Gloomember

I'm sick of the cool damp weather already. If I were an American, I'd find somewhere warm all year round to live but since I'm not, short of moving to Vancouver Island, I'm in the warmest place in Canada already. My hands do not appreciate that fact. They ache, burn and crack when it's damp outside. Someone recommended Ginger tea.

And speaking of the old joints, the shoulder and neck recovered quickly, the knee is still it's usual sore self today. I admit to tromping around a fair bit yesterday but that last trip to the drug store just defeated me. I sat in the car, thought about it seriously and went home instead via the Starbucks drive thru. That's the problem these days. By mid-afternoon, I'm done. I want to order a couple of things from Sears but the walk from the parking lot, across the first floor to the escalator, across the second floor to the pick-up desk and back dragging a parcel, is beyond my ability. I AM gonna do the Safeway thing - I want Greek Yogurt desperately - on Thursday!!! Woohoo. I can DO this with a shopping cart to lean on and carry things. Right now, I'd like a cart of my very own. Something grocery cart tall, with the purse shelf in the same spot, that folds for the car and is about a third of the size out front. The little walker/seats the OLD folks push around are way too short for me. Carrying all those heavy bags from the car is a real problem but I'm hoping this will pass in the next month or so if I just keep on moving. Thank gawd I live in town.

And since I've been in front of the tube more than usual, I've been working on more socks. I finished my Blue Phildar socks. They were intended as men's socks at first but once I got into the daylight, I realized they had pink in them. Both men I asked said they were "too girly" to wear. Sigh.
Still experimenting with Modular Squares - don't laugh, but the needles I think I really need to make gauge are already in another project in a bin!  Let's just not talk about that at the moment .  .  .  .   

I wanted something small to make and fell into another pair of socks. I love socks and DO need a couple of pairs as emergency gifts. Sometimes I get asked for a pair to complete a Christmas hamper for a single person or for a raffle or sometimes, a friend needs something special, just because. So, I try to always have a couple of hats and some socks handy for last minute gifts. Last year I made some festive socks with lace Hearts down the front that ended up going to a Charity Raffle. This year I decided to make the Lacy Arrow Socks from the Spin-Off 'SOCKS' book. I love those dainty socks on the cover but would never wear them myself. But, like the crocheted lace tablecloths I used to make years ago, it's the challenge of making them that counts. Surprisingly, the Lacy Arrow pattern is easy to knit even though I'm using a very different yarn and smaller needles. The Designer used a fine handspun merino/silk yarn on a 3mm needle and I'm using a tough 3ply Kroy on 2.25mm needles. It's keeping track of the ROWS that's the problem of course. It's not always easy to tell which row you're on if you leave in the middle of a pattern set especially after sundown. But, I'm getting there fairly quickly because after all, it's the challenge that makes it interesting. My Kroy is a plain RED 3ply sock that should wear like iron. This pattern MUST be made on 4 dps at least to the heel because the pattern sometimes shifts a stitch or two from one needle to another. Otherwise, a nice, easy lace pattern.