Stuck on Socks

I haven't forgotten

She hasn't been stuck in a bag or shoved off to some corner. No, Lily's been getting a little attention here, a few stitches there. I think in another 5 or 6 rows she'll be long enough. Which brings me back to a nagging problem with the picot bind off.

Here's one sleeve with the suggested bind off:

It's going to need the hell blocked out of it for the cute little picot points to show. So then I had a thought. Fairly often these brainstorms get me into trouble but I think this one worked out. What do you think of a purl row before binding off? Well, see for yourself!

This is a photo of the sleeve PRE-blocking. Why yes, the whole point of this post is to pat myself on the back thankyouverymuch. I'm thrilled with how this came out. So now I have to pick out the other one to fix it. But the first didn't kill me -much as I hate backwards progress. So. Wanna see it up close? You know you do.

That's my project for the week. Fixing sleeve #2 and a few more rows on the body along with my new fancy-schmancy bind off. And then the horrifying job of picking up all those stitches from the botton edge, all the way around the side, neck, and back to the bottom. Yeah, maybe that last bit can wait til next weekend.

And on that note - Elvis says he may have a photo tutorial later this week on proper treat appreciation. I hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine certainly ended on a good note. :)

Rare, Mid-Week post

I love my new socks.

I saw this project on Ravelry, (here for non-Ravelers) so went looking for the yarn company and impulse purchased the yarn all in the space of about 3 minutes. Yeah, mine is DK and Kelly's is fingering but it's what was in stock and I love me a super-fast project!

Yarn: Henry's Attic Kona Superwash DK (370 yds - plenty left over)
Dyed at/Purchased from: Freshisle Fibers
Pattern: my own - Ravelry has the details (yes, that's an afterthought heel)
Stripes match? YES!

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Some random tidbits:

* The right people were voted off DwtS this evening - Yay!
* Our SnB group has moved to the front of the store and is now meeting at the Starbucks Cafe. It's nicer, honest!
* So far, so good on my NCAA pool (tied with many for second place, one point behind many tied for first)
* I can't stop thinking about Fondue!
* Deep down, I lust after a Majacraft wheel, but I'll admit to being curious about the Julia.

100K

Congratulations to Jess and Casey and all of us Ravelers! We're now 100,000 strong. What a great community. If you haven't found me there yet, I'm Pearlicue.

And believe it or not, I finished the Strawberry Latte socks just as it hit the big number. I was madly weaving in ends (and refreshing my screen) during 99,997 - 99,999. I think I'll rename them 100K socks. :)

OK, OK, I'm also refreshing basketball scores...

...and how's your bracket?

How many of those do you have Pearl?

Life with two dogs...

And then this happens...

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No, Lily's not done but I'm still working on it in the evenings. When I'm not making LOLdogs, that is. :)

No Saturday Sky

Nothing to see in that direction at all. It's gray, foggy, cold, and just plain icky. That might be a new meteorological term. But luckily - that makes for good color in my knit pictures.

Here's Lily as of right this minute:

Maybe a little more than a shrug just now. Karen is way farther along than me but I'm powering through. I saw Holly's sweater yesterday and she's begun the second sleeve. I have an uber-long cable on order to make it easier to try on. Wouldn't it be funny if it didn't fit. Hahahaha..... maybe not.

In my weak moments, I've been cheating on Lily with some socks. First is the second Strawberry Latte sock:

The first one was cast on Christmas Eve. I can't believe I'm still working on this pair! They need to be done and done now. Good thing I wasn't trying to knit a pair a month. And yes, there is something funky about the picture - can you tell what it is? No prize if you guess other than that smug feeling of cleverness I tend to crave so much.

And this second sock is completely Leah's fault:

It's the Primavera sock from Natalja at S(t)ockinette. It just screams for Trekking yarn and I've been saving that purple several years just waiting for a special pattern. And suddenly the perfect pattern was there. It's easy, fun, and gorgeous. And free! What's not to like?

My last picture is new stash. I loved knitting my Galaxy socks (Ravelry link) so much that I offered to take a ball off Karen's hands when she had a duplicate. That's a different Karen from above, btw.

And since I traded for it, it's not like I was spending money. No, I spent money on registration for a class here in June. Assuming the class I signed up for isn't full. Anyone else going?

Snow 2008

All photos can be clicked to make them bigger...

They say we had thundersnow last night but I didn't hear it. The wind? That I heard! The snow is drifted almost everywhere. The most protected areas seem to be about a foot deep. The not-so-protected areas are anywhere from 4 inches to several feet deep. At least the winds have stopped - the potty walk last night before bed was horrible with 20+ mph winds and snow blowing horizontally. Today is much more pleasant and picturesque. During our snow romp, Elvis & Pearl seemed to prefer the shallower areas. Wonder why? Snow in the armpits isn't fun? :) We'll be inside the rest of the day and I'll be knitting. Enjoy your weekend whether you're socked in with snow or not!

Snow Squall

My local TV stations have "Blizzard Warning" plastered all over the screen. This amounts to big-time excitement for Cincinnati. The library closed at 1:00 and it took me a little over an hour to make my normally 20 minute drive home. Here's what we had around 3:00 - I'd say about 3 inches of snow.

The news is saying we have 7" now in my neighborhood and the wind is blowing and drifting that everywhere. I'll probably post more pictures tomorrow or Sunday. Chances they'll include dogs? Pretty good. :)

But what better time to post pictures of my newest spinning? This is Snow Squall which was the January club offering from Spunky Eclectic. It's grey Icelandic with blues and teals. These are fairly laceweight singles but I haven't measured them for weight or length. They're pretty scratchy but softened a lot more than I expected in the wash. I tried to pass this yarn off to Deb, but she wasn't falling for it. Ah well, to the stash it goes. Unless you want it??? :)

photos and updates

Holly's sweater (Daisy cardi) is really coming along - I believe she's working on her sleeves now.

I've got 1 sleeve completely done on Lily and Karen is zooming along too. I'm vegetating in front of the TV this evening so the possibility exists that I'll have both sleeves done before bed. Then I'll be starting on the incredibly long rows for the rest of the body. I received a few more skeins of yarn (right dyelot!) in the mail today so I'm no longer obsessing about running out of yarn.

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FO - Rock the Casbah Socks

Yarn: Handmaiden Casbah Yarn (superwash merino, cashmere, nylon) in Mixed Berries or some berry-type name
Pattern: Stansfield 196 from More Sensational Knitted Socks

up close (color far more correct in photo above)

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A week ago I attended my first political rally. It was exciting, fun, and inspiring. Why yes, this is how I plan to vote. Even though it's going to be raining like crazy tomorrow morning.

Waiting in line with me for 4 hours in the cold and wind were Sarah and Mariah. (Ravelry links) I believe I'd consider this a good time. :)

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Ancient history:
FO Bunny Hat in action at Christmastime (clickable to enlarge)

My niece Andie was the perfect model. I think she kinda liked wearing it. :)

And here's the first time (documented by my nephew Alex) my mom has ever played a video game. She's being instructed in the finer points, well - the basics of Wii Bowling by my brother, Randy.

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One last photo for you... my favorite animals in the world all cozy together on the trashy couch (I once spotted it on an episode of Cops):

I stage an awful lot of my dog photos but this one just happened. Louie isn't "poseable."