And Now

I have finished another project. One of these socks has been without its partner for so long that I don't remember when I started on it. But now there are two. I love the yarn: Rio de la Plata, kettle dyed, 100% pure new wool from Uruguay. The yarn is soft and the colors are spun together in a really interesting way. If I were a spinner, I could probably tell you how, but I have no clue.

At last week's knit night, one of the knitters (Hi Deanna) showed us how she knits two socks at once on a 40-inch long circular needle. The way she described the method almost made sense to me; I think I could do it with a little coaching. But I can't decide which method is better psychologically. I used dpns for this pair of socks, and for a long time I had one sock completed. That's it. If I had used the circular needle method, I would have had two one-half socks completed. I don't know which outcome would bother/nag at me more.

And now for something completely different. This is a photo of some of the fire in the Austin, Texas area. This is a view from west of downtown looking east. Scary. Daughter says that there are so many fires that Austin is almost surrounded. Governor Perry cut the budget for volunteer fire departments, who are the first responders to 90% of wild fires in the state, by 75% this year. Seems like a bad idea now, but who would have thought that there could be such bad fires during fire season after the driest, hottest summer on record?

My Sparkly Christmas Socks

Whew...just in time for .......Thanksgiving? I just finished these from yarn older daughter gave me a couple of months ago. You can't tell from the small picture, but these socks have silver in them and they sparkle!

It's Dream in Color Starry with Silver sockweight yarn, Lipstick Lava color. It's a nice yarn to knit with, and there is quite a bit left since the skein had 450 yards on it.

The rest will go into older daughter's circular blanket, I think.

Welcome Home, Knittergran

Welcome home, indeed. I finally arrived from Austin after 11:00 last night, thanks to weather delays caused by Ida, and this is what I found. Odd looking laundry room, you say? Well, that's because it's my FAMILY room, now storing my washer, dryer and other odds and ends from my former laundry room. Dh put a tile floor in the laundry room over the weekend while I was in Austin. But the grout is not there yet, and Dh isn't either. He's away on business. So this is what I live with in the meantime.

And how did Dh move the washer and dryer by himself? Did he buy a dolly from Lowe's, which is less than two miles away? Silly, silly question. Why do that when he has a perfectly good skateboard saved from his childhood?

But on to happier subjects. This is the world's sweetest one-year old granddaughter! And boy, oh, boy, did I spoil her!!! I gave her her first piece of candy corn, her first sip (many sips, actually) of a strawberry fruit smoothie, her first maple syrup, and so many other firsts (most involving sugar - I know how to win grandchildren over) that I can't remember them all. But she loved them all, and now, she loves her Gran.

This is grandson. I tried, really, really tried, to get a good picture of him, but he was having none of that. He's three, and a funny, funny boy. He also seems to have unlimited energy.

The two older girls, ages 9 and 6, weren't interested in having their pictures taken, so they miss out on being on my blog. Poor girls.....

Another treat while in Austin: We went to hey cupcake and bought the most delicious cupcakes ever (according to my older granddaughters). It was raining when we were there, and the place stayed really busy. With good reason! The cupcakes are wonderful, and of course, buying them is so much easier than baking them myself.

hey cupcake is across the street from my favorite Austin knitting shop, Hill Country Weavers, and we went there the same day. Even my granddaughters couldn't help themselves and bought yarn. Both girls knit now, and the older one (9) figured out by herself how to decrease stitches to make a triangle-shaped cape for one of her critters. She's addicted now. heh, heh, heh.

And as I posted before I left for Austin, I washed my hand-knit socks on the delicate/hand wash cycle of my magic washing machine with the invisible agitator and it worked GREAT!!! No damage, no shrinkage, no felting, and no colors running. (And the turquoise/brown pair usually runs like an escaped convict.) No more hand-washing of socks for me.

It was, however, hot in Austin, so it sure wasn't sock weather.

And now I'm off to call my most-favorite neighbor of all times to see if I can use her washer and dryer.

It's a Sock!

Yes, it's only one sock, but the second is already on the needles and ready to go. This took forever; I started it, hmm...one, two, no three months ago, while I was in Texas. This is a record-breaking slow sock. But I was distracted by grandchildren, a sha...wrap, grandchildren, and a couple of bits of fluff.

It (they) is made from Pagewood Farm Hand-Dyed Sock Yarn, Yukon, and the color might be called Serendipity (the label is smudged). I love the yarn despite the fact that there was a knot in it.

Now on to the second!

Just in Time for Texas

First of all, I finished the second sock of my sparkly Berroco Sox Metallic yarn, but the sparklies don't show in the picture. I know they are there! And so will all my friends and family (not you, younger daughter) when I wear them.

These are not blocked. I don't block socks; I figure that's what feet are for.


And second, I finished my second attempt at the Bitty Bolero sweater. THIS one will fit Elizabeth, I am sure. But she doesn't get it till her first birthday, in October, and even if I gave it to her now, it is way too hot in Texas to wear a wool sweater, even one as soft as this one. It's made from 100% merino wool, and I am starting to think that out of all the wonderful fibers that are made into yarn (wool, angora, bamboo, milk -yes-milk, cotton, soy, alpaca, mohair, silk and ???? I'm sure I've forgotten some), I love working with merino the best. It is just SO, SO soft! This is Malabrigo, colorway Cuarento 237. And have I learned my lesson about the importance of making gauge swatches?
Probably not...

I've also bought yarn for a new project to work on while I'm in Texas, because, you know, there are just NO yarn shops there!

Oh, and I do have a new camera. Phew. Without pictures, how can I blog???

Latest Project

This is my most-recently finished project:a pair of socks made from Araucania Ranco Multy yarn, color 314. So far, this yarn and the Paca-Ped yarn are my favorites to work with. They are both soft, and I love the colors. Noro colors are gorgeous, but the yarn is scratchy and the thickness varies throughout. The Araucania and Paca-Ped yarns are just nicer to the touch and soft to knit with.