Busy, Busy, Busy


The orange & pink socks are finished! I haven't had them on my feet yet but they're going to be mine! Sometimes you cast-on for socks that you think you like because you liked the ball of yarn. And then, like that, poof - the sock turns out to be something totally unrelated to the ball of yarn. I'm usually sure by the time I hit the heel shaping but sometimes, I have to finish the pair of socks before I know for sure. Sometimes I have to wash them & then feel them to make sure they're really for me. I've had socks that I even wore a time or two that never really were right. Sometimes it's the color but mostly it's the feel of them. I have a pair of lovely pink & green socks that I made for myself years ago that have only been on my feet once. I hate the feel of them. They remind me of Phentex yarn - you remember the stuff?? Tough, never wears out, feels like crunchy plastic?? When our descendants do an archaeological dig on OUR dumpsites 5ooo years in the future, they will find plastic waste, disposable diapers & Phentex! After occupying a place in my sock basket for eons, those socks have been removed to the BUM basket!!

I've been doing a little more knitting on Wallabies for kids in Afghanistan. I have enough navy to knit another wallaby like the one on the left. The body is knit almost to the armholes & will get the same variegated blue yoke & hood. I found about 6 8oz balls of dusty pink which will get variegated pink & green yokes & hoods. The pink & green color is a little strange - actually, ALL the variegated yarns are a little OFF in color - maybe this is why they've wound up in the donation bin!! But, with solid bottoms, the Wallabies don't look too bad & certainly will keep a kid warm! The Wonderful Wallaby by Cottage Creations is really a fun sweater to knit for kids. I think I've knit close to a dozen for the Boomer Project already & have enjoyed knitting them once I learned to put the underarm stitches on STRINGS so I have a little more room to join the arms & body to knit the yoke!!

Got a Steam Tek for Christmas!!! It's sort of like the Swiffer WetJet only it uses steam to clean the floor instead of liquid chemicals. It only uses plain water! I've wanted one for ages but didn't want another gadget that might not work!! One of my friends bought one & didn't really like it while another raves about hers, so I was hesitant. I was never really happy with the WetJet, it leaves my floors sticky & pushes the dirt into the corners!!! And it only uses expensive bottles of cleaners which I don't like . . .

I tried it out on the bathroom floor first because it's where the kitty litter pan sat on the newspaper that stuck to the bathroom floor when I had the last flood . . . . And the thing worked like a hot damn!! That triangle head really gets into corners. And boy, does it steam!! It really blasts that steam out the bottom. It got out the newsprint stains on the old tile. It blasted the mold out of the corner between the toilet & tub where mushrooms grow in summer. And it got the ground in dirt on the tiles in front of the sink . . . It worked so well that I took it out to the kitchen where I dropped a jar of marmalade the other day - there's nothing like dropping a glass jar full of stickiness on a cement floor! Well, after scraping up the worst of it, the Swiffer couldn't handle the sticky spot even after three tries & fresh pads. The Steam Tek not only killed the sticky spot but it got out the ground in dirt in the high traffic areas that normally had to be attacked with sudsy ammonia!! I'll probably still have to take a knife to the corners where the Swiffer pushed the dirt, but I'll be able to loosen it first with the Steam Tek & I'll bet I don't get it in future. I have to admit when I filled the reservoir, I thought it was a shame it was so small . . . . well, I did the bathroom floor, the kitchen floor, part of the hall & still had some water in there to be emptied!! I'm hoping it will really help with my allergies to hair, dander, dust & perfumes.
Apparently I can surface steam my carpets with this thing too. I am not opening the Little Green Machine I bought to do the small stains in my carpet until I've tried out the Steamer. If it works on carpet like it did on the floors, I'll be returning that Little Green Machine!! I guess you can tell, I love my Steam Tek!!!