I thought this was cool

Sock it to me

Before vacation, I started my second pair of socks. I wanted to get the first sock started enough that I could work on the plane easily. So,

1. Cast on. Round 1 - Lose a stitch. Round 2 - realize I lost the stitch and fix (sort of). round 3 - finish and realize that there are 4 rows on two needles and 2 rows on the third needle. I guess I got turned around and started knitting backwards. Frog.
2. Cast on. No problems. Knit, knit, knit. Knit on the plane, knit at my parents' house. Knit about 5 inches of the leg. Get almost to the start of the heel and realize that this sock will never fit my foot. Not in a million years. Frog.
3. Cast on. Knit 4 rows. I have now started this first sock three times. This time I cast on a few more stitches, which hopefully will be enough to go around my foot. Unfortunately, I started my long tail cast on too far into my yarn, so the first stripe will not be a big as I would have liked. We'll have to see how this goes.

Stay tuned for breaking news on this story.

Home again, home again

A week in Florida was almost all that I needed. I saw friends, I saw family, I saw beach, I felt warm again. A few selected highlights in no particular order:

• My best friend's two week old baby. Pictures of his finished just in time booties will be posted soon.
• The five minutes we spent at the beach before Lorelei decided she'd had enough.
• Miami Metrozoo - it was a lot bigger than I had imagined, though it was also a lot hotter so we didn't stay long. But I have decided to visit the National zoo again very soon (I still haven't seen Tai Shan).
• Dinner with my extended family - turns out my great aunt (who I rarely see) was a professional knitter and has a giant stash. I may need to go visit her in Chicago sometime.
• My niece - she's a week older than Lorelei and I haven't seen her in almost a year. She's turned into a real cutie and it's interesting to see the differences between the two cousins - Lorelei is outgoing and very active, Isabella is shy and calm. But both are too cute for their own good.
• Florida was a lot more damaged by the hurricanes last year than I had thought. There are still blue tarps everywhere you look. After living in Florida for 20 years, the last two years have brought the worst damage (other than Andrew in 1992).

Vacation all I ever wanted

So I'm off to Florida tomorrow. It will be the first time we've been back to Florida since we moved to Virginia last April. I'm very excited to be back where it's warm (even though it was 85 here on Monday).

This will be Lorelei's first trip on an airplane. I'm a little worried about how we'll manage all of our stuff, Lorelei's stuff and Lorelei, but that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger. The stressful trip will just make my vacation all that more relaxing.

In preparation for my trip, I'm trying to clear out my DVR so that it can record a week's worth of tv while I'm gone. Sadly, I'm afraid it will run out of space on Tuesday.

Finally, a knitting update -

• I made some booties for my best friends 2-week old baby. I'll post pictures after vacation.
• The Irish Hiking Scarf (Happy St. Pat's!) has seen almost no progress this week. I may post some pictures soon - even though there's only 20 inches, I'm pretty proud of my first attempt at cables.
• I've started a pair of socks that I plan to work on while on the plane(s).

My first meme

From Debi.
A-Age: 30 (for another couple of weeks)
B-Bed size: Queen
C-Chore you hate: Washing dishes (but I'm too picky to use the dishwasher)
D-Dessert you love: Cake
E-Essential start your day item: Lots of Coffee
F-Favorite actor(s): George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Ryan Reynolds
G-Gold or Silver: gold
H-Height: 5'3
I-Instruments you play: piano, violin and voice
J-Job title: Mathematical Statistician
K-Keeping track of your day: my brain, several calendars and lists
L-Living arrangements: husband, baby, dog
M-Mom's name: Terry
N-Not liking right now: the crazy DC weather (85 on Mon, Snow on Fri)
O-Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Lorelei's birth
P-Place you were born: Kansas City, MO
Q-Quote you like: Failure is not an option.
R-Right or left handed: right
S-Siblings: 1 younger brother
T-Time you woke up today: 5:30 am
U-Unique habit: too many to list
V-Vegetable you hate: Green Beans
W-Worst habit: reciting movie lines while the movie is playing (I'm surprised the husband hasn't killed me yet)
X-X-rays you've had: none in the last 20 years
Y-Yummy food you can make: Ziti
Z-Zodiac sign: Aries

What does my birthdate mean?

Your Birthdate: April 15

You take life as it is, and you find happiness in a variety of things. You tend to be close to family and friends. But it's hard to get into your inner circle. Making the little things wonderful is important to you, and you probably have an inviting home. You seek harmony with others, but occasionally you have a very stubborn streak. Your strength: Your intense optimism Your weakness: You shy away from exploring your talents Your power color: Jade Your power symbol: Flower Your power month: June

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Yarn, yarn, yarn

I've been going a little crazy with the yarn buying lately. Lorelei's teacher wanted a scarf - so I had to buy some yarn. Many people are having babies, I decided to make booties - I needed some yarn. I wanted to make something for myself - I needed some yarn. Do you see where I'm going with this?

So in the last 3 weeks I've ordered yarn online from three different places (bringing my total yarn purchases online to 4). I ordered online from Knit Happens (because it's inconvenient to actually drive the 2 miles out of the way to go to the store). I got the yarn so fast (next day)that I may never go to the actual store again. No - just kidding. I will say that it's hard to do any shopping with Lorelei - she's way too active.

I also made my first purchase from KnitPicks. I ordered 17 balls of yarn. Because I needed free shipping. I'm a sucker for free shipping. I'll buy way more than I need at Amazon just to get my free shipping. Anyway, KnitPicks has very affordable yarn and I did get it in about a week. But I kind of expected 17 balls to look bigger. I was expecting a giant box of yarn. Sadly I got a big envelope of yarn, not as exciting.

I've spent so much money on yarn this year already that I really shouldn't buy any more - but I want more. Yarn is just so pretty and soft - and of course I need more yarn for my zillion planned projects.

Next Up

I'm still working on Lorelei's dad's Irish hiking scarf (I've finished about 20 inches), but I've been planning so many projects that I thought I needed to write them all down (I love to make lists).

• Wavy scarf for Lorelei's teacher (I have the yarn already)
• Picovoli (the yarn should be delivered today)
• 3 pairs of socks (I have yarn for the first pair, the rest of the yarn should be delivered today)
• Sweater for Lorelei (I have the pattern, but need the yarn).
• Scarf for me (I have the yarn, but I'm not sure what pattern)
• Black purse (similar to the brown one I made earlier this year - I already have the yarn)
• Baby booties for 3 babies this year (I have some yarn, may need more)

Also I'm starting to think about Christmas (can you believe that I've only been seriously knitting for 2 months???). I would really love to knit my MIL a shawl, but I'm not sure if that's a little to big a project for me right now. Maybe after I work down the list a little bit.

My First Socks

I haven't been posting much lately, but I have been knitting and watching lots of tv.

I have finally finished my second sock, so I now have a pair that I can wear! OK, so they're acrylic, make my feet sweat and they don't look very good, but I made them and I'm going to wear them. As long as they don't fall apart, I consider them a success.

It's funny - the second sock actually looks worse than the first sock. I assumed that I would get better with experience and the second sock would be much better than the first - NO. I guess I was feeling cocky about my knitting skillz and didn't pay enough attention to what I was doing. Most of the sock is fine, the heel and the toe are the big problems. I'm still not quite getting my Kitchener right. So for my next pair, I going to try short rows and the third pair may be of the toe-up variety if I can't figure out the K satisfactorily.

I promise I'll try to most more often.