Stuck on Socks

New stuff

Here's the happy part of the post...

Ooooh look! Shiny!

This is me trying not to spend money before going to the Hoosier Hills Fiber Fest on Saturday. Epic Fail. In my defense, the Spunky Fiber at the top and the new issue of Spin Off are subscriptions. The Debbie Bliss book, the pattern, and the yarn... I really don't have an excuse for those. Other than that damn Paypal button. There might have been one other package but I'm not showing it yet.

The not-so-happy part of the post...

Remember how I was OK with the amount of cicadas? That has completely changed. We had a storm last night which must have softened the ground enough for the legions of hell to emerge from the depths. Listen here bugs! Stop flying into me! Damnit! Stay out of my hair! Get back in the trees where you belong! How am I supposed to potty dogs like this? We are sooo not going outside again until nighttime when you're settled in. Hell, I'll train the dogs to go indoors! Don't think I won't. All I need is a couple square feet of outdoor carpet stuff and I know for a fact I can get that at Home Depot. I can sooo do that. And stay out of the garage too. Damn bugs. Poor El and Pearl - think of them hopping up and down with their legs crossed because we can't go outside. Sorry pups - as soon as it's safe, we'll go. In the meantime, how do you feel about peeing in the shower? At this point, it seems perfectly reasonable...

Gratuitous dog picture day

* Someplace within earshot had fireworks this evening. I can hear the Grand Finale as I type this.
* Just for the record, my dogs are never outside unattended so the wistful looking through the gate there couldn't ever escalate beyond that.
* I have a slight error with my Zetor shawl and I have a plan to fix it, but it might have to wait a couple days til I find the nerve.
* SnB this week will have some spinning.
* Don't forget Hoosier Hills Fiber Fest is this coming weekend. I'm heading there on Saturday so I'm trying NOT to buy any fiber stuff before then. I'm not really succeeding.
* The IRS makes me very sad. No, I'm not in trouble but they're very slow. I've been thinking that I might receive money any day now. But no. Mid-August and early September are the dates for me. So excuse me while I go pout.

Zetor progress

I've finished 4 repeats of chart #2 on the Zetor shawl...

Can you believe I've encountered 2 knots in this single ball of yarn already? Ugh. But the colors are still pretty and the pattern is easy enough that I haven't made lots of errors.

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And now the wildlife portion of the blog...

I was really worried about the potential amount of cicadas around my house with this brood emergence (every 17 years just to refresh your memory - this brood is different than the one 4 years ago). The cicadas have emerged, hatched from their shells, dried out, and are now flying about, singing, and hunting for mates. There are definitely more than 4 years ago, but this isn't bad. Other areas of Cincinnati have frightening amounts around homes and woods - even as close as a few blocks away. But again, I'm OK with this amount. Thank heavens! Here are some photos for your enjoyment to satisfy your curiosity for the OMG it's gross but I have to look anyway factor. And you know - all my photos are always clickable for up-close and personal views.

Long Weekend part 3

I wanted to be a little farther along than this before its first pictures, but the skies are threatening rain so here you go:

This is an embryonic Zetor shawl that I'm knitting with my Noro sock yarn. I'm only a little ways through the second repeat of chart 2 here. And purple, olive green, and orange - how could I resist that yarn??? I couldn't find my favorite size 6 bamboo circ so I grabbed this Bryspun from the drawer. It's not ideal by any means, but for the very beginning with that dark, dark, purple - it was great.

So there you go - long 3-day weekend = 3 new projects cast on. I only get the urge to knit lace about once a year so there's no guarantees this last one will make it for the long haul.

I hope everyone has had a great holiday weekend - it's back to the grind tomorrow. :(

Long Weekend part 2

New project for Sunday:

When I dig around in my stash bins, I sometimes discover things I forgot were there. I know I need to get it all on Ravelry, but I can't. I just can't.  Trust me when I say that only the tiniest bit of my stash is listed there.  I don't need to buy more yarn. Ever.  But look! Another stash project - I found this yarn lurking in the bottom of a bin yesterday and decided its time had come.

This might be a close version of the Yarrow Ribbed Sock from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks but I can't say for sure as my book is living with Angela. I'm going to use an afterthought heel (love it on stripey yarn!) and have already put in the waste yarn. The yarn is everyone's favorite Trekking XXL in color#126 aka Neapolitan aka Brach's coconut candy.

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I discovered this little guy in my flower pot:

So teeny tiny!  This is the only picture I managed to snap before he decided the top of the flower pot wasn't the best place to be. I love praying mantises and I think this is the first baby I've seen since I've lived here.

Long Weekend of Casting On

Saturday's new project: Argosy

Yarn: Jojoland Melody (color Y45 or maybe that's 145), from the ball I would never have guessed about the greenish/yellowish bit either

Needles: 3.75 mm straight needles

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Random stuff:

• no sign of the cicadas here in Milford yet but I know they're coming
• I still have a stupid cold (are you sick yet, Jackie?)
• Some of my recent google searches: "cincinnati veterinarian" "alkaline trio help me" "henna tattoos" "firefox 3"
• I snagged one of the coveted Ravelry logo totes! (and also a disagree (1) T-shirt)

Too Random for a Title

You've come for knitting so let me show you some of that first --

This is the first of what will hopefully be a pair of Circle Socks. (pattern is a free Ravelry download) The yarn is Lime & Violet Mermaid in the colorway Cowboy Up! Love those colors! I got some more L&V yarn at the same time called Suede Elvis. That was a required purchase don't you think? Anyway, this pattern is fun to knit and is going by quickly.

I've also finished the first Blogiversary sock:

The gusset on sock #2 was finished today so those are moving right along. On size 3 needles they ought to! In my Blogiversary post I said these were my fifth pair of Broadripples but I was mistaken - I completely forgot about a pair of pink/purple ones that I actually wear fairly often. So this is pair #6. Isn't that crazy? Evidently I love this pattern.

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I thought about calling this part "Beth goes to the Rock Show" but I'll add a few other music bits at the end in case rocker guys aren't your thing.

Lately, I've been enjoying some YouTube. I mostly peruse the music and I've been finding some concert clips. There's one in my music feature over in the right sidebar. If you want to hear Beyond The Fall's other music, just follow that link on their name to their Myspace and give them a listen. I can't figure out why they don't have a major label deal yet. Sooo talented! Every song on their EP sounds like a hit single. A few pics from the concerts on May 3rd and 6th:

Why yes - this is what front row looks like. :) And yes, I got to meet them. More than once. Jason and Phil remembered my name from one show to another. Does this make me a groupie? And is that a bad thing?

I tend to listen to a single song over and over - my odd version of OCD coming out - and my current song is by Good Charlotte called All Black. That's a YouTube link to a concert in Dublin, Ireland. Funny how as soon as the song starts, cell phones and cameras recording are thrust into the air across the crowd. They're the new lighters, you know.

Here's another I'm loving - Kate Nash singing Foundations on a British TV show. Is she amazing or what?

Hmmm... both of those are actually a bit melancholy in the lyrics but are happy on the surface with catchy melodies.

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I'm anxious for this next weekend to arrive - it's time for a Michigan trip to visit Still Blogless Jackie. This time we'll do fondue for sure. I'm considering taking my spinning wheel up with me. I haven't spun in ages and it might be nice to treat myself to some nice fiber that I've been saving for, well, who knows why we save our extra nice stuff? I miss knitting with handspun - I really enjoyed knitting the 2 pair of socks that I have from my own handspun and it 's time I had another pair. Maybe that will help break me out of my melancholy mood. With the natural disasters of the past week, and the coming cicadas (and my irrational fear of bugs), I sure do need something to make things lighter. Here - I'll leave you with a laugh - check this link - the area where the most are clustered? That's where I live. Go on, laugh it up, you know you wanna.

Hope you're having a great week.

Super Short Post

Thank you Aunt Angie! ______________________________________________________________

And many thanks for all the great blogiversary wishes!

I'm sort of in-between knits at the moment. I'm stalled on everything and searching for a pattern to inspire me. In the meantime, I have lots of non-knitting stuff I may blog. It's almost cicada time again. I've been going to see a cool band. I've got tickets to a different sort of show on Friday. There's a fiber festival on Saturday that I might or might not attend. We're heading to Michigan next weekend. And that's just off the top of my head for May. There's other stuff already planned for June and July. How did I get this busy? And this is without dog sports! Who knew?

Happy Blogiversary to me!

Saturday, May 3rd - that's the official start of my blogging year.

My first post was fairly pathetic and I'm afraid the quality hasn't necessarily improved with 4 years' practice. And frankly, the frequency of posts has dropped dramatically. Definitely the Ravelry effect.

I got the crazy idea while looking back to recreate my first blog photo. This was no small feat... It involved dogs, a cat, and a sock in progress. Well here, I'll just repost it:

L-R Pearl, Louie, Elvis

This was during the Broadripple KAL which was the forerunner of the Six Sox Knitalong. That was my second pair of Broadripples and I've gotta say that pattern has served me well these past few years. I guess I haven't put those first 2 pairs knit in Fixation into Ravelry but I do have 2 others that you can view, the Slytherin Socks and the Austerman Step Socks. That makes my current pair #5.

And oh, you wanna see those?

(insert my regular sermon on the benefits of training your dogs here) Training the cat is another matter. I purposely stopped knitting these at roughly the same point as the first photo specifically to make the pictures match. And I haven't been able to knit on them most of the week - just waiting to get this photo.

Every time I catch Louie napping on the back of the couch, he decides both dogs being near him is too much and he leaves for a less-crowded hideaway.

(Where are you going??? She said to STAY!)

I have several photos like this - proof that patience pays off. And yes, I have ugly, brown floral curtains right there - I cloned them out of the first picture so I cloned them out again.

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I wanted recognize my very first commenters -
Angela (who claimed she'd never have a blog)
Margene (master knitter, spinner & knitblogger)
Bobbie (who doesn't have an email or blog URL attached to that first post and I'm not sure which Bobbie it was!)
Vera (who has superb musical taste and shares my love for pro football)

And a big thank you to all who continue to read on those rare occasions that I actually post. Once there are photos, there will be FOs here. One that may possibly be my all time favorite knitted garment...

Math skills

I was never much for math in school, but I'm ready to DIVIDE!

All the regular "indoors-flash-tryingtoadjustcoloroncomputer" disclaimers apply. It's Cotton Ease in Turquoise, Gathered Pullover from Winter 2007 IK, on a size 8 Addi Turbo.