Eastburn Adventures

First of all, yawn.  We were up at 4:00 a.m. when the tornado sirens went off.  Fortunately, there were no touchdowns in our area, but this was the storm system that's currently wreaking havoc on the east coast.  I'm going to bed shortly.  But first, knitting news.

So here's the deal.  I have a thing for sock yarn.  I've yet to successfully knit a pair of matching socks, but I love me some sock yarn.  Especially the Lorna's Laces in Tuscany that I talked about in my Knitty Resolutions here (see #4).  So I decided to make the mini cable socks in Sensational Knitted Socks.  I started them before the Knit In last Friday night, and when I got to my LYS, I ripped them out.  Apparently, I knit on dpn's inside out.  So I started over.  I also switched from my Knit Picks size 1 dpn's to size 2.  That seemed to work better.  Except when I got home, I realized that on one of the needles, for two rows I'd reversed the ribbing.  Rip it, rip it.  This yarn is too pretty to have a blatant mistake like that.

So I did the cuff again and switched to bamboo dpn's to see if that worked better.  It didn't.  Once I finished the ribbing on the sock, I decided I was really sick of ribbing and didn't want to do the mini cable pattern.  So I started on the garter ridge pattern (not so much purling).  I got halfway down the leg, and decided I really didn't like this pattern for this yarn.  It's so pretty.  So, yes, I ripped it all out again.  I'm back to the mini cable pattern; I'm using my Knit Picks size 2 dpn's; it's moving along.  Slowly.

See?  It's so pretty.  The issue now is that I chose the yarn because it's pretty.  I didn't think about it being more of a laceweight fiber.  It's not seeming to be very soft.  Maybe once it's finished and I wash it?  Another blog I read had a reference to the Friends episode where Ross and Rachel were on a break.  My story reminds me of the Friends episode where Rachel hired Tag as her assistant.  He wasn't the right person for the job, but "he's so pretty!"  Is this the same?  Is it the wrong yarn for the pattern?  I really don't want to rip it out again, and I was hesitant to even wind it in a ball because the hank was "so pretty!"

C'est la vie.

In other news, I finished Lizard Ridge square number 4.

I love Noro. 

It's so pretty!

Call me weird, but one of my favorite things is opening a new jar of peanut butter.  How do they get it in the jar so that it's so smooth?  It's utter perfection.  I almost hate to put the knife to it, because I'm disrupting its smoothy goodness.

I have a new favorite thing to add to my list:

Forget the baby cable rib pattern - check out the slip stitch heel flap!  The photo doesn't do it justice - I just want to touch this heel flap.  The texture is perfect.  It's so soft.  It's so smooth.  It's so SIMPLE.

Now, if I could only finish the sock.

In an earlier post I discussed how we formed relationships with our knitting projects.  Unfortunately, as I've recently learned, some relationships are not healthy and must end. 

"Baby Cable Sock, it's over.  I'm breaking up with you.  Now don't go and do something foolish, like split and break in a million pieces as you get frogged and rewound.  Maybe someday we can be together again, but you and I both know that neither of us has been happy with the other for a while now.  It's not you; it's me.  Well, really, it's not me; it's you.  I'm still attracted to the fiber of your being, but since we met, you've let yourself go.  You're not showing your true colors like you did in the beginning.  I tried, I really did.  But now, for my sake and yours, I need to move on.  We did have some good times, though.  I'm sorry.  We can still be friends, right?"

Whew.  That was hard.  Not the knitting, but the decision to frog out the hours (and hours) involved in this sock pattern.  I really did get very close to finishing the first sock, see?

Here's the thing.  Like I said before, the Lorna's Laces wasn't as soft as I hoped, but that was in the baby cable pattern.  When I got to the heel flap, I got really excited!  This was what that lovely yarn was supposed to look like.  So I kept on knitting.  I really intended to finish, and not cop out on the sock.  But there's one problem that finishing the sock will not solve.  It's. too. big. 

Apparently, besides not being really soft, and perhaps somewhat due to my looser knitting on dpn's, Lorna is really stretchy.   I have no choice.  I was going to finish for the sake of finishing, but that really didn't motivate me to cast on for the second sock.  Then Robert, the voice of reason, asked, "Will you really wear them?"  Ummm, honestly, no.  That's when the decision was made.

I've learned so much about socks during this ordeal, and I've gone on a little feeding frenzy when it comes to sock yarn (thanks, in part, to Brianne's and Trish's bad influence! (Trish introduced me to Sheri at The Loopy Ewe in St. Louis, and I'm very impressed!))

I'm not giving up on socks entirely.  But I need something new.  Something - soft.  It's out there.  I know it.  I just have to believe.  And maybe, when I meet that right sock pattern and match the right yarn to it, I won't be afraid of commitment.  Maybe next time, I won't get cold feet. 

I love the knitting community.  Isn't it great how we are drawn to other knitters and we already have this bond between us?  I am painfully shy and introverted (although people would argue that) and don't like to talk to strangers, but I have made so many new friends from the knitting bloglandia in the last few months - it's just great!  I just got home from spending a couple of hours with Brianne and Kate at Panera Bread - such a good time (and no, I didn't start another sock yet - I stuck with a now "I can do them in my sleep" Lizard Ridge square).  And for all you husbands of us knitters - we are, for the most part, normal (and safe)!  No worries, dude - just hand over the yarn money and no one gets hurt!

No pictures, but ideas are forming.  I've earmarked some Blue Sky Alpaca for an Irish Hiking Scarf, and am bonding with Knit Picks Memories in Redwood Forest for the next sock attempt.  Kate was working on a really cute baby sweater from a yarn called Snuggly.  Isn't that a great name?

Some of the Springfield bloggers are making a field trip on Saturday to check out a new LYS in Rogersville, and to have make our own Knit In.  Zarah's in charge of this excursion, and I'm so looking forward to it!

Until then, happy knitting!

Kate tagged me for this meme, and I have to say, some of the questions were quite thought-provoking.

Seven Things to Do Before I Die

1.  World travel - Scotland, Ireland, England, Italy, Greece, and Paris

2.  Know that I am fully in God's will for my life

3.  Visit all 50 states (I'm getting close!)

4.  Become a Proverbs 31 woman for Robert

5.  Learn to play the piano

6.  Write at least one book

7.  Knit, knit, knit

Seven Things I Cannot Do

1.  Watch any movie, even animated, or hear any story where animals get hurt.  I will walk out.

2.  Run (too many knee surgeries)

3.  Watch any movie with Ben Stiller in it.  I am not a fan.

4.  Drink alcohol (I promised Robert)

5.  Renounce Jesus (I'm keeping this one from Kate's list)

6.  Stop adding yarn to the stash

7.  Leave an unpacked box alone (everything must be in its place)

Seven Things That Attract Me to . . . (Knitting)

1.  The colors of yarn

2.  The textures of yarn

3.  Visiting local yarn stores

4.  Connecting with the knitting community

5.  The toys tools

6.  It forces me to slow down

7.  The depth of possibilities that all start with only two stitches

Seven Things I Say

1.  Outstanding!

2.  Yeuneh (so that you can't tell if I'm saying "yeah" or "nah")

3.  I'm done with that (meaning I'm bored)

4.  What were you thinking?

5.  It was an accident.  (shh, don't tell Robert - sometime's it's on purpose)

6.  [When traveling] And they have a yarn store!

7.  Lots of quotes from "The West Wing"

Seven Good Books

1.  The Bible -- God

2.  The Hiding Place -- Corrie Ten Boom

3.  The Total Money Makeover - Dave Ramsey

4.  The Harry Potter Series - J.K. Rowling

5.  The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis

6.  Winnie the Pooh -- A.A. Milne

7.  Little Women -- Louisa May Alcott

Seven Good Movies

1.  The American President

2.  Beauty & The Beast (Disney)

3.  Dave

4.  Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade

5.  Sleepless in Seattle

6.  Casablanca

7.  The Wedding Singer

Seven Blogs to Tag

I'm not much of a tagger, but I might be able to get Amy to do this one!  :-)  If anyone else wants to, feel free!

Okay, okay, I know I've been completely and utterly boring.  Is it really Thursday night?  And my last post was Saturday?  I have no excuses, except maybe Spring fever.  And Spring isn't even my favorite season!  I just need a break - and hopefully, we'll get one next weekend.

Robert and I are planning a long weekend in Tulsa (4 yarn stores, people!), and plan to just veg out.  Then today I get a postcard that Carol is having a sale that starts at 6:00 p.m. on the 30th.  I can't miss a sale on yarn!  It only happens once a year!  So we may have to leave Saturday morning and then take the following Monday and Tuesday off.

I have been knitting - I promise!  I just haven't taken any photos.  But I've started the Irish Hiking Scarf - in the paprika Blue Sky Alpaca - and I'm really liking how it's turning out.  I rearranged my stash last weekend, and when I came across this yarn, I knew it wanted to be the IHS.  But I only had two hanks, and was afraid it wouldn't be enough.  Last Friday, I had to run to the LYS to pick up a pattern book Carol had ordered for me, and can you believe it?  Two hanks of the paprika alpaca (I just like saying that - it's a tongue twister) peeking out of the closeout bin at 50% off!  They're different dye lots, but I can't tell the difference between them.  See - I knew that yarn wanted to be that scarf!

I'm also working on a scarf to be donated to a Relay for Life silent auction.  My friend Angie and sister Kathy (see their links on my sidebar) are involved in RFL, and my knitting group at work is making some breast cancer dishcloths, pink scarves, and other assorted items for the auction.  Hopefully, we'll help raise some $$ for a cure. 

The other thing OTN is secret for now.  I'm really not superstitious, but I don't want to tempt the knitting mojo, so let me get a few more rows done and then I'll let you in on it.

In other ramblings, Survivor is really boring this season; On AI, I don't think Sanjaya is as horrible as everyone is saying (yes, he's out of his league, but he's not terrible - he validly made it through the Hollywood round) - and I'm picking Melinda and Blake for the finals (and Jordin for third); and does anyone else miss "The West Wing?"

Most people wouldn't call Robert and me spontaneous - I really am a planner, and I enjoy doing it.  This morning, however, was different.  We took a spur of the moment trip to Lebanon (where Robert is from) and Lake of the Ozarks.

My husband is a small-town boy, and he shared one of his childhood memories with me today.  We played dime skee ball at Bagnell Dam - yes, it's still a dime per game!

 My darling husband is also a saver - look what he had! 

These tickets are at least 15 years old.  He said he never cashed them in because he always thought he'd bring his wife or girlfriend up there to play, and then he'd cash them in on a big teddy bear to impress her.  He had 320 tickets, and we won another 80 this afternoon.  This is what 400 tickets will get you in 2007:

I love penguins, and have a small collection, but Chilly Willy here seems a little odd - don'tcha think?  But thank you, Robert, for an absolutely wonderfully fun day!

Lake of the Ozarks, Bagnell Dam, and Osage Beach are definitely tourist trap areas with their own sense of - well, shall we say charm?

We didn't eat here:

Or here:

(Please keep your comments G-rated - I will edit/delete if necessary!)

On the way to Lebanon, I finished the scarf for RFL:

This is some miscellaneous alpaca with a pink cotton stripe.  Using size 11 Denise needles, CO 250, knit 5 rows MC, knit 3 rows CC, knit 12 rows MC, bind off and weave in ends.  I got really bored doing a scarf lengthways, but hopefully it will raise some funds at the silent auction.

I intended to work on the Irish Hiking Scarf, but it remained in my bag all day.  Here's what it looks like now:

I love this color in this pattern!  And although a lot of knitters are cabling without a cable needle, I really enjoy using one so I'm sticking with it.  If you're interested in instructions for without the cable needle, Kate's got a really good video!

I also recently finished Lizard Ridge square #5.  I think this colorway is my favorite.  I love the muted hues.  My problem, and what I wish I'd done differently, is that I have not kept track of which Noro colors I used for which square.  It's just going to be a mystery blanket!

Lastly, now that I'm feeling fairly comfortable that it's going to work out, I will let you know I'm working on another pair of socks.  These are the Slip-stitch Rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks in KnitPicks Memories redwood forest.  This was Thursday night:

Gotta love the heel flap!  And, in homage to the Harlot, this is the sock at Andy's Frozen Custard at the lake today:

The heel is turned and I'm heading down the foot!  Maybe more updates tomorrow. 

And, I can't believe it's been a week, and I failed to blog about our excursion to the other LYS in our area.  Check out Brianne's and Zarah's blogs for details - all I can add is that we had a great time, and I am so blessed to have found such a great group of knitting friends!

And tonight, I finally leave you with some eye candy from today - aren't they adorable!