Friday, February 22, 2013

I'm a Dawg

Yeah, I know I've been laying about, neglecting the damn blog but I've been busy! Motorcycle season has started with a bang & the reason I've been chained to an office chair for most of the time this last couple of weeks. Not only do I man the phones & SELL the courses but I organize training schedules for people who work rotating shifts, spend several weeks out of town & one week in & those who travel for a living but want that motorcycle license NOW. I take their money too & keep the business books, send out confirmation emails, hold hands & encourage the wobbly ones. I remind people that they can't do Road Tests until ALL the course requirements have been met & figure out how to get them into empty slots to finish said course. And then I do Income Tax returns. And small business bookkeeping. And Incorporate Companies. etc etc When do I knit?? Lately? Not at all!!

But that's changing dammit. Too much paper turns the old brain to mush. And too many student problems make you crazy. But, it's the nature of the Beast. My beautiful Purple & Blue socks have gone to a new home! The Langley Softball team is having a silent auction to support the travel expenses. My socks went as an auction donation. I just happened to have them in my bag the day that one of the girls came in looking for business donations. Unfortunately, the Motorcycle School has one thing - Motorcycle Courses - no two hour lessons or short anything - we sell 30 hour courses. So the socks went. I can knit more!!

On the needles - well, more socks, of course. I like to have a pair in the car for waiting knitting & one by my TV watching chair. My lovely friend Karen gave me FOUR balls of KROY sock yarn!!! I love KROY. It's a little thicker & makes nice warm socks in wild & crazy patterns! Last year or the year before, Karen found a huge supply of KROY at a Thrift Store. She supplied us all!! I knit several pairs of orange & brown & pink & brown socks for charity - I managed to save an orange & brown pair for ME. But I wished I'd saved more. So Karen found some for myself!!! I am working on the pink & brown balls to make the standard sock-in-my-head but I'm using 64 stitches instead of 68 & my 2.5mm circs instead of the 2.25mm ones for these since the KROY is thicker, I thought I'd experiment just a tad. I'm a little surprised at how much I like what I've knitted so far. They're a little bigger than usual which is okay since I've had a ankle swelling problem for the last year or so & they do shrink just a little when you wash them by machine. We'll see how they fit in the end. My camera batteries are dead so you'll just have to wait for the pics.

The heels are turned on the Blue/Grey second sock & they're out in the car as Car Knitting. Since I've been cold & need a light but warm sweater, I have the Arvik sweater - Ribbons top-down cardigan from Knitters Summer 2011 or 12, I believe - beside my TV chair. It's rapidly getting lighter & will soon be warmer so Arvik Ribbons must be ready for Spring. I am down past the armhole & moving rapidly towards the hem. Woohoo

Monday, February 11, 2013

Doldrums

These days I have a love/hate relationship with my craft stuff. I have a whole lot of new patterns that I love but no one here wants to create them. No one here wants to do the math to make them fit. And no one here wants to take the time to knit the swatch, cast on all those stitches or spend any time spinning the yarn for it either. I just want them done NOW. I just want to spend all day in bed, under a blankey, cuddling something warm & furry, READING. It's a funny thing, but I don't even want to go to Starbucks.  Maybe this is Spring Fever??? All I know is that I'm cold & without ambition these days .  .  . 

I owe my Hairdresser two pairs of warm socks so I've been plugging along slowly. She said she wears them like slippers when she comes home at night with sore feet. Apparently she kicks off her shoes, puts on the socks & her pjs as soon as she comes in from work. Her male companion had the nerve to pinch a pair I gave her last year & wore them till the feet wore through in several places. So now she only has one pair that have to be hidden!

Since she wears them as slippers, she doesn't need them to be much above the ankle but the feet still need reinforced heels since that's where she wears them out first. I like to knit the 'cushy' heel not only at the back of the heel but around & under the heel as well for that extra softness. I even extended the K1,S1 on the entire sole of the foot on several pairs for my Ex at one time. Extra work, but he really appreciated the cushioning when his feet were sore.

The yarn for the second pair is much thicker than the Regia leftovers I've used in the two toned blue socks above. The yarn is a lovely superwash merino that looks like sock weight but knits up to a much thicker fabric. It makes a nice knit fabric on 2.75mm needles but will make a thicker slipper type sock on my nice little 2.25mm needles.

Sunday, February 03, 2013

A Finished Object

I was beginning to think I'd never get anything finished! I've been chipping away a little at this & that but mostly I've had sore fingers & no ambition to do anything other than dress, undress, find something to eat when I'm hungry & do enough dishes to keep ahead of the mess. No energy, no desire to go out & no desire to knit anything. Maybe it goes with the cough & maybe not. This last week I've been taking extra Vitamin D & sitting under my 'Daylight' bulb & forcing myself outside around Noon especially when it's sunny - well, on the TWO DAYS it wasn't raining??? Haha   I do feel better. Maybe it's the Placebo Effect but who cares, I feel better. And I've finished my stripey blue & lavender socks!! At last!!

The old fingers are still sore & tax season is upon us. I haven't been taking much medication  - trying to get by without - but it appears it's time to smarten up & get back to it. And stay on it, sigh. Or I won't be able to spin in the Tour de Fleece this year. And I already have a light blue/dark blue pair of socks on the go. I intended to knit Frankensocks but the partial balls I found are pretty big & may almost stretch to a pair of socks - I'm to midfoot & will knit until the yarn runs out - with solid toes. Since the Hairdresser's boyfriend stole a pair of her socks & wore them until the heels wore through, I'll have to make her a second pair & he'll get the Frankensocks when I get around to it.