Rainy Days and Mondays...

Yes, it's both a rainy day and a Monday. Actually, it's a rainy evening, but that didn't sound quite as good. And they don't usually get me down.
There has been progress on the trekking sock. It's looking and fitting quite well. I'm really loving them. I mean it, there is only one so far.There is also quite a bit of progress on the photo project. Just three more boxes and six more albums to go. Then I will have all of the photos in order and "findable" instead of all over hell and gone. It's looking good in the room my husband now calls the "knitting annex".So you'd think I'd be in a reasonably good mood. However you would be incorrect, but only because you don't know what I know. And that is....the wonderful dragonfly socks that are a fabulous color that reminds me of my favorite place in the world, and in a pattern that compliments the yarn, that are both done up to the heel, and one of them slightly past the heel are, get this....TOO SMALL.

I decided to try them on this morning, just to make sure the length was right after putting in the short row heel and knitting about an inch into the leg. The foot length is perfect, just wonderful, the heel fits properly, all is well. Except that I have been ignoring the fact that the foot has seemed tight the entire time I have been knitting them. I have been in some kind of delusional knitting zone with these socks. They were tight every time I tried them on to gauge the length, but I kept thinking that was OK, I don't mind socks that hug my feet.
This morning the magic spell these socks had cast on me suddenly went away. I could tell that they were squeezing my foot so tight that it would be impossible to wear them for more than a minute without restricting my circulation. The problem is not really the foot (see, still delusional) but the place the sock turns at the ankle. I tried really hard to believe that I could fix that for about 5 minutes, but came to the sad conclusion that it is off to the frog pond for the socks.

Rainy Days

Man, have we had a ton of rain here lately. Lisa, you won't miss the Pacific Northwest, we have enough rain to make you think you are still there. It's actually humid, which is a weather condition I haven't had to deal with a lot since moving here 21 years ago. I don't like it, that's one reason we moved! But the weeds in the front yard are looking really nice and green.

I'm sure it affected the weight of the merino that I divvied up last night. It really feels great and I am looking forward to spinning it. I'm going to try to get a better picture of it so you can see the nep-iness. Oh look, a new word. You are welcome.

I am trying to get the other fibers spun first, but something tells me that at least some of the merino will be rude and cut into line. Sheep jump lines, so I think the fleece might too. There were a lot of second cuts, but it should spin up just fine.

I did actual knitting today on the trekking sock. It seemed to have grown the leg long enough while I wasn't looking, so I thought it would turn it's own heel while waiting for me in the car. It did not, I am somewhat surprised. So, the heel flap is nearly done now. I love turning the heel and picking up the stitches, which is one thing that the short row heel has against it.

I am going to post some more pictures tonight also, so go take a peek.

Merino goodness

Today I took off of work early and went to Victor, CO to pick up the merino yarn we dropped off earlier. I made a quick stop at Chick-Fil-A for a quick bite to eat on the road, and got one of their yummy chocolate/strawberry shakes. I had planned on just popping on the highway and up to Victor, but a rather large pothole caused my milkshake to spill all over my shirt and a large portion landed in my lap. Not fun, but helpful to LeeAnn. So I made a short detour to my house to put on clothes that were not "cool and refreshing".

Mira the dog wanted to go, so after I cleaned up the mess in the car, we took off. I drove up on the paved road, since I had to make sure I had time to get there before they closed.

The roving is soft and wonderful, and the people who did it for us did a fabulous job, from what I can tell right now. I have a couple other things in line for the wheel, but this looks like it should spin up really well. The folks that did this for us do llama and alpaca also. The prices are very reasonable, and the service is top notch.

Mira and I decided to drive back home via Gold Camp Road. The trekking sock was looking for a little adventure, too. Here are some pictures of the scenery. I love driving on this road, it is so beautiful. Let me know what you think!

Mira, riding shotgun... after a quick dip in the scenic pond. She is usually a fluffier and nicer smelling travel companion than this.

The sock, hanging on during one of the many scary "look Ma, no guardrails" part of the road....

A big old bag of roving. Yes sir, yes sir, 12 pounds full....

I can hardly wait to spin up my share of this stuff. It feels so good. I wish I could describe it better for you.

Progress

Progress has been made on the KoolAid yarn. I had it all balled up the other day.
Then I plied it together, one strand of blue/green with one strand of red/blue. I had no idea it would look like this.
I happen to love it a lot, and I'll probably have enough to do something large with it, maybe a shrug.... But I still have to ply the rest together, and the rest is sitting here... Yes, there it is, waiting to be plied into something useful. Right there above the many, many, many boxes of photos waiting to be compiled into the "big project" of the summer. Right now we are taking bets as to what gets done first. And you guys don't even know the other major project rolling around in my head!

It's about the yarn...

OK, just for Lisa...it's yarn, specifically half of the gray Teasdale I got at Estes. I think it looks pretty good. I plan on spinning the rest of this tonight. I'm thinking maybe mittens if I have enough or a hat. I am undecided on that part of the project.Then, there is this....
It is KoolAid dyed recycled wool from a Goodwill sweater. I'm planning to ply the blue/green with the red/blue and see what happens. It was $3.00 for the wool and $1.00 for the KoolAid, and fun dyeing and plying, so I really don't care what it turns out to be. It's always a surprise at my house anyway!

Happy Independence Day

Happy Independence Day to you all. I hope you all have a great time camping, BBQ'ing, picnicking, and visiting with friends and family. It's raining here, has been most of the weekend, so I doubt I'll see any fireworks, which as some of you know is one of my most favorite things to do. SO I hope you will all OOOH and AAAHHH for me.

Please remember the sacrifices that those who came before, and those who are serving now, have made. Freedom is not free.