KnittyOtter

Entrelac Scarf & The Time Warp

I finished my Entrelac Scarf last month or so. Due to the time warp I keep finding myself in who knows. It may have been December. o.0

Anyhoo I finally finished it. The holdup on this project was caused by bad yarn management. I had 4 balls of the Trendsetter Tonalita #2349. Somehow one of my balls got away from me. Heh.

When I was cleaning up the yarn cabinet last month or so I found it so I could finally finish my scarf. Wheeeee!! I really liked knitting this up. I sure hope so considering I went so far as to make a Tutorial for it. ;^)

I've worn it several times and like it very much, although the colors don't so much match anything. It's very dreamcoaty that way. Which is fine because unless it's a Cookie Creation I rarely wear matching knits... because I've yet to get around to knitting a matching item.

I do like this scarf lots though. George looks Faboo in it as well. :D Clickty Biggety!

The actual knitting time wasn't much for this project. My inability to stay monogamous to a single project and bad yarn management is the real time suck here.

I think I want another one of these in more sedate colors. I really liked the way the greys flow in the scarf Cookie made a while back. Not sure about Grey... a few weeks ago or so this asshat of a woman told me, as I was wearing my just finished and proudly completed Duckie Hat, "I Hate to tell you this, but grey isn't your color". If I'd had any sense I'd have asked her why she felt the need to give out her unasked for opinion if she hated doing it so much. Feh. I very adultly ignored her... I think. I may have beaten her to death and blocked it out of my memory. You never know these days. I blinked and we went from the 4th to the 13th. o.0

This time warp shit has got to stop. I know life is happening in the blackout areas. I have knitting proof that I was awake during the missing time. But damn, how the fuck is it the middle of February already.

Last month Florrie mentioned a Leftover Sock Yarn Knit Along she was going to start on February 14th. It's here tomorrow and I still need to get my yarn leftovers together. There is also a contest with the Knit Along. It's a Crazy Socks Contest! :D If you like the idea of using your sock yarn leftovers to knit up a fun pair of socks and the possibility of winning some super nifty knitting swag why don'tcha give it a check out and knit yourself some Crazy Ass Socks. :D

I think I'm going to try to finish the socks I'm knitting on now before I start my Crazy Leftover Socks. I just started the feet on both socks yesterday when TKK and I were sitting outside enjoying the warm weather and sunshine. I was even wearing Shorts and a Tank Top. Today it's raining and it might snow later. That's okay too. ;^)

Eye Candy Friday: Socks and the Sweet Green Icing

I knit myself another pair of Autumny socks for Socktoberfest. I love them muchly. They will be worn for the first time tomorrow night. The photo's don't do the colors justice. I had weird lighting outside when I took the photos on the 16th. We have weirder lighting due to all the smokey haze now so we'll have to live with these. All Photos Clickety Biggety!

Here are my Sock Stats.

Cast On: Friday October 5, 2007 - During that trashy yet yummy vampire show Moonlight. *purr* I love me a good sexy vampire. So anguished and tender yet strong and ferocious. *L*
Cast Off: Thursday October 11, 2007 - During CSI :P
Pattern: Hiiumaa Socks from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush. I didn't do any color changes, just used the basic construction of the pattern. I think it's the perfect basic sock pattern. :D This is the same pattern I used for my Honey Socks.
Yarn: Trekking XXL Sock Yarn: Aquarell 150 (Here's what the color looks like in person.)
Yardage: The skien of yarn started with 459 yards and I have 92 yards leftover, so I used 367 yards.
Yarn Source: Pioneer Yarn Company - Procured on a day trip out to Minden with a group of friends. One lady saw the yarn and insisted I buy it because she thought it would go with the sweater I'm knitting for myself. It does, and who am I to say no to sock yarn. :P
Needles: Brittany Needles - Birch - US #3 / 3.25 mm - 5" (In retrospect I would have used the 2's like I intended... The socks are a bit larger than I need, but not too much. Next time I'll get gauge and they'll be perfect.
Again: Hell's Yeah!!! I love this Pattern muchly. Love the yarn muchly.
For?  Me.
Notes: I knit these socks faster than I have knit any other pair of socks. I was very pleased with how quickly they knit up. I think it was due partly to the fact I wanted to see what the self patterning yarn would look like. That is so exciting seeing how the yarn will come alive. :D This was the first time I have knit with Trekking. LOVE. These were also the tallest socks I ever knit for myself. They are as tall as I'm comfy with unless I want to do a full knee sock... which I am thinking about for a future pair of socks. 

Knitting on now? On Monday October 8th during Hero's I cast on to a new pair of socks for My Best Friend. *Happy Otter Dance* I have high hopes of finishing them by next Wednesday if not sooner.

Here's another photograph of the socks.

See that Pumpkin, Bob, there, his ass is gonna die later. Roasted and then made into my famous super yummy Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing. Some will be frozen and mailed out to a certain pink ball of yarn wearing glasses and Rendog. Let's hope they travel well. o.0 The rest will be enjoyed by the honey and some peoples here locally. Goodbye Bob you are a good Pumpkin. A well loved Pumpkin and now you will also be a yummy pumpkin. *evil grin*

Now for some Friday Eye Candy. This is the cake I made for Rendog on his birthday.

I will never bake this cake again. It took so long to make it and it was rather crappy and should never be eaten again. Oooooh Noooooo!!!

Yes it is a MacArthur's Park Cake. Complete with Sweet Green Icing Melting down. *GRIN*

Normally I'd make up my own recipe based upon my years of experience. Not this time though. I got it into my silly head that I'd use a fancy schmancy recipe for my brothers cake in the hopes that it would be the best cake ever.

I didn't think that through. See the recipe called for a pound of butter for the cake and a pound of butter for the icing. Fuck That. o.0

So I sorta half did the recipe, leaving out about a pound and a half of butter yet not adding in any sort of fruit puree as I normally would. *sigh* That's why fruit cakes are such a joy. You can do anything you like to them and they generally come out well. Not so the chocolate cake from scratch. (Or at least I wasn't prepared for it at the time.)  Oh I could have used a box cake, but box cake tastes like ass, nasty nasty ass. Or at least as close to ass as one can imagine ass would taste. :P

We had the cake after a day of much celebrating. The three of us managed to choke down a piece of this dry cake, but the next day after Rendog flew home it wasn't touched. It stayed in the fridge for a week in honor of him.

So now I will work on making a good chocolate cake that doesn't call for a ton of butter and sugar to make it palatable. I'm thinking I'll try making a chocolate fruit based cake. Start with what I know. Chocolate with Raspberry will be my first attempt. Someday after I get over my love affair with Pumpkins that is. ;^) I also have an idea for an apple and cranberry creation that will need to be explored at some point. Heh.

In other news I was out of town last week or so. Got home a few nights ago. I'll go into detail about my travels in my next post. This one is quite long enough don'tcha think. o.0

Campfire Socks & Pink Dream Revisted

I finished my Dave Daniels Cabin Cove Campfire socks Tuesday night during House & Boston Legal. Love those shows. *purr* Since it is October they count as Socktoberfest Socks. :D Those are the best kind of socks ya know.

I cast on to the first sock during a flight back east on June 14th. They were intended to be my "Summer of Socks" Socks as well as for the Shut Up And Knit Your Cabin Cover Along. Unfortunately I was held up by the short row heel directions on the Tropicana Sock Pattern that I was using. So they sat for months untouched. A few weeks ago or so the lovely, talented and bestest friend a person could ever have, Cookie, came to my rescue and wrote up a sensible short row heel pattern to fit the number of stitches I had so I could finish these socks up. (She has great Nupps , btw. *wiggles eyebrow in a not entirely appropriate way*)

I waited until I finished my Midnight in the Pumpkin Patch Socks before I got started. So last Friday night I cast on to the second sock while the honey drove me to meet up with some friends. Saturday night I was at the heel of both socks. Unfortunately my brain wasn't so much working so I had to wait until Sunday before I was finally able to understand the whole short row heel thing. Sunday and Monday were foot knitting days and Tuesday I was finishing up the toes. I didn't do the pattern down the foot and I didn't do the pattern toe either. Since I was changing so much of the pattern around anyway I went ahead and did a round toe. I think that's what it's called. It's from the book Knitting on the Road.

I was in a knitting frenzy. Well at the very least a knitting journey. Between Dave's fabulous sock yarn, the Tropicana pattern for the leg/cuff, Cookie's sensible short row heel and the idea of finishing another pair of socks I was on a roll. Cause that's how I roll. Heh.

I love these socks. The heels may be a little messy, but that's just cause I'm new to short rows. They are comfy, soft (SOOOOOO SOFT) and warm. Plus they look faboo on. I'm more than pleased. :D Clickety Biggety All Photos in this Post!

The photos aren't the greatest. Don't really show off the color as well as they should. Yes, I know I will go get a real camera sooner or later. Think I've found the store I want to deal with finally.

Here are my Sock Stats.

Cast On: June 14, 2007
Cast Off: October 2, 2007
Pattern: I used the Tropicana Sock Pattern to determine my guage, number of stitches to cast on and the cuff/leg portion of the sock. I used Cookies sensible short row pattern for the heel and the round toe from Knitting on the road.
Yarn: Dave Daniels Cabin Cove Mercantile Sock Yarn in the colorway Campfire. LOVE!
Yardage: The skien of yarn started with 450 yards and I have half left, so I used 225 yards. I have enough left to make another short-ish pair of socks. :D
Yarn Source: Dave Daniels Cabin Cover Mercantile
Needles: Bryspun Double Points - US #4 / 3.5 mm - I had to go up to that size to get the recommended gauge. Yes, I knit tight. o.0
Again: I like the feather and fan cuff pattern, but there are surely many patterns with that feature out there. I think I might try a different one in the future...
For?  Me.
Notes: I really enjoyed knitting these socks once I got past the WTF is wrong here with the initial short row heel pattern. I like a patterned sock. Makes it go faster because it's so interesting and exciting seeing how the yarn will knit up. Though anything knit with Dave yarn is a joy to knit up. It makes your hands happy. :D

Knitting on now? I don't have any socks on the needles at the moment. I'll be looking through the sock yarn stash to pick out my Official Socktoberfest 2007 socks. I wonder which lucky skein will be chosen. Ooooo! In none sock knitting news I am working on my set aside Entrelac Scarf and Ducky Hat may be getting some action as well.

Here's another photograph of the socks. I was perhaps having a bit too much fun with the backyard photography. Those mini things are "Pumpkin Tree's" So cute. :D

See that pumpkin there, his name is BoB. He is going to be murdered soon. He may end up as a pie or he may end up as cookies or pumpkin bread. Either way, his time on this earth is limited. *evil laugh*

Also here is a bonus shot of my Pink Dream Socks. I never took a proper photo of them during the Shut Up and Knit Your Cabin Cove Along for Dave's Gallery, so here ya go.

Dave you have permission to use these photos as you wish. :^)

I'm having the sock love. I can't wait to cast on to my next pair. *dances*

Blink and You'll Miss It... How Time Flies

Dear Time,

What the hell? Seriously. I have no idea how we got off on the wrong foot, but I'd be pleased if we could be friends again. You know me living in real time and you not running all over my ass.

So yeah. Get on that.

Much Love,
Otter

Last week I told My Best Friend that I intended to blog everyday to get back into the swing of things. Or was that two weeks ago? o.0 That's just sad.

I'd say I'd lost my whack again, but I'm starting to wonder if I ever really had any whack to be out of in the first place.

It's been a long long summer and having lost myself in the spring I'm at a loss for who I am this Autumn.

Well not exactly...

I guess I'll start by telling you what I've been up to most recently.

I finally got my car back Saturday Morning.

Oh yeah by the way, some asshat ran into the back of my car while RenDogg and I were stopped at a stop sign on August 27th. It had been in the shop for the past three weeks while they fixed it. Joy. Ya know, being without a car sucks ass. Totally threw me off track the last few weeks. We were fine if you're wondering.

The first snow of the season hit the mountains last week or so. It hailed pea size hail down here. Pretty funky stuff going on weather wise actually. We've been on Tomato Watch 2007 trying to gauge when the perfect time to harvest them would be. The weather has been kinda up and down so it's hard to tell how long is too long to let them stay on the plants. I've gotten some advice from Cookie on how to bring them inside to ripen so we should be okay. We even have 4 or 5 that are pink now. If we can hold out a few more days as the weather warms up during the day we might actually get to taste them fresh off the vine. Of course Saturday we woke up to snow on the ground and roof so who knows how that plan will work out.

I took some sky photos for last weeks Saturday Sky Post, but never got around to posting them so here they are. Clickety Biggety!

Thursday September 20 - Snow on Mt. Rose.

Friday September 21 - view from backyard

Saturday September 22 - view from backyard - covered in clouds

Saturday September 22 - view from back door towards Peavine Mountain

Sunday September 23 / First Day of Autumn - Frost and Fog - we covered the tomatoes and other garden items with towels the previous evening so they were okay

In addition to watching the sky and weather we've been winterizing the house. Last week we sprayed outside around the house for Spiders. The honey also set out natural herby spider repelling satchels inside. I hate spiders.  Although I do have several serving dishes that have spider designs on them... a candelabra as well. But that doesn't mean I like them or anything.

Lookie what we found outside by the front door after he sprayed.

Yes,  that is a Black Widow Spider. *Icky Shudder*

The Honey Squished it for me just to be certain though. I hope it didn't have Babies. o.0

Other then the occasional spooky spider I LOVE Autumn. Last Sunday was the first day of Autumn and since I realized it a few days before I was able to throw together a small get together to celebrate. I had 10 or so people over for an Autumn Tea Luncheon the 23rd. Much fun. Though I think I was slightly brain dead when people arrived... but that's my new norm. I wonder if I'm spending too much time with George.

I made a yummy Barley Soup that featured late summer veggies and Buffalo and Beef. There was of course a variety of Autumn Tea's to be sampled. I also made several types of tea sandwiches and an Apple, Pecan, Gorgonzola green salad. Dessert was my yummy Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Frosting Cookies and mini apple pies with fresh whipped cream. All homemade of course. ;^) I'll be writing up the apple pie recipes soon... well at some point. I had a few people over for dinner Saturday and made the mini pies again. Though I tried to bake the apple mixture halfway before putting it in the crust cups. Bleh. Better to stick to my original plan. Keep it Simple!

This past Saturday was kind of a busy day for us. Besides having people over for dinner we picked up my car in the morning. Then I went and had coffee and hung out with some friends. Then the honey took me to see that Eastern Promises Movie. Me-ow!

It was a good movie. How could you go wrong though, David Cronenberg & Viggo Mortensen together again. They did A History of Violence together a few years ago. Even if you don't know what this movie is about I'd recommend going to see it. All you need to really know is this:

Viggo Mortensen Full Frontal Nudity

Actually it's more of an every angle kinda thing. o.0

So yeah. That was a nifty movie.

After that we came home and I made dinner and knit until it was time for people to show up.

I've been knitting with intention lately. I even finished two projects. I'll tell you about the second project I finished this week now.

Last Sunday after everyone left I wanted to relax and I was at a point in all of my knitting where I had to use my brain. We'll my brain was having none of that. My seemingly only option was to continue to knit on my Trouble with Tribbles Mohair Wrap. But for some reason that just wasn't appealing to me. I think it's because I need to call the store and have two more balls of the yarn sent to me. *sigh* But a thought popped into my whee monkey brain and without really thinking I grabbed that project and got started.

So with one sock done and needles in hand I cast onto my second Midnight in the Pumpkin Patch Sock. Yes. Finally.

I knit with intention and completed the sock Thursday night during CSI. Sunday to Thursday for one sock. That's a record for me. I even wore them to dinner with friends Friday Night.

Here they are in this years Pumpkin Patch with the Pumpkin known as PIE.

Clickety Biggety!

The sock on the left with the Green Toe is the one that was finished last week. :D I really love how the toes are different like that. Heh.

These are the first socks I've knit from yarn I dyed myself. I'm quite pleased. I dyed this colorway because my own pumpkin patch was a dying mess without a single pumpkin to show for the effort. At least this year I have the one pumpkin. :p

These were also my Socktoberfest Socks from last year. Now that they are finished I need to decide what I'll knit up this Socktoberfest. *grin*

PLUS we are officially in Halloween Month! YAY!!!

So that's what I've been up to. Well some of it. ;^)

I knit, no really...

It's been a long hot summer and though I haven't been posting as much as normal I have been knitting.

No, Really. :D

I even finished something.

No, Really. :p

It's even something I can finally post for the Summer of Socks.

Oh Shut Up, It's true!

The Honey socks were finished in July or so. I've been really bad about taking notes so I don't know exactly when it was. *sigh*

Here they are. The sun washed out the color some. They are much darker and in person.

Clickety Biggety!

The flowers are marigolds that came out of my garden. They went bonkers and out grew their area so we had to trim them back.

I ran out of the Claudia Yarn but with the balls Freddie gave me and some Louet in a similar colorway (both were called Caribbean Blue) I was able to fake it through the toes. I stripped the yarn Freddie gave me with the Louet. It looks very good and just enough matchy. :D

These are to date the tallest & longest socks I've ever made. Also the smallest gauge.

When it gets cooler the honey can wear them. He knows he is by no means to wash them on his own. I'll need to teach him about hand washing wool items at some point, but for now I rather enjoy the task so I'll keep it.

I'm still at a stopping place with those Tropicana Dave Socks. If I don't make a short row heel that looks decent soon I may give up on this pair and go with a lovely heel flap like on the honey socks. That heel is an Eye of the Partridge. Beautiful and Sturdy.

Here's the terror of the bad sock heel. Turn away if you are faint of heart. o.0

It looks MUCH worse in person, btw.

Hope is not lost yet though. My Best Friend wrote out a different short row heel for me using the same number of stitches I need. Her heels are always faboo, so if I can get my brain to work properly I should have this problem resolved soon. *happy dance*

And DUDE! Check out her 37th pair of socks for the Summer of Socks. THIRTY SEVEN PAIRS OF SOCKS! Knit in only two months. That woman is an awesomely crazy fantastic sock knitter.

That pair of socks is for Moi. *Super Happy Dance* I'm the luckiest Otter ever and my feetsies will be warm as can be. :D Thank You, Cookie!!!

I hope like hell her hands don't actually fall off. Or that her brain falls out of her head. Though if it does we are close enough to Halloween that she can pass it off as just getting into the spirit of the season and say she feed it to a Zombie or something. *grin*

In other knitting news I have completed the body of my sweater, including the front and back hems and the collar. I did have half a sleeve knit... but after trying it on and seeing that it was way too big I'm going have to rip it out. I'm going to do some measuring and knit math to determine just how many decrease rows I'll need to do to get the sleeves at the proper width for the length I want it at.

I'm also knitting on and 75% done with my Red Scarf Project. I love everything about this project, including The Norma. When I grow up I wanna tell it like it is the way she does. Though I'm sure there are plenty of people who think I'm perhaps too blunt as it is. *L*

The scarf is made with Universal Yarn from the Moods line. It's a Wool/Acrylic blend that has colors that blend between Red and Black. It's very soft and looks great knit up. I'm doing a basic scarf that goes in sections from garter to seed stitch with two sections of basket weave on either end. I'm really loving how this is knitting up. :D Oh and this is the first "garter" scarf I've worked on since the whole RockStar Scarf incident. Some loves never truly die. *snicker*

Clickety Biggety!

The other project is a Gryffindor iPod holder for RenDogg. I need to Kitchener up the end then it will be done. Considering I won't see him again until the middle of October chances are it won't be completed until just right before that. :P

I have a BUNCH of other WIP's on the needles that need to be completed as well. But that's another post for another day.

And FYI the other bottles of wine remain unopened. :P

Tune in tomorrow when I tell you some other exciting news in the world of Otter.

Hint: Pumpkins!!

Tiny Echoes & Sock Fever

Do y'all remember a few weeks ago or so when I mentioned how we are all connected like strings of yarn. Well I forget to mention how they make echoes. There are many types, good and bad, attached and cut, but still they move through you like a wave of history.

Echoes of regret, joy and sadness and a myriad of other emotions that wash over you all unexpected like. When one of those strings gets tugged or strummed, much like that of a guitar string, an echo vibrates out it's like reliving a part of that relationship or the strongest emotion you last associated with that situation. Even if you cut the string the echo remains for a time.

Sometimes its a good thing, these tiny echoes. They can remind you just how important something or someone is to you. Like this little bear I have in my purse. It's an echo, a reminder every time I see it of just how important my best friend is to me. It also reminds me I can do anything and should have faith in myself. That's a pretty freaking awesome echo. A wave of emotion that centers me and reminds me of what's important.

You wouldn't believe how many bad days I've had or dealing with stupid people and while looking for something in my purse I come across that bear and it reminds me just how little so much of the nonsense really matters. Why let the stupid shit bother you when next week, next month and next year it just won't matter. That doesn't mean I should stop dealing with life though, just to keep it in perspective. :D

It's ironic that I can say that now, cause last Saturday boy was I letting some stupid shit piss me off. Poor MonkeySocks had to witness just how high strung I can be when irritated. Rather than just laugh off some really stupid and trifling bullshit I let it get to me. Worse It wasn't any fresh bullshit, but a build up of irritation, tiny echoes of the nasty kind.

These nasty thoughts and emotions were associated with some people who have historically been complete and total butt munches. People who on their own and with each group of events separate wouldn't rate to waste my time or thoughts on. But over time the buildup of irritation has led to a complete and utter disgust at the thought of dealing with them.

It's like when people do a series of mildly irritating things and then the last one, no greater than the others happens you just snap and it all seems huge. Well just the thought of dealing with this situation has left me quite frankly on the edge of snap. And it's not fair, to me or anyone involved. Perhaps if I could just me more honest with people, without being rude as they are, and tell them just when they have done something inappropriate and unacceptable. I should really figure out how to do that. *L* I'm sure it would make life easier. For me at any rate. ;^)

But even if I ever did everything just right, and that is mighty damn unlikely (heh), there is still a world of other peoples echoes. Though I'm starting to think most people don't understand that the world does not in fact revolve solely around them. So not only are you dealing with others echoes, but half the time they are contaminated echoes that have too much history and confusion surrounding them. Rather than clearing up a miscommunication often we let it fester and become this whole other thing. Then any new history built upon that falsehood is tainted and the foundation starts to crumble when people no longer know what or how to talk to each other.

I think that kind of echo is the most painful. When you realize too late that a mistake was made. Or that someone else made a mistake and there's no way to go back and fix it.

And sometimes other people cut the strings and there's nothing you can do but wait as the echo becomes softer and softer until it becomes so soft you can barely tell it's there. Though they often creep up on you long after you think they've stopped sounding. Do they ever really stop. I guess that's for each of us to decide.

In other news I have The Sock Fever. Cookie keeps reinfecting me. :P

Today she sent me a link to  Nicole's new pattern over at All Buttoned Up. It's called Nine - to Five and is too totally cute! It's added to the list.

The list is getting really long I gotta say. o.0

Good thing I signed up for the Summer of Socks. In addition to knitting up my Campfire Socks, before I start ANY other socks I am going to finish My Honey Socks.

Here's the latest progress shot for my Honey Socks. Clickety Biiggety!

Notice my shadow camera hands. *L*

One of the reasons these socks have taken me so long is well because they are TALL ASS SOCKS. I didn't realize how big they'd have to be to cover his man size feetsies. Freaky. o.0

A while back I realized that the two skeins of Claudia Hand Painted that I'm using for his socks would not be enough. They'd be fine for me, but for him I needed more. This is where I deeply regret telling my friend Freddie all about the yarn when we were at our LYS. She went and got the last two skeins and I cheered her on. That was before I realized how damn big his feet were... and yes it's true what they say. >:^) Just Say'n.

*looks all sweet and innocent*

So now the lovely Freddie has a kickass pair of Jay walkers (I think that's the pattern she did) and I'm up the creek without a paddle. Or rather to the foot without matching yarn. Thankfully I was able to get some neat looking Louet Gems (base yarn for Claudie so the fiber will match) from The Loopy Ewe to finish up the foot. It will be fine. More than fine actually. The color matches shades in the yarn perfectly. In fact the yarns are both called Caribbean Blue. :D Just that one is variegated and one is solid. If I was really concerned with being super nifty matchy matchy I'd rip back and do the heels and just the toes in the matching solid. Although I still don't think I'd have enough to do the body of the foot with the Claudia that way. Plus these are huge socks and I think I will like them just fine as is. He's said he will like them this way. The solid part will be in the shoe and the top will be the variegated. :D

I realize I could have gotten another skein of the same color from The Loopy Ewe, but I think I'd be more freaked out if the dye batches weren't perfect than if it was supposed to be an obvious difference. Yeah my brand of weird is fun for the whole family. Heh. ;^)

Oh and I got those awesome Sheepie Socks Blockers at The Loopy Ewe too. So Cute!

Happenings & SoS/SU&KYCC Socks

Well I finally made it home. Finally. I was gone WAY too long.

It was awful not seeing my Honey and Kitty for so many days. Missed them muchly. I also missed having email access to my Cookie whenever I wanted. That was hard, but it always is. It was also weird not seeing my Florrie and MonkeySocks for so many days. Thankfully I got to see them and lots of other people I missed and adore muchly on Saturday. I was with MonkeySocks from abut 9:20 in the morning until 10:00 at night or so. Good thing we enjoy one another's company so much. *L*

One of the things MonkeySocks and I did  Saturday was attend a really kickass birthday party for a very special friend of ours. It was SOOOOOOOOOO much fun. :D T was turning 70 and her Daughters planned a superb party. Well they claim she was turning 70. Hard to buy it though. She doesn't look 50 much less 70. o.0 Knitting must keep you young cause I know several other people who claim a certain age but don't look anywhere damn near it. Or act it either I should add.

MonkeySocks and I have decided to start lying about our ages. Only we'll round up instead of down. The funny thing is I've been joking with Cookie for years along those lines. I look GREAT for 82!! *L* That combined with the fact I act like I'm 12 half the time and I'll be young forever. W00T!

The party was at a Mexican Restaurant and the food and drinks were super yummy. :D In addition to having her family come in from all over her daughters invited her friends and knitting family. Florrie even closed the shop up early to get there on time. It was the best birthday party ever. It was muchly fun to see all the knitting peoples. (well most, Rachel wasn't able to show up) Especially since a few very special ones will be gone for most or part of the summer. Damnit people. Don't they know they're supposed to hang around handy and accessible for my amusement.

:P

MonkeySocks drove me home so I was able to partake in Resolution #10 freely. Wheeee!!

I did that a lot on my travels. Well when I was with my brother I did. Not too much, but way more than my normal everyday life. Since I was sick most of May I'd hardly had anything to drink. *sigh* I never was that great at keeping New Years Resolutions.

I'll just have to try harder. ;^)

Here is my sock in AnnLand having a few drinkies. Clickety Biggety!

Have y'all noticed that my socks like to drink in AnnLand. Heh. Sadly I wasn't able to see the actual Ann while there this time. See you in the Autumn, my sweet!

Oh and we were sharing the beers so that we could try several. Never even made it to the Otter Head. So much to drink and so little time. *sigh*

Here's a clearer shot of my Dave Socks in Progress. The colorway is Campfire from the Cabin Cove Mercantile and the pattern is Tropicana by Sabine Riefler from MagKnits.

I am loving these soooooooooo much. I was a bit concerned about the pattern at first. Cookie pointed out that we generally wear 72 stitch socks. That is true, but the gauge on these things is so big that it makes up for the lack of stitches. I think I had to use US 5's to get gauge that's how crazy it is. *L* The pattern moves between 11 and 17 stitches for the pattern repeats, so you go from 55 to 85 stitches. Magically it works. *L*

Because they don't have any ribbing on to the top they look kinda big even. One lady recently asked in a shocked manner why my sock was so big. (See now I'd think that was a dumb thing to ask somebody, or at least sorta rude/clueless, what if I had huge feet and ankles and I was uncomfortable about it and she'd said that. o.0 Dear Humans, please think before opening your yappy heads. Thanks, The Rest Of Us. The Common Sense is not so much common these days eh...) They fit very comfortably so far, though If my feet were smaller than average I'd say you'd have to adjust them to be less big though, either through stitch count or needle size and a smaller gauge.

I love how these are knitting up SO MUCH that I'd recommend anyone who got any of the awesome yarns from Dave's Summer Collection to try this pattern with them. It's like they were made for each other. I think they are cool enough yet not too detailed that you could make these for a guy and it'd be okay. I know a lot of people think guys can only wear plain socks, but it's not like their penis will fall off with a little extra flair. :P

These socks fit into two of the KAL's that I'm currently Participating in. The Shut Up and Knit Your Cabin Cove Knit Along which is rapidly drawing to a close, so let Cookie know if you'd have anything going or whatever. These also count towards the Summer of Socks Knit Along.

I started these on June 14th. Cast on during Takeoff. *L* Well the final cast on was during take off. It wasn't until I understood how many stitches I would have during each of the pattern repeats that I finally got it. Well I'd always had it... I just thought I'd messed up. *blush*

Since I cast on a week prior to the start on the 21st I asked my Blog Reader Jody if that was okay to do these socks as part of the KAL. I also explained I wasn't doing the most socks knit part of the KAL. She said that was fine since I wasn't in that portion of the KAL. My hope is that I finish these socks by the time the SoS is done. Although after seeing Cookie's recent Traveler Socks I really REALLY wanna make those. Lots of new stuff to learn with that pattern and they are uber cute. :D So Maybe my personal SoS Challenge will be to finish these socks, the honey socks and the traveler socks. I also still have my second Socktober Sock to finish. Just haven't been inspired by Autumn Colors since last year. I imagine I'll take care of those in August when I start getting Autumn Fever. :D

I've also got the Coral Sweater going and I'd like to finish that up. I've got a bit at the bottom to do yet and then the sleeves and collar. *Happy Otter Dance* I'm so happy with how this is coming out. I may not even mind weaving in all those ends. Heh.

Pink Dream Socks Finished!

Hiya. I'm back. Been back a few days or so. I'll post more on the wonderful visit with Ann and all that later this week. Still feel Zombie-ish.

Yesterday I went out with some people and during the course of our adventure I was able to work on my socks. (I shouldn't ever be allowed to leave my house again, but that's really a story for a different day...) Then last night I finished my Cabin Cove Pink Dream Socks for the Shut Up & Knit Your Cabin Cove KAL.

Clickety Biggety

I love these socks muchly. The yarn was perfection and the pattern is pretty damn nifty too. :D

Pattern: Hourglass Eyelet Socks @ Magknits

Yarn: Handpainted Yarn from Dave Daniels Cabin Cove Mercantile :D 

Needles: I switched needles three times during this project. o.0 I started with metal KnitPicks DPN's. I had to change those out since I was going to be flying. I switched to Crystal Palace Bamboo's, but needed to alter size a bit since the KnitPicks are oddly sized. I finally settled on Bryspun US 2's For all that I never lost gauge. *L*

Modifications: The pattern is actually for socks on circular needles. Which is well and fine. The change over to DPN's wasn't a big deal. I did it this way not because I have anything against socks on circs... just that I had the right size DPN's and wanted to get started right away once I had decided I wanted to do the pattern. Seeing how Cindy wrote out the socks on circs thing really shows just how easy it would be to do any pattern on Circs.  Kinda cool. Although I'll admit I love my DPN's. ;) I used the larger of the two sizes listed. It's a good fit, although it seemed like it was going to be too big when I first started knitting. I also choose not to make the leg portion as long as I wasn't sure how I'd like tall socks that you don't fold into a cuff.

Other Notes: I started these socks on January 11 and finished them on March 3 2007. They were worked on very slowly... in five different states. I got the majority of the knitting done on planes. I dunno. I enjoyed them but when I was at the yarn shop or whatever I ended up doing more talking than knitting. Need to work on that. NTS: Shut Up. I'd definitely use this yarn and this pattern again. Next time I might even make them longer at the cuff.

I still have the Duckie Hat to finish and a few other projects I want to get started on... but I think I may go ahead and cast on for my next pair of socks. We'll see.

This is the first time I've had a completed pair of socks on Sunday for the Sunday Socks. Wheeeee.

Here's a photo showing a bit more detail on one of the completed socks.

Clickety Biggety

Sock Progress Tue... er Wednesday

I meant to post my sock update yesterday for the Shut Up and Knit Your Cabin Cove KAL. Time got away from me.

Oh and to everyone who seemed concerned that I'd had a rough couple of weeks. No biggie. (and telling someone to breathe never happens in person when someone talking about something that kinda upset them so how come people say that in text? Weird *L*) Just cause some weird hormonal crying popped up or whatever doesn't mean the week was ruined. Heck not even the day. It was just upsetting for a bit when it happened. I only bothered to mention it here cause... I felt like it I guess. I kinda thought it was a little funny even. Random Crying and all.

Also the lady at the yarn shop isn't a big meanie head or anything. Her kitty recently changed her sleeping habits and then passed on. I can see how that would make ya think it was coming up, being so fresh and all in a persons mind. She is nice, very blunt and honest, but when did that become a bad thing? (well I mean I wouldn't say the cat thing that to someone I hope) When I grow up I wanna speak more honestly with people, which is how she is. She just was a little more blunt than I was expecting that day. Plus kitties are a sensitive subject. And I had been thinking a lot about my kitties advanced age, so perhaps I made it sound a certain way.  So anyway wanted to make that clear. Coolie-O.

Although it kinda makes me wonder how my delivery is. Do I express what I mean to express and in the way I want to. I'm thinking no. A few weeks ago some people were joking around around about what horrible moms they are or had and I popped up with how my mom was the worst. Ya know cause threatening to kill yourself in your kids bed so they wake up to find you dead next to them is damn funny if you've had a long long time to think about/get over it.

Judging by the looks of horror and that one person put her hand on my shoulder and made some kind of consolatory remark to me has me thinking I'm perhaps not expressing myself as I wish. (It was meant to be funny) Or that maybe I shouldn't share certain things about myself to people who don't know me that well or for that long. *L*

So my point, I'm okay. Just cause I make a remark about being in a bad mood or having a mood swing doesn't mean my world is over. I'm just expressing myself. (Or maybe I can't remember what I wrote at all, you never know. *L*)

Actually my bad mood was only aimed at stupid people and thankfully I don't hang around too many of those. *L* Things have been really nifty lately. Having lots of fun. Hanging out with interesting and fun to be around people. Life is good. Plus I do have the worlds greatest Cat, Honey and Best Friend. :D I'm surrounded by love and that's a pretty cool way to be, ya know.

Okay now what y'all are here for. Also perhaps I shouldn't be so much posting when I've been up since 4:30 am. *L* o.0 (I hope I make sense....)

The Socks in Progress:

Both socks are at the same place. :D

In other news my bags are packed and I'm going away. But I'll be back next week. My "mood" is in part to the fact I'm going away to do some business... blah. But I have a few awesome shinning points to this trip so it's all good. The main bestest thing is that I get the pleasure of hanging out with Ann next Wednesday. *Happy Otter Dance*

I'm kinda nervous... and that may be part of why I'm extra weird the last few days. I'm kinda shy. Plus a bit of a dork. What if I... I dunno, but what if I do it and then my head explodes. o.0 You just never know about these things.

Plus I'm going to miss my Honey and Kitty. And I'm not a fan of flying at all. o.0

But it'll be okay. I'm not flying on Jet Blue or anything. *L* (freaky)

Still life is good. Plus when I get back I'll have a kickass pair of socks (Lots of plane knitting time!) and lots of fun things to take part in. :D

Finally, I will try to return some emails on Monday. (You, I am talking to YOU) So I'm sorry if anyone thinks I'm being a meanie head by not replying to comments/emails/stuff. I had a lot to do to get ready for the trip which snuck up on me all sneaky like.

(Stacey, I'll post the recipe when I get back. :P)

Have a great weekend. I'll try to check in a few times while I'm away.

*OtterHuggles*

Pink Dream Socks & People Soup

I fully intended to knit on my Pink Dream socks last night. They were in the other room and let's be honest I can only do so much and I was watching Hero's and petting the worlds most adorable kitty cat.

Love that kitty cat so much.

Love Hero's too. All the Star Trek jokes leave me giggling like mad. Did anyone else catch the license plate number on Hiro's Dad's (George Takei aka Mr. Sulu) car as it pulled away last week. Oh yeah baby, "NCC 1701". *GRIN*

I think I may have outed myself as a geek on that one. Granted I have no idea how many of you even get the reference in the first place. So maybe not.

Anyhoo yeah last night I had fun watching that show and petting the kitty while snuggling up to the honey.

Hey R, see you can post about TV stuff if you don't want to talk about other stuff. ;^)

So what if I didn't knit on my socks. I'm still happy with them. Here are some progress photos. Clickety Biggety!

Two Socks on Martini Sock Blockers:

Close Up:

I call these my Pink Dream Socks because they are just a dream to knit up. The yarn is brilliant and the pattern is pretty nifty too. Total joy to knit. When I'm not all dead that is. *makes a zombie face*

So that's my Tuesday Cabin Cove KAL Update. *waves @ Cookie* I bet she was wondering when I'd post an update. :P

Now I really must talk to you about People Soup.

People Soup is the worst kind of soup imaginable, and I can think of some pretty gross things too. Like Puppy Brains Soup or Donkey Butt Soup with toasted maggot sprinkles. See that's gross. o.0

BUT NOTHING IS AS GROSS AS PEOPLE SOUP! *icky shudder*

I just know you are all dyeing to know what the hell people soup is right? :P

First a little back story. See I've been being, well trying to be a more healthful minded Otter. As you know I joined a different gym. A real gym with all manner of complicated torture devices rather than the womens only gossip fest that was my previous gym. So's anyway I've been going fairly regularly. Doing lots of different things including swimming. I'm an Otter and I love water so it was just natural.

So when the honey and I were on vacation we got into the hotels fancy jacuzzi thingy and had fun relaxing in that. This is were I first coined the phrase "People Soup". It was a very nice setup, clean and not really soupy, but when we got in and started marinating in the hot bubbly waters all I could think was PEOPLE SOUP! Said with the enthusiasm one might say SOYLENT GREEN (It's People!!) if you're wandering.

So anyway it was funny ha ha. Didn't think much of it after that... until I went to my new Gym's Jacuzzi Thingy which is right by the pool. I had just swam a lot and thought it might be relaxing. Eh no. All I could think was PEOPLE SOUP! o.0

I icked myself out thinking about how many people a day marinated themselves in that very same water. I got out quickly thinking how ass nasty that was. The pool is one thing, but hoping into a pot of People Soup is another. o.0

Last week I mentioned it to Rachel when we went to the Gym together. I was teasing her saying if she was good I'd let her hop into the People Soup. Turns out people like her, ya know all cute n' glowy can't hop into People Soup anyway so she was saved.

Then last night I went to the Aquafit class thingy.  It was kinda fun. I laughed a lot. Mostly cause I'm a dork. :P So anyway after class some of the ladies invited me to the Jacuzzi. Uh Oh, People Soup.

They all got in first. I started to get in, even though every fiber of my being was screaming PEOPLE SOUP!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!!, but I was trying to place nice.

That's when I saw it. Saw the true Horror of People Soup. See you can't marinate people all together in one big bath like that without some horrible consequence. Was it the swamp monster come to life? No. Was a dead body found stuck to the bottom of the drain pipe? No.

Worse than those things. Much worse.

It was BROWN FOAM. o.0 (well brownish, but brown enough!!! *GAGS*)

What the Fuck? What is the brown foam?!?!

I don't really wanna know. I don't. I don't think I could handle that truth. o.0

As soon as I saw it I did the only thing I could think of, saved my own ass. I quickly made the excuse of needing to get going. (which I really did) I ran to the shower room and became one with the soap. Sadly they don't make brain soap and I can still recall just how nasty that People Soup was.

The ladies all got into the People Soup and seemed very content, btw. Maybe the foam is a normal thing. I don't know. (I did tell the gym people and they said they'd look into it) I don't ever want that to become normal to me though. So Just Say No to People Soup!

See I told ya it was vile and icky, right on the level comparable to Donkey Butt Soup with toasted maggot sprinkles. o.0 Thankfully the Donkey Soup doesn't actually exist.

But we know the truth about People Soup. *icky shudder*