Son Socks -- Finally

DS1 asked me to knit him socks for his birthday in April -- one problem -- I didn't know how to knit socks! I finally got up the courage to try in July, and knit DH a pair (which he hates). Then I started knitting socks for myself, that way if they weren't great, I would be the only one fussing about them. After a few months, I was ready to start working on DS1 Christmas socks.

Next problem -- wool socks need TLC, not exactly what men are known for (when it comes to laundry). So, I searched for sock yarn that was son friendly and finally settled on plain old Wool-Ease. They're relatively thick, but he can throw them in the washer and dryer.

Now everyone wants socks! Unfortunately for my sons, my sock yarn stash consists of pinks and purples! Teehee, more for me.

My sad trip to the frog pond

I dearly love these ripple socks, but I've finally decided that since I did something wacky on the heel I will frog them (down past the heel, not completely). I don't know what happened. This is the second time these poor things have been frogged through no fault of their own.

The first time I had decided to do the pattern without the purls. I was getting ready to do the heel (toe-up of course), and decided that the ripple pattern didn't show up as well as I liked without the purls. Thus the first trip to the pond.

After starting them again, this time with the purl rows, I really liked them and showed my bit-o-sock to anyone who would look. Since it's been hot here and we've been wearing flip flops up until today, it was easy to show off socks.

Well, things were going swimmingly until I started to turn the heel. I don't know what happened. I thought I was doing a simple heel, but something went terribly wrong. First, I was knitting so tightly that I ended up poking a hole in my finger trying to get the stitches off the needle. Then, whatever I did made the heel completely unstretchable. I could barely get the things over my feet.

Being the stubborn person that I am, I decided I could live with it and kept on going. I continued trying on the sock thinking that the sock fairy would come down and re-knit it while I slept, but that has not happened.

So -- this morning, like a grownup, I decided that I had three choices:
1. Knit the other sock exactly the same way and then never wear them cause I can't get them on comfortably.
2. Knit the other heel differently and then never wear them cause I'm a bit anal and would always feel uncomfortable that the socks didn't match.
3. Frog them and try again.

I have chosen to frog them. I love the pattern, love the yarn (Lorna's Laces in Island Blue), and it's good to let go of the past.

So, please join me in saying good bye to my current ripples. They were great and I will miss them until I see them again.

My Elegance Socks

I had a terrible time trying to get a picture of these socks into a blog, any blog. Now that I've figured it out, I present my Elegance socks from Sockamania's October pattern. They where knitted toe-up in Knit Picks Clematis Heather Palette, which is a heathery plum. It was soft yarn, but now I know what people mean when they say a yarn is "splity." The pattern is fantastic, and fits perfectly. This was the first time that I actually followed a pattern (I've only been knitting socks for a few months). Anni's patterns are great, and I look forward to many more.

Happy Thanksgiving?

Edgrrr, our supposed malti-poo, thought the dinner smelled so delish that he jumped up into an extra chair and waited patiently. DS 3 thought it was so funny that he got a dishcloth and made the dog a bib, which he sat and wore without complaint.

DS 3 then got the crazy idea that the dog should actually eat at the table. Well, dogs being dogs, as soon as DS 3 put some turkey on his plate, Ed grabbed a big hunk and wolfed it down! The princess was quite distressed that Ed hadn't gotten any cranberry sauce with his turkey. After the boorish behavior, Ed sat calmly and waited for DS 3 to cut him some more turkey and then kept staring at the food until he'd been given some mashed potatoes.

All this, and no margaritas!

My brilliant idea

I have ds3 and ds4 doing a modified Sonlight this year, which requires tons of books. I got the bright idea that if I bought the books used I would save a lot of money. And, since I was planning to buy the books used, I figured I'd make a list of all the books that all of the kids would need (apparently for the rest of their lives) and have been looking for the books.

This results in millions of books! I'm still trying to figure out a good way to organize the Sonlight books, the fun books and ds2's high school books (yes, I'm a planner - he's only in 9th and I've got most of the books I'm planning to use through the end of hs). I started by buying little round dots to put on the official Sonlight titles. Well, the dots are labeled permanent, but they aren't. So I had to put the dots on and then tape them. Then ds3 and ds4 got into an argument about who would get what color. Luckily neither wanted pink, because dd claimed that color.

Now I have pink (core 1 & 2), orange (core 3), red (core 4), blue (core 6), dark green (core 7), yellow (core 100) and bright green (core 5 - the result of another brilliant idea - combining core 5 with Trail Guide to World Geography). Correct, that is 7 boxes of books. I only need three of the boxes at the moment, where do I store the rest? I'm tempted to go down to Home Depot and but enough wood to make huge book shelves. Not that we don't have 20 or so bookshelves already. What I have ended up doing is going to Sam's and getting their left over boxes with the cut outs and standing up the books in them. It's working so far, but I would really like a tidier method.

Still trying to get pictures

I'm still trying to get pictures into the text of blogs. I tried lots and lots and lots of times to do it so that I could post the picture of my pretty feet modeling my Elegance socks from the Sockamania October pattern, but no luck. I finally gave up and just posted a description.

So, here goes again (picture of the fishyghan I made for a baby friend).

Oh my, it actually worked! I feel so much better.

DD says she's in charge of the dog. DS3 says he's in charge of the dog. DS4 is crying because he lost a tooth yesterday and didn't want any of us to know about it because he wanted to find out if the tooth fairy was real - and mom and dad both noticed the missing tooth. It's right in the front of his mouth -- how could we miss it? I hope that I remember for next time.

BTW, mom is in charge of the dog.

My Elegance Socks

I finished my Elegance socks from the October Sockamania pattern (did the toe up version) and really love them. This is the first time I've actually followed a pattern for socks (well, I did a slightly different thing for the toe), and was very pleased with myself. Now if it would get cool enough to warrant wearing wool socks...

I'm still trying to get a picture loaded into the text of these messages so that I can post my finished socks to the Sockamania group.

Maybe I'm just too old for this new technology.

I've got a friend!

I joined Ravelry a few weeks ago, but haven't really had much time to look around. When I finally got to it, I looked at the "friends" section and was soooo sad to discover that I didn't have any friends :(

Well, today I got a friend! Big thanks to Rachel's knitting group for being my friend.

How many UFO's can one person have before it is considered a problem? I'm trying to get some old stuff finished - especially the knit afghan strips I started 30 years ago. But - instead of finishing things, I'm thinking of new things to start (and, unfortunately, new things needing new yarn).

I'm still trying to figure out how to add pictures, and wondering why in the world I should even be making a blog, but, ......

A Pair of Socks for ME!

I finally made a pair of socks for myself! This is the third pair I've knitted, but the first one for me. I love them but one is too small and the stripes don't line up. Oh well, they're mine and they're beautimicious. Can't wait to start the next pair.

Everyone else has a blog, and I don't want to be one of those old ladies who don't try anything new -- so here it is. Menopause sucks and I haven't been sleeping lately so I really need Starbucks. I'd also like a maid, as long as I'm dreaming.