Lana Grossa MegaBoot Stretch

This is the sock I've begun from the Lana Grossa Mega Boots Stretch Softcolor I picked up on vacation in Michigan. (What a great souvenir! I get to enjoy the knitting and then I'll have something to wear around too!!)

Not much time to write tonight. Just wanted to share the picture!

Knit on!

What's In A Joke?

There's a joke I heard that went like this:

The new pastor was settling into her study when the phone rang. "Grace Lutheran, this is Pastor Mary, how may I help you?" she answered.

"This is Bob. The fellas and I would like to take you fishing on Friday. We'll pick you up at 6:30 am. Sharp."

"Sounds great!" said Pastor Mary without hesitating. She wanted to make a good impression while getting to know her new parishoners.

Friday came. Bob, Elmer and Don arrived at the parsonage at 6:30 am with the boat in tow and off they went to the lake.

After not a little fussing with ropes and fishing poles and tackle boxes the foursome was finally off to the middle of the lake. It was a perfect morning!

As Bob switched the motor off and Elmer dropped anchor, Don exclaimed, "We forgot the bait bucket!" Looking toward shore, sure enough.....there it was sitting near the trailer.

"Not to worry, I'll get it!" said Pastor Mary happy to help. She stood up, stepped over the edge and began walking on the water toward shore.

"Would you look at that!" exclaimed Bob.

"I can't believe it!" shouted Don.

"She can't even swim!" said Elmer.

I've been thinking about this joke a lot today. You see, I was a pastor for 13 years in the same church before I took a leave of absence last November. I'm in the process of deciding where the journey of life is taking me now, whether it be back into ministry or some other path.

While the joke makes me laugh, there's a part of the joke that really stings too. There's just enough truth to it that some days it cuts like a driving, freezing rain in February. So I've been thinking a bit about the purpose of humor and jokes--how they work (and don't work) and what impact they, along with many other sorts of words, have on our lives. I'm not sure people give enough creedance to the impact words have on us and our lives. And to me it's especially sad when that happens in the realm of church work, where our lives are to be particularly ordered around The Word. (Perhaps I'll just never get that one!)

One woman's thoughts as she tries to figure out this thing called life and how she's a part of everything. I think I'll go connect up with my knitting now!

The Blues

Well, I just can't seem to get this blue-themed yarn to work. I'm at the point of giving up. I've started a sock three times with this yarn and have frogged all three attempts. I've decided it's the yarn's fault. I just don't like it. Hey, it's not like it's one of my children or anything. I am allowed to say I just don't like it. And I can even go put it at the bottom of my stash in the other room and be o.k. No "sock yarn police" are going to come arrest me for neglect. I believe I've given it an honest shot. What do you think? Would you like working with this yarn?? Any brilliant ideas for ways to use it other than socks??




My other blue experience this weekend was to finish the slipper socks I'm making my FIL for Christmas. As you can see, they're blue:




My FIL is over 80 now and prone to slipping on his linoleum flooring. I'm a bit worried about the "slick" factor in this silly acrylic yarn. Any brilliant ideas on adding something to the bottoms of the slippers to give them a bit of grip? I'm thinking about adding some puff paint (the type you'd use on fabric) in dots or wavy lines. I think I read about someone doing that to the bottoms of socks before. Anyone ever tried??

Well, that was my weekend adventure in knitting. A visit to the frog pond and these slippers. Knit on!

Finished!

I've managed to complete my Sock Hop socks! Yeah!

Now it's on to one of my other WIP....

..... the aran afghan.......

.... the Nature's Pallete socks in Eagle's Flight pattern.......

.... the woolease socks for my son........

.... the second slipper sock for my FIL for Christmas........

So much to knit, so little time!

Knitting A.D.D. Strikes Again!

Yes, it's true! I have attention defecit disorder when it comes to my knitting!

I am trying to Knit-Along with the Sock Hop on Romancing the Yarn. I was off to such a great start the first week. Then.....something happened.

I guess it could be Second Sock Syndrome. Perhaps it's the change of seasons that leaves me restless. Pre-menopause short attention span???

Whatever it is, this is the result:




This is the third pair of these fingerless mitts I've made. This time I improvised some changes to the pattern which I think turned out terrific! I added the picot edge bind-off and also added in a bit of a thumb as my first trial pair left my digit too out in the cold for my comfort level. I think I will be making more of these lovelies......perhaps as Christmas gifts???? We shall see!

Now back to my socks!

A First!

I like to think of myself as a semi-adventurous person, one who is always eager to learn something new. I also like to think that's part of the reason the paper decided to hire me to do some freelance photography and writing for them!

One of my first assignments has been to write a piece for one of the area school districts which recently installed a new track. I will be the first to admit I haven't been an athletic person. I'll also admit I've never actually been to a track meet. I guess that's why taking on this project was kind of exciting . . . I knew I'd be learning new things!

The administration and coaches at the school were wonderful to work with. They were friendly and helpful and didn't seem to mind my "newbie" questions. The enthusiasm of the high school runners was infectious. All that energy and ability almost got me to wishing I was 17 years old again!

I feel that in the end I was able to put together a good piece which will show off this new track and the programs of this school. It was great fun to meet new people and terrific to gain some new knowledge in the process. Isn't that what life is all about?

One done, one to go!

I've finished the first Sock Hop sock and begun the cuff on sock #2. I have to say I love this Austerman Step yarn! It feels great to work with having the aloe and jojoba in it. I've tried the sock on too....and it feels wonderful on the foot as well!

I like this pattern (Elongated Corded Rib) from Charlene Schurch's book, Sensational Knitted Socks. I ended up having to cast on 88 stitches to get the right size sock for my foot. (That's a LOT of knitting on size US#0 needles!) It's really been fun to see the sock take shape--even knowing that I deviated from the pattern on the heel flap.

I have a friend who doesn't like the fraternal twins she ends up with when she knits socks. I really sort of prefer them in the end! I think they add to the character of the socks and boast "Handmade!" Anyone can walk into a store and buy a pair of perfectly matched socks. Not everyone will have socks that are clearly related, but not exactly alike. Now that I'm over 40, I kinda like that!

Homework

For work this week I am shooting photos of neighborhoods in our town to be part of the 2007 Chamber of Commerce's "Our Town" magazine. (I'm writing all the copy and shooting all the photos! Yeah! Yikes! Yeah! My first "gig!")

Anyway, it's really been quite an interesting journey! After living here for 13+ years, I discovered two new areas of town I was previously unaware of! Go figure!

After this I dive in on the section outlining governmental structure and issues for the area. As I try to prepare myself, all I can think of was how much I really didn't like Civics and Government classes in school but oh how I hope I can pull some of that info out of the dark recesses of my brain where it's been filed away for the past 22-26 years!

On a completely seperate note: I found out this afternoon that my state fair blue-ribbon photo will be published in the Jan/Feb 2007 issue of The Iowan magazine. I'm thrilled! I will also receive a subscription to the magazine which before now I've either purchased off the newsstand or read at the public library. How fun to have it delivered right to my door!

Ok, that's it for today. Back to work I go!

Ask Not For Whom the Bell Tolls

It tolls for me. . . .

My run at Sock Wars 2006 sadly comes to an end today.

My lovely merino socks arrived from mistyknits in California in a somewhat symbolic high noon delivery by my postal carrier. They really are lovely Kiyoko! And I love the color!

I posted my "obituary" on the Sock Wars Forum, but here it is for your amusement:

Kim H. a.k.a. "kshotz" died at high noon on Monday, October 2nd, 2006. She was fatally wounded when lovely lime green merino socks arrived at her door via to US Postal Service making her the umpteenth victim in the on-going Sock Wars 2006.
Kim was a devoted wife and mother of two (before Sock Wars.) She will be greatly enjoyed by her family now that she is done frantically and obsessively knitting socks for total strangers. She leaves behind a well stocked knitting basket along with a surprisingly substantial secret stash of sock yarn under the guest bed. Her final moments were spent winding some new bamboo sock yarn and massaging the cramp in her left hand from speed knitting. She will be missed by those with whom she knit but thankfully Christmas is just around the corner so she will undoubtedly be back to her group at the LYS next week to work on other gift projects.

In the Meantime - Sockhop!

In between times of waiting for packages for Sock Wars, I've signed up for my first ever knit-along event over at RomancingtheYarn.blogspot.com. Officially called a SockHop....we are doing whatever sock pattern we like and keeping track of each other starting today. I decided to FINALLY give my Austerman Step yarn a try and I am loving it!!! I'm also trying out a pattern from Charlene Schurch's book Sensational Knitted Socks for the first time. I have a feeling I am going to love owning this book as it makes every single pattern customizable to exact foot measurements......and I don't have to do any of the math!!

*YEAH!!* (Love that!)

I think I am going to keep this pair all for myself! The pic shows where I am--just on the leg portion of sock #1......but that's ok. I have a feeling I'll be dead tomorrow when the mail comes in (socks of doom from mistyknits in CA for the war......)

Well, back to it I go!
Happy Knitting!