Sock on and Trip Prep

And so the heel turns!


The Solstice Slip continues and it's such a fun knit. I'm really enjoying it. Afterall, what's NOT to enjoy about Socks That Rock? This is my first time using their lightweight and I'm pleased with it. I really love the mediumweight but it can be a problem with bulk in a shoe.

I finally purchased a kitchen scale so I won't be having another Jaywalker fiasco. That pair is still waiting for it's next skein!

My kids and I are taking a road trip down to Texas to see my mother. It should be fun, but I, of course, need to do my wool packing! There is a cute yarn shop near my mom's house in Lubbock, so I know I can get some extra..but I have so much now that I want to knit up!
Last night I got out the swift and ball winder and went to town.

From top left; Euroflax in Sandstone - most likely for a towel from Mason Dixon Knitting, Lovers Leap Mediumweight STR - not sure what sock yet, Lorna's Laces in Sunshine and Lucky Stripe - going to be Eunny's Entrelac Socks, Sherbet Lightweight STR - Monkeys, and Jade Mediumweight STR - Embossed Leaves.

The sherbet is next on the list. I can't wait to cast on for another pair of Monkeys! Just look at these colors!!! I'm so in love. This picture if pretty close to true colors. It's bright, baby, but so yummy.



Sometimes it can feel oppressive when you have a long list of things to knit, but this pile just makes me smile and feel excited!
Knit on Baby!

Vacation and Knitting

Edited to add: It's a great resort up in Eagle River, Wisconsin, called..lots of imagination here.. Eagle Waters Resort. :)
http://www.eaglewaters.com/
They have completely redone the resort since the pictures on the site were taken.
It's lovely. :)

Apparently all I needed was a vacation and new Rockin Sock Club shipment!

We had a wedding to go to 'Up North' as the Wisconsinites say. It was about a 4 1/2 hour drive each way with tons of knitting time over the weekend. Yay!

So while I looked at this.

I worked on turning this


into this

This is my second effort at the toe. I began knitting the large size (i have 9 womens) and they were waaaay to big. So all my knitting from Friday was frogged and begun again. I don't really mind, since I'd rather have a pair of socks that fits than a pair I can't wear. I'm not into gifting STR. ;)

By the time we got home on Monday I'd begun the gusset increase.


I had a great time and this knit is really fun. Hubby and I listened to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on the way to and from the resort while I knit the entire time. Yay being shotgun. :)


It was gorgeous 'Up North'. The lakes are so relaxing to watch. I wanted to sit in that swing but never got around to it. :( Maybe next time!

Thanks for all your support in the non-knitting summer heat. I've shelved the gloves for now. I think that stranded wool was just too much in the heat. These socks are the lightweight STR and not nearly as hot to handle.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Heat...

Ok..
Am I the only one who just can't knit in the heat? I have no urge to knit at all. I think part of it is because of the cyst/mass/thing .I'm also rereading all the Harry Potters to get boned up for the release of the last one in July.

I tried to cast on a simple SS sock in a great cotton yarn. Katia's mississippi 3. It's a pretty colorway and everything..but nope, I did my swatch, got my gauge, began to cast on and didn't even join it it the round. How pathetic!!




The gloves are languishing at the moment since the heat also seems to have sucked my attention span right out of me too. Fingers are next and I have a feeling I need to be alert for those.

Oh well! Summer is far far far too short in my neck of the woods (Wisconsin) so I guess I'm taking a bit of a knitting break.

Hot weather and gloves?

back of hand

Actually they go together. Knitting gloves is a bit like knitting socks, portable and you see your progress quickly!

palm with thumb stitches on hold

I actually managed to get a rose to bloom! Yay!

The update on the 'cyst' is interesting. As mentioned it is IN my wrist, not protruding. Well this makes it odd. The doc said it most likely wasn't a cyst, but a 'mass'. Does this make other people shudder?
I'm having an MRI next week with dye.
Aren't you jealous?
Doc thinks it's a mass that's normally associated with tendonitis. What's the treatment for that? I honestly didn't ask. I had my 3 year old with me at the appointment, so was just trying to get in and out. Luckily next week at the MRI, I'll be childless. I have a follow up with the Doc the next week.
Here's to hoping it'll be solved easily!

Beware - Knitting Content!

Yay! Well sorta yay. :)

I ran out of yarn, as predicted, on my second Jaywalker. We are taking a bit of a break since we've been so tight lately. I'll buy the yarn in the next month and finish it up. I should have enough yarn to make my mother some shorties. Waste not, want not!

As mentioned previously, I needed some mindless knitting while the wee one had her dental work. Which, by the way, went wonderfully. Thanks for all the good thoughts!!

I came out with a Packers inspired dishcloth.


This is the beginning of the Christmas knitting of 07. I just need to crank out a dozen or so more and that should be good. Everyone can always use a knit dishcloth. They are similar to handknit socks, you never realize how awesome they are until you have one!

I also did a little destashing on the Destash blog. And why does one usually destash? To restash of course!!

Lover's Leap from Socks That Rock in Mediumweight
I'm thinking some cabled goodness, perhaps Lombard Street Socks.



Sherbet in Lightweight
These are destined to be a pair of Monkeys. Yum!

And finally
Jade in Socks That Rock Mediumweight
that will be Embossed Leaves.

My stash is happy with me! I also picked up 5 different colorways of Sugar & Cream to continue the dishcloth work on the side.
Also on my needles are the Norwegian Gloves. I finally settled on the colors.


I've substituted Charcoal for the Natural, Natural for the red, and Green/Pink for Charcoal. Follow? :D
Whew! One last thing to mention. I've had a ganglion cyst in my left wrist for years. It doesn't look like this one, thank goodness. It's actually on the palm side of my hand, inside my wrist. You can't see it from the outside, but you can feel the hardness of it when it's flared up. Which it is now. And it hurts like hell. Hell, I tell you. There's not a ton of knitting going on here at the moment. I have an appointment with a hand surgeon on Monday, so we'll see how it goes. I've never had it drained, but whatever they do it's got to be better than this!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Grrr...Computer Rant

Nice new computer should mean no problems, right?

Scratch that idea if the lovely new computer has the piece of crap software that is VISTA on it.

I am so unhappy I could cry or scream or perhaps punch a random MS employee. I'm going to have the husband strip this entirely down and throw all my old software back on the new machine. Can you believe it takes 2 to 3 times as long to get something done? It hangs, just kinda chugs along doing god knows what, in the background.
We called HP, I have a Compaq, and they had us power it down and reboot.

REBOOT? WTF?

There's service for you.

Thank god my DH is an IT guy. So he'll make it work. Nothing like having a private IT dept in your home. :)

Anyway, the long and short of this complaint is I can't edit my photos. My machine can't 'handle' Macromedia Fireworks. PULEAZE. This machine is faster/newer/better than the old one that had no problems with it. It also has problems with Mozilla and Thunderbird. DH and I are convinced that has to be a Software design for VISTA, making you turn to more crappy MS software in hopes that it'll 'work better'. Hah. Fuckers.

I wish with all my heart I could have afforded a Mac. I want a Mac so much it makes my eyes bleed. Anything to get AWAY from MS. Evil evil. But I'm so not a geek enough to work with Linux, one of the DH's favorite toys.

Wow this is a rant worthy of the Samurai Knitter!

I think I'll go off in the corner and mutter some more.

Ravelry Love

I just wanted to share the Ravelry Love.
I've talked about the site previously and how I had gotten my invite. I also shared that the owners/builders of the site were working hard to get people accounts. It's an amazing place, but go easy on them! :) Apparently there are some folks who are feeling they are being left out or ignored on purpose. I just wanted for you to take a look at a letter from Casey (FreckleGirl) herself.

Ravelry

Alive

Yep, alive and blogging again.

I have a new laptop and hope I can manage to upload pictures without loading some different software.

I've had a bit of a stressful few weeks. My littlest had to have dental surgery (she's 3) to have 2 caps put in. It required for her to be put under. Mom does not deal well with that. But all is well and she has 2 shiny new teeth and no more pain. They think she just has thin enamel and they also sealed her teeth. Fun fun! They never tell you about this crap in Parent School..

Anyway I needed good mindless knitting for the waiting room. I managed to crank out a dishcloth. I think I'm going to start randomly working on these in hopes of actually getting Christmas Knitting done. My goodness I said that in JUNE folks. Be impressed!

My second Jaywalker in the RSC yarn is going well, but ...I'm scared. Really scared. I don't think I'm going to have enough yarn. I grew up in Las Vegas and hate to gamble. I get nervous everytime I pick up the needles...

Here it is hanging out in the sunshine.

That's the other thing happening at our household. We are outside all the time. For those of us who live in the northern part of the US, we make SURE we enjoy every second of warmth given to us.

I hope you are all doing well!