What's New?


Not a damned thing if you really have to know! Other than my Regia socks in the Saturn colorway. I, well, I frogged them back to the ribbing. I guess I'm just not the 'lace' type. And maybe I just like to knit without ever completing anything. I'm beginning to wonder . . .

It's been a little cool lately so I need to wear socks. When I dug into the sock basket - I only have 21 pairs of socks in there - I couldn't find a thing to wear! Most of them are winter socks. And the remainder - all four pairs of short summer socks - get worn really quickly & tossed into the laundry basket. I usually do the wash every couple of weeks since I have to rearrange the whole kitchen to pull out the washer & get it over to the sink to hook up. With the antique wiring, I can't operate anything else while the washer & dryer operate other than the coffee pot! I also can't operate the dryer if the washer's running, not because of wiring but because it's on a slightly wobbly stand & needs the washer support underneath when it's running. If it's warm, my patio becomes the drying station with my folding wooden racks because I have no clothesline but I have to stay home all day while it's out there. While this normally isn't a problem, I can always spin while the clothes dry, right now it's too warm to run the dryer - it vents through a filter INTO the house because it's tiny & it's too cold to dry outside on racks - I'd be outside for days! The only thing left to do - knit more summer socks!!

So the frogged socks are rapidly becoming two pairs of short summer socks. I have to have socks in my sneakers. I don't understand how people can wear them without. Much as I'd like to, I can't live in thongs or sandals because I need side support & a bit of a heel or I hyper-extend my Achilles tendons. All this gobblygook means that if I slop around in thongs or sandals I get burning, crippling inflammation & PAIN in the backs of my heels. So I wear thongs at home or to jobs where I'm sitting all day when it's hot & my support sneakers everywhere else - just a little compromise that would make my foot specialist cringe! I try NOT to push it too far since I spent several years in pain & TWO years encased in support sneakers every waking hour of the day to get it healed. I draw the line at heavy winter socks in the summer though . . . The heels are turned on the first pair of summer socks & the next couple of pairs are already planned out.

I still work in a warehouse on Sundays. It's so peaceful & quiet in there that I just love it. But, the floor is cement & I need a little extra covering except in the middle of the summer. Most of the year I need something light but warm that doesn't get in the way. I tried a Danish Working shawl in handspun which worked quite well but my arms were still cold. I've noticed that Lion Brand has several really simple SHRUG patterns that might do the trick. They're simple rectangles folded in half with cuffs on the ends if you want them. They cover the back - depending on the depth of the rectangle - as well as the shoulders & arms but leave the front more or less exposed, again, depending on the depth of the rectangle. Any lace pattern would work or even simple garter stitch like the one in the orangey Lion Brand Homespun! I'm seriously thinking about whipping one up to try it out for the warehouse. Just think of it in handspun alpaca or llama with wool!!! It would be soooooo comfy this winter when I watch tv or curl up to read a book. Maybe that's the project I should work on for the Tour de Fleece this year - to spin up that alpaca I was given so I can knit the winter shrug!!