My Mojo's Back, Baby!

Knitting
My sock knitting mojo, anyway. Look what I finished last night!

Angel's Rest w/Yarn

Angel's Rest: Stand-up

Angel's Rest: Toes

Behold: Angel's Rest, one of the Peak Experience Socks from Fiber Trends. The colorway is called "Rum Runner" and is exclusive to members of the Yarn Pirate Booty Club.

Unlike the Jaywalkers which took about two weeks each, this baby took about a week from cast on to cast off. There's only one little "oops" in it, but I'm not going to tell you what it is. I'm guessing you won't be able to find it, either. I'm very proud of myself for leaving it in--normally I would have ripped back to fix it, but I'm trying to lighten up a little.

I really like the scalloped cuff instead of the traditional ribbing:

Angel's Rest: Cuff

Girly? Perhaps. But I still dig it.

I'm also really happy with how the toe and heel came out.

Angel's Rest: Toe

Angel's Rest: Heel Close-up

I'll cast on for the second sock after I finish posting. The Beloved has been in beastly pain for the past week or so with an abscessed tooth. Today he gets to go for a root canal and I'm going to wait patiently for him like the good and devoted wife I am. Hopefully, I'll get a fair amount cranked out on sock #2 during my wait.

While I'm really happy with how this sock came out, and I'm excited to knit the second one, I'm wondering if my next Booty Club Shipment shouldn't be a plain ol' vanilla sock. The colors are so beautiful and a plain sock may show them off better than any stitch pattern could.

I say this now...but who knows what will happen when the skein is actually in my hot little hands?

So, yes. My sock knitting mojo is back. But it seems to have returned at the expense of my spinning mojo. I am not having any luck finishing off the batt I've been working with. I keep doing stupid things, or the yarn breaks (probably because of something stupid I've done), and I get frustrated and swear. So, not much has gotten done. It's been beastly hot and humid over the past several days, so I'm going to use that as my excuse. I simply don't function well when it's hot, and apparently my wool doesn't function well, either.

In other news, the peaches are coming along nicely as are the blackberries. That means I'm going to have to decide what to do with all that fruit right quickly. Any ideas?

Sights of Summer

cooking
My Grandfather fancied himself a gardener. I, however, have not inherited these proclivities. Digging in the dirt is fun--don't get me wrong--but the resultant sunburn and thousands of insect bites really are not to my liking. I'm trying to (sort of) maintain what we inherited--meaning, mostly, that I'm trying to keep the fruit trees and bushes alive. We've lost the battle with some of the peach trees, and they will be coming down in the near future so as to keep us warm during the winter. But some of the others are actually faring quite well. Look at what I saw yesterday during my shower! (Yes--we have a window in the shower. The Beloved hates it. Fortunately, we have a big backyard and you really can't see in unless the window is wide open.)

That, my friends, is a fine looking peach. While I knew we had peach trees, I was under the impression that they weren't bearing fruit. Well, until the end of last summer when The Beloved was griping that they had all fallen off the trees and were mouldering on the ground making it near impossible for him to mow the lawn. This summer I'm hoping to be better prepared and to get some of them picked. I'm not sure of the quality--we don't spray with anything, so I don't know if they're wormy or infested with other vermin. But I'm hoping to pick some just the same and cut them up (so as to see the state of the fruit) and perhaps make some preserves or at least a homemade peach cobbler.

I have a cobbler recipe that I like, but have a feeling that The Beloved may appreciate some diversity. If anyone has any recipes featuring peaches or recipes with which I can use peaches (eg: cobblers, coffee cakes, pies, etc), send them down! You can e-mail them to me, or post them in the comments section. And, to make this fun, perhaps I'll include prizes :)

Yes. I think prizes will be good. I'll have The Beloved taste test the creations and his favorite will get either a jar of preserves or a skein of my handspun--winner may choose.

And if this goes well, you all may be pressed into duty again in a few more weeks when the blackberries ripen. While we'll have a fair amount of peaches (I think we have three or four still-living trees), we'll have an unholy amount of blackberries. The bushes span about half of our backyard. They are thirty paces, end to end. And the berries, they are a-growing.


When I was a little girl, my grandparents used to let me pick berries for my grandmother's amazing blackberry jam, cobbler, pie, etc. And as many berries ended up in my tummy as in the bucket. Which would, of course, lead to my being dreadfully sick--but never resulted in changes to my picking habits. They are really that good.

Late last summer I went out and picked berries most afternoons once they began to ripen. You'll be pleased to know that my picking habits still have not changed. But I began to run short of recipes, and while I can freeze the blackberries, they are oh-so-much better when fresh. So, put your thinking caps on for berry season... I know I'll be doing the same.


You should know that I ate this ripe one immediately after taking the picture. It's quality control. I had to make sure they were going to be as good as last summer. They're coming along nicely.

As is my new sock. Click here if you'd like to take a peek. Here's another shot. I'll start posting, maybe, next week. Or when I complete one. It's that surprise thing again. I'm generally horrible about giving things away, and so I'm trying really, really hard to be good.

FO--Jaywalkers and other weekend happenings

books
In all honesty, I'm amazed that anything got done at all this weekend. That's because this came into my life:

Yeah. Mine and everyone else's. So, that's how I spent my Saturday. The letter carrier dropped it off at about 11 AM and I retreated for 759 pages. I was pleased with how the story wrapped up. But I won't say any more for those of you that may still be reading.

On Sunday, though, I managed to be remarkably productive. OK--maybe not remarkably, but I did finish these:


Jaywalker Socks
Yarn: Lorna's Laces in Funky Stripe from The Yarn Basket
Needles: Brittany US Size 1/2.25 mm (5 5-inch DPNs)

It's about time. The Beloved wanted to know how much these socks would be worth if I charged an hourly labor rate. Hah. They are a belated birthday gift for my friend, ESB, and I've been knitting them for, oh, a while. This is not the fault of the pattern or the yarn or anything other than my relatively slow and inept knitting. Nevertheless, I'm happy with how they came out. As you can see, I haven't blocked them yet. I'll wash them and block them this afternoon--mind you, they will not be blocked on sock blockers or anything fancy--I'd just like them to look a little slicker when they are finally handed off later this week. Yay finished socks!

There was only one thing to do--cast on another sock. Am I finishing Conwy's mate? Not on your life. I mean--I will. Eventually. But I got new yarn in the mail last week and have been dying to use it. Yes, my Yarn Pirate booty arrived. Wanna see it? Click here. On the chance that someone reading hasn't gotten their shipment yet, I'd hate to ruin the surprise. Because it's sweet. And mine will become "Angel's Rest" from the "Peak Experience" patterns available from Fiber Trends. At least, that is the current plan.

I've also been spinning. No yarn to show right now because it's drying. I gave Navajo plying a go, and while it certainly needs work, I did produce something that one could identify as yarn. So I got ambitious and spun up one of the Spunky Eclectic batts I bought at the Maine Fiber Frolic. It's purple and yellow and blue, so I kind of took it apart into it's component parts and have attempted to spin a striped yarn. My single is striped. And, as long as I don't destroy the yarn in the plying attempt planned for later this week the final product should be striped. Let's keep our fingers crossed, shall we?

And yesterday I also did something I haven't done in years--I went fishing with my Dad. Naturally, both of us forgot cameras. (Battery was charging--the call was somewhat unexpected). Dad is teaching me to fly fish. I suck. But, by the end of the afternoon, I could sort-of cast out to nearly the middle of the pond, and I had even caught a trout--a decent sized one! But we were catching and releasing, so it got to stay at the pond. We had a celebratory cigar. I hope to be able to go out again, but will have to spend a little time practicing in the backyard. I'm terrified of hooking someone with the fly as I whip it around. Yikes!

Since I had such a wonderful day outside playing yesterday, it's only fitting that it's raining this morning and I use the opportunity to do all of the chores I neglected this weekend. So I'm off to do some laundry and play with my new sock. Not a bad way to spend a Monday if you ask me...

Rationalization

baby things
I love rationalizing. I can rationalize just about anything--particularly if it's fiber-related.

Last week I heard some rather disturbing news at work. It seems there was an attempted break-in at some point during the previous weekend. You can see where someone tried to force the door on my side of the building. Apparently they also tried another door and failed. I'm currently working as a consultant for a religious library. The library is located in a building owned by the New Hampshire Conference, UCC and shared by that organization, my library, and the NH Bible Society and the NH Council of Churches. That's right--the once-and-future thieves tried to break into church offices. We assume the miscreants were either kids with vandalism on their deviant minds, or individuals trying to make off with the computers and other other office equipment.

As a consultant, I can more or less make up my own hours. The Library Board likes me to be consistent so that I can help patrons as well as catalog their collection, but, as an independent contractor, I've got some leeway. My hours had been Wednesday evenings and all day on Friday, but those hours left me alone in the building for long stretches of time (during the week, the UCC staff leaves at 4:30 and they close the office at 2:30 on Fridays during the summer). This has never been a problem in the past because...well...it's a church office in New Hampshire. I always felt safe. Now? Not so much. So, on Friday when the UCC ladies checked out for the afternoon, I decided to do the same. That meant I had time after work to check out the Knit and Crochet Show in Manchester--about half an hour down the road. I had to go. There was no sense in staying at the office waiting for burglars, and I was saving money by going from work and then home rather than making a special trip on Saturday. Besides, I was no longer worried about going to my interview naked, since I had picked out an outfit on Thursday [Marianne: the clothes came from my favorite boutique--Marshalls.]

So, off I went to Manchester. And I high-tailed it to the Grafton Fibers booth. I did look at other things, but I was really a woman on a mission. I wanted this fiber. And, I think we can all agree that it was more than worth the trip. I picked up two batts (3.5-4 ounces each) in this gorgeous coral colorway. Don't ask what they're going to become; I haven't got the faintest idea. It will be yarn. And I will knit something from the yarn. But, truth be told, I'm not confident enough in my spinning to tackle it just yet. And since I haven't actually ever thought out a project from fiber selection to spinning to knitting and all, I really haven't got a clue. But that doesn't change the fact that this here corriedale is about the prettiest stuff I've ever seen and I do hope to do it justice.

I also picked up some absolutely darling buttons. They've got little bears on them! Remember the Haiku sweater I was knitting, well, months ago before I got bored with it and set it aside? The one we're not currently talking about? Well, the child for whom I originally started it will now be too big to wear it by the time I'm done. So I'll have to knit something else for her. But Baby K, the recipient of the English Mesh Lace Christening Shawl, is still small enough that the sweater will fit her--eventually. Woo-hoo! Anyway. The sweater was going to need buttons eventually and I think that these will work just fine. The buttons are handmade ceramic, made in South Africa, and were purchased from AffectionKnit. They are also machine washable (yippee!) so long as the garment is turned inside out. Yes, the buttons cost more than the yarn did for the sweater (particularly since the yarn came to me from my sister's stash so I didn't actually buy it at all), but they are just too cute for words.

Anyhow. I'm glad I went. I could easily have spent more money, but since I'm currently underemployed I'm trying not to do that if I can help it. Sometimes it's very hard. The only thing I didn't buy that I'm regretting now is a Lexie Barnes knitting bag. They are so cool and they were marked way down for the event. But, I had a hard time choosing which style I really wanted, and, truth be told, I need a new bag like I need a hole in my head. But....they are soooo cool. And I'd use it. I know I would. Still--I promised myself no new bags until I had effectively dealt with the closet full of bags I no longer use. Sigh.

All in all it's been a good weekend. Except that I seem to have misplaced the keys to my moped. Which means it's time to do some picking up to see if I can't locate them under one of the many piles of crap that have taken over each and every room of my house. So I'm off to clean and tidy...and then perhaps go shoe shopping, because I haven't figured that part of my interview outfit out yet. Granted, I need shoes like I need another bag, but....

Crisis averted.

shopping
Well, maybe. I took what seemed to be the consensus and went shopping early and now have an outfit for my interview next week. No shoes yet--but I've still got time to worry about that. Here's what I've got--beige ankle-length linen skirt and blue short sleeved linen/eyelet blouse. Nice and conservative. Good librarian gear. I really like the blouse. What I don't like is my current figure. So, I've lost weight from around my middle and my rear but not from, erm, up top. In fact, they seem to be getting bigger. So, while I'm now happily wearing a size 10 skirt, the buttons were popping on the size large blouse. Apparently, my chest needs about a 2XL, even though the rest hangs something awful. So I did something I never thought I would do. Ever. I bought a Minimizer Bra. It was terribly distressing. But I now fit into a large blouse. And the buttons don't gap.

The Beloved, naturally, is calling me on all my whinging. "I bet when you were young, you would have killed to have large..." Yeah. This is called be careful what you wish for because it just may come to pass. God help me should I ever become pregnant. I probably won't be able to stand up straight.

It is a pretty blouse, though. The eyelets and the collar and the color... it all works for me. I think it will be just fine on Wednesday. Provided I can find adequate shoes. Naturally, I also have a backup. It's bright, screaming pink with three-quarter sleeves. Also linen. Also quite nice. I'll wear it if it's cold. Or if I decide against showing my arms.

I also picked up a non-interview shirt for fun. Because it was too cool to pass up. It has skulls on it. I'm thinking of wearing it to work tomorrow. And maybe, just maybe, to the Knit and Crochet Show. You see, I figure if I can get out of work early enough (the rest of the office closes at 2:30 and I may just head out with them), I can go over to Manchester from Concord before going home, thus saving gas. And maybe, just maybe, I can squeeze out enough money for something pretty from Grafton Fibers. Yippee!

One Down!

socks


One to go. Don't worry. It is, in fact, started. Even though I bought more sock yarn yesterday. *Sigh*

I'm currently in the midst of a major dilemma, though. This weekend is the Knit & Crochet Show up the road in Manchester. I had planned on going simply because Grafton Fibers will be one of the vendors. And, to be honest, I covet that fiber. I dream about it at night. My spinning is probably not at a point to do it justice at all, but I could keep it in my fiber basket and pat it. (Stephanie spun some up recently. Look here and here to gaze upon hers.) Besides, driving 45 minutes to go and look at yarn and fiber-y things is a perfectly reasonable way to spend a Saturday.

Except. I just found out I have a job interview next week for a position in the town in which I reside. Yes, Virginia, that would mean zero commute for Saisquoi. It's only half-time, but zero commute. I could ride my bike to work, weather permitting. Or the moped :) This is very appealing. Unfortunately, all of my "professional" looking dresses were purchased prior to the rather drastic weight loss I've experienced in the last six months or so. They are all rather large. I've got some summery dresses that fit (after all, I had to wear something in Chicago), but they really don't work for this particular situation. Halter dress at an interview? I don't think so. It is a librarian job, after all.

So, what's a girl to do? Get by with what I've got and go buy beautiful fiber? Or spend Saturday looking for something "appropriate" and not ill-fitting? I can't believe I'm actually bitching about the prospect of buying clothes. I'd just mentally allocated those funds elsewhere and am a little put out about the change in plans...

And....we're back!

adventures
To tell the truth, we've been home since late Saturday night/early Sunday morning. But I've been recovering...er...reacclimating from my vacation. There's still more laundry to do before going back to work tomorrow, but I'm taking it slow. OK. I'm enjoying my last day of freedom before getting back to my (albeit greatly reduced) work schedule.

But, before I return to the fast-paced world of library-consulting, let me show you what The Beloved and I were up to! On Tuesday last, we flew out of NH and landed ourselves at O'Hare airport in Chicago. We stayed outside of the city in the Chicagoland area in Bloomingdale at the Indian Lakes Resort. To get there and back again, we rented a car. The Beloved was good enough to drive, mostly because he forgot to add my name to the paperwork and I refused to drive in case something happened and we weren't covered.

Here he is in our PT Cruiser. Isn't he cute? The car was kinda fun. We're going to have to buy another car at some point in the near future, and we'd like one with back doors. This has a huge gas tank and appears to get decent mileage.

So. The hotel. The hotel was nice, but it was absolutely empty when we got there! I suppose that's what happens when you start vacation on Tuesday. It was decorated in a sort of arts-and-crafts-Frank-Lloyd-Wright sort of ways. Except for the cave in the middle of the lobby. Seriously! A cave! And not just any sort of cave--a cave bar. We were intrigued, so we went for drinks. Very expensive drinks. With very little alcohol. And snacks. Which were also expensive. The cave bar was not, actually, our favorite place. In fact, I think it was the only time during the trip we felt ripped off. Fortunately, we got that out of the way early. Anyway--what it lacked in food or drink quality, it made up for in ambiance:

Our room was nice. But, again...weird. The arts-and-crafts theme continued, it was spacious (we had two beds, which seemed a little excessive, but The Beloved made the reservations), and the bathroom was very large. However, it didn't have a coffee maker. For normal people, this might not present a problem. For me, it was next to tragic. Even more confusing? There were coffee pods in the bathroom, along with cream and sugar packets. It was like they were toying with me.

But they did have pretty things on the ceiling. Look!

And that, my friends, was day one of our vacation.

On day two we met up with R & M at the Art Institute of Chicago. I loved it. The Beloved was bored. But he humored me. We saw American Gothic and Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte. The Art Institute also has a fantastic Monet collection. We saw lots of haystacks. And some water lilies. They were lovely as well. The Beloved was pissy because we didn't see any Rembrandt or Vermeer. He likes Dutch Masters. Poor boy.

I thought he might like some modern art and sculpture. So we went and saw The Bean, or The Big Shiny Thing in Millennium Park.

Apparently, it's actually called Cloud Gate. It's seriously one of the weirdest things I've ever seen. Unfortunately, it still wasn't a Dutch Master and The Beloved was still grouchy. There was only one thing to do--let him pick dinner.

We went to the Exchequer Pub, which was a few blocks away, right in the Loop. It may have been a Speakeasy when the first restaurant was established at that location during the 1920s. It was also frequented by none other than Al Capone. Oh--and they are said to have the best deep dish pizza in the Loop. Guess what we ordered!


And beer. The Exchequer Ale is quite good. We drank plenty of it.

Day three found us back downtown--this time at Navy Pier. It's kind of like Hampton Beach. Only the guys don't seem quite so sleazy. We walked around and looked at things and took pictures of the city from the pier. Then we met up with R & M for drinks. The Beloved was hot and grumpy, so we bought him a baseball cap to protect his head from sunburn. I should have done something to protect myself, but, well, it isn't vacation until you've got a sunburn, right?

We all went on the Ferris Wheel.

Nothing impresses The Beloved.

Not even the view. Well. He may have enjoyed the view a little.

I sure did. Plus, we got to see R & M be nauseatingly cute.

After the Ferris Wheel, The Beloved decided he was ready to venture out of downtown. He had read about a pub he really wanted to visit. Who cares that it was 3:00 on Thursday afternoon--that's a perfectly acceptable time to visit a pub if you're vacationing! So off we went to the Lincoln Park area and tracked down The Red Lion Pub. The pub is very English in decor, beers on tap, and menu. It's also rumored to be the most haunted bar in Chicago. All we saw was a crazy patron who spent a fair amount of time mumbling at us from the bar, introduced himself to The Beloved and R, and told me and M that we looked strung out. Although, when we got to the next bar (yes, it was a productive afternoon), I found my camera was broken! Poltergeists at work? Who knows.... (we fixed the camera with a little packing tape).

It was still early for dinner, so we decided to hit another bar in the area. North Lincoln has plenty from which to choose. I have no idea where we ended up, but they had pool tables.

We spent the rest of the afternoon there. I am an abysmal pool player. Pathetically bad. Thus the much maligned look on The Beloved's face as he was saddled with me. He apparently forgot that part of our wedding vows.

After several beers (or scotches if you were R), we closed out and went back downtown to 17/West at The Berghoff for German food. It was excellent. Unfortunately, we had already consumed so much crap that no one was particularly hungry. It was right about here that I realized we no longer had the bag of souvenirs. I don't know if we left it at the bar with the pool tables or if we left it in a cab. Only that it was gone. And I was a little bit pissed. So, it was time to call it a night.

The Beloved and I went back to Bloomingdale and R & M went back to Joliet. They had to get ready for R's parent's gala boating party on Saturday, which we, regrettably, had to miss so as we could come back home. It was still relatively early when we got back to the hotel, so we went to a movie--Live Free or Die Hard. It was much better than I expected it to be. Highly enjoyable.

Our last day there, we stayed in Bloomingdale. We ate a sandwich and then went to see another movie--this time we saw 1408. Also good. Surprisingly scary. After the movie we went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We went to Tapas Valencia. Dude--I don't know why this place isn't packed all the time. It was seriously some of the best food I have ever consumed. The Beloved and I are converts. Tapas is the best ever. I don't think we have any in the area (if I'm wrong, please let me know), so I'm going to have to track down some fabulous Spanish recipes and host my own Tapas parties.

After that fine food, there was only one way to cap off the evening...back to the movie theater to check out Ratatouille! Another fine film. And a fine way to end our vacation. The next day was utterly eaten up with travel back east--including a fun bout of airport hell in not one, but two airports! I got more knitting done during the return trip than was accomplished the rest of the week. Here's the sock at National Airport. It's hard to see, but the Washington Monument is in the background. Seriously!

The sock did, in fact, go everywhere I did on vacation. I just rarely took it out to work on it. I was too busy drinking beer. And taking pictures. And playing. But I finished it just the same. Yesterday. But, I feel like this post is awful full, so I'll tell you all about it and show it off tomorrow.

We had a fun vacation, but man...it's good to be home!

Summer is for mopeds

adventures
This is mine. I call it The Piglet. You know--cause it's not quite a Hog.

I inherited the moped last summer from my Dad. It was basically a hand-me-down as he upgraded to an actual motorcycle. His is a yellow Kawasaki Ninja--or, as he explains it, "his toy-colored motorcycle."

Dad picked up the moped the summer before. It had originally been purchased for my cousin. He rode it once or twice, and then it sat for ten or so years in the basement of my aunt and uncle's house. Dad rode it around all summer and proclaimed it the most fun ever. Well, until he got the motorcycle.

I have to concur--at least as far as the moped goes (no motorcycle for me--at least not yet). Last summer was very difficult for me--I had gone back to school and was driving to Kingston, RI twice a week for class. On top of that, my job security was in the toilet, as half of my organization's funding had been cut. Dad to the rescue: "You've got to take the moped out. You can't be depressed and ride the moped at the same time. I can't explain it, but it works." And, you know what? It does. Perhaps it has to do with taking your life in your hands. The engine is very basic and the machine runs on a mixture of gasoline and oil--the same mixture Dad uses in his chainsaw. Going downhill, you can push it as fast as 40-45 MPH, which makes your life rush before your eyes. I average 30 MPH on it, which makes it perfect for riding around town. And since it gets about 200 MPG, it's like I'm saving money 'cause I'm not taking the car to church/to the store/to the dentist/to my parents' house/etc, right?

This summer I added the milk crate to the back so I could just pop my handbag in there when I wanted to go somewhere instead of having to transfer everything to a backpack, or bungee cord the thing to the back and hope for the best. The milk crate also means I can take it to the supermarket if I only need a couple of things. I can pop my helmet in the crate while I run in to do my errands, and then put the bag of groceries in the crate to go home! Efficient, if not cool looking.

For, I admit, the moped is a bit geeky-looking. It is not a Vespa; it is not sleek and European. It is very utilitarian. As my Dad says, "People with scooters go clubbing; people with mopeds go AV clubbing." Whatever. I have, though, gotten some nasty looks when I park my moped next to their shiny new Vespas in front of the coffee shop in the center of town. I'm sure they're just jealous. Then there are the cars that refuse to share the road and pass you in completely illegal fashions. Dude. I love getting passed on in-town streets--particularly when I'm going the speed limit or a little faster. Really. I do. Life in the moped-fast lane.

In other news: Jaywalker #1 is coming along nicely. Last night I turned the heel, picked up stitches and started the gussets.

Turning the heel is probably my favorite part of sock-knitting. It's like magic every time. I remember turning the heel of Conwy on my lunch break at work and giggling like an absolute simpleton--look, it was straight and now there's a little cup for your heel. How unbelievably cool is that??? It was much the same for this heel, only I did it at home for The Beloved. He gave me his patented patient "I married a touched woman" look and continued to watch his TV program. Poor man simply doesn't know what he's missing. I fear the day I no longer appreciate the magic of the turned heel. It will probably be a sign that it's time to tie the anchor to my ankles and toss me overboard.

Gussets, on the other hand.... I hate picking up stitches. And no matter how hard I try, I always end up with a little hole between needles 3 & 4. I'm pretty sure it's small enough that no one will notice, particularly since there are little gaps there anyway as part of the pattern...but I notice and it ticks me off. I'm sure I wasn't helped last night by The Beloved's running commentary of the program we were watching and the fact that the light in the TV room was not very good. Excuses, excuses. Anyway. Stitches are picked up and we're on our way towards a foot.

I'm much happier with this sock now than I was at the very beginning. Marianne was right--the Funky Stripe does make a nice Jaywalker. I need to lighten up and realize that judging the yarn based on an inch of ribbing and a handful of pattern rows is not a good idea. I really need to trust that these things will all work together. Because...as you see...they are!

This sock and its mate will be coming on vacation with me. The Beloved will be pressed into yarn-holding duty so I can wind the second skein of yarn. (He keeps whining, "I am not a yarn swift." No, he's not. But until he gets me one, he'll have to do.) Tonight, we (The Beloved, the sock and myself) are going up to Portland to watch the Sea Dogs game. The Sea Dogs are the Double-A Affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. I've never been up to see them play, but it's supposed to be a very good time. We're sitting here, and the tickets were more than reasonable, considering I'd have to pledge my first-born in order to score Red Sox tickets...and those would likely be standing room only. I think we'll have fun--and we'll even have enough for a hot dog and a beer, which is all part of the adventure, yeah?

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