Sock-Haiku-ooza

Sea Wool Bordello
Short ebony double points
My first knitted socks

Don’t ask… I have no idea why I felt the need to go down the poetry path.

Moving on.

For the past three weeks every spare moment has been occupied with my Sockapalooza Socks because I was trying really hard to be on time.

Each time I left the house, the socks went with me…

Because you never know when you’ll get stuck at a draw bridge in Seattle.

Alas, there were not enough bridges or spare moments and I needed three weeks instead of the two that would have indicated a deadline met. *sigh*

In retrospect, I should have started my socks sooner. Unfortunately, not having knit socks before, I felt the need to complete a couple projects with sock-like elements first so I could have the requisite skills to produce a decent pair of socks for my pal. By the time I finished “warming up” it was baby time and well, no more time for knitting (see, it was really all the little one’s fault- he should have been on time not early).

Oh, well.

The good news is that I shipped my socks out on Tuesday. Phew. They should arrive any day as they are just popping down I-5.

Now I just have to keep my fingers crossed that she likes them and that they fit. I’m a bit nervous as she has made many pairs of socks… I don’t want her to be disappointed by my paltry first effort.

Actually, I think they turned out OK for a first timer.

The details:
Pattern – Bordello Socks (on the yarn label)
Yarn – Fleece Artist Sea Wool
Color – Fruit Punch

I knit these on my fabulous Lantern Moon Sox Stix (Ebony, Size 3). Love these needles!!!! Easy to knit with and they are adorable too- what could be better?

So now the socks are done and I am free to knit whatever I want… the question is what don’t I want to knit? Is there a vaccine to prevent Castonitis?

I'm a Crappy-paloozer...

So I am feeling like the worst Sockapalooza 4 Pal ever- on both ends of the swap. First of all, outside of a brief mention I haven't said anything about the socks I received (sorry Suzanne!). AND I have not yet sent my socks out. I know. Awful. Twenty lashes.

Well, I finished my socks today but it is Sunday so I can't send my socks to my poor neglected Pal downstream (I did email her to let her know they were delayed) so let me at least rectify the other situation...

My upstream Pal, Suzanne of The Frog's Blog was my exact opposite in that she was extremely prompt, my socks arrived on August 3rd! (and I know from reading her blog that she finished my socks waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy back at the end of May- even though she too, had a new baby)

So, without further ado, because really, there's been too much already- I give you my socks:
Suzanne, as we would say back in the South: ya' done good.

The lovely Falling Leaves pattern in my current favorite color (Lime #02) in one of my favorite yarns: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. Fantastic! I requested ankle high socks as my calves are huge making normal sock occasionally uncomfortable. Cozy, comfy & soft. Perfect for displaying in my clogs or for hanging out on the couch knitting nursing the baby. Forgive me for not photographing the socks on my feet, I tried but the shots were all lousy and did not do Suzanne's efforts justice.

Thank you Suzanne, thank you, thank you, thank you.

So there you have it. I feel better now. Up next, my sock effort and then I will be free to knit and blog guilt free.

Non Sequitor

I just saw an advertisement on television for Billy Ocean. He's playing at a local Indian casino which I guess says something about the career longevity of 80's pop stars whose catchy tunes stay in your head long after the tv ad is over.

Carribean Queen, do dum, dum, now you're sharing the same dream, do dum, dum...

Now you can share the private Hell currently taking place in my baby-addled brain.

But I digress and I did have a point, sort of.

And it was this:

Damn! He looks so old. I remember bebopping to his tunes at middle & high school dances back in the day.

Get outta my dreams, dum de dum dum, -ba-, get into my car...

Okay, before you all get outta here because you can't take this lovely trip down memory lane let me just finish my point.

So he looks old... does that plus the presence of two kids make me a grown up? Because honestly, I sometimes have a hard time thinking of myself as one... like I have a permanent self-image of an 18-20 year old... Anybody else have this issue? Or am I just crazy?

Oh, one last thought, and then I promise, no more Billy Ocean, ever.

Get in the back seat baby

Huh? The back seat? Does she need a car seat? Exactly how old is this chick you are trying to pick up Mr. Ocean?

Whats-apalooza?

Good grief. Has it really almost been a month since I posted? Is anyone still out there?


Life in the land of dirty diapers and baby spit-up is predictably hectic and challenging. I won't bore you with the gory details. Those of you with two or more children will just smile knowingly and tell me "I told you so" and those of you with one or no children will just be either a) frightened or b) disbelieving. Let's just suffice to say that my knitting time has been curtailed exponentially and I don't remember the last time I had five minutes by myself that didn't involve a cubicle or room requiring toilet paper.

My middle sister and parents were here this past week and it was nice to have them around to lend a hand. Todd's dad flies in tomorrow for a long weekend. After that we are on our own. Or I should say that I will be on my own since Hubby will be starting to work again for the first time since the little one was born and I will running a zone defense on my two kids instead of he & I covering them together in a man-to-man set. Actually I have had them to myself the yesterday and today. It wouldn't have been too bad (I took them for a loooooooonnnnnngggg walk at Green Lake both days) except that Hubby has conveniently had evening commitments. I start to lose it around seven in the evening...


Enough about that, no one wants to hear me whine about being a mom.

So.

I hear there is this cool sock swap happening this week called Sockapalooza 4 or something. Sounds really neat.


What's that you say?

I signed up for the swap?

Really? Hmmmmm.... socks.... deadline.... massively overwhelmed website... I think I remember something like that but are we at the end already? Seems like it was so far in the future... Like August 2nd or something.

Pardon? I didn't quite catch that last bit.


Today is August 2nd?


Oh dear.


Alright, so maybe I'm not quite that screwed but I am woefully behind in my sock manufacturing process. You see, several Sundays ago I was all set and ready to go: had the pattern, had the yarn, had the needles, ready to cast on. I just needed to finish the hat I was working on and then it was go time. I figured I'd finish the baby hat during Pooh Bear's nap and then I'd start the socks that night. A perfect plan. Only one teensy problem. The next day, a Monday, yup, you guessed it- I went into labor. Now the hat got finished but the socks... let's just say their inception was, um, delayed a couple weeks. And since that time, not a whole lot of knitting happening. The most progress I made was when my parents were here but I managed to negate that by making a mistake and dropping several stitches necessitating a large amount of ripping from which I have not yet recovered. Luckily Sasha wrote me to let me know I had until the 7th to mail my socks especially since my socks are just going for a short trip down I-5. But still... I think I need major tinkering with the time space continuum in order to finish.

And to make matters worse?

The socks from MY pal arrived today. I'll post a picture as soon as I find the time to take one.

So I should go- I feel guilty typing when I should be k2tog, k3(4), kf&b, kf&b, k4(5), ssk-ing.

Hey, let's have a CONTEST!!!! I'll send a fabulous Prize to the commenter who correctly identifies the sock pattern from the above. If more than one person gets it right I'll pick one winner at random. No idea what the prize will be but I'll make it a good one.

(See I've been gone so long I'm resorting to a contest to get you guys to read!)