Stupid Puppy Tricks

Samson
The other day I was sitting down as I was getting ready for work. Baru was laying at my feet and Samson was in the bedroom with Hubby.
Out of nowhere, Samson comes in, gets right up in my face (practically nose-to-nose with me), burps, and immediately turns and walks out.
It was so preposterous, and well timed, that I have to imagine he did it on purpose.

Baru
Remember that rap song from the 1980s with the chorus of "the roof/the roof/the roof is on fire. We don't need no water let the [expletive] burn"? Well, we turned that into a Baru song.
(Don't ask. I guess we are sick people. In our defense, my Brother started singing it spontaneously when we were visiting over the weekend. So I guess it runs in the family.)
Anyway. A few months ago I was in the basement folding laundry and a weird acoustical version of that song came on the radio.
Suddenly Baru was behind me, smiling and wagging his tail as though I had called him.
Two seconds later Hubby and Samson appeared. Hubby said they were in the Green Room playing. The music from the radio drifts up through the powder room. When the song came on Baru perked up and took off looking for the source.
It was just weird.
However, we have heard that version of the song since then and Baru hasn't reacted.

Effective Distraction?
Yes, I tell you these puppy stories to distract you from the fact that I didn't make any progress on the Peacock Sock this morning. All the crocheting recently has made my left wrist tweaky.
Sadly, crocheting, which I've been doing since I was little, causes carpal tunnel syndrome like pains. I even used to wear those little elastic wrist supports.
Knitting, fortunately and for some reason, does not bother me unless I spend all day, all weekend doing it. Which I try to remember not to do without frequent breaks/stretching.
Must be something in the positioning or the motion for crochet. sigh.

Wow, That's Huge

The crocheted cuff came out a little bigger than I expected.
From the center to the long point is 4 inches. gulp. The pineapple, which is what I was really after, is a respectable 2 inches.
As you can see, I wisely stopped before the fan bit at the end.
Sadly, I can't try it on to see whether it might look good on a leg because the foundation chain and single crochet row is too tight to go over my heel. Which gives me doubts about the sock top.
Grrr.
I'm thinking, maybe, if I can tone down the in between long part, that might help matters. Maybe if I stick with the 2 treble pairs without expanding them on the last 3 rows that will keep the length more in line with the pineapples.
Those long bits, at the very end at least, are actually the beginning of the big pineapples.
Alternately, I can take another look at the calendar. There was a pineapple pattern in there that had rows of straight up double crochets around the pineapples. But it looked like only one pineapple and the base was 22 + something, so it would have taken a lot of fiddling to get it to work. But I might be able to hijack some of the principles behind it.
The sad part of this prototype is that I'll be yanking it out eventually. However, that will be in aid of working it onto the sock for real, so it will be a noble sacrifice.

Train Chatter
One of the other knitters came over on the ride home to see what I was up to. Apparently they were aware that I had been working on a sock and I was obviously not working on a sock at the moment.
I explained the cuff idea.
She declared the bit I had done (two rows shy of what you see) lovely and expressed the opinion that the socks would be cool/pretty. So at least I'm not totally off base. Unless she was just being polite.
Unless I'm being paranoid because it's bed time and I'm sleepy.

Not Having Fun

And Knitting and Crocheting are supposed to be fun. And relaxing. But they weren't either last night because the cuff wasn't working out.
Actually, while I was trying to beat the pattern into submission, Hubby was being very cranky at the Yankees for losing again. So I'm not sure whether it was my own annoyance I was feeling or I was getting the tension off of him.
To make matters worse, when he was letting the game spool in the DVR so he could fast forward through commercials he switched over to playing his Medal of Honor video game. Which was on a really tough mission so he kept dying. So both his activities were making him cranky. sigh.
It was all so annoying I considered fleeing the living room, but I didn't. Because I am a supportive wife.

Stupid Lace
The portion of the pattern I chose at the big pineapple was just not fitting gracefully into the 48 sts I had available. I couldn't balance it/space the touch points evenly.
I even got out paper and attempted to make a chart. Much scribbling and erasing was going on while Hubby was wishing someone would pay him millions of dollars not to do his job properly. And Samson decided to snuggle, but he didn't want pets he just wanted to have his head on my paper. (See why I almost left?)
I ended up busting out the 365 Crochet Stitches Perpetual Calendar I received for Christmas. There were some stitches that had potential.
Then I took another look at the doily pattern. The smaller pineapples have a more flexible start. Through some careful counting on the existing doily I determined it would be possible to fit whole repeats onto my 48 sts properly.
Yipee.
And at that point it as late enough to legitimately start getting ready for bed, so I was able to flee the living room and still seem supportive.
Yipee, again.

Cuff Progress
The new plan was implemented on the train this morning.
I was able to fit 6 repeats of the base stitches, which should equate to 6 pineapples.
The next hurdle will be figuring out how to end it. I really like that fan bit at the end of the doily. I think it will be a better ending than trying to cut the pattern off in the middle.
However, I don't want to have to go through the big pineapples to get to it. That would be too much cuff. Currently I suspect that I can jump ahead to the beginning of the fan and drop it in where the big pineapples are supposed to come in.
But goodness knows I've been wrong before.
I'm making rapid progress, so I might even find out on the ride home tonight.

Doing Math Was an Option

Which kind of blows, doesn't it?
I mean, I got into this craft for the notions and the yarn, not so I could crunch numbers. Sheesh, I stopped liking math sometime around high school geometry.
But applying the row gauge information I diligently wrote down to some new measurements of my foot might have prevented me from needing three attempts to get the heel correct on my current sock.
(Yeah, pictures, they would probably be helpful.) The current sock is out of Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn in the Elderberry colorway. I'm working it toe-up, which I recently realized, I don't usually do. In fact, I think I've only done one pair toe-up, the second pair I ever made.
Don't get me wrong. I like toe-up. I've advocated for toe-up. I just haven't used it much. So I don't have an idea of the depth to work the foot before starting the heel.
Which is odd, considering part of the point of going toe-up is that you are supposed to be able to try it on.
Cuff down, on the other foot, for those I know where I want the sock to reach on my foot/toes before I start the toe decreases.

Back to the Heel
Despite the number of times you have read me typing that I don't like short-row heels, I'm working a short-row heel. And I was trying the sock on. And the needles were reaching the front of my ankle, but the sock kept coming up short meaning I really had to stretch it to get it over my heel. (Cinderella much?) Which makes me kind of glad I wasn't trying to do a reverse heel flap. That would have been really annoying to pull out and rework. And I wouldn't know where to begin.
Well, actually, I'd probably compare it to a top down sock and try to start the gusset where the other gusset ends...
Anyway, my heels seem to be going in threes recently, so the third attempt was finally long enough. Snug but not to tight. (Oh, I was using a lifeline on the row before I started the heel shaping so when I had to pull back, tada, the kite string was there to catch the stitches.)
Right, pictures. Well the yarn is dark so I would need good sunlight to get a good shot and the train was late yesterday...

About the Cuff
However, I've given over on the sock leg for the moment. I want this pair to have a lacy cuff that folds over. I'm inspired by a doily I crocheted a few years ago (2004?). (A single doily. Doesn't work very well for having doilies under both living room lamps.) After I conquered the heel last night I dug the doily pattern out. Now I'm trying to figure out where to start in the pattern to get the portion I want.
People on the train this morning must have been wondering what I was doing today. Sitting there with a pamphlet, an ecru doily, my yarn and a crochet hook, trying to find the place on the doily that the pattern was referring too. I got two and a bit repeats this morning. I think I need to figure out how many touch points I need on the cuff of the sock to determine positioning. If I can get three repeats in it will probably work, otherwise I'll have to start at a different point in the pattern. Or, possibly, find a different pattern to use. Because, since I'm starting in the middle of the pattern, it is referring to working this stitch in that space. Spaces I don't have. So I had to guess and just work in different parts of the chain as I move around it.
In case you are wondering, I'm not working this attempt onto the top of the sock in its current state. I went to the other end of the ball and made a foundation chain. What I want to know (other than repeats and positioning) is how many yards the lace cuff will use, which will guide how tall I can make the sock. Of course I must also consider the possibility that if the cuff ends up hanging down 3 or so inches and I can only work a 2 inch leg, that might not work. And it would also really suck if I ran out of yarn before I ran out of lace. At least I already divided the original skein in half.

Speaking of weighing yarn...
Blue Jitterbug=36g, Purple Jitterbug=34g, Sol Joy=24g and Sanctuary=5g. The Purple Jits took 76 grams to make, so I have plenty in these scraps for another pair. And I have a whole unused skein of the Mardi Gras Jitterbug that can contribute to the cause as well. Hmm, I wonder how the Madelintosh Glazed Sock Yarn compares to Jitterbug gauge wise?
Ok, I'm just thinking aloud now. Actually I was thinking aloud somewhere around the lace cuff discussion.

Second Sock Same as the First

The second Purple Jitterbug Sock was finished yesterday. yipee!
It is the one on the right in this picture. As you can see the pooling around the heel flipped on this one and the blue is on top, which is what I'd been hoping for on the first sock.
Took me three tries to get this heel flap knit. First I was cruising along and realized 10 rows into it that I'd forgotten to switch to the other end of the ball.
Rip.
On attempt #2 I twisted the yarns together intarsia style for some reason. When I came back around to the main yarn after picking up the gussets I had a massive hole I couldn't close up because of the way the yarn was pulling from the linking.
Rip.
Attempt #3 worked out just fine. The correct ends of the yarn were used, no funny twisting was executed, and the correct number of rows were worked. The foot blasted along after that. All in all it took me 9 days to make these, despite not being on the train for most of that time.

Ahh, Family.
Actually, I did have some extra car knitting time on Thursday and Saturday.
Thursday was a milestone birthday for my mom, so Hubby and I tossed the puppies in the car and trooped down to surprise her. (She would probably tell you she turned 30, which would be really weird as it would make her younger than both me and my older brother, but who am I to question?)
The only people who knew we were coming were us, my brother and his wife, because the gig would have been up if my niece and nephew knew. We were supposed to go Wednesday, but that migraine finally materialized and I didn't want to get left on the side of the road if I hurled in the newish SUV (we got it in March). (In fact, I am currently so full of chemicals because I can't shake the stupid thing that I would probably qualify as a Superfund Site.)
Mom, brother and the kids were out galavanting when we arrived, so we hung with the SIL. When they got home, Samson peeked out the living room door. Mom says first she thought they got another dog, then she realized who that fuzzy face was and what his presence meant. She tripped over him and Baru trying to get to us because they were busy jumping on her.
A grand time was had by all (as you can tell by the size of Baru's tongue in the picture above left).
Well, everyone except Samson. Brother's dog, Bailey, was coming out of heat, so she was driving Samson crazy but wasn't responsive. Poor thing, second time he's had his heart broken. The only time he wasn't by her side was when he dove into the pool. Which would have been ok, but we had to heave-ho him out (the kids were in the pool boosting his butt and Hubby and Aunt K grabbed his shoulders) since he couldn't negotiate the ladder. Of course the first time they dragged him out he did an end run around us all and dove back in. Then we got smart and closed the gate.
In addition to Bailey, a yellow lab, they also have a Shih Tzu puppy named Spike. Cute little teddy bear thing. Kind of squirmy. And Samson and Baru totally didn't know what to make of him. They ended up deciding to ignore him entirely, which is probably for the best.
Hubby and Brother bonded by playing video games and drinking beer, the kids asked me for handknit socks (denied), and the dogs got underfoot.
What more could you ask for in a family gathering?
We came home Saturday so I could have time to recover and do laundry before having to go back to work Monday.
As it is a 3 hour drive, I had plenty of time to work on my sock in the car. I can do plain stockinette stitch in the car since I don't have to look.

Onward!
And I have already worked to the heel on my next pair of socks using Mountain Colors Bearfoot Yarn. It's amazing what you can accomplish when all you do is lay on the couch all day knitting. Hey, maybe these headaches aren't so bad after all....Remember those cotton socks I was thinking of reknitting? The white and lavender ones out of Lana Grossa Yarn? Well, I was wearing them Friday and my 8 year old nephew, who doesn't knit, commented that they looked big on me and asked if I had made a mistake. Sniff! In their defense, it was the end of the day. But, really, when something like that happens isn't it a clear sign a redo is in order? They are drying now (I did manage to do the laundry, so the day wasn't a total waste. Not that a day spent knitting is wasted), but they might meet a violent end soon. I just have to decide if I should just redo the foot or start over from scratch.
Actually what I would probably do it go back to the end of the ribbing and decrease stitches away. I mean, the cast on is fine.
However, my current sock awaits, so I must away.

One Done

I finished the first Purple Jitterbug Sock last night.
After taking another look at my notes I determined it was ok I was on row 47. The toes on the Blue Jitterbug socks were decreased to 3 sts each needle, which I've since decided is too pointy. Now I decrease all my toes to 5 sts each needle. This also fits in nicely with having established guidelines for certain sock elements to make them a little more brainless—15 rows of ribbing, stockinette stitch heel flaps, toes decreases at the same rate to 20 sts.
So the two rows I lost at the tip of the toe since I didn't decrease as much just when into the foot. And the fit seems quite nice.
No picture because I only put the batteries in to recharge right before bed. If I hadn't needed the flash I might have had a fighting chance, but I would have needed the flash. I think the batteries are reaching the end of their life expectancy. We did get them three years ago when we bought the camera for Hubby's trip to Japan.
I did cast on for the second sock last night and worked around 10 rows of ribbing before bedtime.
Knitting progress has slowed the last few days. Over the weekend my left wrist was tweaky, so I laid off in order to give it a chance to rest and recover. Then every day so far I've driven to work. Monday I was anticipating a migraine that, thankfully, didn't materialize and I wanted the escape route. Tuesday I had to stay home for breakfast because my mom and Aunt K showed up unexpectedly Monday night. They live 4 hours away, but they still manage to "drop in" regularly. Ah, we weren't doing anything. They had been vacationing up in Canada so we were on the way home. Then today the morning fell apart, and I still don't trust that my head won't betray me.
All in all, it cuts into the knitting time. Good thing I'm not working on anything complicated or on a deadline.