halfway there

The first Tidal Waves sock is done. I used Fearless Fibers merino in the colorway Wisteria. I started the pattern with size 2.0 mm needles but switched to 1.75 mm needles after two pattern repeats. Boy, it sure takes longer to knit a sock on 1.75 mm needles but I think the result is worth it. The fit is great and the sock is very soft but sturdy.

Jeopardy!

If you've been watching the TV quiz show Jeopardy since Friday you've seen Doug Hicton from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada winning. Dan and I went to school with Doug. They were on the Reach For The Top team for our high school and went to the Nationals mostly because they had Doug on the team. Dan found this photo in a file folder. I believe it's from 1976. Reach For The Top was a CBC game show that tested the knowledge of high school teams.

Doug Hicton was Randy Hicton until he legally switched his first and second names as an adult. Watching Doug on Jeopardy, we see that he hasn't changed much from his high school days. Still quirky and has a very, very good memory for trivia. It's great to see him doing so well!

Another kitchen window picture

Since all of my other kitchen window pictures had snow in them I thought that I would post this one for a change. This is what I saw outside this morning. As you can see, most of the snow has melted in the last few days as the temperatures were above average. Saturday's and Sunday's highs were nearing 20 degrees C (68 degrees F). Lest we get too comfortable, the long-range weather forecast has snow in it but I am not convinced that anyone has the slightest idea what the weather will be past the next couple of days and that the weather forecasters just enjoy messing with our heads.
Now that I've actually said that out loud (okay, not technically out loud as I'm typing not speaking), it will be my fault when everyone has to haul out their winter boots again.

Oooooh...

My Socks That Rock parcel came today! The yarns are so beautiful!
From left, lightweight Blue Moonstone, the second skein of the Rockin' Sock Club Monsoon, mediumweight In the Navy, heavyweight Love-in-Idleness, and heavyweight Nodding Violet.

Now that's the way to perk up a Monday!

It doesn't get much better than this...

It's been a difficult week. I had a brutal migraine on Wednesday - the worst I've ever had. I'm still feeling the hangover from it. Dan is in Edmonton with the high school hockey team for a season-ending trip to see an NHL game so, of course, the toilet had issues and threatened to overflow if I didn't plunge it (I'm not a handyman. Either is Dan but he is better at it than I and plumbing emergencies normally fall to him). It's been busy at school as report cards went out last Friday and Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences were today.

Now the week is over and this is my reward. An afternoon to knit in the sunshine. The sunroom is my favorite room in the house. I love the light and the view. The dogs like it too. Harrison can watch the birds and you can see that Pocus found a sunbeam to have a little snooze in.

This is my knitting corner. The glider rocker has the Obus cushions to cradle my fanny and back, I have the iPod and its docking station to listen to this week's Lime and Violet podcast, and a cool drink of water is at hand.

I'm off to knit. Happy Friday!

Spring!

Here's the progress on the Tidal Wave sock using Fearless Fibers Wisteria. I started it with 2.0 mm dpn's and it was a little large for my liking. Luckily the Susan Bates Silvalume Sock needle set came in yesterday's mail. I really like them! They're inexpensive too. After the first two pattern repeats I switched to 1.75 mm needles so they would snug up to my ankles. The needles are 7" long and, for some reason, it doesn't bother me to knit on 5 needles instead of 4 with these. Maybe my hands aren't as worried about pushing the needles out of the stitches accidentally.

The stalled Monkey socks using Lisa Souza Delft yarn. There was a reason I put them aside and now I know it's because I'm going to rip them back and rework the heel using a heel stitch. I have skinny ankles and hate baggy socks. Actually, I put them aside to work on the Tidal Wave socks and it was just lucky that I hadn't gone any further with them before deciding to rip back. Serendipity.

Robbie, with his eyes full of mischief as usual.

Happy first official day of Spring, everyone!

(I'm too lazy to link everything today. You'll have to go back in the posts where all of these patterns and yarns have already been linked in the not-too-distant past.)

Done!

I finished these socks this evening. I used Meilenweit Six-Ply on 2.5 mm needles. They were started 2 on 2 circs, Queen Kahuna method, then finished one at a time when I decided that I hated knitting 2 on 2 circs. One good thing about at least starting two at a time is that they match really well. They're a great fit too.

new yarn

The first shipment of this year's Socks That Rock sock club arrived and Geoff promptly claimed it for a pair of socks for him. The colorway is Monsoon and I have to admit that it's not a color that appeals to me for myself but it has trendy camouflage-type appeal for Geoff. He is really hard on socks so I ordered another skein of it to make his socks very dense. Of course, I had to use my 10% off your order card that also came with the shipment and order a few more skeins in other colors for myself. It'll be a fun package when it arrives.

With spring on its way, in spite of the fresh snow on the ground today, I realized that I needed a new pair of socks to go with one of my summer outfits. This yarn from Fearless Fibers in colorway Wisteria matches perfectly. It's a beautiful soft fingering weight merino. I think that I'll bump the Monkey socks out of the way for now and knit this pair first. I think that it will look great knit in the Tidal Wave Socks pattern from Tofutsies.

I have to admit that I'm a bit of a yarn snob but this cotton/acrylic blend from TLC Cotton Plus is very nice and nicely priced. It's totally next-to-the-skin soft and comfortable and goes through the washer and dryer no problem. I really like the stitch definition in this little swatch and will knit myself a sweater for next winter if and when I actually get around to finishing the FLAK cardigan.

Two steps forward, one step back....

You'd think that we'd know better. We've been living in Saskatchewan all of our lives. It's only the middle of March. It's not really spring yet. Mother Nature mocks us for our optimism.

This picture was taken a few minutes ago. A huge snowstorm. Travel advisories abound. It's actually worse than it looks in the picture. A total whiteout. If it happened in December we would marvel at its beauty. In March, we just say "blah".

And the Melt Continues...

The temperature yesterday reached 10 degrees C (50 degrees F). It was only 2 degrees C today but it's quite remarkable how quickly the snow melts once it gets started. The little patch of grass in the backyard now looks like this.

And there is no more snow on the roof to melt.

A view of the park. Only a few days ago the ground was covered with several inches of snow.

I haven't done much knitting. No time. I've been trying to get the rear wiper on my van fixed. After several days of being in and out of the dealership all I have is a larger Mastercard bill. No rear wiper action. Don't get me started on the #*!@ dealership!

However, I have decided, quite emphatically, that I DO NOT like knitting 2 socks on 2 circs. I will do them one at a time from now on, thank you very much, and just have to get over the Second Sock Syndrome.

(P.S. I didn't notice Pocus' head in the sunroom window in the first picture until I published the post.)

The Big Thaw Begins

Although the temperatures are only about 3 degrees C (about 38 degrees F), the sun is warm and the wind is calm so it feels like spring finally. The kids are ditching their jackets and everyone is happy. The melting snow on the roof is overflowing the eaves as you can see in this pic of a corner of the sunroom facing south.
There's even a little bit of grass appearing in the back yard. It always amazes me that it's green as the snow melts. It was sure not green in the fall before the snow fell.
The dogs have been sprinting around the back yard in glee! Here is Austin doing a 'happy dance' roll in the snow.

Speaking of birthdays....

When asked my age, I have always told my students I was 103. Some of them believe me. Others get it.

A few years ago, I was surprised on my birthday by a large Clifford the Big Red Dog card that was made and delivered by my next-classroom-neighbors, the grade ones and their teacher. The grade ones asked me how old I was and my grade two students chorused, "103". Then one bright little character said, "No, it's her birthday so she's 104!"

I started a new Heritage unit in Social Studies yesterday. I began by explaining to the kids that we were going to find out what childhood life in Saskatchewan was like around 1900 and we would be comparing the lives of First Nations/Metis, pioneers, and Victorian children to their own lives now in 2007. A couple of the little scamps mused, "Hmm, if you're 103 you would almost have been around then." I burst out laughing and promptly confessed my real age. One little girl said, "You're still pretty young. My grandma is older than you."

Happy Birthday Christopher and Darcie!

My sister Darcie and her son Christopher share a birthday. Christopher is 8 years old. Darcie's a bit older than that. Here are both the kids, Katie and Christopher. Cuties, aren't they?

Free!!

No, I'm not giving away more Lisa Souza yarn. Instead I offer the latest kid-bit courtesy of my almost-eight-year-old nephew Christopher whose birthday is on Thursday.

My sister Darcie and son Christopher were shopping for groceries and checking to see if they had bought enough to qualify for the free grapes coupon offered with a minimum purchase amount. Christopher: Mom, there are three things in life that are free - friends, love, and kids.

(Note to those who do not yet have kids: They are not free. They are probably the single biggest purchase that you will ever make in your life. That said, have 'em anyway. They are vastly entertaining.)

Saturday

Not much new to show off. I've done a bit more on the Queen Kahuna 2 socks on 2 circs and the Monkey sock. I'm not sure how I feel about doing two socks at once. It seems kind of unwieldy to have the extra yarn ball to keep untangled compared to the relative portability of doing one sock at a time. However, I definitely get Second Sock Syndrome so this might help that problem. I'll reserve judgement for now. The Meilenweit 6-ply is pretty.

The Monkey sock knits up quickly even though the Lisa Souza yarn is quite fine. It's an interesting pattern but not too hard to keep track of - I can see why it's becoming a favorite for so many sock knitters. The pattern calls for 5 dpn's so I'm using Magic Loop. I don't know why but I don't like having the stitches on 4 needles. I much prefer having them on 3. It just seems to fit my hands better. This sock is not easy to photograph. The white reflects the light and gets washed out. I took a lot of pictures in different light to get these two.