I Had Good Intentions...

Really, I did... I had on my list, "Blog."

But then I got sucked in. 

My Year of Knitting Socks...

This is a new KAL (knit-a-long) in my "Addicted to Sock Knitting" group. Here's how it works: I put 12 hunks of yarn (hanks/skeins/balls) into 12 separate brown paper bags. Then I had Hubby label them. He put them in a tote, and yesterday I started knitting. 

The object is a pair a month. We'll see. One of the designers who's in the ASK group has donated a year's worth of patterns, and they're of various skill levels. And you can, of course, use your own - or knit 12 pairs of plain socks. Whatever you want. 

So far, there's at least ONE of our members who's already finished her socks. But I refuse to be intimidated. I'm knitting. On my own socks at my own pace. 

In the bags, I put a variety of yarn and I honestly can't remember what's where (which is the point, really). So I picked January's bag, and found a pair that I had started then frogged (knitting term meaning: ripped out - like a frog - rippit, rippit, rippit -- use your imagination). 

They're in Opal, the Rainforest collection and the Borneo Ricky colorway. It's a grey/cream self-patterning yarn, and the ball said, 'Roman Rib' -- so that's what I started. The designer has a heavenly pattern for us for January, but I will wait till I have a solid-color yarn to do that one; it'll fit better. 


So as I said, most of yesterday I spent working on the sock. Well, I didn't exactly speed-knit, but I'm a good way along the leg. This is the progress as of this morning. 

You all know I'm not a speed-knitter, and remember, I've been working on cotton over the past few months. It takes a while to get your "sock knitting fingers" back. 

I think it'll be nice. The pattern called for 1.5" of rib, but I usually only do 1" and even at that, it seems to take forever. 

I didn't just do that all day. I was puttering in my office, doing some cleaning, and my mom came over to visit. 

Anyway, these will make nice socks and they're far more subtle than usual for me. I guess I've never grown out of the crazy-colored sock fetish I have!

So we'll have another category here, where I will attempt to document my sock progress. I'm not sure what other knitting I'll get done, but we shall see. 

Knitting...

I haven't yet e-mailed Alicia at Purple Goddess Design about the mug and how the letters are chipping off. That's on my list to do today. 

As well as working on the sock and dealing with my "2015 My Year In Socks" binder. I'm rooting through the office ... yes, it looks like a paper machine barfed in there ... to gather up some simple patterns to have in waiting in case I don't feel up to the designs that are in the KAL. Of course, I can still always do a vanilla (plain) pattern, particularly since I do recall that I have a car-load of Opal in there. 

In between ending the Baby Layette and starting the Sock-a-Thon, I knitted this up for Kid #1's girlfriend. 

Yes, that's a tassel, not a pompom -- I couldn't get the yarn to behave and he thought she wouldn't mind it. Apparently, my wig-head (I use it to help block hats) is tiny. This is an average adult size. And she's got long thick hair, so it'll fit her fine. 

It's acrylic. She'll be able to wash it. And the purple is a bit more magenta than I thought, but it's very pretty. However, I don't like knitting hats flat anymore. Had I had a set of size 10 DPNs in my bag, I'd have done this in the round, but I wasn't going to go out in the post-holiday insanity to find them. 

If I could have... Either way, though, it was a nice change. 

Christmas...

Was quiet. Thankfully. Of course, I barely had a voice. But we did get through all the music. And lookee - what Santa brought me. 

Santa in the persona of Hubby. I had been eyeballing this ring for a long time. Like, before I knew I was losing my job. Hubby jokingly said, "You can take January off, but after that, get a job so I can pay for this ring!" He was joking - he got it on a good sale because he's a good shopper. 

I was expecting a FitBit... 

It's a Morganite, in rose gold. I love the antique-looking Deco-ish setting. 

As I work through a Hercule Poirot marathon, drooling over the architecture, jewels, and general decadence of that period, I just think that it was my particular era. 

Minus the boozing and loose women... And the fact that you apparently have to be a size -0- to wear any of the clothes. 

Happy New Year...

Yeah, not so much at my house. This is Tippi, modeling her headwear. And it took a couple of shots to get this. I cropped out Raisa's nose. 

We spent New Year's Eve like we typically do. Hubby went to bed early because he gets up at Dawn O'Clock. I was up later because I had napped (I wasn't feeling well) and had screwed up my "time to go to sleep" rhythm. So I stayed up to watch more Dr. Who and work on some knitting. 

I ended up in bed around 10:30 or 11 p.m. and was reading an OUTSTANDING book, got it from Kid #2, called, "The Remedy," about the journey to cure tuberculosis and how Arthur Conan Doyle ran against the guy who said he'd cured it. 

Fascinating reading, about how it took us so long as a society to believe in germs, when now you can't swing a hank of yarn without hitting someone's bottle of hand sanitizer...

Anyway, I'm ready to shut down for the night, and it happens. 

Fireworks. 

And I hear Quinn "tip-tap-tip-tap" pacing maniacally up and down the hall. Then I hear no pacing. Never a good thing. 

I go into the larger bathroom and there she is, wedged between the wall and the toilet, with her head stuck in under the tank. 

I had to pull her out because she was trying to get BEHIND the toilet (a space into which my mother's dog Buddy might fit into, but he's 20 pounds). I dragged out 47 pounds of quaking Norwegian Elkhound and then had to dead-lift her out of the bathroom. I got her into her cave (her particular dog bed that has a canopy on it where she feels safe) and then sat there petting her and reassuring her.

While the casino and God knows who else were shooting off the fireworks. Half an hour. I was freezing, she was shaking. I should have figured that, and given her a Benadryl or something, but I forgot. 

So I was kind of "hung-over" on New Year's Day, but only because of lack of sleep. Here's Raisa's take on New Years Day... 

Her resolution is apparently to nap more. 

On the Job Front... 

No news on the posting for the university. No news on the voice-over - which I expected anyway. I figure I'll hear from them next week. 

I have, however, hooked up with a publishing company thanks to my friend Nat. They've got a project due January 9th and they would send me no info till I signed a confidentiality agreement, which is standard. 

I'm waiting... I hate short deadlines, though I'm good at them. It's been a while since I've exercised my editing muscle, and this is totally different from the publishing house I used to work for. But it's any port in a storm for now. I really would like the full-time position to come to fruition, but I've also got a hankering to build up the freelance work. 

Random Picture...

We survived the dreariest December in ages. And finally - FINALLY - my solar snowman lanterns were able to charge enough to get some use. Today is a cold, frigid day - also sunny, so we should have a nice display tonight too. 

It was also a pretty sunset that night. 

No snow. But supposed to be some tomorrow. Of course, because we're going to dinner at my sister's house. 

My BIL has an idea for a book. You never know. It could work. At any rate, it'll be nice to spend time with them. We don't do it enough and life's too short. 

Otherwise, I wish you all a great 2015. I hope you'll share this blog with others; I'd love to see it spread a bit (writer's conceit), and I think that it spreads a little happiness. 

At least I hope so.