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One Down, One to Go

Sock number one is done, but it definitely didn’t turn out that great. This was knitted on two Addi circs. I do like doing socks better this way since I’m not keen on dpn’s, but hopefully the next sock will be better. I’ve casted it on — in fact, I think I casted it on six times; I wanted both top edges to be the same color. Course, now I get to do the k1p1 ribbing; nothing but fun, fun fun! At least it’s only for three inches; not a tall sock. These are mostly for practice, anyway. Maybe I should try the Magic Loop method…
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It’s the 23rd — No, it’s the 24th…

You’d think I’d be tired. You’d think I’d be worn out. I went shopping again today. The MOB and I left here at 9:30 in the morning to drive 70 miles to a town where there are a few more options in mothers-of-the-couple wear. The roads were dry, the sun was trying to make an appearance, and we were both armed with numbers and pictures of dresses we wanted to try on. And this time I wore the tummy-sucker I’d bought over the weekend to relieve my ab muscles of holding in my belly all the time. As an added precaution, I made sure not to drink too many liquids. We even braved the 30-degree weather and left our coats in the car so as not to be too encumbered during our quest.

Our first stop didn’t pan out, although we both discovered the high school girls should be shopping for prom dresses right now. ($25 bucks for last fall’s designs!) We put a couple things on hold knowing we probably wouldn’t be back for them.

We made our way to the bridal shop in the mall, none too confident that we’d find anything there after seeing bright, bushy, teenage-styled gowns in the window. Entering the place and taking it all in changed our minds. In 15 minutes I had 35 dresses to try on; the MOB had maybe 15.

Of course, never sure what size is really accurate and being ridiculously size-gunshy, I actually had pretty good luck with straight 10’s and tried on gown after gown. Dashing in and out of the dressing room, trading mirror time with the MOB, I was once again amazed and appalled at the creature looking back at me. I can’t say I found nothing; I did find a couple things I liked. But when I shop for something like this, I really have to love it before I can buy it. And these babies aren’t cheap. Plus the gal is now telling us they’d have to put a ‘rush’ order on the one dress I was considering in order to get it here by the wedding in May.

Lucky, lucky MOB, though! She found the most perfect dress for her that you could ever imagine. Nothing she would have taken a second glance at normally, this dress really was made for her — with some alterations. (Did I mention she’s a size 2?) It’s stunning, really. So gorgeous, in fact, that I feel the bar has been raised so high that I just can’t get near it.

So now the pressure is really on. That’s why I’m sitting up at 3:00 in the morning clicking through collections of dresses trying to find something to wear in May. I ordered a bunch of dresses online that can be returned, but I want to try them on. I ordered them all in a 12. (I bet I’m at least an 8 with this company!)

Finally, having never fallen asleep in front of a computer before, the little clock reflecting on the wall is telling me to JUST GO TO BED!

Okay.
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Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty!!!

Here’s my Cali — an unoriginal name for a very original cat, at least IMHO. When she chooses to, she’ll avail herself of the kitty bed I knit up for her. She found us when we moved into our house over 14 years ago. She was just a kitten, probably 5 or 6 weeks old, looking for some food in all the boxes in our garage. It was love at first sight, and she’s been with us ever since. She’s very independent (natch’), and will take any attention she can get, as long as it’s on her terms. She absolutely HATES anything else with four legs. We had a small dog for awhile, and she tolerated her with disdain. My mom has a long-haired calico kitten who comes to visit occasionally, but Cali thinks she’s a complete and total idiot. Bertie Kitty will tease her, sneak up on her, follow her around, and poor Cali has to hiss and swat at her to tell her to “back off!”

Then Cali will turn to me with a look of complete disgust, as if to say, “What’s the matter with you, woman? Why would you let this thing in my house?” Once little Bertie gets the snot kicked out of her, she finally gets herself worn out enough to take a little ‘cat nap.’

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I’m Gonna Try This Again…

While I did knit a pair of socks before, they were wool, and after washing them by mistake, they felted quite nicely and hid all my mistakes. So I can’t really claim to be comfortable yet with the whole process of turning a heel, picking up the correct stitches, and hiding that inevitable hole in the gusset. I found a wonderfully helpful site that should be called “Sock Knitting For Dummies.” God bless Silver for creating this site.

Digging through my stash, I found some Schoeller Stahl Fortissima Colori sock yarn I bought quite awhile ago. (The sample sock looked so cute!) I’ve been reading up on knitting socks on two circular needles since I got a bunch of them for Christmas. I finally started this one a couple days ago. Working in a k1p1 pattern is so tedious, I’m glad there was only a few inches of it. I’m also finding one of the circs a bit on the long side, but the Addi cables are so soft and flexible, it hasn’t really been that big a deal. Anyway, so far so good. (HA!)
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Baby Hats!

Aren’t these the cutest THANGS!?!? I love making these little hats. They knit up so fast, and there are so many cute patterns. And I’m so lucky my brother and his wife had boy and girl twins so I can do both. Who knows if they’ll ever use them? They’re just fun to make, and they’re a nice break from some of the bigger projects.
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Woo HOOO!!!! Finished!

IT’S DONE! My first Clapotis is done! What a thrill for me, because I’d been putting off starting this project for months thinking it might be too hard. After frogging a few times and then finding the best help at the Clapotis Yahoo knitalong, I finished it (photos here)! This has been the most interesting and addicting pattern so far for me. I’m just itching to start my summer one, but I want to hold off a little bit … at least a month, if I can!

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Starting Decreases on Clapotis!

This may not sound like a big deal to most of you, but if you’ve ever knitted one of these, you’ll know IT IS! Very exciting stuff here. I finally finished my 13th dropped row and can now start decreasing in section 4. This is really one of the more enjoyable projects I’ve ever worked on. There’s nothing boring about it because you’re using a lot of different stitches, plus it’s so fun to see it progress. There’s also more pictures on the link below in A Work In Progress.
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Charlotte Has Left The Building …Well, sort of.

My wonderful, beautiful spider, Charlotte (see below) has finally died. I wondered how long she’d live in the house. In the late fall we found her on the ground and, thinking her dead, I picked her up and brought her inside with some wooden tongs. While examining her up close and personal for about 10 minutes, darned if her legs didn’t start to move and spread out. SHE WAS ALIVE! Naturally, I freaked out, made some sort of high-pitched squawking sound, soundly dropped her, then smacked myself in the face with the tongs. Eee-YEWWWW! I rather surprised myself, because I really did think I was over being squirmy about her; apparently that was only true while I had the door between us. In any case, my son and I put her in a little fishbowl, covered it with some screening, and fed her crickets until they died. She eventually stopped eating and went to spidey heaven — or something. Here’s hoping one just like her returns next summer.