Jul 16, 2006

Mmmmmm, socky...

It's hot in the Monkey House, so I've been making socks lately. They do not sit on one's lap, making one all hotter and stickier, so they are perfect July knitting. You've seen the bottom sock before, but the yarn for the top sock was dyed by Big Geek Beth. Isn't it fun?
Dye-O-Rama Socks

This summer is all about making knee socks for myself to wear under my boots. Those Hue ones are cute, and you can sometimes find 'em fer cheap, but my feet get COLD in the winter.

I'm casting on my first Jaywalker with Sunshine Yarns 'Beach Day.' I really love the colors.
Beach Day

I know I'm probably doing something really stupid, but does anyone have any advice about the ribbing at the top of the socks? It's way too tight - on both of the completed socks - and the last thing I need to do is lose my legs to hypothermia and cut-off circulation this winter. I've just done a simple purlwise bind-off so far.

Beth and I went to a party last night at her friend Josie's place - Josie is an awesome crocheter and just got a book deal! It's scheduled to be released in March and is called In the Loop. You can see her designs at Weird Mirror in the meantime. The Spiderweb Skirt is making me seriously consider picking up the hook again.

A couple of posts ago, lots of (okay, two) people asked about the labels in my handbags. I ordered them from Heirloom Labels in NJ a year or two ago. They only have a few canned designs, but they are less expensive than some other companies that I've considered. I really like the end result and, if I recall correctly, they came pretty quickly. Also, Moe? I mail order the Amy Butler fabric for best selection and most efficient use of my time. I think I got those pieces from Crafty Planet last year.

Other recent highlights:

* We got the Tom Waits tickets (Please don't be too jealous, Jaichan - maybe he'll need to pick up some money from someone in Canada someday)!

* Because I am still Rock Star-less, I am still quite grumpy. Also, it's going to be eleventeen million degrees here for the next few days so I bought an AC from Home Depot that I could actually afford AND carry. I installed it and everything, but now we're in lock-down mode and Teak and Barley just keep sitting too close to and snapping at each other.

* I still have no job. I get super-pissed after a decent interview and I find that people want to pay me little more than what I was making 8 years and 1, almost 2, degrees ago. I keep applying for things that look interesting but I no longer get excited about it. Why can't HR people see that I ROCK?!

* I still have no dissertation, but I'm working on that.

* The raspberries in the back yard are ripening. Here's a snap of our first harvest:
First raspberries

* It's only 4:00 and Barley thinks it's time to eat. It IS NOT TIME YET!
Is it time yet?!

* Thank you SO MUCH for all your recent comments on my work - they make me blush a little.

* I'm still catching up on all y'all's lives. Maybe it will happen this week, maybe it won't. Rest assured it will... someday.
I will EAT you!

10 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Love the dog, the cat, the socks and I want to eat those raspberries!

7/16/2006  
Blogger janna said...

Those raspberries look so good!!! Do you have enough to make jam? And I guess I've lived in Texas too long, because I just can't imagine living without a/c. Last year, my mom's central air died (she lives in central Illinois) and she made do all summer with one window unit and a bunch of fans. I couldn't believe it when I visited! I guess it got old to her, too, because over the winter she replaced it, and the furnace, too.

7/16/2006  
Blogger Ashley said...

I went and bought an air conditioner today too! (I bet my houseguests are wishing I had bought it before they got here...)

Re: the socks, one obvious fix is to bind off with a bigger needle. For my Lorna's knee highs, I knit with a three and bound off with a six. you can also try increasing in the round before the bindoff (say, M1 every third stitch). Or perhaps this will be handy.

I am a font of socky info!

And if you are still feeling cranky after Thursday, hop in the car and head east! The doggie country club would cheer you right up.

7/16/2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Love those socks. I have abandoned sock-knitting in lieu of getting though my current UFOs, but want knee socks in the future.

Knitty has an article about bind-offs that feature some flexible ones. They are intended for neckbands, but I think they would do for socks...

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/FEATsum06TT.html

Tell Barley I eat when I'm bored too. Not good for the waistline.

I'm still working on the diss as well. I still have so much modeling to do. Sob.

7/17/2006  
Blogger jlmack said...

Socks and raspberries... how could you possibly go wrong?
I'm listening to Burma Shave on my iPod right now... I'm really happy you got Tom Waits tix.

7/17/2006  
Blogger Catherine Kerth said...

LOVE the socks!mmmm, rasberries :)

7/17/2006  
Blogger arcadianrhythm said...

Oh you poor thing, I hear you on the job woes! Of course, I only have a master's so I can't feel that bad about it, but I don't even want to tell you how much my master's is worth to my current employer. Wait, I do: $500 a year. ARE THEY SERIOUS??? At that rate it would take 10+ years of working here to pay off the cost of my graduate degree!

And thanks for the label info - I'm going to check that out right now!

7/18/2006  
Blogger Carrie said...

Hey...Crafty Planet is minutes from my house!!!

The raspberries look really good.

Stay cool!

7/18/2006  
Blogger Chris said...

Crafty Planet is maybe 15 minutes from here. :)

I don't know much about knee socks and fit. Um, is it 2x2 ribbing? That's supposed to be the stretchiest, per Elizabeth Zimmermann.

That last picture - one of the best cat pictures EVER! I wish I'd taken it!!

7/18/2006  
Blogger sheep#100 said...

Delicious - wish I could reach through my monitor to those berries.

7/24/2006  

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