I'm sooooo busy!!


This is why I don't have time to post & no crafty things are in progress that weren't in progress before all this happened . . . .

Yeah yeah yeah . . .

I know, I know - two posts so close together!! My Gawd . . . & it's tax season too! But, but, but . . . Laura's first pair of socks are done & I had to post them for All the World to See! Well, at least for the 5 people who actually check in to see what I'm up to, anyway!
In the end, I chose to go with the green for the toes. The yellow was too orangey to work with the lemon shades of the sock. The blue works nicely but I'll need it for the second pair of socks since I'll have less of the Opal & I'll need more toe color. The Opal actually looks different with the blue so I may just post the pictures together when I'm finished - just for fun!

I couldn't stand it anymore. I just had to know what kind of pattern my new red, white & black Opal would make so I thought I'd just cast a little on, knit a few rows & see what I got. Looks suspiciously like the "Ladybug" I bought last year! Could it be??? I dug out my "Ladybug" socks & it sure looks the same except the stripes are narrower & closer together at this point. I'll just have to knit a little more to make sure, I guess . . . .

Oh, and I just signed up for the "Vitamins" course at Virtual University. I've already learn some things I didn't know & I'm only reading the introduction to the course. You can learn a lot at the Virtual U!

Slaving Away April

Its THAT time again - tax season! I do like tax, in fact I LOVE beating the TaxMan out of a nickel or two every year! But I hate the last minute rush, working all hours & tearing those tractor-feed piles into single sheets!! Sorting bags of receipts folded into one inch squares - why DO men do that anyway?? - has to be the ultimate horrible job but tearing piles of linked sheets into singles must be a close second!!

Despite all the aggravation, I've finished another pair of socks for myself! My pal Gail gave me this Regia for my birthday a year or two ago & I meant to knit it up sooner or later . . . And, thanx to Laura, I thought I'd put something different on for the toe!! I had planned bright pink but I've become rather predictable lately, sooooooo, here it is with a YELLOW toe for a change!!!

It's always fun to break into a new ball of yarn & see what kind of pattern it will make. This pair of short socks is knit in Opal & it certainly didn't imply it would become a dainty pattern between broad yellow stripes! It's actually been fun to see how it will turn out. I have yellow, which I think is too bright; turquoise, which may turn out to be just right; green, which I'm not liking much and lastly, white might be a good contender for the toes. I'll just finish turning the second heel & decide from there. This may end up as a committee choice! I figure I'll have enough Opal left to make a second pair of socks with a slightly different look . . . . .

No time to spin these days but if I get my butt in gear & finish all the returns piled up in my office, I may be able to spend next Saturday communing with my spinning wheel & the rest of the Arvik fleece. Gail says she's figured out that I will never finish anything for myself out of my handspun! Will too!! I just get too many projects going at once & tend to finish the smaller ones first. It just takes a hellova lot of knitting time to cover my Very Ample Self these days & I tend to lose interest when the next ball of sock yarn enters the house . . . . .

Easter Sunday

And its raining again. I remember Easter Sunday when I was a child. It was one of the few times my mother would actually get dressed up & attend the local church where we all went to Sunday School! Everyone would arrive in new clothes & Easter bonnets covered with flowers & ribbons. After church, we'd go Easter Egg hunting in the local park & then head home for a mid afternoon dinner of Ham, scalloped potatoes & home made pie with real whipped cream. Mom always cooked ham for Easter. And only she knew how to set the automatic, self-timing oven.

And what will I cook for dinner??? Probably stir fry over rice. I was given a turkey & I bought a ham but the turkey is in Ronn's nephew's freezer while the ham got cut into several big pieces since I'm on my own for Easter. Maybe I'll simmer up the bone today since a rich soup with lentils would taste good in the damp weather . . . maybe I'll cut up some small yams to throw into the soup as well. Hmmmmm

Haven't had the time to spin much of anything but I've been plowing along on my socks. I hope to finish the toes sometime this weekend - I'm going to use the yellow by the way - and then I want to start on the new Opal socks for Laura. Managed to get another row onto the crocheted afghan in the dark denim color last nite while watching tv while the printer printed off the latest batch of tax returns.

Good Friday in the Sunshine

It's been a very busy tax season so far and, wonder of wonders, the BT's disability company has actually sent a first payment! My bank account has been on empty for so long, I can't quite get used to having money at the end of the bills!! And, I was also given 5, brand new $100 bills to buy myself something for my birthday!!! He actually said "Curves or Clothes, its up to you"! Curves proved to be just too expensive for my taste so I bought some clothes! And now I may be able to purchase a folding spinning wheel . . . . I tell you, Money isn't EVERYTHING but you can't do ANYTHING without it in this day & age!!


So, what else am I doing with all my new found riches??? Well, I bought some Opal - 4 balls of it. Lynne, our travelling Socklady, brought some of her stash & I glommed onto several balls. The red, purple & multicolored balls will be for me while the yellow will be for the BT's mom who will probably match it up with her tan or brown outfits. I didn't buy anything MANLY but I still have several balls of the Sock-it-to-Me yarn from Elann which the BT's dad likes so I'm okay for birthday & Christmas. The BT has a dozen pairs of socks & can wait, dammit!


Speaking of the BT, he'll be moving in the next couple of months & I decided to finally make the afghan I promised him a couple of years ago. I bought several one-pound balls of Bernat acrylic in different shades of Denim blue. All are in faded shades, which I thought would look really nice together. Since I hate sewing things together, I'm crocheting it as one giant granny square. I could've made it into a giant rectangle but didn't think of it in time so he's getting a giant square instead. He won't care, he already loves the colors & can't wait to use it.




I've actually turned the heels on my latest socks which got abandoned for a while in the rush to make squares for Blankets4Canada. These are for me - I love the bright colors & won't ever change!! Laura, from the Wednesday Nite Nitters found a great blue & a yellow in Kroy which would make great toes for these socks although I thought a pink would work as well. Since I'm always choosing pink or red, I think I may just use the yellow for a change!

The next sock project is already in my knitting bag. Laura, from the Wednesday Nite Nitters, bought a ball of Opal in yellow with a little blue, green & white in it. She bought 2 balls of Kroy & 2 of Sisu in co-ordinating colors for the toes - I get to pick since I offered to knit the socks for her. Laura crochets & does some basic - real basic - knitting & I don't think we'll ever get her into socks. I do love to knit socks & can't wait to see what kind of pattern each colored ball makes - I must be crazy!!