All Socks, All the Time!

It was a quiet day spent at jury service. At the very end of the day I was seated on a jury so I will have a new experience starting tomorrow. Of course, I cannot divulge any particulars, so I'll just focus on what I do when I'm not in the courtroom.

Most importantly, I spent my time while handing out goodies to the ghouls and goblins by finishing my Socktoberfest socks! Yay! Once again, I squeak in under the wire. The infamous Parrot Socks are finished. They are still really wild, but I think they suit the intended recipient. I'm too late for the prizes, but I have finished socks.

Next up is another progress picture of my Mosaic socks. This one is a bit more true to the colors. I need another skein of the forest green Regia Stretch to do the second sock.

Finally, we have the sum total of my knitting while at the courthouse. I did the tubular cast on and first row of the Aran socks from Socks, Socks, Socks that is the November sock for the Socks3KAL. I'm using the KFI Cashmereno that Grumperina raves about. We'll see.

Jury Duty Time

The courthouse has wi-fi! So, how do I spend my time? By finding a quizzy time waster, of course.

You are Jacques Lacan! Arguably the most important
psychoanalyst since Freud, you never wrote
anything down, and the only works of yours are
transcriptions of your lectures. You are
notoriously difficult to understand, but at
least you didn't talk about the penis as much
as other psychoanalysts. You died in 1981.


What 20th Century Theorist are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

I Have Fans?????

No way! Well, I must serve my public..... As requested, I have pictures, lots of pictures!

First off are two pictures of the finished Clapotis. I used Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Blueberry Hill and US6 needles. I modified the pattern by adding two extra increase repeats and six (maybe seven) extra straight repeats. Were I to do it over again in this yarn, I would add one or two increase repeats (to make it wider) and maybe skip one straight repeat (to make it a little shorter). The weight is just right for my weather and it is nice and long so I can drape it around my neck (and then drop over from heat exhaustion).

Grumperina has nothing on me. I hate having my picture taken. Of course, the ridiculously oversized polo doesn't help. At least the overcast day showed off the colors pretty well.

Next up is the glamour shot of the blocked and beautiful Kiri. I'm really proud of this one. It will make a lovely gift for a lovely teacher. This was knit exactly following the pattern using Kidsilk Spray.

Since last I posted, I started two new projects. I cast on for a different Kid Merino scarf. This one is certainly easier than the Madeira Lace scarf, but is rather boring. The color is also an icy blue and I'm not sure it will suit the intended recipient. To console myself, I cast on for the latest pair of socks in the 6SoxKAL and my second entry in Lolly's Socktoberfest. Here we go with Mosaic. I'm using a very dark green that doesn't photograph well (Regia Stretch) and some Wildfoote in Ragtime. This is a pretty good shot of the Wildfoote color. The green is actually darker. Because I only have one skein of the green (slightly less than one skein, to be precise), I think I will continue with the varigated for the foot. For this sock, I learned the tubular cast-on and it seems very nice. I used US2 needles for the ribbing and switched to US3 for the pattern. I'm going down to either US2 or US1 for the foot. We'll see.

Another One Finished!

Clapotis is complete! The final product isn't quite what I expected, but it is lovely. Were I to do it over again, I would probably have made it a little wider, but a little shorter. Pictures to come.

Now I need another project or two! I finished both Clapotis and Kiri without starting something new. The parrot socks are coming along nicely. I think more socks are in order now that I squeaked into Lolly's Socktoberfest. Yes, more socks.... Mmmmm. I have a copy of Knitting Vintage Socks that is just itching to be used.

Silly L.A. Moment

So last night we were watching Desperate Housewives (shut up, you were, too) and there was Teri Hatcher running through a park searching for Zach. It was the same park where Knit in the City was held on Saturday! I don't usually get all goofy over stuff like this. Okay, so I do chuckle every time I see Harrison Ford running through the "Bogota Airport" in Clear and Present Danger, knowing full well that it is really John Wayne Airport. Even after 20 years in Southern California, I still find it amusing to see places I know on screen.

Oh, and one last Knit in the City comment to the organizers: If you are going to post directions on your website, please make sure that they are correct. There is NO Colorado Blvd exit from the 210 West. Nope, none. Luckily, I checked my trusty Thomas Guide before leaving and I got a heads up phone call from Zona.

Okay, return to your regularly scheduled day.

Knit in the City

Home again after an exhausting afternoon. We sat, we knit, we conquered. Well, we did sit and knit. I was a bad, bad blogger. I didn't take a single picture. Not one. I didn't even take a picture of the way-out knitting going on with 8 foot dpns. Really! Not only did I not take a picture of the All Things String gang, I didn't take a picture of Wendy from Knit and Tonic. I also didn't go over and introduce myself because that just seemed so lame. So instead of looking lame, I looked like a stalker. Wendy, if you read this, that redhead in the green t-shirt who kept looking at your group when she wasn't knitting wildly on her wild, parrot sock is not a stalker. Nuts, maybe, but not a stalker. My reluctance was pretty crazy when you consider that knitters are, on average, really, really nice. I do a lot of different arts and crafts and I've known some downright nasty, snobbish stitchers (you know who you are). Very little of that shows up during knitting gatherings. It is refreshing. Maybe I'll get up my nerve some other time.

As for the event, well, it wasn't quite what I expected. It was small and the vendors were not allowed to sell yarn. You read that right, no yarn was sold! Ack! A few enterprising booths had kits for sale and there were books, but we could only look and drool at the yarn. It was torture!

I felt so sorry for the crepe cart. They must not have known what they were getting into when they signed up. Here was a park full of knitters deprived of yarn shopping and there was only one food vendor with whom to console ourselves. The poor creperie was mobbed. They did have Nutella so all was made better. Seriously, if you are in Pasadena after 26 October, you really should stop in at The Crepe Vine Bistro and Wine Bar. These folks made great crepes and they hung in there in the sun with the long lines of desperate knitters.

So, I have no pictures from Pasadena, but I will close today's post with Kiri, pinned out in all her glory.

Do you see them? Points! I have points!

Silly Friday Quiz Time

No, Kiri is not yet blocked. Yes, I am still going to Knit for the Cure.

Thanks (I think) to Chappysmom for this one.


You are 'programming in QBASIC'. This programming
language (of which the acronym stands for
'Quick Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic
Instruction Code'), which is so primitive that
it cannot easily be used for any purpose
involving the Internet nor even sound, was
current more than a decade ago.

You are independent, in a good way. When something
which you need cannot be found, you make it
yourself. In writing and in talking with
people, you value clarity and precision; your
friends may not realize how important that is.
When necessary, you are prepared to be a
mediator in conflicts between your friends.
You are very rational, and you think of things
in terms of logic and common sense.
Unfortunately, your emotionally unstable
friends may be put off by your devotion to
logic; they may even accuse you of pedantry and
insensitivity. Your problem is that
programming in QBASIC has been obsolete for a
long time.


What obsolete skill are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

In Which We Ponder

The question of the day is, "What is worse than frogging Kidsilk when in the midst of a project?" Meditate on this while we continue.

It has been a quiet week at the home of the engineers. Young Man has just finished his first book of the school year (Nancy Drew and The Hidden Staircase) and came home with a 100% on his most recent spelling test. He is having a fabulous time at school and is loving having neighborhood friends waiting for him to play when he arrives home.

I managed to make it to the weekly All Things String gathering at a local Starbucks this evening. It was great to be back with the gang after several weeks (okay, closer to two months) of missed opportunities. Clapotis got to mingle with friends. I think I might be ready to start the decreases, but maybe I need just one more straight repeat.... The parrot socks are looking better. They are still wild, but they seem less hideous than before.

One fit of temporary insanity did overtake me on Tuesday when I dove headlong into Tess of the d'Urbervilles even though I recognize that there is absolutely no way that it will be finished by noon on Wednesday for book club.

I strongly suspect that hiding from the present via a literary journey into the past was a direct result of learning the answer to today's question. Of course, the answer is that what is worse than frogging Kidsilk in the middle of a project is frogging Kidsilk after it has been soaked for blocking. On Sunday, I launched into blocking Kiri and it all was going well until I realized that my "fairly loose" cast off was nothing of the sort. Not only was I not going to see any points on the edge, I wasn't even going to see an edge. The tight border simply could not stretch enough to be pinned flat. Kiri was given a short time out and then I tinked the cast off, cut off the yarn used for the cast off, and gave it another go. The edge now looks like it may even produce points! Tomorrow night will be the second soaking and pinning after which all will be revealed.

Kiri and Herbie All In One Day

She is having her soak and will be stretched and pinned in just a few minutes. She is already gorgeous!

All in all, it was a very good day. Young Man had a great time at the auto show. It was family day so all children had free admission and the first 100 children received a flyer good for a free copy of the Herbie Fully Loaded DVD. Young Man was thrilled!

Winners!

I just learned that I won first prize in Quiddity's sock picture contest! I can hardly wait to get my hands on that Lorna's Laces sock yarn. Mmmmmmmm. Thank you for a fun contest and thank you very much for the yarn!

In other news, I haven't had time for blogging because I've been working diligently on Kiri. I only have four rows and then the bind off! This is really an easy lace project and the Kidsilk Spray is fantastic. It is far easier to use than the other laceweight that I tried previously. When next I post, I should have a finished picture of Kiri! Well, maybe an unblocked picture. Hopefully, I'll have time to block her tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow morning will be taken up with a trip to the California International Auto Show. Young Man is looking forward to seeing the "real" Herbie and I'm looking forward to trying on some cars. The party van has cost us many pennies this year and every new rattle makes me nervous.

Next weekend will be Knit for the Cure in Pasadena. Who's in?

Eight Years

It's been an incredible ride and I am looking forward to what comes next. Eight years ago I was in the middle of the most physically demanding day of my life. At the very end, just a few minutes before midnight, it was all worth it when I saw this sweet face. Happy Birthday, Young Man. You amaze me every day.

I'm glad you and your class enjoyed the birthday ghosts.

Because I Have No Shame

Okay, I freely admit that I am a sucker for contests. I also have become a sock knitter. Who knew? Quiddity has a sock picture contest. Here are mine. Admittedly, my collection does not even begin to rival hers. One must remember that I have only been knitting since January and my first pair of socks were produced in April of this year. I did pad the total a bit as not all of these are for my feet, but these are all of the socks that I have ever knit. The two pair on the left belong to Young Man. The solid color green pair in the middle is destined for my sister.

I also give you 18 birthday ghost brownies. Why ghosts? You would have to ask Young Man. If you do figure out why he wanted ghost brownies for his birthday treat at school, you should win some award. The intricacies of the nearly eight-year-old mind are beyond my intellect. Come back later for a picture of the ghosts in their "sheets."

Fitting...


You are Mohair.
You are a warm and fuzzy type who works well with
others, doing your share without being too
weighty. You can be stubborn and absolutely
refuse to change your position once it is set,
but that's okay since you are good at covering
up your mistakes.


What kind of yarn are you?
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Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm....

First is a quizzical hmmmm. I don't know, I just don't know. This is the first half of the first Parrot sock. I have heard that other Opal knitters are having problems with the patterning of this yarn. The ribbing had me almost ready to frog, but the leg seems better. I think I will stick these out. It is difficult now that the new 6 Sox pattern is up. I have that yarn picked out (from stash, even) and really want to cast on.

Next up is a more interesting hmmmm. Here is my first progress shot of Kiri. I have finished 8 repeats of the lace pattern and one ball of Kidsilk Spray. Part of me wants to take a break because it isn't so challenging now that I have the pattern memorized. The reasonable part of me says to keep going now that I have the momentum. The plan is to give this to the wonderful teacher of Young Man's third grade class.

Finally, we have the hmmm of satisfaction as I continue on Claptotis. I believe I am in the 14th repeat of the straight section. I think I will go for 16 repeats. We'll see. It may need more as I do not want it to be too short. There is some pooling going on, but it seems to be working out nicely.