day sales, thinking "Does anybody actually get this holiday off anymore? Or is it just an excuse for a sale?"

Sunday afternoon, as planned, I finished the socks I'm sending to Afghans for Afghans, gave them a nice bath, and hung them up to dry. Monday morning, I packed them up and started to print out postage to mail them, when I learned of at least one group that gets Columbus Day off--the post office.

So, these socks didn't go out Monday like I planned, but they are going out today, and should still get there in time to go in the shipment to Kabul and Bamiyan.

Oh, and these count as Pair #2 for the Magic 28 challenge; I have challenged myself to knit 28 pairs of socks for charity. Good thing I didn't put a time limit on it, since Pair #1 was finished back in May. Oh well, I figure I have a lot of knitting years ahead of me; I'll get there eventually.

Magic 28 - Pair #1

I recently joined the Magic 28 web ring, with the goal of knitting 28 pairs of socks for charity. The socks I finished up on Sunday are pair #1; I'll give you another look at them:


My usual sock pattern, made with Knit Picks' WotA, plus some tapestry wool for contrast. Both yarns were generously given to me by other knitters. Added a little wooly nylon at the toe for longer wear. As mentioned earlier, this pair will be heading off to Afghanistan.

Now I'm sorting through the HUGE pile of yarn given to me by another CIC knitter, and planning what to make next. With all the little skeins of tapestry yarn, something striped seems likely.

We're getting lots and lots of fairly gentle rain, which is good for my garden, but unfortunately, also good (too good) for the lawn. The rain started Tuesday evening while we were mowing the lawn. We managed to get the front lawn done, but had to give up before starting the back yard. I swear, you could practically see the grass getting higher as the rain fell. It rained Tuesday night and all day Wednesday. It's raining intermittently today, and the rain is supposed to end sometime on Friday. By the time it's over, I'm going to need a machete to hack a path to the shed where the mower is stored. I think one of our neighbors has a goat; maybe I should borrow him for a while. A goat can mow even when the grass is wet; yet another example of the superiority of nature over technology! ;)