yet another example of why I love my family....

I occasionally use my parent's address for packages sent through the mail, and my most recent order of board review books and a few just-released knitting titles are waiting for me at their house. Tonight this arrived in my email....

"Dear Ms. MedStudent,
This is the L.Central Bookstore notifying you that your books are in.
They are available for pick up any time after 5:00 on Thursday, at which time a roast chicken
dinner will be served at the bookstore. This is a service provided for our most valued
customers.
Have a nice day,
LCB Proprietor"

A home-cooked meal and knowing that my books are safe? I'm lucky.

The sockapaloooza socks have been restarted and are well underway. Does anyone know how Lorna's Laces socks wash (machine washing) if a lace pattern is used...? My pal wants a pair that are easy to care for, and tonight it occurred to me that the lace might not wash well.

(I am house-sitting with the fattest and cuddliest cat I've yet to take care of. She's the black and white one that I posted below and she hates that I knit; she takes it personally that my hands are doing something other then scratching her head. In order to be a step above the needles she joins me on my lap and works her way up my chest, progressively, so that it's nearly impossible for me to use my arms. If it weren't so cute it'd be annoying. Eventually she gives up and goes away, but she's persistent enough to have tried four times this evening, all during one Law&Order episode. I gave in. Now that I'm not knitting, she has no real interest in me. She'll find me tonight once all of the lights are out and I'm safely snuggled into bed - somehow she knows how to determine the moment when I've just fallen asleep because that's when she'll show up to cuddle in with me. Having to get out of bed before her in the morning is awful, and more than once I've woken her up and shooed her out of bed. If I have to be up, I figure she does too.)

(I have much more to ramble about (in the areas of knitting, medicine and the ever popular "life in general") but no time. Pediatrics has started. I have to be at the hospital by 7am. (Which, incidentally, after the time change this weekend will feel like 6am...I am not excited about next Monday morning.) I have been falling asleep well before my usual bedtime, and the alarm goes off way too early. Rambling will happen at some point in the future.)

a virtual parade of some finished things....

one completed scarf , a belated gift to my brother, who was still able to use it this ski season....

two completed koigu socks for my mom (happy belated birthday mom!); they were my first pair with koigu (and won't be my last) and first pair with a picot edge (ditto!). I am still not sure why the leftovers are different sizes - is there a variance in koigu skeins?

my sockapaloooza sock....

......is waiting for a trip to the frog pond. (there's a hole that doesn't belong at the join of the needles...) As much as I like this pattern, I'm not sure I like it with this yarn. Another attempt is in the works.

this is a picture that I took on New Year's Eve, when I dyed.....

this attempt at self strip'ing yarn.

Last month a different cat (and dog, from a different house-sitting adventure) helped me finish the first sock,

so it seems only fitting that tonight, when I finished the second sock, I was in (another) different house, with a (yet another) different cat.

knitting socks is tiring. (there are numerous other socks on the needles, and additional pictures will be taken (attempted) with the cats I'm caring for this week. Between the three houses I'm checking in on, there are six cats to knit with. (Everything else is still falling into place (or not) and life is still crazy. This is my last week of psych - next week starts my pediatric rotation.)

another form of inventory....

first up, I think I've finally found a yarn worthy of being my SockapalOOOza Pal's sock yarn. I have been looking for just the right yarn, and though this isn't *exactly* what I've had it mind, I think it'll work. I'm keeping my eyes out for yarn that could be more perfect and will either make another pair or send along the yarn. The pattern will be something with lace - I have a few contenders and will decide for sure when I cast on for them tomorrow.


I was hoping to show you a picture of a pair of finished koigu socks for my mom and a completed scarf for my brother. They are still on their respective needles, much to my dismay. Both are almost done and just need a few more rows to be complete - then I'll weave in the ends and pass them along.

The striped sweater?

it's in a pile, waiting it's turn.

I am somewhat afraid of it. Soon, I will get over this. Soon.

Til then, enjoy some pictures of what hides in my pantry. After yarn was declared "not fit for household decoration" by the crazy housekeeper I hid it all away, in various places. SockapalOOOza yarn searching led me to dig all of it up, and before I knew it the place of choice for putting it was in amoungst the boxes of my food in the cabinet.

I wish I was kidding.

what I look at when I get hungry (ie, my pantry space). Is a sock yarn diet going to help me loose weight?

the bottom shelf - most of it hides in a box. It hides because rediscovering it is a simple joy.


yarn hanging out on the other side of the counter - this is the current yarn in view. It rotates. I'm not afraid to admit that I'm a dork. Try me. (I'm a dork.)


the thing is, these (for example)?
they're one skein wonders that lept out of a bargin bin at a yarn store or ebay lot or were added to an online order because I wanted free shipping. They'll each make a pair of socks. (proven last year)

Most of what is hiding is a formerly homeless single skeins of sock yarn. I'm resisiting the urge to open up my home to wandering balls of yarn that are looking for a warm pantry to hang out in. It might make the other 50+ pairs of potential socks jealous.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

(life behind the scenes and my rotations are Overwelming right now; I'm going to dig into knitting and stick it out - see you on the other side.)

taking inventory....

Now that spring is set to start in three weeks, winter has decided to kick into gear. (Lovely.)
The morning temps have been single digits (F) and I've been bundling up. The gear?

Coat for keeping my torso warm, a hat for my head and ears, scarf for my neck and socks for keeping my feet warm. (the hat? it's fabulously warm. Thank you for all of the kind words about it!)

Mittens?

They've seen better days. They are the same ones that I made last year - a collection of firsts. The yarn is the first yarn I dyed (think drink mix) and they were the first pair of mittens I knit. The cuffs have never been long enough, the seam rubs and they are pilling and felted in spots.

I think it's time for a new pair.

new mittens are in the works; right now I'm in the "where'd that ball of yarn that might be a perfect match for that other missing color (where is *that* ball?)" stage. The stranded mitten that I thought I'd frogged (due to size - it's too small...but might grow with blocking?) never made it to the pond. Keep knitting? frog? I was making it up as I went along, so it wouldn't be hard to start over.

I also dug up all of the projects that have been haunting me.

This crazy attempt at a striped sweater that has been a wonderful learning experience? I finally took it into the yarn store today and got some help and advice- it should be finished by the end of this weekend. (the other items on the "to be done by the end of this weekend" list are my brother's Christmas scarf (he's skiing tomorrow - that should be done by tonight) and the koigu socks for my mom.)

It was a rough week, for many many reasons, and I'm enjoying being at home with a cup of tea and my knitting. Normally I shy away from "to do" lists, but now it's giving me something to focus on. I think the Olympic challenge changed my look on deadlines because I'd usually throw the unfinished things back onto the pile and keep knitting new things. Now I feel like I need to tie up the loose ends (or weave them in?) before I can dig into a new project (new sweater or revisit sleeves of Rogue?) and think about what is next.

Socks, of course, don't count. [Sock yarn however, does. When I took to hiding it with my food in the pantry, I realized there was a problem. I do not need to buy any more sock yarn.]