But I NEED it!

Hey, July is over with. It's gone, no blog action happened at all, and not as much knit action happened as I would have liked. Sorry everyone for having to look at my gross foot for two months straight.

I guess I might as well relate what happened to the socks: I finished the red socks, and gave them away as a birthday present. I had hoped the person would really like them, would understand, "These, the first socks I have ever knitted, were made for you, by my own hands." I really took the effort to make sure they were just right, too. The reception of the socks was about as ho-hum as it gets, dealing a serious blow to this person's knit-worthiness; who knew my mom wouldn't 'get it'? Life is full of harsh lessons... (HAHA - I'm reading aloud as I type this, and Cindy just cracked on me for sounding like Doogie Howser).

After the socks, I didn't start anything else for a while. I had to start saving some funds for a new-to-me car because the slave-cylinder went out on the '88 Ranger. I was fairly bummed about that - I really liked that truck.

But the summer wasn't all downers: I met some new knitters - at my church. There is a really sweet lady named Ms. Ruth, an immigrant from South Africa, who is teaching the ladies how to get their knit on. Ms. Ruth also has a great way of holding the needles; she cradles the needle between her thumb and index finger, so that when she releases the needle to throw the yarn, the needle is resting in the groove between thumb and finger - what's more, she throws the yarn with only her index finger! Her way strikes me as a mix between the advantages of continental and regular; you never release the yarn or the needle, and all the while she's primarily working with her dominant R hand. Ms. Ruth doesn't think its a big deal at all; all the knitters in South Africa knit this way, she says. She accussed my way of being 'dreadfully slow' in her aweseom accent, and we had a hearty laugh. Yeah, me and Ms. Ruth are lookng forward to knitting together more. She's a sock knitter, and quite keen about DP's (circular are just not for her); rock on.

Uh, what else... I did knit another one of the beanies from Son of S'n'B, using yarn I purchased for that purpose a long time ago. Basically, because I'm poor, and can't support my yarn habit. Once the beanie was done, I made a few modifications to the Thorpe hat I knit a while back, and made another for my Comrade in Yarn Jan (this time, I cast on 96, altered the fair-isle pattern to involve three rows of diamonds, and in general just did a much better job the second-time around). I think I really like fair isle - a lot.

Right after I did the Thorpe hat, I bought some Malabrigo yarn, and started making a butterfly hat for my aunt, and I'm hoping she get's it.

When getting the Malbrigo, I also got some needles and the Yarn Harlot's At Knits End, and really liked it. What sold me was when I opened it and read the page describing how knitters won't choose a subtitled movie to rent because the project they are working on has a chart. BWAHAHAHAHA!

So anyhow, I've made two hats watching the Olypics, and started a third. I will sorely miss the Olypics. I was up until 3am last night working on the Butterfly hat, watching some vollyball action.

So the Ranger which has been sitting on the curb for a couple months now? I took it to the junk yard today. It was a strange time. A few guys kept offering to buy it from me, even as a five ton fork lift was driving up to hoist it in the air and haul it away. A short guy who worked there asked what was wrong with it, and I told him 'nothing, except the slave cylinder - you'll have to drop the transmission to repair it, but other than having to put clutch fluid in it every time I drive it, its a great truck.' He was more than happy to keep it separate from the others gettin' stacked. Did I say already I will really miss that truck??

Anyhow, I got a couple hundred bucks for it. Do you know how much yarn that is!?? (Okay you knitters out there quoting exact yardage for five different kinds, I'm not at that point yet, but yeah, it's A LOT).

And then I had to make the rent, and pay some bills, and then the Ranger-money didn't seem like so much anymore... what a let down. I still got some sock yarn left, and plenty of Cascade 220. But you know, sometimes Cascade 220 just isn't enough...

Okay, that was a lie. Sometimes, you just gotta knit what you can get.

Next blog: photos!

Its a SOCK!!! (and a half)...

The 'ol ankle, fresh off the choppin' block!



Here it is - the sock! And my ankle two weeks after the above pic - nice, huh!? It's healed up super fast - must be my mutant healing factor... it's a real answer to prayer. My doc did one helluva stitch up job. Maybe he should knit??)



Here's the Cascade 220, and the Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn I've got in the stash. And the sock and a half. Maybe they'll fit better when blocked... oh well - I'm all about finishing them!



A green tomato. Yeah, that's duct tape; I used it to create the supports between the bamboo stakes. To make the supports for the pepper plants, I used a really ugly Joseph and the Technicolor Acrylic Yarn. Chris from Highland brought into the Nook one day, thinking one of the Nookers had left it there (my bet is it was purposefully abandoned). See, acrylic yarn is good for something! (Lord only knows what it'll end up as next...)


Check out the garden! I accidently deleted some photos I took a two weeks before the above photo - I wanted to chronicle how fast things are growing. This pic compared to last months seems kinda ridiculous... seriously, this is just under four weeks of growth. The oregano is really taking off. The basil is doing okay, too. The lavender is a bit of a slow grower. The onions? I botched it; most of the onions are dead, I think. I'm going to dig them up, maybe plant something else instead.


Cilantro - it does this all the time... I need to plant more of it!

Reading and Recovery (with socks on the side...)

I'm just gonna apologize for the non-bloggin' and get that out of the way - I'm sorry for not bloggin'! I just spent a couple weeks recoupin' from getting my ankle cut on (for the 2nd time in 9 months). It kinda hurts. I'm okay, though - I can still hold knitting needles. Really - I'm doing well. I'm already walking on it and everything. It's like E.Z. said, "Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises."

But, to my shame, I didn't actually hold onto the needles very much during my down time. I did make some progress, though. I visited some friends the weekend before my surgery, and managed to finish the first sock, and then I ran around swingin' it over my head and causing a ruckus, hittin' people with it, holding it aloft like a mighty weapon 'o war and such, etc. No one was really impressed - except maybe Deb and me (I easily impress myself). And then I went under the knife a few days later, and after about 4 days of some (very good) drugs, I cast on the second sock of the pair. I just turned the heel on it - it won't be long now... After that - more socks. I've already got the yarn - some more Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn. In case you didn't know, the socks I'm making now are Rich Red - the yarn/colors I've got in stash are Copper and Olive. I also got some worsted Cascade 220 (a basic grey/tan and burgundy).

But, I did get a lot of reading done. The first day of recovery, I finished reading Jane Austen's Persuasion (Captain Wentworth is the shit, btw), and then read Farenheit 451. Day two I read Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Day Three I read Austen's Pride and Prejudice in one sitting (granted, there were a couple of nice naps involved - but its one heckuva page turner!). The next day, I put in LATRG (Lars and the Real Girl) and started the other sock, and then spent the rest of the time off from work looking for a new ride (the Ranger is awfully close to kickin' the can). Stupid leakin' slave cylinder.

Right now, I'm reading Sense and Sensibility, and its off to a great start - I'm only about 3 chapters in today, but I can already tell Marianne is gonna be Trouble. I'm actually kinda worried about this book; in regards to the rest of Austen's novels, I am a (typical) total ignoramus about them until I actually read them - never having seen any films/movies/miniseries of them - and yeah, thinking they were, (a-hem) "girl" books. But it's actually a good thing that I've been a total ignoramus, because the novel's plots and characters strike me in an unadulterated fashion; they aren't ruined by having some famous actor attached to the face of one of the main characters - I can more readily imagine them as Austen wrote/describes them. Anyhow, this isn't the case with Sense and Sensibility; I saw the movie a few years ago - so even though I may already know the basic plot, I'm hopeful it's still going to be a great reading experience.

So who else is going to the Stitch 'N Pitch?? What an awesome freakin' idea. If we had to vote for the best damn Local Yarn Store, Kristen and Cindy win, hands down. (...aaaand I just repeated "Knit Nook Wins! Knit Nook Wins!" in my best Harey Carey... to myself...)

And that's got be it for now (i'll add some pics later). Sleep is awesome!