Easiest Heel Turn Ever

Seriously, this heel was so quick. No wrapping and double wrapping, no stitch markers, no swearing. I was in and out in about 5 minutes. Thanks, Nancy!

Progress

I made it up to the heel gusset this weekend! Ok, that's not really ALL that much, but it was a busy weekend. On Thanksgiving Day, I had some other distractions to keep me busy, and the rest of the weekend was spent running around Minneapolis. I got a fabulous new cookbook, "I (heart) Cheesecake" by Mary Crownover. Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake. Yumm.

I am a bad blogger

I didn't post on Wednesday. Or on Thursday or Friday. Bad me. Anyway, I'm making steady progress on the sock - about 4 inches since the last post. I have three more decrease rows (which happen every six rows), and then the heel turn! Hurrah! The pattern calls for you to knit 14 total inches from the ribbing, but my legs are very short, so I'm guessing that when I finish the decreases I'll be able to start almost right away on the heel. I don't know how much I'll get done this weekend. I started sneezing yesterday afternoon and right now I feel like hell. I went to the store to get my Thanksgiving shopping done (I'm baking a pumpkin ginger streusel pie, and making the cranberry sauce) and it kind of kicked my butt. I'm thinking a nap is in order right about now .......

Chronicle of a Sock Foretold, pt. 2

I know it's difficult to see, but the arrow represents approximately where I was at the end of my post last night. I made it pretty darn far, I'd say! I even got a late start tonight, about an hour past when I meant to get started. I got home from work late because my wish was granted, and I got to move my desk to a more harmonious-for-my-sanity-and-ultimately-the-company spot. Let's not talk about the 14 or so inches left to go before the heel turn, ok? Ok. The next post will probably be Wednesday, because tomorrow is our weekly "date night" with our main friend couple unit. Thing.

Chronicle of a Sock Foretold

As you know if you have read some of my earlier posts, I have a nasty habit of not finishing what I start. On Thursday night, I started making the Highland Schottische Kilt Hose and I would reallyreally like to finish them. So, I am going to try an experiment, and document my journey in the hopes that it will give me the kick in the ass I need to finish them. I've honestly made it quite a bit farther than I thought I would, so hopefully that's a good sign.

I cast on Thursday night, the day I got the book in the mail, and got about halfway done with the top (or bottom, I guess) of the cuff. (The cuff folds down, covering up the clever-ribbing-put-there-to-hold-the-thing-up-when-you're-wearing-it. You knit the cuff and the ribbing, and then turn the sock inside out and knit the leg in the other direction.)

Friday night, I finished the top/bottom of the cuff and also cleared up a little mystery, which will help me finish Tsantsa. I didn't understand the concept of an embossed stitch, but now I do! Hurrah! So, there is once again the possibility that my camera will be carried around in a little shrunken head. Of more immediate concern, I also made it through the first repeat of the argyle cuff pattern.

Saturday. In between another one of our orandas dying, the ill-fated hunt for a replacement and the purchase of new winter gear (oh, and playing some Lego Star Wars), I managed to finish the argyle pattern and start on the ribbing. By "start on the ribbing" I mean "I knit one row and then went to bed at 8 because my head hurt so bad I couldn't see straight." It's been a good long while since I've knit that much all at once. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the Long Island Tea AND White Russian I had had the night before ........

Currently, I've got about 1/2 inch of ribbing left to go, and then I start on the actual leg. I'm so proud of me!

The little dangly bit at the bottom is one of my spiffy stitch markers. I hope to have more to show for myself tomorrow night.

Guy Fawkes

As it does every year, this year my birthday fell on Guy Fawkes Day. I got quite a good haul, for being 26. Jason gave me the complete Star Trek: The Original Series, so I have all the Shat I can handle. My manager at work, who has spent the past 6 months being scandalized because I don't have a slow cooker, bought me ... a slow cooker! I've used it twice, to varying effect. The first time, the recipe for some reason had about a cup of juice in it, so of course at the end of the cooking time, it was all blackened and stuck to the bottom of the crock pot ... er, slow cooker. Right now, I'm making a chicken curry dish of sorts, with potatos and veggies. I think that it could have used some rice, but maybe not because of the potatos? I don't know. Anyway, I purchased "101 Things to do with a Slow Cooker" today, and it has some fun-looking recipes, including Holiday Wasail and Lemon Custard Cake.

I finally ordered "Folk Socks" by Nancy Bush, as our trip to her yarn store in Salt Lake City was thwarted by my dad being grievously injured at work two days before we left Fargo. (Long story short, some heavy machinery that he was using malfunctioned, and both of his legs and feet were broken in about 5 different places, in addition to his heel being crushed. He's doing well, awaiting the removal of the pin in the bottom of his heel so he can start learning to walk again. So instead of wandering around Salt Lake, we drove 5 hours one way to my hometown to see him.) Anyway. I have half of the cuff done on the Highland Schottische Kilt Hose, using my Knit Picks Essential in Burgundy.

Last, I have a Moogle head! The body will come later, as I am using the needles on the Kilt Hose. Jason and I decided that if we do have a kid, it is going to be a Moogle. They're so much easier to take care of!