A Knitter Takes a (Brief) Break

....or so you thought for all my lack of posting! I have been enjoying the increasingly warm weather by getting out on my bike everyday this week (except today~~Friday is my grocery and errand running day). Tomorrow I hope to get out on a 25+ mile ride to bring me to 100 miles for the week!!!! The past two days I have been busily working on my FLAK sleeve in the afternoon while watching The Pallisers on dvd. My folks have the complete set~~all 25 or 26 episodes on 12 dvds. I've been surprised that, for the most part, you really can't tell that the program was made in the early '70s. So far it has been very enjoyable, with enough dialogue to aid my knitting~~sets are beautiful. I'm just starting episode 6. While watching I have been able to reach row 66 on my sleeve~~just 50 rows left?!?! Just 50, you say! Sure beats the 90 I had left the last time I posted!

In the mail today was a packet of yarn samples from Blackberry Ridge Mill. If includes about 100 yarn samples. My only complaint is thatwhile some were attached to a card showing all the colors by name, the rest are tied in little bundles with just the type of yarn on a tag around each bundle. Sigh. This doesn't do much to help me tell the difference between forest, dark turquoise, and moonlight. I could have done just as well using the webpage and saved myself the $5. Oh well, I'll get dh to help me make a decision about which color to go with and order the yarn on Monday so I can get started on the Stora Dimun shawl.

Purchased today is my newest toy to help with knitting. Yes, that is a digital kitchen scale. It came with a 9-volt battery, which has sadly been sitting in the package too long. It had just enough oomph left to get a picture of the my STR Rare Gems weighing in before the SYAC kal starts tomorrow. Finally I will be able to divide my skeins of yarn evenly into two balls and work on two socks at once! Yippeeee!!! Besides, I couldn't let one of my favorite bloggers, Trek, have all the fun. You gotta love those Discover Card cashback reward bonuses! Before Christmas I ordered several gift cards as my bonus from Discover~~one was from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. After I chose that one, I secretly started to regret it, since I but most of the stuff I could get there at WallyWorld. Then yesterday I read on a blog, sadly I forget which one, that the blogger had purchased a scale at BB&B. Eureka!!! I've been wanting one of those scales, but was unwilling to shell out the bucks for it, but when I can get a digital scale with only $6 coming out of my pocket, guess what I'm gonna do. Well, it's obvious.

Also purchased today, just in time to beat the April 1 deadline for buying sock yarn for the SYAC kal, were 4 skeins of Briggs and Little Sport directly from the mill~~$4.10 for a 430-some yard skein of yarn for socks!!! And $5 flat rate shipping to boot. Yeah buddy, I'm there!!! I had to hold myself back from ordering more than the 4. One is already destined to become the Denmark socks for me in a blue that will match my FLAK cardigan. The other three will likely become Christmas gifts for this year.

Tomorrow is the day for flashing my sock stash, so stay tuned. I'm not at all creative, but hey, they're not lined up like soldiers this time.

Hack, Hack, Cough, COUGH!!!

That's what I've sounded like since my ride on Monday of last week. The brisk air did nothing for the cold I had brewing at the time, and now it seems to have settled in my chest and doesn't want to leave. Sigh. So, I haven't been riding. Have been following SBD pretty closely, and have dropped a cool 4.5 lbs. That's better!!!

I picked up the knitting again and started JoLene Treace's Gloriana scarf (I believe Gloriana is the red one in the photo at the link) in KnitPicks Shadow colorway Jewels. I'm two repeats or so in. This is a Christmas gift, so no hurry. Just something to work on until the SYAC kal starts on 4/1. I've been working on my 2nd FLAK sleeve today a bit. It's still slow going though, as I'm not too far into the decreases. In the planning stages is Cheryl Oberle's Stora Dimun shawl from Folk Shawls. I've contacted the company that produced the yarn for the original in the book~~Blackberry Ridge Woolen Mill~~and ordered yarn samples. I'm going to go with the silk blend sport weight as called for, but in a blue or blue-green colorway. The past couple of weeks the wife of my f-i-l's cousin has been on my mind. She cared for her paralyzed husband for over 40 years and is now left alone. I thought this shawl would be like warm, loving arms encircling her every time she uses it. The plan is to have it finished by early fall, so she will have it as soon as cool weather sets in. The first line of the pattern is sort of intimidating~~"Cast on 449 stitches very loosely..." Yikes!!! But it is just so gorgeous, that I want to give it a try. Anyone made this shawl? Suggestions to offer? Advice? Warnings? Hope to have some photos soon--April 1 for sure, as I have to flash my sock stash again for SYAC. Later!

Calendar says Spring.....

.....Ol' Man Winter begs to differ. He's hanging on in his last feeble attempt to bring winter to our fair state. So far this year our winter has been very mild~~I think December might have been our longest period of cold weather. Sure, we've had some good cold days since, but nothing extended, and even after waking to these beautiful scenes outside my window, no snow to speak of. We haven't had a good 6-10" snowfall in quite a few years. Although December 2004, a city 25 miles down the road from us got 14" of the white stuff, and we got nary a flake. What was up with that? Ahh, life in eastern Virginia. Must remember today when it's over a 100 in the shade this summer......and we're not talking a dry heat.....think wet, like breathing through a wet towel, wet. Yuck. Come to think of it......I love winter :o)

Thanks for all the wonderful compliments on my Wyverns. However, they seem to have sent me into a sock slump. It all started at knitting night on Monday.....I cast on no less than 4 times with my STR Lucy in the Sky--great varigated blues and white working on the Retro Ribbed Socks from Winter 2004 IK. Just couldn't get it right--every time it was too big. Frog. Frog. FROG. FROG. I left it to ponder its waywardness in the knitting bag all day yesterday, then last night I gave the yarn a nice steam to release the kinks from the previous night, and settled in to try again. This time with a size 1 needle~~ah.....victory was at hand. Until. Yep, until. The pattern is knit cuff down. I prefer a toe up sock, so I was modifying. The stitch pattern calls for a multiple of 8 +2 stitches. Fine. But then it said to have 64 stitches on the needles for the foot. Well, 64 isn't a multiple of 8+2. It must work out, so off I went. Dumb. Note to self: Read the whole pattern before you start any project!!!! Once again several hours of work was ripped out, yarn rewound onto the ball and thrown into the knitting bag. Since there were children present I didn't do what I really wanted, which was to pitch the stuff across the room, as I've heard this is quite a popular technique among knitters for venting frustration. C'mon 'fess up~~you know who you are! So here I am. No socks on the needles. I'm convinced that pattern, although I love it, is cursed in regards to my Lucy in the Sky STR, so I must find another pattern for it. This is the first time I've knit with STR, and I want the perfect pattern--but not Jaywalkers this time--so, if you have any suggestions, please leave a comment. Also, for those of you who have used STR--how does it wash up once knitted--does it bloom at all? Shrink? Grow? Thanks....that may help in the pattern search.

My FLAK sweater continues to lanquish in the knitting bag, although I think I'll pick it up and work on it some today. Socks will probably remain on hold until the Sock Yarn Addict KAL begins April 1. I'd give you guys a link, but membership in the group is already closed. I need to send Abigail a number of how much stash sock yarn I have, as well as post a "creative" picture of my stash. Sock yarn lined up like soldiers doesn't count, so be expecting another sock yarn stash flash in the near future. I know what I'm going to do, just haven't gotten to it yet!

Exercise Update

15 miles

Reality Hits

Tonight I just had to get this out. Don't know that I will actually publish it to the blog. But I needed to spill it all somewhere. Here was safe. Comments are off. Love your family. Savor every second God has given you with them. Live. Love. Laugh.

~~~~~~

You know you're having a great time with your family, enjoying life and all the joy it brings to your heart and soul, when reality rears it's ugly head and just snatches it all away. Happened today. Sucks.

My dad is the youngest of seven kids--he's in his 70s. He married late for the 1960s--was 31 before he walked my mom down the aisle. Today he became one of only two surviving siblings. When I was a kid at holidays we were surrounded by scads of cousins, aunts, and uncles. What a family--coffee drinking, cigarette smoking crazies. The uncle who reminded each and every one of us of Popeye--survived WWII and at least seven, count 'em...seven ships being sunk under him. Found that out at his funeral less than a year ago. He always had a pipe clenched between his teeth.....at least when he wasn't popping them (yeah, his teeth) out of his mouth to get a laugh from us kids. (His wife, my dad's sister, died this evening, almost exactly a year to the day since his death.) The uncle who always had a joke or trick up his sleeve. He and my aunt had a great house with toys stashed in dressers in the basement. What treasure we'd find to play with. Even after I had my first child, he'd often show up at my parents' house with little fun stuff he'd gleaned from garage sales for my boy. There they'd sit, in the spot with all his stuff, just waiting for him to visit Grandmommie and Granddaddy. The uncle who was a Shriner and would ride in the Azalea Festival parade on a motorcycle, but he'd always make sure he'd stop and give his brother Sonny's kids candy as he moved along the route. The aunt who has lived for years in a farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere--alone. Now she can't even see due to macular degeneration. Her precious books (she taught English to high school kids for years) lie unused on the shelf....and yet she still lives alone. And cats--which of them didn't have at least one feline running their household. Just like we had while I was growing up. Dad--growing up through a depression and WWII--eeking some spending money out of delivering papers and working as a soda jerk before he headed off to join the Marines....and Korea. He got as far as Hawaii before the war ended. Today he can't remember a lot of it. He's asked my mom where two of his sisters and their husbands are--one couple has been gone for years. Alzheimers is a terrible thing--robs you of the people you love even while you can still see and touch them. While their bodies are still capable of carrying them through life, their minds abandon them. I see changes in him every time I'm with him. For years he's made a killer caesar salad. Some of my favorite memories are watching my eldest stand on a chair beside his granddaddy while they made his signature salad. Today he couldn't remember how to make it. My youngest is three, what kind of memories will he have of my dad? How long will it be before he doesn't recognize his grandkids, me, my mom? My heart breaks for her.....for me......for my kids......and especially for him. I'm usually pretty good about not looking at this head on. Can't go to what the future holds for him and us. Try to live in the moment and just enjoy the time we have with him now. But today....today that door I keep locked was opened a crack. Just enough for me to see just a glimpse of what lies ahead. A glimpse was enough. Too much.

I have my faith. I know that this world is not all there is. I know that one day my dad will be perfect--this horrible disease will be gone from his body and he will be whole forever. I know that I will see him and be with him in that place. I. Know. This. But it doesn't make the here and now any easier. I wish it did. But I'm selfish. I want my dad the way I've always known him. And I can't have it.....and that just sucks.

Sockapaloooza Wyverns are finished!

Yipppeeee!!!! They are finished! The Sockapaloooza Wyvern challenge is o...vah! (Whoops, too much Iron Chef viewing....)

Details:

Pattern: Wyvern Sock, largest size

Needles: Size 2 Addi Turbo circs for toe, foot, heel; Size 3 Addi Turbo circs for leg; Size 1 Addi Turbo circ for cuff (Magic Loop, of course)

Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport Poppy (100% Superwash Merino)

Modifications: Turkish Cast on, Afterthought Heel. Added a knit and purl to each panel at the beginning and end of each needle (total of 38 stitches per needle), knitted 4.25 repeats of pattern, added scrap yarn for afterthought heel, finished that repeat, then picked up the pattern on the back of the leg. Continued for 5 repeats--total of 10 repeats. Cuff knit 3, purl 3, so I had to add one stitch in the pattern panel--I did this right before the last purl 3 on both needles. For close up of the cuff ribbing and how it flows into the pattern see here. And a look at the whole 1st sock, stuffed for detail is here.

That's it, I hope the recepient will enjoy them as much as I enjoyed knitting them. A great pattern overall! I will be sure to make some Wyverns for myself one day. Right now, I have other plans for the stash. Let's see what we've got: (top row l to r) 2 skeins Knit Picks parade in Dusk (for socks to go with my FLAK sweater--definitely a Nancy Bush pattern for them), 2 skeins LL shepherd sock in Somerset--yummy spring colors, already made into ball--1 skein STR in Lucy in the Sky, and 1 skein STR Farmhouse, 1 skein STR Rare Gems, 1 skein STR Farmhouse, 1 skein Mountain Colors Bearfoot Bitterroot Rainbow, 1 skein English Garden by Roxanne, 4 skeins KP Dancing for cycling socks, I forget what colors; (bottom row l to r) 2 skeins Magic Stripes Denim Blue stripe and Regatta Blue stripe for dd , 3 skeins Trekking XXL colors 108, 41, 105, 1 skein Strawberry Mocha also by Roxanne, and last Silja in brown. By my count enough sock yarn for at least 17 pairs (more if I just knit little cuff socks for cycling.) Not as big a stash as some, but more than others--especially since I just started knitting socks and collecting sock yarn in November of 2005! I am officially on a sock yarn diet--no more buying sock yarn, but I will gladly add gifts of sock yarn to the stash......Mother's Day, anniversary, and my birthday are rapidly approaching--in the next 6 months at least! Good thing I joined the Sock Yarn Addicts Club.

Exercise Update

21 miles

When will March become a lamb?

You know the ol' saying "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb"? Just wondering when the lamb part kicks in...... The weather has been a roller coaster here in Virginia, and most of the rest of the country from what I see on people's blogs.

Two days off the bike due to high winds. Really, if the wind is blowing 2 or 3 times the speed I ride, what is the point? Excellent ride today, though. A bit fatiqued and headachy during the rest of the day due to the limited diet for the first two weeks on SBD.

I did get some knitting done--one more pattern repeat before I put in the scrap yarn for the afterthought heel on the Wyvern sock (6 repeats left altogether plus the heel and ribbing). My hope is to get the sock finished by Monday morning. On Wednesday I did an inch or so on the sweater sleeve. Have I mentioned that my hands are bothering me? I've cut back my knitting time, but am almost positive it is due to the cycling. I probably shouldn't be cutting back on the knitting--that may help since it's using my hands in a different way.

You may or may not have noticed a running list of STR colors at the end of the sidebar--that's not a hint to anyone, although gifts are always appreciated ;o) It is really a reminder to me which colors I want. Since there is no one place that shows all the colors available, as I see one on a blog or elsewhere, I post the name there so I can remember the ones I really, really like. As I struggle with organization, I knew if I wrote it on a piece of paper, I'd lose that paper in a New York minute. I figured the one place I couldn't lose was my blog, so there it is.

Pasta is the Enemy!

You know, you'd think with all the riding that I've been doing that I'd actually lose some weight. If you thought that, as did I, you would in fact be WRONG!!! Not only have I not lost weight, but I've gained like 2 lbs since I started riding regularly. This unforeseen turn of events has pushed me back onto the South Beach Diet. Sigh. I hate to even type it. I know it's for the best, that I've been eating junk at least one day a week since well before Christmas. The scales show it, as do my clothes. So here I am back on the Beach. It would really be nice if I could actually get out and ride my bike--the sky is beautiful shade of blue, the sun is shining, the temperature is supposed to be in the low 60s, and the wind is blowing a gale! Much of the state is under a wind advisory, along with warnings about brushfires--in Virginia?!?!? I know there was one in Gloucester last night--saw it on the news people evacuating and losing their homes, huddled around the cars of first responders. It's like scenes from Arizona several years ago. But, it's in Virginia--a state that gets like 40+ inches of rain a year--we're in the humid subtropical zone, if my geography is correct. But unfortunately we are going through a prolonged dry spell/drought with very high winds (20 mph, gusting to the 30s)--the perfect recipe for brushfires. So, inside I shall stay.....and eye the dreaded stationary bike from across the room. I may actually be forced to ride it this afternoon.

On the knitting front, I'm in a bit of a slump. I have two projects OTN--Sockapaloooza socks and FLAK sweater. I dread picking both up. The sweater is on the second sleeve; I have gotten to the point where I can join the sleeve sides and knit in the round, but from that point I have about 18 inches of sleeve in front of me, and I just can't face it. I can't. I know it's not getting any shorter by NOT knitting on it, but there you are, my screwy logic. The sock is through the 2nd repeat of the pattern in the foot. I have 3 or 4 more to go before placing the scrap yarn for the heel, then the whole leg. There are a total of 11 repeats, if memory serves, and again, that just seems like forever. When I do pick it up I knit one whole repeat before putting it down--unless of course there is blood and my children involved. I know I could knock this out pretty quickly--even if I just did a little a day I could have it done with in way less than a week. But I don't. What's up with that!?!?!

So, instead, I've been hiding in my books. Haven't done that for a while.

Okay, enough whining. Time to eat some breakfast and get going on algebra with dd.

Great Weekend!

Had a wonderful relaxing weekend. Riding, knitting, reading. Couldn't ask for anything more~~unless of course I was sitting beside the ocean or in the mountains beside a river. I finished three books this weekend---okay, two were cozy mysteries I read in a day each. I started keeping a list of the books I've been reading in a link over there on the sidebar. The list is woefully short as I have been using my reading time to knit. I picked up The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lilian Jackson Braun. Must be the influence of Chris and Chaos. Hope to get some work done on the FLAK sleeve today. I haven't done anything on that since the last post. I did start the second Wyvern sock and have made it through the first pattern repeat. Ordered 4 skeins of KP Dancing (cotton/wool blend) to use for cycling socks for me this summer, as I think the Torino Jaywalkers will soon be too heavy.

Today I am NOT a Wimp!!!

What a ride today! My first over 25 miles for the year. My mileage goal for 2006 right now is 2500 miles. Last year I rode in excess of 1800 miles, and I didn't start riding until May. So the 2500 should be more than doable if I average 100 miles per week. I can always bump it up later in the year. Anyway, today.....the weather was perfect~~upper 60s to low 70s, bright sunshine, and a slight breeze. Not blowing a gale like the last two days. I sat at the state park for a brief break and enjoyed the river scenery and an orange before heading back out for the second half of my ride. I much prefer this route to the one I've been doing so far this year. I am off my 100 mile goal for the week by less than 3 miles. If I hadn't wimped out on Thursday I would be over the mark for the week . Oh well, there's always next week. No time to ride tomorrow~~church and chemistry lab tomorrow afternoon.

On the knitting front I got the second sleeve of my FLAK started and am about half way to joining and knitting the sleeve in the round. No socks are on the needles right now~~a shock to you, I know. Maybe I'll get the second Wyvern started today. I'd like to get those behind me, so I can work on some socks for me with my wonderful STR. Speaking of socks, my Torino Jaywalkers have become my cycling sock of choice for this spring. I need to get a light weight wool sock knit up for the summer months. Can't stand cotton, although a wool/cotton blend might work.

I'm a wimp.....with a complete FLAK sleeve

Okay, I admit it, I'm a wimp. When I headed out for my ride today, the wind was blowing about 10-13 mph. I could feel it, but I was okay. Just had to dig in a little harder on some areas of the ride. By the time I was halfway through the ride (about 12 miles in) I realized that the wind had picked up considerably, and that I was being blown from side to side even in relatively protected areas. The last bit of my ride is on a major road with cars going 55 mph. No protection from the wind and an overpass over the interstate to navigate. The closer I got to that part of my route, I knew that it would be dangerous to try and continue to ride. So, I gave in, I called dh, and he picked me up in the truck and took me home. The wind had to be blowing in excess of 20 mph the way it was whistling into the cell phone when I called and whipping the trees back and forth. When I got home, I could hear it blowing while in the house--always my sign that I should not be out on a bike. Just call me a wimp.

But.....I am a wimp with a completed FLAK sleeve!!!! Finally that bad boy is done! Time to pick up the stitches for the second sleeve and get moving on that one, too. Thanks for the earlier compliments by email and comment posts about the way that the two wave cables meet at a cool right angle. I wish I could claim that I planned it that way, but I didn't. It is a nice design affect nonetheless. I wanted to show the braid and cables down the whole sleeve so I put up both photos of the sleeve. I do like the way it has turned out thus far, but I won't lie, I'm dreading that second sleeve.

Today is dh's birthday.....and he's sick. Poor guy is simply dying.....from a cold. I got him his favorite carrot cake (we were supposed to have his birthday dinner with my folks, but we didn't want to infect them with the cooties, so we cancelled that, but I still got the cake.) He was lying on the couch eating his cake and ice cream while watching AI when he piped up. "I know I'm eating my cake, but I can't taste it. It's in my mouth, and I can't taste a thing!" (Read that with a really whiney voice.) I told him he should have eaten the hot and sour soup right before he ate the cake--that would have cleared him out long enough to actually taste his birthday cake. We were supposed to do something special with the kids on Friday since dh has off from work, but it looks like we'll spend the day watching him sneeze and blow his nose. What fun! I will get the ingredients for icebox pie for him, though, and make it for him when he can actually taste it.

Sockapaloooza~~1st Sock Finished

On the knitting front~~the first Wyvern sock for my Sockapaloooza pal is finished. I tried it on and it's big on me, as it should be. I'm hoping it's gonna work. Rather it be slightly large than too small to get on. Have I mentioned how much I really like this pattern? I'm sure I have. At the top I used a K3, P3 ribbing to match the K3, P3 at the beginning and end of each needle. Turned out pretty cool. Pardon the misshapen foot and leg~~I used grocery store bags and a one liter water bottle to fill out the sock so the pattern was seen at its best.

I haven't decided on what color or yarn, but I will definitely be making a pair of socks (or two) for myself using this pattern!

Edited to add: I forgot to put in the modifications I made to the original pattern~~I used Turkish cast-on and just increased every other row until I had the number of stitches I needed, and instead of the heels in the pattern I used my ol' standbys~~Afterthought heels. Still love 'em!

Another Cold Ride

....but today the cold was compounded by the wind. Brrrrrrr...... When I made the turn for home after a ride through a local state park, the wind hit me in the face and I seriously wondered if I'd make it home. Almost called ds #1 to come and get me. But I kept turning the pedals and made it home in a much slower time than yesterday, but I made it. The rest of the week promises to be warmer, but I'll have to dodge some rain showers.

Quick updates

Just a few quick updates~~obviously I rode my bike today. Boy, was it cold! Temp in the 40s, but I was nicely bundled up. Did 19+ miles and felt much better for it. Laura, you asked about walking and motivation. I will admit, I hate walking. Can. Not. Stand. It. Not only that but it bothers my back a bit. My walking over the past few weeks was out of necessity. After I had to stop riding my bike during December my body quickly packed on 12 pounds. Sigh. I couldn't stand it anymore. I knew I had to get back on the bike, no matter how cold it was. Walking just doesn't do for me what riding 100 miles a week will, and I have way more fun riding than walking. But other than the whole weight motivation to get me out the door, I used my mp3 player and some favorite tunes to keep me going. Two loops through my neighborhood took right at an hour. Boring, but it was close to home. I used to run, but my middle age knees started protesting too much. I addition to riding at least 5 days a week, I also started tracking my caloric intake with Fitday today. I actually have the downloadable version~~when I joined the online Fitday they sent a message or had one on the website that you could get the downloadable version for less. So that's what I did~~much more convenient. I'm not sure if they still do this though. I used it with great success in the late summer and early fall. I got to within 10 lbs of goal, but now.....well, I'm not within 10lbs of goal.

About my Wyvern socks~~I added the afterthought heel Friday as that is what I was teaching in my last class with the girls. They did really well, but no one finished on Friday. One girl actually cast on her second sock in the intervening week~~that was way cool to see. Of the 6 kids and moms I had, I think there are 4 who will actually finish the first sock and complete the pair. One girl told me she's only making one. Oh well~~4 isn't bad. Anyhoo~~thanks so much for all the compliments on the socks. Suz~~you mentioned that the sock looks like the pattern from BW's Treasuries~~I'm almost positive that is where the pattern author got the stitch. It's fun to knit, and I love the look.

Work has continued on the first FLAK sleeve~~but no photos as it is just longer and a bit narrower. I need to try it on, but based on the row I'm on, I think I within maybe 3-4 inches of the cuff. Good grief, is it really still that far!?!?!?! I'm thinking of using the twist from the body pattern in the cuff--the little twist that sets off the braid. I'm still ruminating on that one though.

Last but not least check out 1870 Pearl for a sock yarn stash busting KAL. Most of my stash is sock yarn~~I have heavier wool in a big bin, but it is almost all designated for projects already in progress (St. Ciaran and FLAK). On the other hand, I have enough sock yarn for 13 pairs of socks (including the Wyverns in progress)! How in the world did that happen!?!?! I just started knitting socks in November! Before reading Abigail's info about the KAL, I had already put myself on a yarn diet until I had knit up some of my sock yarn. My resolve was tested mightily at the March Madness sale at my lys. I had some beautiful alpaca/tencel blend in my hot little hands~~25% off! But I stood my ground and put it all back, however reluctantly. So, if you find you have a bunch of sock yarn stashed away screaming to be knit~~join us in a stash busting KAL!

Finally, A Sock Makes it to the Needles

First, let me get my exercise update out of the way...... It is a gorgeous day in Virginia~~temp was in the mid- to upper 60s when I headed out around noon for a 20 mile ride. Glorious! Although my legs know that it's been a while since I did a ride this long. Felt great! Sadly, looks like the next week will be a wash for the bike, as the temp will fall back into the 40s for highs. So, unless we get rain, I'll be walking for an hour a day.

Okay, ...... I cast on my Sockapaloooza sock yesterday afternoon while the Tiny Terror slept (let's call him TT for short). I've been spending the last month trying to find a pattern that would work for my sockpal's foot size. Sure, I could have made some basic socks, but I wanted something special to go with the yummy Lorna's Laces shepherd sport Poppy. I finally landed on the Wyvern sock pattern. Here's a close up of the stitch pattern, isn't it cool?!? I hope my sockpal will be pleased AND that they will fit!
As of this morning, I am just past where I run in the scrap yarn for the afterthought heel. To accomodate the difference in circumference measurement, I knit the toe and foot on size 2 Addis~~just pattern on top and plain stockinette on the sole. Right around the heel area I moved up to a size 3 Addi and cast on a couple of stitches on the sole needle to prepare for the pattern running up the back of the leg, as well as the front. I'll add in a stitch to each knit and purl section to give me a little more room to play with. If I can't get the width that I need that way, I'll pop up to a size 4 needle and hope for the best.

I didn't work on FLAK at all yesterday. The yarn is rougher than the sock yarn, and I just needed something soft and squishy to work with. I'll probably pick the first sleeve again tonight. We'll see.