my favorite heel

This is a closeup of the heel of the anniversary socks for my husband. Its the slip 1, knit one then purl the next row then knit 1, slip 1 heel pattern. I was going to take a picture of the calorimetry I just finished (aside from weaving in the ends and placing the button) but the batteries appear to be dead in the camera. Oh well. I've been fooling with some yarn and some needles trying to get gauge to make fetching from knitty.com, but its just not happening. Dammit. I was trying to use a lavender patons grace with a moda dea held together. I even tried it on size 3 needles, but it was just looking way too big so I let it go for now. I've been having chronic headaches lately and after having to leave work early on Friday because of a headache that just wouldn't go away, I've finally gotten an appointment with a doctor tomorrow. I've never seen this doc before so I'm apprehensive about that, but she's the doc of my nurse manager and she seems to like her. I went to a doc last year for some other issues and did not care for him at all. Considering that I'm getting bitchier by the moment because my headache has not given me much of a repreive since last Wednesday I need to go see somebody about this.
So I am off to snuggle into bed with the anniversary socks and knit around and around and around in monotony. At least I won't have to do any knitting math that would further torture my head.

Sunday afternoon

I've finished one of my husband's anniversary socks (aside from weaving in the ends). I started on the other one last night. We (the kids and I, hubby is in D.C. right now) were watching Evan Almighty and I needed a knitting project that didn't require a lot of concentration. I had started on some fingerless gloves for my stepneice earlier in the day but I kept getting interrupted so I put them aside for a time when I'm alone.
Also, I've posted a picture of my son's mitten project that he has started. He's learning to do increases now. Isn't his progress great?! He said he wanted a gift card to Knitch for his birthday. At last a confirmation that he possesses some of my DNA!!!
The boys go back to their dad's this afternoon and if my stepdaughter gets her room cleaned up, she'll be going to a church thing with the neighbors then perhaps I will have some peace.

of shoes and ships and sealing wax

How can one resist reciting The Walrus and the Carpenter when working with Malabrigo sealing wax?
Today my husband and I had an appointment with our shaman as we do about once a month. Gotta check and make sure everything's okey dokey and that we are doing our best to do right by our own individual spiritual paths and each other's as well. Being that the shaman was the one who actually did our wedding ceremony, I think he has a bit more of a vested interest.
After our appointment I brought my crimson-wave-riding-ass back home, donned a depends, and my fave pair of stretchy jammy pants (sometimes we wear stretchy pants. Is for fun.), some dpns, and my husband's anniversary socks. I turned on the tube to watch some teevoe'd episodes of Knitty Gritty and got comfy.
I've also managed to print out two different copies of some knitting instructions I'm proofreading for Brittany and I'll cozy into the couch with highlighter, pencil, and reading glasses to read over it shortly.
So, this is where I am currently on the anniversary socks. I'm trying really hard to get these finished before casting on any more yarn on any more projects.
Oh. And for some reason, I am unable to find my Knitting Over the Edge book. I have looked high and low and cannot find the blasted thing. Dammit. Its driving me nuts. I might not know where a lot of my stuff is, but I know where my knitting books are, dammit. But this one is being elusive.

the knitch experience

It turned out to be not too bad of a "transition day" for me. I stopped to get gas and lo and behold, the gas station actually carried diet grapico. Its a rarity. So, obtaining a bottle of it was like gold to me. Then I drove up to Knitch and actually got a parking spot............ in the front. Go figure. They didn't have any more malabrigo sealing wax so I'm having to order some online. I don't think one skein is going to cut it for the anniversary socks.
I also got this really cool sock book while there. It is like the coolest sock book ever.
Its called Socks, Socks, Socks. I tried to copy and paste it , but it just didn't work out. There's a pair of leaf socks in it that I'm jonesing to try.
I do have to say that Knitch does have one employee there that I've just found to be a real friendly person. She acts annoyed if you ask her to do anything and she seemed really put out when I asked her to wind my 5 skeins of yarn that I bought today. Everybody else seems really nice, though.
http://www.amazon.com/Socks-Winning-Patterns-Knitters-Magazine/dp/0964639157

what to do with the malabrigo

I have finally comitted my malabrigo in sealing wax to an actual project. I decided to make some socks for my husband for our anniversary next month. Its a simple pattern that I found on knitty.com and should knit up fairly quickly, unlike my socks I am knitting for my son out of the
Cat Bordhi book. Its not that the socks are hard, per se, its just a different line of sock knitting that is making me think outside my little sock knitting world. I'm sure I'll pick it up and deal with it at some point today. Today is my "transition day". I get one day off after working 12 hour shifts during the weekend before I have to go back again. I usually like to make this day my "do as little as possible day" (aside from knitting of course) although Knitch just seems to be calling to me. I have some dpns I have to take back and I'll most likely need another skein of malabrigo for the socks. (The dpn return has to do with an order that I placed back in June that just now came in and that I had completely forgotten about until the yarn fairy showed up at my door. I've long since found the needles elsewhere and I can use more yarn more than another set of 1.5dpns.

there may be hope yet

This morning I got my drop spindle out and started messing around with it. I've watched video clips on how its supposed to be done, I've read things about how its supposed to be done and I just haven't been able to make it work. I have found this highly frustrating since I am a self taught knitter. I have learned everything I know about knitting from reading books and practice and trial and error. So, trying to work this drop spindle thing has just been irritating. This morning, however, I got it out and just started doing my own damn thing with it. Instead of worrying about spinning something clockwise or counterclockwise or upside down or whatever, I just played with the damn thing until I started catching on. I was having a big dickens of a time trying to add on more fiber, but quite by accident I figured it out. (I also had a big wad of new spun fiber added in a chunk on the strand since I was whirlying my spindle about while it was grabbing hold of the wad of alpaca roving I had in my other hand). My strand is still uneven and chunky, but I've managed to spin like at least a yard of it. So, maybe with some patience and diligence, and lots of practice roving, I can figure this thing out.

terrible tuesday

Or at least that's what we call it at work. For some reason, known only by cosmic forces, pregnant women feel compelled to give birth on Tuesdays. Add to this a mysterious force that causes ob/gyn's to schedule inductions and an inordinate amount of c-sections on Tuesdays. Further more, add on top of those two factors a nursing shortage and not enough nurses to take care of the droves of women who are attempting to bring forth life on Tuesdays. Thus........terrible Tuesdays. I, however, am not enjoying the challenges of terrible Tuesday today. Today I am working slowly, but dilligently on my glove, surfing Ravelry for more glove patterns, trying to learn how to knit a flat circle and design my own version of the circular shrug as is shown in the latest issue of Vogue Knitting, and doing some laundry. I keep playing with my one skein of Malabrigo that I bought last week, but have not yet committed it to a project. I'm thinking possible of a shrug (not the in-the-round shrug. I do have some designs on some Malabrigo for that but I was thinking of the brown and gold variegated with some other brown yarn I bought at Knitch and topping it off with this nifty off white eyelash yarn with flecks of gold in it that I bought from Hobby Lobby.) or maybe some more socks for the hubby guy. I made him some hugs and kisses socks out of some yummy bamboo yarn, but even though they look great, they're just not practical for wearing a lot. I'm waiting for the yarn fairy to come bring me a skein of specially ordered Malabrigo in an obscure dye lot to do some more gloves with. I know, I know, I seem to have a Malabrigo problem here. Perhaps Malabrigo would make a good name if I get another cat someday.
Oh. and I've also last night and today been surfing the net for a fan and feather sock pattern that is done from the cuff down and is cast on with something around the mid 50s range and not the 72ish range. If anybody can find such an animal, I would be grateful. My brain already hurts from trying to figure out the knitting a circle thing. I did figure it out after I bastardized it to my own liking. Everything I could find had you starting out knitting straight and then joining and working in the round. This results in having to work in a little flap like thing at the end to cover up the hole. Something about the flap thing wasn't working for me, so I f&*%$d with it until I got it to my satisfaction. I included a picture of the tortured sealing wax Malabrigo experiment.

I am not an animal

I have started a "real" glove, meaning one that actually has fingers to it and not the fingerless kind. I found a pattern online that is actually a fingerless pattern, but has the little individual stubby things for the fingers so I am doing my usual improvisation and finishing the fingers. I'm using artyarns. I think the colorway is called India. The pattern I am using has been really easy to use. Very direct and understandable and I highly recommend it for anybody interested in taking on some gloves for the first time. The cuff is a bit long so if I do it again, I'll leave off some cuff length. I know that the w.i.p. kind of looks like it would be more fitting for a deformed canine of some sort, but its actually coming together fairly easy. The thumb gussett was a breeze. For any interested party, this is the link.
http://www.interweave.com/knit/interweave_knits/pdf_files/fingerless_gloves.pdf
I used #3 needles since I have very small hands, but used all the numbers that it lists except for length of cuff.

i got it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got my ravelry invite today!!!!!!!!
Unfortunately, my head has been in the toilet most of the day and I am planning to retire to my bed in just a moment, so I'm not really up to playing right now.
But as soon as I get better...............................