Procrastinating

Hmm, what am I supposed to be doing right now?

Not blogging.

Actually, I'm supposed to be baking a cheesecake for hubby's potluck at work tomorrow. I totally don't mind it and I actually like baking but, I'm not in the mood right now.

Tonight is the crochet class I'm teaching. I think it will be fun and I'm excited about it but I just got home from my mom's house this morning so I really just feel like lying in bed sleeping today because I didn't sleep well at all last night.

So, let's talk projects. Hmm, I'm still working on the second Waffley goodness sock. It's coming along. Hey, at least it's cast on! No second sock syndrome here. What else? I started another sock but it's ugly so I don't know if I want to even bother taking a picture of it. I'm sure you're asking yourself "why would she be knitting socks she thinks are ugly?". Well, I bought the yarn awhile ago to make socks for myself but I decided that I don't care for the colors in the yarn. Just not my style. So what's the solution? Christmas presents of course. Not sure who these will go to and in the pattern I chose; they're actually not that bad but just not my taste.

I still haven't cast on for my Mystery Stole 4 but I do have the yarn and beads picked out so it's just a matter of picking a day when nothing else is going on and sitting down and getting going. Especially since I would like to be able to knit both halves at once. I think it would feel good to not have to knit it again when I've finished the first one.

Well, I guess I'd better quit procrastinating and get baking.

A Tribute to My Dogs

Once upon a time in a land not-so far away. There lived a young girl with her mother and brother. It was a very exciting time for them because the mother was buying a house and for the first time, they would own their own home.
About two weeks before they moved the aunt brough a small fuzzy bundle to the brother.

She was sweet and kind and beautiful and a little ball of mostly black fuzz. She had just a wee bit of mischief in her and a soft, kind heart. So much so that on her little nest of our unmatched socks she scared herself with her first bark.

The following weekend another small black fuzzy bundle arrived. A brother to the first he was protective and caring and loving.

Our family was complete and we named them Hero and Bandit and they soon grew into their names. Hero was our protector and would have protected us from all wrongs if it was at all possible. Bandit was our sweet little girl with the "magic" white paw and she stole a chocolate chip cookie from the kitchen table where they were set to cool.

They made the teenage years not as awful as they could have been and while our family suffered some pretty nasty turmoil it was them alone who kept us all together. Our love for them that wouldn't let us all break apart. In the winter of 2004 Bandit got sick. Her kidneys had some kind of problem and she slowly withered away. The vet told us she was living on our loving care alone. On the morning of Valentine's Day 2005, she went outside to the freshly fallen snow that she loved so much and laid down and didn't get up again.

Our beloved girl was gone and our poor Hero lived on. It was difficult but we got past it. Then in the spring of 2008 we found a lump on our Hero's leg. We took him to the vet but she said the surgery would be hard on him with his heart murmur and his age. Without the surgery we couldn't know for sure what the tumor was and how bad it would be but we knew that it would spread and that his time was limited. We made the difficult decision to let him live his last days peacefully at home.

For awhile he was fine but soon it became apparent that he was fading. Then on September 9, he lay down to nap and passed away. And what do you think was on the Knitter's needles? Rainbow socks. To go with the Rainbow Bridge. And so as she finished the toe of the first, she fashioned an H into the stitches of the toe.

As soon as that toe was kitchenered she knew what she would have to do. She knit the second and put a little B onto the toe.

And so, here they are, the finished rainbow bridge socks for her Hero and Bandit.

I'm just going to go cry quietly now. Thanks for listening to me ramble on.

Nothing much to say

So, I have no new and interesting pictures to show you today. I'm trying to post more often so, let's see.
Well, I'm knitting frantically on my Hero's socks because I'd like to have them finished for a family thing on Saturday. Other than that I'm not doing too much knitting.
I've been doing other house stuff (like making hubby take out the garbage and recycling.) and washing the dishes but that's about all on that front.
Tonight I am going to a knitting meet-up with some Ravelry people. It should be fun. I'm actually not totally freaking out about it so that's a good sign. I have to go look at my map and figure out where it is though so I'd better get that done before dinner.
I'm teaching a crochet class on Monday so tomorrow night I'm going to practice by trying to teach hubby to crochet. That should be quite an adventure. I may have to take pictures of that.

Socks are flying off my needles

Lately I've had this sort of project angst. I get bored with everything. Maybe partially because I feel guilty when I'm knitting that I'm not unpacking. It doesn't make me unpack any more but it does make me feel bad that I'm not unpacking. What's the solution? Start a bunch of new pairs of socks of course.

Let's start with these:

The yarn is Plymouth Yarns Happy Feet and I love, love, love it. The pattern is Emily's Socks from 2-at-Time Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oakes. I tried to do socks two on one circular but it didn't work for me. Maybe if I can try another needle a different time, it will work but for now, no. The pattern is written for children but I sized it up to fit my clodhoppers. I wasn't sure about the color of the yarn but it looks beautiful in this pattern and now, means something to me.

While knitting these socks, my beloved Hero died.

He was fifteen years old and sick so it's good that he's in a better place but it still hurts and it still sucks. I miss him every day. But, he died while I was knitting these socks with the rainbow yarn.

Check out this to understand http://rainbowsbridge.com/Poem.htm so now they are my Hero socks.

I can't talk about that anymore so let's move on. To Christmas presents. Yes, I'm planning ahead. Last year I finished the last project on Christmas Eve morning and while I could totally see myself doing it again, I'd rather not. So, Here are the Waffley Goodness socks

These are knit of Alpaca Sock Yarn and they are for my Mother-in-Law for Christmas. I think they are really beautiful and soft and I hope she will like them a lot.

I went to a movie with some friends last weekend. Babylon A.D. with Vin Diesel. It was only okay but I did manage to get some knitting done in the theater on these:

They are just a basic ribbed sock knit in Regia. they are intended for my dad and I know he will like them. I knit him socks last year for Christmas and he wears them every Sunday for Church.

I have one other pair of socks lying around but I'm not really sure what to do with them.

The last time I stopped into my LYS I picked up some Maizy sock yarn to try it out. It's nice and I like the yarn but I'm not thrilled with how it's knitting up in these basic toe-up socks so I think a good frogging is in order and a new pattern needs to be chosen.

Well, that's pretty much it for now. I'd better go and get some unpacking done today.

Grey Skies will finally clear up

So, finally we had a smidge of sun today and I was able to get some pictures of the current projects.

First though, the long, long, long awaited MS3.

Preblocked

During Blocking

Cue heavenly-sounding chorus

Tah-Dah!

This is knit out of Indie II yarn 55% silk, 45% cashmere from Little Knits It's so soft and floaty, I just adore it. Plus the pattern is beautiful and I can't wait until I can wear it somewhere. Never mind that I know of nowhere that I could wear it. (I'm not exactly glamorous.)

Hmm, looking at this, I know none of my other boring little socks will be able to compete so let's save those pics for another day, shall we?

Blocking...Please wait.

It feels like so much has been going on but in actuality it's been the same old, same old.
I have been unpacking the last of our boxes. Yay! Finally. But our tiny apartment is still full of them so I still have a ways to go and I have been doing some knitting. I say some but really I have had a wicked case of startitis and it has made my attention span even less than usual.
I cast on 4 new pairs of socks. That doesn't mean that I finished any though. I just cast on more.
I'm starting to think about Christmas gifts though so most of what I have cast on is for that.
I have finished the knitting of my Mystery Stole 3 and it is blocking right now. It's very exciting. It's the first major lace project that I've done and it's so exciting I can hardly believe it.
I picked out the yarn for Mystery Stole 4 and I printed off the clues but I haven't actually wound the yarn or started yet. I'm excited to but I know that it requires some attention span. I'm not sure that I have enough attention span right now.
You can't tell but I'm typing really fast, I think it may be time to stop drinking coffee today. Hmm, maybe not, I have to do the laundry now.
I'll post pictures of new socks and such soon but it's really grey and icky today so I don't think anything will turn out.