Jammies at Noon

I dare you (or anyone you know for that matter) to be unhappy while wearing these socks.  Hell, I suspect just being in the presence of someone who wears these should cheer you right up. 

The fact that there is only ONE of these socks at this moment is not a problem.  At all.  because I'm going to start the second one right away.  In fact I'm going to avoid the boring second sock curse simply by reversing the colors.  Don't think I can or should?  Watch me. 

I've always known my propensity for wearing mismatched socks would come in handy.  See, these are the socks I have on right now.

sadly, I did not make these

Yes.  They ARE cats on one foot and dogs on the other.  I am an equal-opportunity pet-lover.  (and yes, that may well be the bottom hem of my green "Life is Good" Jammies you see.  There is nothing wrong with wearing jammies at work.  If you work at home.)  But since you noticed I'm on my way to clean up and put on grown up clothes.  Now.

And if any of you have a pattern for dog socks (or cat socks) or can point me toward one -- I'll gladly make myself a pair of dog-cat socks.  Thank you very much.

Is there Such a Thing as TOO MANY?

Last night Michael watched me cast on a fun par of socks.  He's fascinated by the entire process of knitting I think.  He watches me intently.  As though by watching the hands and the yarn and the sticks he's going to find the meaning of life.

It's cute.

I've offered to teach him how to do it, but he says no.  He'd rather watch me. 

He'd be really good at it though because he's an engineer and a math whiz.  I feel certain he'd never have the issues with pattern repeats and counting that I do.

Ah well. The socks.

Remember when I told you I let each of my C600 gal pals pick a body part and a color for their Christmas gifts?  (Eventually I'll get around to explaining C600 - the name).

So Sbelle picked fingerless mitts in pink (not really a body part, but she's a rebel).  I made her those cute Mitt Envies in pink (and the yarn is Ella RAE not Mae - just fyi)

what will I do when my model heads to college next fall?

And Tjane picked her head and told me to surprise her.  But she wanted something slouchy to wear after hot yoga.

She got TWO hats - because I'm cool that way (and the hats were really piling up around here)

she couldn't decide between this and the Slouchy Copy Cat in Miss Babs Violets in the Grass.

And now there's Butter's gift to be done.  She picked cozy footie socks for wearing around the house and luxuriating.

That's why I was casting on again last night.  I've cast on a few different yarns and swatches but haven't gotten what I wanted for her just yet.  But I pulled some Amazing Aurora (Lion Brand) from my stash and voila! It's a win.

Which brings me to Michael.  He accused me of NOT being a finisher.  This gets under my skin somehow.  Which is clearly something I should meditate on and wrap my head around.  But that's another story altogether.

In the meantime he made me enumerate all the projects I had going at once.  quickly I deduced which he had SEEN and which he hadn't.  I gave the number of what he's seen.  Smart, right?


How can he say I don't finish things?  Didn't he see what came out of that yarn basket at Christmas?  Oh, and didn't he notice the lapghan that I finished in a day?  Yeah. 

So what say you?  What's too much?

Lazy Knitter Get off your ...

I haven't written here in a while because I think you may be bored with simple, daily run downs of what's on the needles. 

There is also the fact that I apparently cannot count past three.  This is tough in K4, P4 ribs btw.

Recently I realized that I'm a lazy knitter.  Or that my desire to remain a slug in one place is the source of much of my creativity.

I'm inventing a new hat pattern (I'd show you a picture but the hat is downstairs and I'm not, so it will have to wait til I get off my arse and head downstairs to take a picture.  Hopefully I'll remember to bring my camera or it could be another few days....)

The pattern is being invented because I had written a pattern down and left the pattern upstairs (where I am now) and my yarn and needles were downstairs (where the TV is).  Once I was snuggled between my honey and my sweet dog with the blanket over my lap, my wine on the coffee table and the needles in my hands, I wasn't about to head upstairs for a pattern.

I figured I could make something up as I went.

At first I had stage fright, but then I figured if it really was sucky I could unravel the whole thing and follow a pattern.

I'm working it in EllaMae - in black and pink on US#8 circulars.  I cast on 80 stitches, worked a k2, p2 rib for about 2 inches and then sort of decided to wing it.  The first few rounds reflect that (but imperfections like that are my 'calling card')  Now I'm in a rhythm and run a solid round of K, then a round of k2, sl1, k1, then another round of k2, sl1, k1, and then switch the color and do the three rounds again.  simple.  and I'm actually kind of tickled by the way it looks.  If only the hat were here, I could show you.

But it's not.

This Knitter's 2012 List

Yesterday I flipped through a copy of The Knitter's Life List by Gwen W. Steege.  I was at the library - supposedly doing some work to prep the business for the new year, but really, I was basking in a little quiet time and trying to wrap my head around all that happened in 2011 and get a grip (yeah, right) on the new year.

The book had some really nifty and innovative ideas and I'm a sucker for a check-list - nothing makes me happier than crossing things off the to-do list.  Sometimes I write things on my daily list that I've already done, just so I can cross it off.  (sad but true confession).

Here's a list of intentions for my yarn-life in 2012:

• create one intarsia-something - hat/mittens/scarf
• improve my color skills - instead of relying on the yarn to change colors, do it myself
• make a sweater that I'm  happy to wear (right now I'm leaning toward a 3/4 sleeve cardigan)
• get the designs perfected and then the goodies listed on my etsy shop
• attend at least one fiber show
• meet more local fiber heads in the area
• start a monthly gathering for knitters and crocheters

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On another note - here's that scarf I made for Michael - he even agreed to model it for me. (isn't he adorable?)