His name is William Henry (as in William Henry Harrison).

William Henry, you are so photogenic.

After the Fourth, he is going over to our vet’s office to see if he is cut out to be a clinic cat (they were really taken with his laid-back self). I am hoping that he does well there because then we can still see him all the time (with all the cats and our aged dog, we pretty much pay their light bill). I will be terribly sad to see him go, he is one of the sweetest kitties I’ve ever met. I’ve met a LOT of kitties.

Oh yeah, I finally finished the first half of the June socks. If you pry your eyes off William Henry and look at the rest of the picture, you can see it. I’ve got one half of July’s socks finished already (the purple LL), so I can finish both pairs up this month.

But look at this cool thing! It’s a case for your Sock-In-Progress!

You just stuff in the needles and put on the top!

Like magic, it secures the sock-in-progress for transport to a new knitting venue. No more falling off of the needles in your purse! Woot. I got one for Mom and Great Gran as well. You can have one if you write to jhd at atlanticbb dot net (I am sure y’all can figure that out). They come in different sizes and cost $20 each. And when you write ask if she has plans for monograms. I figure if enough people show an interest, I will eventually have a mongrammed Sock Sealer! Many thanks to the Yarn Harlot for posting about this handy thing on her blog!

Other fun stuff:
I realized last weekend that camp was three weeks away and I hadn’t planned ANY of the Arts and Crafts Activites. There has been very little knitting because of the Frenzy of Activity.

I’m in two more sock swaps! I only have to make one sock for one of them (the hurricane one) and the other pair (the Toasty one) isn’t due until the end of October. That has not stopped me from ordering sock yarn! I was forced to order several colors and variety of brands so that I can be sure to pick the ones my pals will like best. It’s such a shame the rest of it will be left over. I am sure I can find it a nice home. Unlike kitties, sock yarn is happy in a drawer or a closet or a trunk until you are ready to use it. And I want to know: why is there never any Vesper at kpixie when a girl is ready to break her fast?!

I gotta tell you: I am so happy that the SYAC is over and done! I earned three gold stars and didn’t buy sock yarn for three solid months. Those three months sucked. They might actually be responsible for my knitting enui. I have no proof of this, but I can certainly see a correlation. I love sock yarn! And I want MORE.

I am afraid that the result of all your waiting is a blurry FBS picture.

I assure you the stitch definition is much better in person.

But that’s OK because I have a new little buddy!

He showed up in the yard yesterday morning and has moved into the garage. I couldn’t call our Animal Control Lady because it was Saturday.* We’ll have to take him over to the shelter on Monday (we just CAN’T have another cat) so he can find a home. Unless one of y’all is in the market for a kitty! He is very affectionate and cuddly, knows all about litter boxes and has a super sweet personality. A very well behaved little guy. And see how cute?

Becky are you ready for a cat? We can run him over to you next week!

*You have to have Gina’s approval before you take anybody to our shelter.

So. I opened all my new blog entries in one window (my RSS folder lets me do that). And then Safari crashed before I got to read them. I don’t know who posted and who didn’t. I believe that “suck-o” is a good word to describe this event.

I did get to the end of the first ball of yarn on my FBS. I even took a picture. But the batteries in the camera are dead so y’all don’t get to see it. “Suck-o” also sums this event up neatly.

Maybe tomorrow will be a better day for blogs.

This is for the Hurricane Sock Party. read on if you would like, I can’t promise funny or pictures or anything that will be interesting to anyone but my sock pal. We will return to our regularly scheduled blogging later today.

I have finished the mantra.

2. If your pet wrote a paragraph about you to describe you to us what would they say?

There is not enough food. There is never enough food. There are too many other cats. Would anyone like a cat? I have some for free. Scritch me.

(What? You think the cats are actually interested in what I do?)

3. What is your favorite hurricane supplies snack?

I do like that cheese spread in the MREs… Pre-storm I always bake brownies. ALWAYS. It is a Superstitious Thing.

4. Do sock patterns normally fit you “as written” or do you usually modify them for size in any way?

They fit fine when I go by the pattern. Occasionally, they fit fine when I don’t.

4a. What are your foot measurements, not just shoe size?

My feet are 8.5″ around and 8.5″ long. Which makes it sound like my feet are square. But they are regular feet shape.

5. What one city abroad would you visit and why if money was no object?

We don’t really travel all that well. So I am going to pick somewhere in Japan (it seems that craftiness is big there).

6. Do you wear socks all year round or just during the winter? Do you prefer them tall or short or regular height?

I live in South Alabama. Socks are a November to March kind of thing for me (unless I am dressing up). I don’t really like the short kind and I have never had a pair of tall ones (hand made anyway - we all had knee socks in elementary school).

7. The last time the power was out during hurricane season did you knit by lantern or were you lucky enough to knit to the humm of a generator?

I keep insisting that we don’t need a generator - we live right across the street from the hospital and *technically* should have our lights back on Day 1. Unfortunately, it is a long way from the house to the street and we still have a lot of trees. Because of this we never have lights on Day 1. Thus, Post-storm it’s really to hot to knit (and my hands are usually coated in pine sap).

8. Make a wish for your favorite sock yarn that you’ve already used once.

Ah. There are so many! At the moment, I am fond Counrty Hill Yarns “Instant Gratification.” I have recently developed a deep and persistant soft spot for Lorna’s Laces Supersock. But I will always love Cherry Tree Hill Supersock. I’m not allowed to have it any more. M has banned it because of repeated winding issues.

9. What is it about sock knitting that keeps you wanting to knit more and more socks?

The holes in the heels.

10. Make a wish for a sock yarn that you are dying to try but haven’t bought for yourself yet.

I have a whole list. Really, I do! The first thing on the list is Toasty Toes and the last thing is “some kind of cotton that isn’t Fixation.”

11. What size needles do you knit socks for YOURSELF with the most? Are they circular or bamboo needles? What brand?

I HEART ADDI TURBO. 24″ 1s.
I really like knitting socks out of heavier yarns on 3s as well.

12. If you could only take 3 yarn related books and one previously knitted project that you love with you when you evacuated what would they be?

I would take both cardigans (and the Perfect Cardigan pattern). I would leave the three books at home make room for the second cardigan.

14. What is your favorite tv show?

Everybody Hates Chris. Julius is the Greatest TV Dad of All Time.

15. Do you want a lacey sock or a “solid fabric” sock from your hurricane sister?

Dude. Surprise me!

16. It’s midnight and the power has been off for two days, its hot, and you have a craving for something sweet! What would it be?

I am so very asleep at this point. Cleaning up us HARD. I might be dreaming of sorbet.

17. Tell us a story about any of your hurricane weather related experiences.

Shoot. Y’all just read the archives from any of the summer months.
The most surreal thing for me is going into Winn Dixie with no lights (they have a generator for the registers) and noticing what people consider “storm food.” The raveoli is GONE but the spaghettios are still there. Strawberry Poptarts are like ambrosia.

18. What was the one thing you wish you had remembered to get last year for hurricane supplies that you swore you wouldn’t forget this year?

We had so many last year that we are pretty much set. A solar array with 12-volt would be nice. It would be good to remember to actually light the candles when the lights go out and not just sit in the dark.

19. What color sock would you like to recieve from your sock sister?

I’m not kidding, I really do like to be surprised!

I should have posted these on Monday but you know how it is…

My Sock Yarn Addicts Club Sock Pal Socks Arrived on Saturday! Woot!

From Ariel. Aren’t the cards cute? Where do y’all find such fun things?

They are beautifully made and fit perfectly! I also really like the pattern: Lava Flow Socks by Sockbug. The colors are thrilling (I love bright socks). But the hands down best part of the socks is that they are made from some Mysterious Chinese Yarn. I’m not kidding. The label is in Chinese and neither one of us can read Chinese. Here is a close up of the ball band in case any of y’all read Chinese and can enlighten the rest of us. The “handwash” symbol is clear enough! Thank you so much, Ariel! I know I will enjoy wearing these as much as I’ve enjoyed looking at them as soon as it isn’t 93° outside!

The sock is going well. The shawl is not. We got a total of ZERO raindrops from Alberto. Not that we are especially close to where he was going, but I had hoped for a little bit to tamp the dust down. I think we are on the way to a “No Outside Watering” situation. At least the grass won’t need to be mowed for a while.

PS Today is Flag Day!

Tomorrow is World Wide Knit in Public Day! I knit in public all the time, but tomorrow I will be doing it On Purpose.

Great Gran had been working merrily along on her FBS, when she hit a snag on row 27. One half of the pattern kept coming out wrong. Which made NO sense because the row before row 27 (row 25) came out fine. She had unknit and reknit and backed up many rows before hitting the “I hate this, I will never knit anything but garter stitch scarves ever again for all of my life” point. We’ve all been there.

I brought it home with me because sometimes it helps to not hate the shawl that you are trying to fix (I haven’t touched my own FBS in two solid days). I figured out what was wrong (a missing YO - it’s always one stupid missing YO), fixed it and spent the next 45 minutes knitting one half of row 35 completely wrong. Over and over again I did it wrong in exactly the same way. Until I was at the “I hate this, I will never knit anything but garter stitch scarves ever again for all of my life” point. We’ve all been there.

Stupid shawl. It’s lucky for you that you smell of grapely deliciousness.

Mom would like me to tell you that she now has 200 and something (I can’t remember exactly, I was busy crying about row 35) stitches on her FBS. She would like to point out that she is winning again. Nyah Nyah.

I have started my June sock. M has been sad that he hasn’t had any new socks lately, so June’s socks are for him. I let him pick the blue yarn.

Hill Country Yarns, Instant Gratification in “Scholar.”

So it’s not BLUEblue. It’s navy. And gold. And brown. That counts, right? I’ve already pulled out the leg three times trying to find a stitch pattern that I like with the yarn. Whee!

Lastly, when we were up in DC the other weekend, we went in one of the Stitch DC locations. There were two shells made up that I was interested in, but the Yarn Girl on Duty didn’t know what books they belonged to. I’m hoping that one of y’all does.

I am especially interested in the one on the left. I suspect that Jeager is somehow involved.

Update: The shell on the right is from Jaeger JB34. It’s the one called “Hazel.”
The shell on the left is from Jaeger JB39. I’m going to leave off the belt.
Thank you kind strangers! I am off to place a pattern order!

Team Miracle

“You know, when I first heard about The Amazing Lace, I was all like, ‘Hey that sounds like a lot of fun and I’ll get to see the world.’ And then I met my teammates. They’re great - really great. I love them to death. . . Except that there are just so many of them. Know what I mean? And I can’t tell them apart. I guess I’ll have plenty of time to get to know them all better, huh?” [chuckling and rolling her eyes]

“The pattern? Oh yeah, I had to work that out for myself. My teammates were no help at all. They just sat around and let me do all the work. I’m all, ‘Hey, what do y’all think of this?’ but it’s like they don’t want to be involved. We just don’t have the kind of communication that I really think we need. I hope this doesn’t become a problem later on - everyone needs to pull their own weight. We’ve got to make 146 squares together or something insane like that. I just want to give it my best effort and have a good time, you know? I hope those cones of yarn don’t get in the way.”

– Emily Ivey, during an interview Sunday afternoon

” * “

– A press release from the 14 cones of Lily Sugar’n Cream. We were unable to reach their spokesperson for further comment.