Friday New and Old

I'm trying toe-up socks again, only this time I'm using Judy's Magic Cast-On and *wow* is it easy and awesome!







This is resulting in more of a square toe than I'm used to, but I'm committed. Remember this yarn?

My failure was ripped and re-wound, and we're trying again, me and the yarn.

I looked back through my old posts to find this shot and I am surprised at how little I've blogged. I guess it's been difficult to write stuff when I'm so busy reading all the other blogs, that I had very little left! But my knitting is increasing in quantity, and hopefully I'll keep it up when school starts again (bah).

******

My mother-in-law died Wednesday night. Parkinson's Disease is another of those cruel, wasting, misunderstood illnesses that leaves you helpless and hopeless and just waiting for its victim to be released from its grip. Now my DH is an orphan like me, and its really sucky. My children will have no grandparents for graduations or weddings, which I find so sad.

*******

Hug the ones you love and have a great weekend.

Blogger's Delight

Well.

You take a very good cause.

Add a really good pattern.

A rainy day, and you get this:



I am feeling the bloggy love.

Yawn, snuggle

It's one of those grey, cool mornings that August brings around. Snickerdoodle and Tootsiedoodle are off to marching band camp, and I am glad to put these cuties on:




Knit Picks, I like your sock yarn! These are very cozy and what a fast knit!





I was very entertained by these, because the stripes of brown seemed to pop up when I least expected it. I love the blue, it's so deep.




Looky what I found out about myself:

Liz -- [noun]: A person who laughs at anything (even this entry) 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

And you get to glimpse my messy computer table. Wow, the treats just never end here, eh?

Here's some cool stuff!

So there it was, a hot steamy day, and when I got home, there were *two* packages on the porch. One said "Knit Picks" and one said "Loopy Ewe."

Heavens, which one do I open first???



Ohhhhhh, my books. Ones I have been panting after (especially in this heat!)



Three Elizabeth Zimmerman books which I intend to study intently; The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood; and Ann Budd's book of handy sweater patterns (love me some handy sweaters!!!)

Now, with trembling fingers, time to open the package from Sheri and see my very first Loopy Ewe order!




Dream in Color Smooshy - mmmmmm, there's no way I'm going to stop stroking this yarn. And I luvluvluv the deep color. As well, I'm loving the Fleece Artist - my first skein ever (yes, I'm a virgin!)



And here's the current sock (Knit Picks Memories Fly Fishing colorway) enjoying the beautiful summer afternoon. Hope you're doing the same!

Where Have I Been?

1. University of Maryland, to check it out for Snickerdoodle.

2. Long Beach Island, New Jersey, for sunblock and fun.

3. Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for Amish goodness.

4. Various barbecues and parties sprinkled along the horizon.

5. In my knitting chair, churning out socks.

6. Attending a Prayer-Shawl meeting, and ripping out the shawl four times before settling on its present form.

7. At Shea Stadium's STITCH N PITCH which was awesome, especially since the Mets beat the Braves. Woot!

8. Receiving my first Loopy Ewe order and loving it.

9. Receiving my KnitPicks book order and drooling.

10. Receiving my Lorna's Laces order from Sandra Singh and having a terrifying moment when I couldn't remember ordering this yarn!

11. Looking for the camera cord to upload all this summery goodness.


Later!

Happy Day

Back from vacation (I'm glad; it was nice, but I really wanted to be home) and loving the new floors installed while we were gone. Hating the fact that all the furniture is all over the house and we can't put it back until Monday. erg.

Today DH and I said I our "I do" words nineteen years ago. Love you honey!

And now, the bad news:

Found you!
You signed up on July 4, 2007
You are #13795 on the list.
7344 people are ahead of you in line.
5684 people are behind you in line.
32% of the list has been invited so far.

This is the Ravelry wait. Ya know, maybe I *Don't* want to join! How will I ever find anyone??? :)

Pictures later this week.

Happy Random Wednesday! But this ain't all random!

Daylily with baby fly, from the perennial daylily bed.

I am rather tired today, as I escorted Snickerdoodle, Tootsiedoodle, and three of their friends to the midnight showing of Harry Potter. We all loved it, but I think I'm done with the midnight movies. The next day's pill is too bitter to swallow. (Yeah, that's about my coherence level today!)


Impatiens and begonias in the flowerpot on the patio (with the lead pipe in the Library).

We leave for vacation on Saturday, and in my brilliance I scheduled new wood floors to be installed while we are gone. However, that necessitates moving all (and let me just repeat that for emphasis) *all* the bleepin' furniture out of the living room and dining room, receiving the shipment of wood on Friday morning, and still managing to get four people packed and ready to go.


Our dog, Missy, with her new toy.

That includes dropping off that cutie at the pet boarder/vacation/spa facility. Do I have time for this? Does it matter? It's vacation, I have to get ready to enjoy myself!!!



In the meantime, I finished these.

I'm sorry, I have mislaid the wrap so I can't tell you about the yarn; but it was okay to knit with, and I did this pair on two circular needles. Both ways have their advantages to me, so I'll never pick just one to stick with.

And now, may we have a moment of silence:


I tried, I really did. I finally posted some of my thoughts and concerns on the STR board, and I was somewhat consoled to find I'm not alone in my lack of wonderfullness with completing or understanding these patterns. Of course, it gives me such a case of the humbles when Wendy churns them out like magic and has no trouble, but why am I trying to compare myself with the DaVinci of knitting?

So this really pretty yarn is now becoming Nancy Bush's Simple Ribbed Socks. I'm back in my comfort zone, sadder, but wiser.

(I should have titled this Drama Wednesday.)