Quietish

I haven’t posted in like 5 days. And I have no idea why.

Here, let me distract you with a cat doll.

And a very purple pic.

I’ll see if I can cook up something interesting to post before we escape with Kelly and her crew for the weekend.

This week has been completely crazy. Kindergarten really is an effective monkey wrench in a homebody’s schedule. I don’t think I’ve ever spent this much time out of the house in one week.

I have managed to finish a few things though.

Scarf

Yarn:
Opal Rainforest Chameleon
Pattern:
Multi-Directional Diagonal Scarf by Karen Baumer
Comments:
I hate knitting scarves. I yawn the entire time. But they do generally come out nicely when you bother to stick with them. Several local folks have been seen knitting this pattern using sock yarn. I love the variations one can get.

Crocheted bag. The one that won me my sanity the other day when I couldn’t work on my afghan.

No pattern. Leftover Schaefer Lola (which Ravelry keeps insisting on calling Little Lola for whatever reason). Sewed in a lining. I love crochet; it’s quick.

I’m so tired. I think I will sleep for some hours this afternoon. This will also serve to keep me from rushing off to the bead store or a quilt store, like I’ve been itching to do all week.

Last night as I was trying to settle into our evening video-game playing routine, I began to gather my things to work on my granny squares. I quickly discovered that the hook I have been using, my favorite, is missing. It also happens to be the only hook I had in that size.

After a bit of a tantrum, I rummaged through my leftovers and found something I could play with while I wait for the morning and the opening of shops that sell crochet hooks.

The yarn I pulled was a coupla small balls of a skein of Schaefer Lola (which became 2 sides of a small purse bag thing that are current blocking, btw). At first I couldn’t even remember what I had knit with this yarn in the first place, and then when I remembered that it was socks for Jamie I realized I hadn’t seen them in ages.

I spent a little time being grumpy at Justin for not remembering the socks either, then I dug around a bit and found them in our bin of winter hats and scarves. Today I’m stunned that I could have forgotten I made them, that I could have let their absence go unnoticed, and that I still can’t even remember when I made them. I suspect it was sometime this winter, in between charity items. Most likely still in 2006, back when I was still buying yarn regularly.

No pattern. Yarn mentioned above. The Lola is totally soft and wonderful. I like to cuddle it (I do vaguely remember being at the shop, cradling it in its little skein form like a soft baby bunny, squoooshing it, and calling it George). The awesomest thing is that Jamie doesn’t remember them either, and is very pleased to be wearing new handknit socks today. Thanks mom! lol

Did some worsted weight footie slipper thingies right quick this week. Just had the itch for a quick project.

Yarn:
Rowan All Seasons Cotton from the stash.
Pattern:
None. Toe up. Same concept as Fred and George, though.
Comments:
These socks crack me up. Ya see, handknit socks are generally shaped sorta ugly with their lack of elastic and weird heels. Worsted weight cotton and acrylic socks are even uglier off of the foot. I’m glad they become much cuter once they’re on.

The Remus Lupins and the Whomping Willows played Oklahoma City this weekend, so obviously we had to go. Ginny and the Heartbreakers, a local band, also played. Although it threatened to rain, the outdoor concert thing was nice because there wasn’t any of that reserving-of-tickets anxiety going on.

I always love chatting with the wizard rockers, particularly because I know that we’re all fans with our own niche. So I get all mushy with the I-love-this-fandom stuff. And to be completely dorky, I will point out that Alex is still wearing the friendship bracelet I gave him in May. He says that it’s been just the right accessory for this Summer of Potter and that it will be perfect when it eventually falls off probably at the end of all the touring and HP events.

I am SO looking forward to Wrockstock!

Click for the rest of the pics

SPS… actually on Sunday!

The fam and I went to an outdoor concert this evening. Care to guess who played?
:D :D :D

Jamie. In school. Crazy.

Today was the first day for all the kids in town, but the Kindergarten classes had a sort of orientation that the parents had to attend as well. So it was a short day, but we got more information about things and the kids had story time and stuff. There weren’t any cryers in Jamie’s class, but then everyone had their parents too.

Jamie would like you to know that the fish pictured behind her in the entrance area are very cool.

I really ought to start on a school scrapbook. Wonder if I still know how to do that sort of thing.

The socks are finished, and so I cast a Dark Mark into the sky. Socks have been finished here. Or something.

Meet Barty Jr.

Pattern:
Meh. 2×2 rib over about a million stitches on 2mm needles.
Yarn:
Scouts Swag Death Eaters colorway, a gift from Julie.
Comments:
The combination of the simple pattern, my insane gauge, and other interesting things to work on made these the Socks that Never End. They feel great, though. I like them. They’re very thick, as the yarn is a bit thicker than probably should be knit on 2mm. needles.

I had a bit of a hard time naming these socks. I obviously felt that they should be named after a Death Eater, but I kept finding interesting aspects to other DE’s personalities that should be represented in their socks. Ultimately these were named after Crouch because he cast the first appearance of Morsemordre in the books.

My Sockapalooza package game yesterday, yay! My pal made me what she calls Chinese Fireball Dragon socks. They’re awesome and are very comfy. She also sent me Dumblydore-ish lemon drop candies and some awesome smelling Lavender soap that we all smelled even before I opened up the envelope.

PS, Julie says that these count as my SPS pic because my feet are in them. It’s for the best really, my hair is totally pissed about going in the pool yesterday.

So what am I up to lately? Not a whole heckuvalot.

As usual, my knitting is crawling, the summer is crawling, and I don’t feel like I’m getting enough done. It’s the same sorta stuff, so I’ll refrain from whinging about it.

No new knitting or crochet finishes to show, because I’ve actually been breaking up the knitting time with (GASP!) things like reading and housework. When you recover from that completely boggling news, come back and see the pics.

Been working slowly on a Ganseyish sweater for Cian. Using some information from Beth Brown-Reinsel’s Knitting Ganseys book, and some Plymouth Galway Highland Heather.

It’s a nice, leisurely knit actually, and if I weren’t the type to always be wanting to finish and move onto something else, I can see that it’d be worth savoring. If you’re the savoring type, that is.

I deliberately left the sweater home when I went to Sit n Stitch last night, so I could put a little work on the sock that I have been neglecting horribly for what must be months now.

I also have a scarf that I haven’t worked on all week. I’ll get it done at some point. I like it, even if scarves aren’t my favorite thing to spend time on.

That’s about it, really. It is odd that I don’t even feel like knitting more today. Instead I think I’ll go read. Mmmm.