Beautiful day. I have a head cold. No sleep. Three days. Hero hubby took the little bits out for the day, including a nice long walk in the woods. He brought back lovely photos, including this one.

Saturday sky, from the forest floor.

Saturday’s sky. Not a cloud in sight all day long.

Saturday at my house. A little too hot, but who am I to complain? I have central air.

I’ve been knitting here and there, in fits and starts. I made it to my very first knitterly meetup this week, and was pleasantly surprised. I’m quite looking forward to doing it again next month.

Last week, I received my copy of New Pathways for Sock Knitters by Cat Bordhi. A lovely book; it’s worth its price to me already, as she explained where I was going wrong on my short-row heels and toes. One side of my sock always shows the wraps, and I kept telling myself that I’d sit down and fiddle until I figure out what I need to do to hide them. You know, on the next pair of socks. But, voila, Cat did it for me (thanks!)

Also, this little baby practice sock was a fun knit:

The practice Coriolis sock from the book, knit from Patons Classic Wool Merino in “New Denim” on size US 6 needles. I’ll be experimenting with ideas from this book for years to come, and what else can I ask from a knitting book?

And, last but certainly not least, the newest pair of socks on my needles: Hogwarts Sock Swap II socks. I’m not going to tell you how many patterns I’ve selected and thrown out, or how many times I’ve started this toe. Frankly, I couldn’t tell you at this point, as I’ve blocked it out.

Knit on!

Today’s sky was quite pleasant. That’s all I’ve got for y’all; there hasn’t been much knitting around here lately.

You see, we now have one of these.* She’s quite lovely, and sees my knitting as invitation to play “grab the wool”. She’ll learn. One of these years.

* Yes, I’m allergic to her. All hail allergy shots and air filters.

I finally took my Hogwarts Sock Swap (1) goodies outside for photographing today, so here’s a little show-and-tell. Behold the gorgeous Fawkes Socks Mel of Knit Frog Repeat made me. I think the colors and pattern represent Fawkes perfectly. I also received these cute Gryffindor stitch markers:

A Ravenclaw eagle, yarn and needles, an owl, and a Gryffindor lion. Cute, no? They’re hanging from my new lovely Crystal Palace bamboo needles. I hope the needles and I get along; they’re so pretty I’d hate to snap them with my… erm… enthusiastic knitting style.

Also in the package was this yummy yarn from Tempted Hand Painted Yarns in the ‘Sundance’ colorway. I’m thinking some colorwork against a black background is in store for this skein.

So, that’s the recap for Hogwarts Sock Swap 1. Thanks again, Mel, for the lovely package.

Oh! It’s Saturday. Today’s sky was leaden gray. Here’s a sky from about a week ago…

Happy Weekend, everyone.

A lot of any craft is learned by trial and error; y’all know that. Today I bottled my third batch of beer. This is what I learned:

250º F in an oven for 10 minutes does more than sterilize a self-capping beer bottle. It Dali-izes the plastic cap. Oops.

There’s still a bit of knitting going on here, but most of my energy has been spent toward regular ol’ life stuff lately. I hope you all are doing well. Oh! Before I forget, a Saturday Sky for you all…

Take care.

Happy Saturday, folks!

I’m sure many of you aren’t really logging in this weekend, as you’re in the midst of reading your new Harry Potter books. I received my Hogwarts Sock Swap package last night, and will wow you with the pretties later. The light wasn’t cooperating last night, so I’ve no photos yet.

As for me, I HAVE the new HP book, but I can’t read it just yet. I have a horrible time remembering the details (read: major plot lines) of any book. So, I’m re-reading HP 6 to remember where we are before I go on. Besides, it’s a good thing to do while knitting my hubby’s big ol’ socks.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Hi y’all. If it seems like I just took off, it’s because I did. If I could contrive a way to live in the mountains here in NC, I would. Just look at this sky.

The family and I went on a little camping trip to the mountains. It was great fun, complete with knitting time around the campfire. The photo above was taken from a mountain meadow, where we were nearly in the clouds. The sock I was knitting was too complex to do in the dark*, so I ended up knitting this in the evenings:

A plain MDK baby bib. It’s in need of some embellishment and a button to fasten it around the little cherub’s neck. Anyone know where I can find a pattern for a crocheted froggie patch or some such? I’ll have to go on a search.

And, I finished up my first River Valley sock shortly before we left. Here it is, lying about in its native environment. The lovely yarn is from Cabin Cove Mercantile – the Inkblot colorway.

I’m ready to go back now, please.

* It freaks the muggles out when you knit in the dark around a campfire. Each evening, a different person would ask, “How can you see what you’re doing?” Easy enough to answer – I can’t!

Hi all! No Saturday Sky today, as I was frantically running about doing errands before our big camping trip to the mountains. Lovely clouds, though, and we actually got a smidgeon of rain. In what is becoming a bad habit, here’s a sky from earlier this month. It’s pretty much what we saw today.

I’m working my way through the River Valley socks – I’ve never done a toe-up gusset & heel flap before. I rather like it! I’m heading up the cuff of the first sock.

My Hogwarts socks have been languishing around, waiting for a good blocking. Since THAT isn’t happening anytime soon, I decided to take a quick picture of them. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact I needed proof of a June sock for SAM3. Here they are…

The color’s not true.

Started:	24 May 2007
Finished:	15 June 2007
Pattern:	Loosely followed Tiptoe Through the Tulips pattern with my own modifications. Fair isle charted from sock picture in this entry of the Yarn Harlot’s blog.
Yarn:	Knit Picks Essential in Black – about 20 grams. Knit Picks bare that I dyed in shades of golden yellow – about 58 grams.
Needles:	Addi Skakel dpns, size 0 for cuff, 1 for regular work, and 2 for fair isle.