Mommy's Little Helper

Tomorrow we are all going to my boss' house for lunch for our Christmas party, so this afternoon I wrapped and packaged up the gifts for my coworkers. Of course, I had help. This is a shot of Emma's final inspection of the bags before they went out the door. Rest assured that she was fully involved in the wrapping every step of the way. Such a good little helper.

Also, finally a finished object:

Yes, another pair of Jaywalkers. Love the pattern! I just stuck them on the wreath to get a picture of them, but I think they look nice there. Maybe next year I'll make a whole bunch of mini socks and pin them around the wreath. Wouldn't that be cute? Not that I'll ever really get around to it, but it would be cute!

Ode to #7

Ahh, fair Jaywalker,
You are my seventh pair.
I love your pattern,
Your yarn, beyond compare.

Grumperina’s pattern,
Is my favorite, so far.
No other socks,
Have been up to par.

The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill,
Merino Supersock,
From my Secret Pal 10,
(Hey, Eve, you rock!)

I know you must think,
That I'm pretty fickle.
I worked on you for days,
But now I'm in a pickle.

Yes, I love your pattern,
Yes, I love your yarn,
But I got a new sock book,
And all I can say is "Darn"!

Between the Mosaics and the Ribs,
Cabled, Gartered and Waffled,
My heart is beating faster,
And my mind is becoming baffled.

Not for ordinary yarn,
These patterns are so cool.
I’m paging through this book,
And beginning to drool.

What sock shall I knit?
Of which pattern am I most fond?
One thing for sure, dear Jaywalker,
You are going to the frog pond.

Ahh, fair Jaywalker,
Pair number seven.
If there is a God,
I'm sure you are in Heaven.

Stuck in a rut!

My sixth pair of Jaywalkers. Ta Daaaa!

So what do you do after knitting six pair socks in the same pattern? Cast on for a seventh pair!
I just can't stop myself. I spent quite a while going through my sock books, and surfing around on the Internet while on vacation last week, and considered the Monkey pattern by Cookie A., or the Double Eyelet Rib or Cabletini patterns by Wendy Johnson, but no, back to the tried-and-true. Wendy's patterns are both toe-up, and although I've tried toe-up patterns in the past and didn't really like them, Wendy's construction is different, and think I'd like to give it a go. For now, those Jaywalkers just have a hold on me and refuse to let go!

On another subject, I was reading this post on Criquette's blog, and for a few fevered minutes I considered getting myself out to Kansas in mid September to join in on the seaming party for afghans for the Rebuilding Greensburg project, and to see the famous YARN HARLOT in Wichita on September 15th. How fun would that be? One problem - Wichita is 21 hours away. That's a loooong drive. Another problem -- I am terrified of flying, even if I could afford it, which I can't. Another problem -- it would take days to get there and back by train. Cheaper than flights, but still can't afford it. Another problem -- how could I ever leave these sweet little faces?

Well, it was a fun virtual vacation while it lasted...

What I did on my vacation (warning: picture-heavy post)

I can't believe it is Sunday already, and I have to go back to work in the morning. I've tried working, and I've trying being on vacation, and I much prefer being on vacation. But, I have to keep the pups in vittles, so... off to work I go.

This has been a weird week. In one sense, it was steeped in all things Jane Austen. In another sense, it was full of unsuitable activities for the average practicing vegetarian.

First for the Jane Austen. I watched Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility on TV this week. The 1995 versions, as opposed to the many other adaptations that have been made. 1995 was a very good year for Austen remakes. P&P with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy - be still my heart. S&S with Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson. I have seen this film at least 30 times, and cry like a baby every time Edward... well, I don't want to ruin it for anyone who has not seen it. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.

We also went to the theater and saw the new movie Becoming Jane. Cried at this one, too, but had to try and restrain myself because I was out in public. It's not like I was sitting next to a stranger and blubbered on his sleeve. I was seated between my mother & sister, but still had to choke back the tears. Highly recommend it, also. The movie, not the crying.

Now for the non-vegetarian part. Mom has always wanted to go to Havre de Grace, Maryland. It's a nice, quaint little town on the Chesapeake Bay, or maybe the Susquehanna River, I'm not sure which. Anyway, there was water. We stopped to look out at the water on a public pier, and met the nicest people. They were fishing, and happened to catch a catfish while we were there. Mom, S and I were all ooohing and aaahing over the fish, and, thinking they found an appreciative audience, proceeded to show us a lovely beast they caught earlier in the day. It was a 2 foot catfish. Here is the nice young man who caught it. You might not be able to tell from this picture, but there is, indeed, a big catfish in that basket. It was looking at me with sad eyes, begging me to rip that basket out of the boy's hands and set him free to go back to his catfish family in the river. I didn't, and that fish ended up on the dinner table, I'm sure.

Then we went to the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum. I was thinking it would be full of lovely bird carvings. WRONG! There were a lot of carvings, but they were carved into bird-shaped lures to entice unsuspecting feathered friends into what they think is a nice place to stop and rest on their long journey, but then before you know it they are under attack from men with guns! In a word - DECOYS!

Why did I not see this coming? There were also lovely displays of boats and blinds and guns. Yuck. Now, please don't comment on how fees from hunting licenses, etc. are used to preserve wetlands, and how hunters are doing a service by "harvesting" the "crop" of ducks or geese or whatever so that they don't starve to death over the long, cold winter. I've heard it all, and "to each his own." I just think the museum's name should clearly reflect what you will see when you enter. What's that? Oh, right. The Havre de Grace Decoy Museum. Never mind.


To top things off, on Friday we went to Cabela's in Hamburg, Pa. Friends were going out there to buy an outboard motor, so my sister and I tagged along.

This also falls into the category of "Why did I not see this coming?" Sure, they had some boating things, but the store was filled hunting supplies. The worst part was the stuffed animals. Not the cute cuddly kind made out of fake fur & polyester stuffing. The real, honest-to-goodness, used-to-be-alive kind of stuffed animals. Hundreds of them. Truly. Geese suspended in V-formation hanging from the ceiling, a safari area with an elephant & zebras & a bunch of other animals, and in the center of the store, a huge 2-storey mountain with every kind of bear and elk and deer you can imagine. It was so horrifying, I couldn't look away from it. At one point it felt like the blood was draining out of my body & I started to get chills. Icky. Anyway, I went to the dog supplies area and between the doggy hunting vests and "training" collars, I found some all-natural cookies and bought them for my girls.


In between these fun activities, we did manage to get out in the kayaks several times this week. We tried a new lake, which was nice, but came back to our favorite the last few trips. One day we saw a pair of Bald Eagles. Yes, the former endangered species. Right here in southern New Jersey. It was amazing. I didn't have the camera with me that day, and they were too far to show up on camera, anyway.

Yesterday I did take the camera out with me to shoot some pictures of the progress on my most recent pair of Jaywalkers.Yes, finally some knitting content. But that's it. No more knitting. Instead, look what came right up to my kayak while I was juggling the camera and the sock:

Can you see how close they were? That's the kayak and the paddle in some of those pictures. Amazing. They are such huge creatures, yet so graceful. I was absolutely blown away by how beautiful they are. (I know this seems like a lot of pictures, but I took 74 shots of the swans, so this is a very small percentage!)

Can't get enough of those Jaywalkers!

My most recent finished pair:
This is the fifth pair, and I have already cast on for a sixth! Here is Emma graciously modeling them.

Well, maybe "graciously" is not the right word.
Here she is hanging her head in shame while Tara looks on thinking "Thank God Mommy didn't try and put those things on me!" Ahhh the things these girls put up with from their crazy mommy!
Also, I have shipped off the squares for the Rebuilding Greenburg project. Mom and I knit up 30 squares! I wish we were a little closer to Kansas, because it sounds like they're going to have a great time seaming all of the squares together!

My third pair of Jaywalkers! I just love this pattern. I made a minor change on this pair -- picot edge at the top instead of ribbing. I'll definitely do it again. In fact, I have already cast on for another pair. I just can't stop myself!
Look who has claimed them as her own. It's sweet little Tara. She also answers to Tata, Tata Dog, Toodles, Toodle Bug, Oodles of Toodles, Tattoo, Pigeon Toe Dog, Pidge or Wooly Bear. Of course, when I say "answers to" I don't mean to imply that she will "come" "sit" "stay" "roll over" or any of those other mundane things that some dogs do to pander to their owners. I just mean that those are other names I call her while she looks at me with those sweet eyes of hers. She just loves it when I give her kisses and sing a sing-songy version of Camelot but instead of words it's all "ta ta taaa, ta ta taaaa" to her. Of course when I say she "loves it" I really mean that she will tolerate it. She "tolerates" it much better if I am feeding her treats while singing to her!

And the color for today is.......

Here are a few hints. This is Joey. Look how good his hair has grown back after having been shot with a BB gun by someone who will spend eternity in hell up to his or her neck in kitty litter.

New flip flops. Yes, the nail polish is a bit bright, but with a name like "Frankly, Scarlett" I couldn't resist!

Emma and Tara after their day of beauty. They both got haircuts.

My latest pair of Jaywalkers.

Well, if you can't guess the color of the day from this, I don't know what to say.

Stay tuned...there will be even more orange coming a little later on this week.......

Show Us Your Stash

As part of the Secret Pal 10 thing, Shelby has asked everyone in her group to "Show Us Your Stash." Not a problem. First I had to delve into my knitting closet.....

... get out of the way of the various tools, books, spindles, etc. that invariably fall out when I open the doors...

...and brace my feet on either side of the drawers and wedge them open:



Whew. Then the fun part - sorting and rearranging and shamelessly stroking the beautiful yarns.
The baggies in the front hold partial skeins or scraps of solid colored yarn -- the self-patterning scraps are in the Mitred Square Blankie basket waiting for a little love and attention to become part of the blankie. The skeins at the top of the photo are just waiting for me to break a leg (or something less painful, please) so that they can become socks. How many pair? 45. Yes, 45. Had I realized there was so much sock yarn in that closet, I would never had placed an order with Angel Yarns 10 days ago. But if I hadn't placed that order, I would not have found this at home when I went home at lunch today to walk the dogs:

Hmmmm....what could that be? Yarn! Sock Yarn! Lots and Lots of Sock Yarn! Enough for another 16 pair!

Who can resist Opal sock yarn at 25% off? Even with the overseas shipping, and the sucky exchange rate for Dollars to Euros, this is quite a bargain. Plus, it only took 12 days to come all the way from England! This was my first order with Angel Yarns, but not my last! Thank you Angel Yarns!

Now for the most recent FO. This is my third pair of Jaywalkers hanging out on a lilac shrub.

Love lilacs, love Jaywalkers, must go now and sniff the lilacs and cast on another pair of socks. I wonder if I have enough sock yarn.......

Blankie Update SUPER HERO Friday!

It's a bird....it's a plane....it's SUPER MELLIE!!!!!

To the untrained eye, this may look like an ordinary doggie coat, but alas, it is not. It is a super hero cape. Mellie has been sporting this cool "caped crusader" look since having her belly shaved for her ultrasound two weeks ago. You are probably asking what her super power is, so I'll keep you in suspense no longer. She has the ability to keep fire-breathing dragons out of the backyard. Truly. We have not have a single fire-breathing dragon in the yard on Mellie's watch. Here's another shot of her menacing "NO DRAGONS ALLOWED" stance.
Hey, I'm scared! She has had a really good week - breakfast every day, and only declined dinner once. She thinks vanilla ice cream (melted) is very tasty, and doesn't mind the fact that there are crushed-up pills in it.

As far as knitting this week, the mitred square blankie (3 squares only, I am sad to report) has taken a back seat to an experiment. At the forum on socknitters.com, one of the discussions is debating the use of reinforcing thread in the heels and toes of socks. I have always used regular old cotton/poly sewing thread, thinking that it gives the heels and toes a little something extra. One knitter asked whether the thread was too tough, and actually wears the sock out faster by rubbing against the soft wool. My efforts to extend the life of my socks may, in fact, be hastening them to an early demise. Horrors! Anyway, I have knit up a pair of Grumperina's Jaywalkers, one using thread in the heel and toes, and one not. I finished them last night, and will being trying to wear the heck out of these suckers in the interest of scientific experimentation.

Wish me luck!

Jaywalkers done at last!

At last. Done. Complete. Finished. Only two weeks late for a Christmas present. That's not so bad, is it? Yes, it is. Anyway, here's a picture. Don't you love the colors? This is my first pair using the Jaywalker pattern from Grumperina's site. The yarn is Opal, but I forget the name of the color.

How do you celebrate the completion of a pair of socks? Cast on another pair!!! I started another Jaywalker, but have cast on 84 stitches instead of 76. The first pair (at 76 stitches) was just a bit too tight for me, so we'll see how much of a difference the 84 stitches makes. Here is a shot of the socks so far. The yarn is from Knit Picks.

Yes, this is taken at the beach, specifically Fortescue on the Delaware Bay. It was such a beautiful day yesterday, could we stay inside? No. It's so rare to have such a lovely day in the middle of January in New Jersey, we had to take advantage of it. Here is a shot of the cottages along the shoreline.

And, of course, a picture of the dogs. Mellie was shy today, so this is just Emma (on chair) and Tara (on ottoman). My sweet little babes!

Happy knitting!