Cute and Practical

My Solo Cropped Poncho, that is.
Although I like to think that is an accurate description of me as well.
I suppose talking about a project I completed back in December might make me look desperate for content...but then, maybe I am.
What I have been is lethargic and vaguely uninspired, which is why I haven't been around much.
Still, about my poncho.
Dudes, I've been using the heck out of this thing lately.
Now, I used it a lot when I first finished it because it was shiny and new. I would wear it under my winter coat instead of a scarf. And since it was a pretty wicked winter here, the extra layer was justified.
Then it fell out of favor for a while.
But now that early spring is here, with its changeable weather, the poncho is coming in so handy!
It's good for those cool days when I don't want a coat. And it has been good for days that start cool and get warm since it's much easier to carry around than one of my leather jackets (I haven't brought the jeans jackets down from the attic yet).
I suppose this would make it a good transition piece.

Isn't it nice when a project works out so well?
I mean, I wear my socks and fingerless mitts all the time, to the point where I hardly think about it. But for some reason it struck me the other day that my poncho is useful.
Which is a damn good thing, considering what a rough start I had with it.
What projects have you made that you use on a regular basis?

New Pattern: Eyelet & Feather Socks

Presenting, for your sock knitting enjoyment, my Eyelet and Feather Socks.
(Formerly known as my Cat's Pajama's Socks!)

This sock features an easily memorized lace pattern which would be suitable for advanced beginners, while the unique construction will keep the attention of experienced sock knitters.

The gusset decreases are moved to the bottom of the foot to allow the lace pattern to continue uninterrupted down the instep and side of the foot. The pattern indicates where to place stitch markers to better track the decrease points.

Both text and charts of the pattern stitch are included.

Stitch counts for two sizes, S (M) [To fit foot circumference 8” (9”) with 1” negative ease], are included. With recommended needle sizes of 2.5 mm or 2.25 mm (or size needed to obtain gauge!)

My sock is shown in Lucy Neatby's Cat's Pajamas Yarn in the Fiery Fuschia colorway, a lovely cashmere/merino/nylon blend, but any fingering weight yarn with a stockinette stitch gauge of 7.5 sts per inch should do the trick.

All this can be yours for $5 US!



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More About My Birthday!

We ended up bailing on the lamb Thursday night because I got home late due to an acupuncture appointment.
Instead, we went to Kobi Steakhouse, a yummy hibachi place in town.
On the way home I speculated whether Stockbridges, a local bakery that does homemade cheesecake and other delicacies might still be open. Hubby said "No" without hesitation. Which seemed fishy to me.
And my suspicions were justified when we got home and he produced Twix bars and Ben & Jerry's ice cream. He put candles in my Phish Food and sang me happy birthday. The pups jumped on me the whole time because it was all very exciting and they didn't know what was going on.
The rack of lamb was finally cooked Sunday night, along with sauted Brussels sprouts, and garlic mashed potatoes, which are hidden under the lamb since it's all about the presentation.

Presents!
Last weekend we went out to the outlet stores to get some new shirts for Hubby for school.
Of course this always makes me jealous, because I'm a baby.
I found this shirt in the women's section and it's obnoxious preppyness was too good to pass up. Hubby agreed that is was quite "me." When I explained how well it would go with my Aaargyle socks, despite not having any purple it in, he agreed that I had to have it, especially since my birthday was coming up.
When I did get home Thursday, there was a gift wrapped box roughly the size and shape of a bottle of wine on the kitchen island.
Which didn't make sense, since wine is a gift for him.
When I opened it I found a perfume sampler pack from Victoria's Secret.
He got me one of these for Christmas a few years ago and it's tons of fun having so many scents from which to choose in the morning.
Of course, since they are mostly new to me, the dogs are spending a considerable amount of time snuffling me while I'm getting dressed for work since they aren't accustomed to them. sigh.
On Sunday morning I put on twice shots of "Wish" and a few minutes later Hubby called up from the living room that something smelled good.
A testament to his superior nasal power, I suppose. Or the odor just stood out since it is out of the ordinary.
Mom also got me one of those Knit Kits, which was waiting for me at the store Saturday. I'm having grand fun with it, but haven't had a chance to get a picture.
And I think that should be all the birthday chatter, at least until next year.

So You Don't Believe Me?
Oh, wait, one more story.
On Friday I mentioned to The Guy in the Art Department (aka Talking To Walls in the comments) that I was 30-odd years old.
And he said, "nuh-uh"
And I said, "Yuh-huh."
And he said, "No, you're X" which was about five years younger than I actually am.
In the end I had to show him my driver's license to prove my age!
This is about par for the course though.
Once, about a year after I graduated college, my Uncle The Priest won $5 off someone who thought I was still a teenager!

Silliness

Wheeee!
Look, I'm #6!!!
For one brief, glorious moment, I'm in the Top Ten Resistance Fighters!
I don't expect this to last.
I expect to fall hopelessly behind over the weekend.
Ok, I have to leave for work now.

(huh, why is the picture not right? Stupid Grab.)

30-something? Really?

Happy birthday to me!
Happy birthday to me!
Happy birthday, dear self...
Happy birthday to me!
Why, yes, I am shamelessly fishing for compliments, why do you ask?

30-odd
I was going to tell you how old I actually am, but then I realized you could do the math and figure out my year, and that seems to be an identity theft issue, so let's just say I'm over 20 and under 40.
Which is an awfully grown up age.
And I don't feel that grown up.
shrug.
It probably doesn't help that I still look 20-something.
Which allows me to get away with things, and has the added benefit of pissing people off.

Presents!
In addition to the landscape socks patterns mom bought me the other week, when she was up this past weekend she brought me a DVD of The Princess Bride, which is an awesome movie and you should go watch it if you haven't seen it. I have it on VHS, which was getting inconvenient.
She also gave me that lovely sock yarn you see above.
Apparently she went into a yarn store near her and said "My daughter likes to knit socks."
I've used this brand before. I made Hubby a pair of blue socks with it.
And I have a skein of red that I was going to use to make me socks. But then Hubby liked the color, so the poor skein has languished in my stash as I can't decide who should get it.
Now I can go ahead and use the red for Hubby (after all I have, uh, three pairs of red socks already now) and this new greenish color for me!

Lunch!
Today is also the Deadline Setter's birthday. How crazy is that? But she's two years younger than me.
So we had a team lunch in celebration. It was nice to get to relax and just have fun together. But we're a fun group anyway.

The Waiting is Hard
No presents from Hubby, yet.
Actually, I told him he didn't have to get me anything, since I bought all that yarn recently and we should be conserving money for our trip to France.
(See, I told you I'd stop talking about it now that he's back in school.)
But you never know.
See, while my family always gives birthday presents first thing in the morning, Hubby's does presents after dinner with dessert.
It's a bit of a conflict with the expectations set by my childhood and makes me climb the walls with anticipation, but I'm getting accustomed to it.
But here's the thing...if you ask Hubby if he wants his present in the morning he'll say no, but if you show him the present in the morning he'll tear into it. Like any normal person would.

Dinner!
He did not-so-subtly take a rack of lamb out of the freezer this morning, so looks like I'll be having grilled lamb tonight!
Boss Man questioned the fairness of us going to that fancy restaurant for Hubby's b-day but staying home for mine. I said not only is it a school night, but I enjoy eating Hubby's cooking laying on the couch in my PJ's watching our TV shows.
The trick is whether I'll have to do the dishes after.
Because, really, it's my birthday and I shouldn't have to do chores.
As it is, I have to stop and pick up potatoes on my way home.

I Am a Flaming Idiot

A cautionary tail about social media.
So I was on Facebook at 7 am today, instead of getting ready for work, which was probably my first mistake.
And I saw a post from my mother-in-law about a niece being pregnant and due in December.
So I went over to Twitter and typed something along of the lines of "niece is pregnant, another baby blanket to avoid making."
Because as you know, avoiding making baby gifts is my current favorite sport.
Totally forgetting that my Twitter feeds into my Facebook.
Most of my Facebook "friends" are family members.
Including all the pregnant ones for whom I haven't started blankets.
Really need a filter between my fingers and the keyboard.

But It Doesn't Stop There
Oh, my idiocy knows no bounds.
I was working on the Cotton Rib Socks over the weekend.
Remember those? I'm still plugging away at them.
I'm on the heel flap. I worked it for 20 rows, as would be my normal formula, which is work it over half the total sock stitches for the same number of rows.
In this case I had decreased the sock down to 40 sts (from 48) so my flap was across 20 sts.
I'm doing the heel stitch with a garter stitch edge, in case your wondering. Yes, I'm still fixated on it.
Well, I decide to try it on to make sure the heel flap is long enough, because those numbers seem awfully small.

Snap!
Usually I can try a sock-in-progress on without a problem.
But usually I have a larger stitch count, using wool yarn, and the entire thing has more give.
The sock wasn't fitting over my heel.
I could feel it wasn't fitting.
And yet I continued to push until—snap! one of my US1 needles broke.
Now, it is a tragedy whenever a needle is broken, but it could have been worse. (Two could have broken.)
I have actually broken one of these in the past. But, as you may or may not know, Brittany has a really good guarantee and I simply e-mailed them and told them I'd broken one.
They sent me three new ones!
Which was more than I needed, but worked out really well because I had five for working socks and two are in poor, neglected Sundae for the trim.
So, really, all I have to do is fish one out of Sundae and I'm back on track.

It's Never That Simple
Since it wasn't a dire emergency, and just for grins, I got out the first broken one (pack rat? who me?) and the wood glue and glued them back together.
I let them dry a couple days, then went over the joins with clear nail polish in an attempt to smooth out any rough spots.
They seem to have lost some flexibility, which is only to be expected.
I haven't knit with them yet, the nail polish was only dry this morning.
I figure I'll give them a whirl and see what happens. If the repair didn't work, no big deal.

Oh, Sock
After the needle broke, I pulled out the other instep needle and tried it on again.
This time it went on fine and fit.
But I'm considering if I should pull it back and not decrease as much.
But then my 2x2 ribbing won't be correct.
sigh.

Beads
As you can see in the picture, I also lined up the beads last night, but haven't strung any.
I have stitch markers coming out my ears now!
The worst part is I have left over little green flowers and a couple leaves, so obviously I need more beads...I hear there is a bead store in town...
It's a never ending cycle.
I tried to mix it up when I was creating them, but that is against my nature, so I made them all matchy-matchy. Much more harmonious.
Hopefully I'll have time tonight to string a couple