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I cannot understand what has happened to the camera cable. I have straightened up and sorted and still cannot find it. I do not know if this is an indication of what is happening with my brain, but I do know that it has been struggling a bit lately. I was working on my Golden Vintage Cardigan, and was completely stuck on the sleeves. I reached the sleeve cap instructions, and thought there was a terrible error. It did not occur to me to do the math between the numbers from directions earlier in the sleeve and those in the cap. No, two little letters--CO, stuck me. I puzzled over and over, "How can I CO stitches at the beginning of the next two rows and have fewer stitches than I currently have?" It took the help of a friend to remind me that CO can mean Cast Off, too. I could hardly believe that I had needed to set the knitting aside and get help on that one. Of course, this means it remains set aside, and I have not worked on it in longer than I care to calculate.
The trouble has not just been that the brain will not work, but that it alternates with working overtime. With some extra effort, I have managed to get it closer to on track. Sunday afternoon, I put some Futurama in the dvd player and knit on the July psc sock. The combination of mindless viewing with charted socknitting was a winner. I was able to zone in and out of what I was watching, but my mind could not wander too far with the chart filled with twisted and traveling stitches. I like the way the sock looks. I wish I could show my progress.
I am going to have to do 
something about this camera cable situation, because not being able to add a photo is getting to me. Yeah, I cannot take it any longer. Here's a picture of my niece holding my mom's new puppy, Harvey.
I finally opened my July psc bag last week. It contained navy blue Louet Gems along with the pattern suggestion of Chalet Socks from Folk Socks by Nancy Bush. I have printed the pattern (needed to enlarge charts) and the yarn is ready. The ribbing is finished on the first sock. It does not feel like I 
have done much of anything, but that is not where I am keeping my focus. I have accomplished things this month. I finished the May and June psc pairs.
I made a short pair of socks for me. This is the Show-off Stranded Socks pattern. I knit them toe-up with short-row heels. The yarn is Regia Bamboo. I love the bright colors, the socks feel great, and I can wear them almost any time of the year.
Brucie's new socks are plain vanilla toe-ups. The yarn is Lion Brand Magic Stripes. Yes, socks look better when modeled, but I did not want to wait any longer, and it would be wrong of me to wake him or try for a photo shoot while he sleeps.
Time to get back to spinning!
We were only away from home for about fifty hours, but it felt like much longer. Brucie probably has some type of influenza that earned him a brief, unexpected hospital admission. They tested him for so many things, but were never able to pinpoint the exact cause. That meant we were stuck in a little isolation room. Not exactly my favorite place to be, but it was where he needed to be, and they took excellent care of him. There were a few cranky-making moments, but we really are just glad to be home, and I am relieved to see that he looks like he is getting better.
While not having a few key items made being away from home a bit uncomfortable, I had knitting. I was also able to keep with the Tour de Fleece, as the bag I grabbed on our way out the door had a drop spindle and fiber, too. I was briefly stuck on one knitting project when I reached the end of a ball of yarn, and the other was out in the car in the parking deck. That gave me the excuse to take a walk the next morning to retrieve it.
Anyway, I am taking a slow re-entry, and there is certainly plenty to do, but I will just take it one step at a time.
We celebrated our wedding anniversary earlier this month. We tend to keep things relatively low-key. The important thing to us is spending time together. We went to see Up at the movie theater. I also gave him his anniversary present.
Pattern: Red Brick Road by Wendy Johnson from Fall/Winter 2008 knit.1
Yarn: Neveda Skol
Needles: US1
Time Spent: I drew this bag from the psc collection while Bruce was in the hospital in April, and then proceeded to carry it with me everywhere, unable to begin them for a bit. I do not recall just when I started and finished them, but I quite enjoyed knitting these.
Mods: Judy's Magic Cast-On, short-row heels, sewn bind-off, used left mock cable stitch pattern for all mock cabling
I spun and finished four ounces of some combed top from Little Barn in Brite Blue this week. I had thought about getting out there this weekend, but that did not happen. It will probably be next month before I have a chance to make my way out there. I like the little Saturday fiber group they have, but just do not make it very regularly. It is even less frequent that I bring my wheel. I think I may prefer spinning alone at home, but I do admit I have not given public/social spinning much of a chance.
Anyway, this is a two-ply somewhere in the neighborhood of 370 yards. I have not made plans for it, but it has sat next to my Walker Treasury for inspiration. It is still a bit damp, so I am not completely sure about the finished yarn, but I think I might like it. I definitely enjoy gazing at the color. Its brightness (though not quite as bright as this picture) is quite a change from the current socks.
The knitting of the psc socks on the needles (we will not mention to which month they belong) is quite nice. They are modified Red Brick Road socks from the Fall/Winter 2008 knit.1 magazine. They do not look very good on the needles, but on the feet, the little mock cables show up quite nicely. This pair is for Brucie. He does not mind that the color is a bit on the plain side. I think I have a more colorful pair for him waiting to be knit in one of those psc bags.
A partial sock and a new skein of handspun is not much to show for the week. However, I have been sifting through the stash and swatching. I may have something meaningful to show for my efforts soon. Perhaps meaningful is a stronger word than I should use, but I am trying to be optimistic. I am also excited about the potential new project.
I truly thought I would have finished these this past Saturday, or Sunday, at the latest. Instead, I was done this evening. My first package from my psc was good. I have always liked looking at this pattern, and admired the fancy stockings. Now I have my own pair, and I think they are even fancier than those in the book are. I continued the lacy ribbing down the back of the leg, decreasing the plain stitches between the lace repeats. I also exchanged the heel flap for a short-row, y-heel.
I have already worn one of the socks. I was cold last night as I knit the second one. I was also fixing my sister's computer. Tired as I was, I could not sleep for anything. I wrapped myself in two shawls and worked away. Bruce laughed when he saw me. I was a bit of a sight. I wish the situation had been more conducive to other knitting, but was quite glad for the sock to keep me company. Also, I needed to clear the needles. SM3 starts in the morning.
I reached up amongst the brown paper sacks, and pulled down the selection for March. Nestled between the perfectly pine green yarn was a slip of paper. I will be knitting a Nancy Bush pattern from her 2001 release, Knitting on the Road! Yes, for the psc, I am knitting a nearly decade old pattern with the readily available Knit Picks Essential sock yarn, and I have never felt less exclusive. I love it! I can only hope I love knitting my New England socks as much.
It will be nice to have a more portable project. Sometimes I am just not up for a 574-stitch round. They will also help to satisfy my yearning for new lace. Still, socks are not a shawl. I think I know what the next lace will be, and I am OK to wait for it.
For today's photo offering, I give you a poor snapshot of the latest amigurumi. This went to my niece at the birthday party yesterday. It went over well, as did the ninja for her brother. Tomorrow will have a more entertaining picture.
I am on the final chart in the body of the Shetland Tea Shawl. It requires a bit more attention than charts past. There is action on every round. That is to say, there are not plain knit rounds alternating with lace rounds. This makes for finding a stopping point a little more difficult. It is easy to keep going, because the natural resting points just are not there. However, my energy and concentration levels force me to take breaks.
Sometimes, I want to keep with the fiber pursuits, but am not up for much action. This is where planning and plotting can be good uses of my time. However, I am not interested in becoming stuck focusing on all the things I want to knit, and the resultant frustration at not doing it all right now. I want to keep the enjoyment going. The time to plan my participation in the personal sock club arrived.
After risking life and limb to retrieve the package of brown lunch sacks, I was committed to the psc. Seriously, that was a more trying endeavor than I had expected. Anyway, once the bags were in hand, it was time to fill them. I flipped through books and magazines. I perused patterns on Ravelry. I examined the sock yarn stash. There is less than I had thought, and this is good. I consulted the Sock Madness 3 supply list.
Before I knew it, the time had come to seal the sacks and wait for the first day of March. I have to remember to sign up for Sock Madness that day, too.
something about this camera cable situation, because not being able to add a photo is getting to me. Yeah, I cannot take it any longer. Here's a picture of my niece holding my mom's new puppy, Harvey.
