Water socks

The second sock of this pair was started while I was in the Eau Claire Harlot booksigning line on September 10 and then mostly worked on while sitting on benches sweating my butt off at Nina's swim meets (four since I began the sock) or freezing my butt off at Sophia's ice skating lessons (two private lessons and one Synchro team ... lesson? class? I'm not sure what to call those).

I think this is Meilenweit. Hold on while I Google. I can't ever seem to keep track of my labels. No luck. This is a mystery colorway. Anybody have an idea? Here's a close up:



Meanwhile, Samus is drying in the laundry room. In pursuit of continuing to set a bad example for the children, I left Samus on the living room floor for...let's just say it was a while. I hadn't ripped out the ribbon on the left front of the cardi. I kept intending to, but somehow I just didn't get to it. So the dog took things into his paws (and bladder) and peed on it. Which got the cardi off the living room floor and into the kitchen sink so fast if you'd blinked you would have missed it. Doesn't appear the stain is actually out, though, which is somewhat upsetting. I'll have to finish that damn ribbon and zipper and then take it to the dry cleaner. Unless someone has a tip for getting dog urine out of wool.

Cuteness Redux

In a frenzy of knitting for the sake of achieving adorableness, I made a hat and a pair of socks for Sophia's science teacher, whose wife recently had a baby. Greer, these are for you. You're going to need these for your first Minnesota winter.

There is another sock, but I haven't yet knit the I-cord tie. I'll do that at tonight's swim meet. Two hours of watching other kids swim while I wait for Nina's minute in the water.

Yarn: Wendy Velvet Touch in pink and Wendy Jazz in white
Needles: Knit Picks US 7/4.5 mm options needle. (I think I used the 24" cable). Magic Loop technique.
Pattern: My own

And here's another hat -- to go with last week's sock.


Yarn: Stahl yarn from my stash. Has to be around 10 years old.

Needles: US 2/2.75 mm Inox dpns for the socks; Knit Picks Options circ US 8/5.0 mm for the hat, with yarn doubled.

Pattern: My own.

Second sock will be cast on at the swim meet. Unfortunately, I'll have to use the dpns again, as I did the first sock the day before the Options needles arrived, and the size 2 needles are 2.5 mm. I'm becoming a fan of the Magic Loop. The next thing you know, I'll be knitting toe up!

What I didn't do today

I didn't clear off the island. Again. Which continues my record of setting a bad example for the children. I believe this is day 4224.



I didn't take Cotton for a walk. Again. He's very, very sad. He's so distraught, he hasn't finished his breakfast and it's 2:45pm.



I didn't ScotchGard the recently-reupholstered kitchen chairs. Again. I have a dog and two kids. This fabric was ridiculously expensive. Clearly, there is something wrong with me.

So what have I been doing today?

This:



Could you just die? My daughters' teachers are having babies left and right, so it was imperative that I sit down and knit a sock. Today. Immediately. I was at knitting group yesterday and Shelly was there with her cutie-pie who was wearing some tie-on socks, which I insisted Shelly remove from her baby's feet so that I could inspect them. Hers were short row toe and heel knit toe-up. Mine are heel flap and Kitchenered toe knit cuff down.

It's taking every bit of will power for me not to go sit down and knit the other sock RIGHT NOW.

Because I have things to do. Like knit something else.

Master Knitting, ad nauseum

Nothing's really new here. I'm trying to find a new cable pattern for Swatch 15. I was messing around with one yesterday at knitting group while I wasn't examining baby socks, discussing Oprah's show about bras, birth control, daughters named Sophia (there are three of us who have one), and pawing through the bag of sock yarn Shelly brought because she's some sort of crack yarn dealer. The yarn was free. This time. It's only a matter of weeks before she brings yarn, we put our hands on it and then she decides to charge us a small handling fee. It'll only escalate from there. I came home with three pairs worth of sock yarn. I made Meleah take the box of solid yarn far, far away. Because I can quit any time I want. Really. It's just that the colors were, uh, giving me a headache. Yeah, that's it.

Oops

This sweater took me a week and a half to knit. It's taken me a month to get the thing blocked, sewn together, and prepped for the zipper, which I was about to do Monday when I noticed this:

I think it's because the side on the right was pinned and sewn on my lap while I watched the Harlot and then later stood in line to get my books signed. Might have helped to have laid it out on the floor and made sure the two sides matched before I sewed it it by HAND, huh?

I mean, look at the ribbon on the right:

It's all puckered. Sigh. Yes, I realize the ribbon on the left is also a bit puckered, but none of that would matter if the puckering matched..

Next step:

Master Knitting swatches, part 3

Today, class, we are going to look at the -- I can't remember. The lace swatches? The cables? Excuse me while I go check...

It's both -- lace and cables

Swatch 10


Swatch 11


Swatch 12



Swatch 13, two versions

Version 1, on the left is too flat, I think. Version 2, on the right, has a nice looking cable, but the plain knitting is too loose and sloppy.




Swatch 14


The original one, in the center, has to be replaced, because I re-did Swatches 1, 2 and 3 in white, which means I have to re-do Swatch 14. Of the two white swatches, the one to the far left has too loose a cast on, so I'll probably go with the one on the far right.

Swatch 15
More on that tomorrow.

Gypsy Girl rpm

I wore these socks to meet the Harlot. Several people asked me what the yarn was, but all I could remember was that they were hand painted by a mother/daughter pair. So I looked it up in my bookmarks and passed on the info. Next thing I knew, someone on a sock knitting group was asking about Gypsy Girl yarn and wanted to see what it looked like.

I made these socks using the rpm pattern in this summer's Knitty.

Swatcha doin'?

I am determined to complete the Slave Master Knitting Level 1 program. This week.

Here are more swatches

Increases

Swatch 4


Swatch 5


Swatch 6


Decreases
Swatch 7


Swatch 8


Swatch 9


Coming up next: eyelets, cables, and color work. Oh, the excitement!

Obsession is Normal

So says the Yarn Harlot, who was in Eau Claire, Wisconsin yesterday. Here's me with the Harlot and the stash weasel, who was much smaller in person than I thought (the weasel, not the Harlot)
.

Finished sewing the ribbon inside the edges of the Samus while in Eau Claire, but still have to do the zipper. I'll get to that in the next day or two. In the meantime, I'm obsessed. With my Master Knitting Level 1 submission.

When I compare some of my recent swatches with my earlier ones, I can see how I've improved. When I compare other swatches, I can see how I used to be pretty good and now I totally suck. How did that happen?

Here are the current contenders:

Swatch 1

Swatch 2


on the left, reasonably even tension; on the right, gawdawful rowing out


Ribbing is pretty good on both, except for the last knit stitch on the left. It's driving me crazy. I can't fix it no matter what. I try purling Norwegian, Continental, Continental twisted (or whatever it is when you wrap the wrong way around the needle), my "English" method of throwing, which I'm told would be Scottish if I used long, pointy needles and a sheath instead of regular straight needles and the junction of my hip and thigh. I can't decide if I'm being too picky or not, because otherwise, my k1p1 ribbing is pretty damn good. She said, humbly.

This swatch has driven me nearly insane. You'd think after 20 years, I could knit plain stockinette, but apparently, I can't.

Swatch 3


Swatch 4-16... tomorrow

So what else is new?

I keep hearing about knitters who are on a "yarn diet," avoiding the LYS like an alcoholic avoids the liquor store. Good for them, I think. I should do that, too. And then I fall off the wagon. Plus, it doesn't help that my planned projects for which I have already purchased yarn are out of hand. What good does it do to avoid the liquor store if your cupboards have three cases of Jack Daniels in them?

So I made a list, a chart, and a plan to complete my in-progress projects, long-planned projects, and Christmas/Hanukkah gift projects. I knew I had to have some new things mixed in with finishing others because I love to start new projects.

I came up with a list of 25 things to complete or make in their entirety by the end of December. Think I overestimate my knitting speed much?

At the top of the list are the large projects: the Samus cardi (from Knitty), the Taste of Aran afghan I started for Nina early in the year, which I told her would likely take me up to a year to complete, my Master Knitting Level 1 project, and my FLAK sweater that I abandoned for the summer.

Here are the items in progress:


The Samus cardi. I'm waiting for my ribbon and zipper to arrive in the mail (I ordered them because all I could get locally were zippers in royal blue). I hope to complete this sweater this weekend.

Here's a close up of the sleeve, my favorite part.
I had to rip out the applied I-cord twice around the sleeves, and countless times down the front left of the cardi until I figured out why it looked so crappy compared to the parts that were done along a cast-off edge. For the cast off edge, I picked up and knit by sticking my needle under both loops of the cast off stitch, which made a very knit looking I-cord. When I used that technique on an edge stitch -- that is, picking up between the last two stitches instead of through one loop of the last stitch, it looked like crap. Took me FOREVER to figure this out, and to find a picture on line of how to do applied I-cord. Most instructions just say "pick up and knit" and don't mention just knitting through the one loop. I love how the I-cord looks so much like the two stitches of the cable next to it.

Nina's afghan
I have just 1 and 2/3 squares (out of 20) to complete of the Taste of Aran afghan. I began blocking squares the other day and may start sewing up before all the squares are done, just to mix things up a bit. She's nagging me about when it's going to be done. I'd actually like to stall giving it to her till later this fall as a Solstice gift or a birthday gift (same day, different gifts)

Master Knitting Level 1
I have knit all the swatches. Some of them several times. A few of them many times. I have been working on this project for more than a year, but take periodic (long) breaks in order to knit actual objects in hopes that my tension issues will clear up. Sometimes I think I've become worse at knitting since I started on this, but I think I'm just a tougher critic. I have to remember that most people take in the entire garment and don't examine it from 3 inches away, fretting about how I row out at each end. All I have left on this is one of the new YO swatches, the hat project, and to finish up the blocking report, which is now a blocking/garment care report. I'm more confident about my knitting knowledge than my knitting ability at the moment. No pictures at the moment, but I will document them after I've finished them all to my satisfaction.

FLAK
I'm going to rip out the cuffs and redo them flat. I hate knitting Aran in the round. Totally sucks. I'm going to knit the rest of the body flat and seam it. Anything to avoid having to use circular needles for Aran knitting. Blech.

Other stuff:
Socks for my mom
This is Broadripple in the Elann knockoff of Cascade Fixation. Not loving knitting with this stretchy yarn. Too hard to control tension which, as we now know, is not my strong suit anyway.

Pretty Petals in Koigu


Socks for my mom's husband, Al.
These are GI Dennis socks, a free pattern by Jeannie Townsend, available on the Townsend Knit Along yahoo group. Love this pattern, even though I have to purl in the round to do it. Thank goodness for the Norwegian purl.

Mittens for my friend Katie

The colors don't look right here. They are amazingly deep and vibrant, not anything like the garishness in this photo. And they are almost done. Why don't I just frigging finish these? I have 1/2 of the second mitt finished. It would probably take me one evening to complete, once I figure out how the hell I was knitting them. I think I made up my own pattern. I think I don't want to finish them because then I'll have to give them to Katie. I want them for myself, but this is a Fleece Artist Favourite Mittens kit and they only make them in one-of-a-kind colourways.

Mittens for my friend Tina
Thrums are interesting, but somewhat tedious to knit. I have to do another pair for my friend Rosemary, in a varigated purple, with black thrums. Once again, my own pattern, which I will have to figure out again. Blogger won't let me upload this photo. I'll try another time.

Socks for me

I hate orange, but I love these socks. So fast to knit and a nice break from pattern knitting where I have to pay attention to what I'm doing.

In addition to all of these items, I have a knitted bear for the Mother Bear project planned, 4 more pair of socks for my brother (size 13 feet) and his family, who were sensible enough to have much smaller feet, a pair of footies for Sophia, and possibly a snowflake illusion scarf for her, baby gifts for several of the kids' teachers who just had babies or are about to. I think I want to knit the Tulip Toes booties for Sophia's science teacher. Oh, and a mobius bowl because I think they are completely cool. I'm thinking of gifting it to my dad, who is a math professor and will probably appreciate it more than most people.

I think I'm insane. Or I will be, once mid-December hits and I'm only halfway through all this stuff.

So what did I work on last night?

This

My name is Rox and I'm a knitaholic.

Kit arrives!

The kit from my KSKS buddy arrived yesterday afternoon. I think Sophia was as excited as I was to open the box.



My kit buddy was Margit , who created this little ladybug bag with ribbon handles. Look closely and you'll see my favorite Inox dpns peeking through the secret hiding place in the ribbon strap.

She also sent lots of tips and hints for knitting toe-up, as I'd been trying to find a compelling reason to try them and hadn't come up with one. The pattern she sent, Cookie's Baudelaire from the latest Knitty is a great reason. To complement the pattern, she sent some Knit Picks Palette in a wonderful purple color. I have a hard time finding solid sock yarn locally, and picking it from the Internet can be problematic (as the awful pink Opal in my stash will attest to), so this worked out great for me! She also sent some dark chocolates (I could live on dark chocolate, except that I'd end up in some sort of sugar coma), which Sophia found infinitely more interesting than the knitting supplies.

Now that I think of it, though, which would be harder to live without? Chocolate or yarn? A world without both wouldn't be a world worth living in.

When all else fails, read the directions

So busy was I, trying to understand how a toe-up sock heel worked --not your basic short-row heel, but a gusset, heel turn and heel flap, with no stitches to pick up--that I was only mildly concerned about how the lace looked. Lace always looks crappy when it's knit. Blocking would improve things, I was sure. I was calculating stitch ratios, row gauges, making decisions about whether to m1 at the end of my needle, or one stitch in. Knitting is easy, but figuring out three-dimensional knitting via short rows takes real concentration, especially when the pattern you're lifting the heel instructions from has 60 stitches, and you're working with 72. Am I increasing the gusset based on rows knit (actual length), or on a percentage increase in stitches? How do I figure out the number of rows I need to turn the heel?

My 9-year-old keeps interrupting me during my calculations. "When will you be ready to play Clue? Daddy and I can't play without you. We need three people."
I grit my teeth. "I'm trying to figure out how this heel works. The more I'm interrupted, the longer it will take."
Michael leaves to pick up the dog from the groomer, but the 9-year-old stays with me. Interrupting me. Michael returns with the dog, who runs to see me as if he hadn't seen me just three hours earlier. He jumps on the couch, scattering the three sock patterns I have next to me and launches himself at me. Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! I got my haircut! Do you see? Do you see? Do you see? When's dinner? Huh? When? Can I have it now? Huh? Huh?

The nine-year old launches into her plea for Clue again. I get up to go to the bathroom. She follows me. I close the door. She knocks.
"Mommy?"
"I'm on the toilet."
"I have something for you."
"I'm on the toilet."
The dog pushes the bathroom door open with his nose, sure that I can't accomplish this task without his supervision.

When I exit the bathroom, I tell my daughter that standing outside the bathroom while I pee does not make me want to play a game with her. "But I have something for you." She hands me a balloon she filled with flour earlier in the afternoon. "It's a stress ball." For some reason, she thinks I could use it.

We play Clue, with my partial sock sitting on the couch next to me. The game is a DVD version that also has a board with playing pieces; it's new -- Nana bought it for us a week or so ago. Every time we aren't sure what we're supposed to do, I admonish the others to read the directions.

We work our way through the game, discovering that Colonel Mustard stole the scarab pin in the rose garden at midnight. I pick up the sock and pull on the lace to stretch it out. It still looks like crap.

I study the pictures in the pattern (Falling Leaves, from Knitty). My lace does not look like the lace in the picture.




Clearly, something is wrong with the chart. Briefly, I consider that my ability to properly k2tog, yo, and ssk has vanished, but I dismiss that possibility. I wonder if there is an errata to the pattern.

I check the lace chart again. I knit every row exactly like it shows in the chart. And then I see, below the chart and key to symbols is this note:

"Chart only shows odd numbered rows, k all stitches on even numbered rows..." Oops.

If I squeeze my stress ball too tightly, will I end up covered in flour?

Ta Da!

I finished the lining last night around 11 p.m. Everything went so well -- perfect, in fact -- while I sewed the notions compartment. I was feeling smug that my graph paper prototyping worked so well. I had to install the zipper only once (a first, for sure). No seams were ripped. Just perfection. And then I slipped it inside the tote bag to see how far down inside it would hang. The zipper compartment lay on the bottom of the tote. What? How could it be too long? I measured it. Twelve inches. The tote, I knew, was 13.5 inches deep. And then I realized my mistake. The tote is 13.5 inches deep when you lay it flat. When you stand it up and allow the gussets to do their job, giving the tote three dimensions, the tote is just about 12 inches deep. Duh. Then I slipped the circular needles into the pockets and realized they were too wide (easy to fix) and too shallow (not so easy).

Argh.

I ripped out all the seams (the nylon backpack-y material didn't show the ripping out at all), keeping the zipper compartment intact. If it had been a mess after the ripping out, I had extra material, but I wanted to avoid ripping out the zipper. So one thing went right. By making the pockets deeper, I shortened the total length, making the notions compartment/flap a perfect fit. Finally. I sewed the top of the notions flap under the lining hem and then sewed the lining into the tote. I'm so in love with this tote. I really think I'm going to make another one, for myself. It can't possibly take as much time to make the second one. Now that I (sort of) know what I'm doing.

I realized last night as I crawled into bed that I forgot to install botton holes at the top of the gauge ruler compartment. I thought that would be a great way to store stitch markers. I might see if I can still do it. It's such a good idea.

In the meantime, here's what it looks like now, modeling my grandmother's size 1 DPNs and one of my circular needles, plus a few other notions and odds and ends.



The only thing left to add to the kit is the pattern (which I need to modify for my kittee) and to buy the treats.

No one told me...

...that parting with the kit would be this difficult.

The outer tote is sewn, the lining sits -- uncut and unsewn -- in its shopping bag. I must conquer the lining in the next week, because I want to send the kit off to my kittee before we leave for a long weekend in L.A. I love this bag. I want this bag. Somehow I don't think I'll go through all the work to make another one.

Here is the tote so far:



And here are my choices for yarn:

On the left: Handpainted Tarzhay colorway from Scout's Swag. On the right: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Bitterroot Rainbow. How am I supposed to choose which one to part with? I want to keep 'em both!

KSK bag - the materials

Finally - some pictures! I figured out how to recharge my digital camera without its recharger.

My KSK pal uses canvas book bags to carry around her projects, so I thought it'd be fun to make one using canvas dyed with Sun Paint. Then I decided I would line the bag and include lots of knitter-friendly pockets.

Here are (most) of the materials:


Today I cut out the fabric and did me some sun painting, using Pebeo Setacolor Soleil. (If you go to their website, click on Product Catalog to find the Soleil paint. Here in the U.S. you can find the paint at Michael's Crafts, and I'm sure other places, too.) It's a photosensitive pigment. You paint the fabric inside the house, place masks (objects to block the sun) wherever you like, take the fabric to a sunny spot in your yard and then wait for it to dry. As it dries, anything covered with a mask will fade dramatically, sometimes back to white. If the edges of your mask curl up, or you place a 3D object (like a flower, or leaf, or stick) on the fabric, the image will end up looking somewhat 3D because of the way light bends around the object as it dries.

Here is the fabric while we painted it (I got help from Sophia):

Here it is with its masks, out in the sun:

And here it is, unmasked.

Note: the white strip doesn't exist in reality. I needed to block out the blog name of my KSK pal, in case she sees this.

The KSK Swap Questionnaire -- my answers

What are your favorite colors? I love bright colors -- red, purple, cobalt blue, yellow, fuchsia. Anything that screams "Look at me! Look at me!" I detest olive green and rusty maroon because I have some color vision deficiencies that make those colors look particularly putrid to me.

Are you a new sock knitter? How long have you been knitting socks? I've been knitting socks for about a year now. I think I've completed something like 10 or 11 pair, with 4 or 5 lonely, unmatched socks lying near my bedside. I've been knitting for 20 years, though, ever since I took a year off college and worked in England and Ireland for a year. I'm not afraid of anything that has to do with two sticks and a ball of yarn.

Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn? I like multicolored yarn, both self-striping and handpainted, but solid definitely has its place, particularly if the stitch pattern is interesting. What I really like is a stitch pattern that enhances handpainted yarn, rather than obscuring one or the other. Hard to find, though. Jaywalker and Broadripple seem to fit the bill, and I've done both. I'm constantly on a search for chevron-like stitch patterns, and slip stitch patterns that work well for those yarns. I did a mosaic pattern for my daughter with black (my eyes! my eyes!) as the main color and Regia Clown as the peeking-through color. Really cool.

What fibers do you prefer in sock yarn? I prefer wool, but I have knit a couple pair of wool/cotton that turned out nice. I made Pomatomus out of Koigu merino for a friend that were fabulous. (That's another pattern that works well with handpainted yarn.) I use acrylic only for babies, and acrylic/superwash wool for afghans. I have some cotton Fixation that I like, but haven't knit up yet.

Where do you usually knit socks? I knit socks everywhere, because they're the perfect take-along project. I knit 1/2 a sock at my daughter's Field Day, I knit at school meetings, in waiting rooms, in bed, on the couch, on the patio. Anywhere and everywhere.

How do you usually carry/store small projects? I usually don't bother with my knitting bag when I'm knitting socks. I usually put the whole thing in a gallon-size zipper bag (the kind with the sliding zipper, rather than the blue-and-yellow-make green type) and carry that around with me. The little bag for this kit swap seems like a great idea.

What are your favorite sock knitting patterns? I loved Pomatomus because it's such a beautiful stitch pattern, but the downside was I really had to pay attention to the pattern (nothing mindless with that one), but my favorite stitch patterns tend to not use many purl stitches (another reason to love Jaywalker and Broadripple). When I knit in the round, I knit Continental, which is great, except that I use Norwegian purl for purl stitches which is fine for ribbing, but if I have to do too much of it, my wrists get sore (there's a lot of needle manipulation to compensate for keeping the yarn in back for both knit and purl stitches). When I did Pomatomus, I couldn't knit for too long, or too many days in a row, or I paid for it. My method of knitting on straights is to anchor hte needle at the junction of my hip and thigh, which works fine for knitting and purling (I'm very fast), but doesn't work so well with short, double-pointed needles.

What are your favorite sock knitting techniques? I really love the heel flap, turning the heel and picking up for the gusset. Not fond of the short-heel at all. Takes all the fun out of getting to the heel, because it seems tedious and endless. Plus, I have a high arch, which means the short heel has to be wider, making the tedious, endlessness more tedious and endless. I also love Lucy Neatby's toe chimney method for grafting toes. Takes all the aggravation out of grafting.

What new techniques would you like to try? Hmm. I don't know. I've learned so many since I've started knitting socks: Twisted German cast on, Norwegian purl, SSK (instead of slip, knit, PSSO). I'm looking for a compelling reason to try toe-up socks, because I haven't found one yet. If there's a *reason* to do toe-up, I'd do it, but since I'm not afraid of math, calculating gauge, etc., I haven't come up with one. Plus, I don't use two circs. I'd be interested in trying some different heels, I guess. I found the modified Strong heel interesting, but not compelling, because I don't mind picking up stitches along the heel flap, but I'm interested in what the advantages of other types of heels might be. I'm always interested in a technique to help eliminate or reduce the size of the hole at the instep/gusset join. I'm doing well on the left side, I think, but haven't quite conquered the right side.

Do you prefer circulars or dpns for sock knitting? DPNs. Five of them.

What are some of your favorite yarns? I like Regia and Opal, Koigu, Lana Grossa. Anything with a nice, tight twist. I found a yarn shop with an entire wall of solid Norwegian wool yarn (with a touch of nylon) in every color imaginable and swooned. I bought some for socks, but found the twist is a bit loose, so the yarn splits.

What yarn do you totally covet? I've been coveting Socks That Rock, because the colors are amazing (Fire on the Mountain makes me drool), but I worry about the pooling. I think I like the hanks of STR more than the finished objects. I'm intrigued by their Fair Isle socks done in two colorways, but I'm intimidated about "matching" or pairing colorways, especially online.

Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object? I can't think of one. If I find a pattern I like, I do it. The trick is finding the pattern!

Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)? I love Inox DPNs. I like coated, metal needles that don't have anything done to them to add friction (like the Susan Bates needles, which come 4 to a set, so are not to my liking any way). I like my needles to allow the yarn to move smoothly, not hold on to it.

If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be? I would be Koigu handpainted or Socks that Rock in a hank that doesn't pool.

Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack? Dark chocolate--the breakfast of champions.

What’s your favorite animal? Cats, although they don't tend to worship me the way my dog does.

Do you have pets? What are their species/names/ages? Katie is a 14-year-old male cat (I was told he was female when I got him as a kitten). Cotton is a 6- or 7-year-old Shih Tzu we adopted from the Humane Society.

If you were a color what color would you be? Red.

Describe your favorite shirt (yours or someone else’s).. Oddly enough, my favorite shirts are t-shirts. I'm in an online writers' workshop called Jenny's Cherry Writers and we are called the Cherries. There's also an email list (loosely considered a "fan" list for Jenny Crusie) who are also Cherries, and I moderate the Writing Craft section of Jenny's online forum. There's a national writers' conference every summer and those of us who attend have a "Cherry get-together." Jenny always has t-shirts made with some number of cherries on the front of the shirt, and then some sort of "slogan" on the back. The two shirts I have are my favorites. One says, "Keep the Cherries. Lose the Pits." and the other says "Got Snark?"

What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature? I love rainbows, because they appear so infrequently here in the midwest. The year I lived in New Zealand, I saw rainbows (including some amazing double rainbows) almost every day. New Zealand itself was inspiring. The endless panoramic views, the ocean, the mountains, all the lush, green landscape, the weird plants and creatures that exist only there. And the sheep! Think of all the yarn you could have if you owned just one of those flocks...

Tell me the best quote you’ve ever heard or read. "If you can't be a good example, at least be a horrible warning." It's attributed to various people.

Do you have a wishlist? I wish I had even more sock yarn than I have (which is more than I can handle as it is) and more time to knit it. Plus more sets of US 2 Inox DPNs, so I could have more socks in partial states at one time. Right now I have to rotate through completed socks.

Anything else you’d like to share with the group today? Nope.

It's Sock Kittin' time

I signed up for the Knit Sock Kit Swap and already I have ideas for my project bag. I think I'll use muslin and some cool Sun Paint and create something really cool, because summer is for at least one Sun Paint project. Last year it was the kids' pajama bottoms and the napkins for the Alley Cafe they opened for one night only. This year, it'll be a Sock Kit Project Bag.

I need to find the camera battery recharger....