Feeling fallish

It's the last day of October. The fall colors are mostly gone from the trees now leaving the lawns blanketed with debris. My morning walk is done in chilly temperatures with a distinctive crunch underfoot. Baseball is over and fall sports are drawing to a close. Last night the ghouls and goblins were in our neighborhood for trick-or-treat. We are putting up storm doors and clearing the furniture off the deck. You get the feeling we're settling in - getting ready for the winter. The animals all around us are doing the same thing.

This morning I finally finished my October socks. I had them just about finished last night but left the kitchener until this morning when I was more awake. As I sat down to finish them I realized that I had rearranged the stitches incorrectly when I started the toe. I tried to convince myself if wouldn't matter but I knew it would bother me so I ripped out the toe and reknit it.


Pattern: Lichen Ribbed Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Goldrush
Needles: 2.75 mm KnitPicks circulars
Modifications: I made my usual round toe instead of the one in the pattern.

I'm quite pleased with the new socks. I'm proud of myself for trying a new heel - the Welsh heel - even though it sounded silly with a seam stitch down the middle. They fit great and I'd definitely make them again. And now I can have an O next to my name on the SAM blog - just under the wire.



Here are the current socks on the needles. To the left are the Harvest Cable socks that I all but abandoned during my Red Sox knitting and to the right are the Green Monster Rally Monkey socks. Both of these socks require at least some attention while knitting leaving me without a simple, portable knitting project. This means that I need to give them my full attention. By the end of November I hope to have two completed pairs of socks to share.

We are the Champions!

Too stupid to blog.

Remember when I was too stupid to knit? Well, the same thing can happen with blogging.
Yesterday, I barely had my wits about me. I didn't trust myself to actually type something into Blogger.

It's true. The Red Sox won the World Series. Again. As a lifelong Red Sox fan, it's hard to even believe. The Red Sox are supposed to come close to winning; they're supposed to get your hopes up as high as they can possibly be; they're supposed to convince you they are about to be the World Champs; and then, then they're supposed to crush your heart by finding some way to choke and lose it all. To win two World Series in 4 years is unbelievable.

Of course, all my knitting juju must have had something to do with the win. The Good Juju socks got the Sox through a rough period in September when their 14 game lead dwindled down to a 2 game lead. The October socks got the Sox past Cleveland. And, finally, the Green Monster Rally Monkey socks got the Sox all the way to the World Series.

There are only a few rounds left on my second October sock. I'll have a picture to share soon. I almost thought I wouldn't have an O next to my name in the Sock a Month KAL. I've had a letter next to my name for every month since I joined SAM 2. Once these are finished, I can even return to my sadly neglected Harvest Cable socks which have been patiently awaiting my return.

Green Monster Rally Monkey Socks

As you know, I've been knitting good luck socks for the Red Sox since September. I asked you to chime in with your opinion on whether I should continue with my October socks or start a new pair for the World Series. The vast majority of you said I should start a new pair. Blogless Diane mentioned that she had never knit her red Red Sox socks but that she had knit a pair of Green Monster socks.

Green Monster socks sounded like a great idea to me but I still needed a pattern. I brought the idea to Ravelry and the majority of people suggested Monkeys. Hence, theGreen Monster Rally Monkey Socks were born. We even have a little KAL going on. You don't have to knit Monkey socks to join us but you do have to knit green ones. If you're not on Ravelry but want to join us in knitting Green Monster socks for the Red Sox, just leave a link to your socks in the comments field.

Here's the beginning of my Green Monster Rally Monkey Socks:



I cast on during the pregame show before the first game. Right as I started the first pattern row, the first batter for the Red Sox hit a homerun right into the Green Monster. Coincidence? I think not.

The Sox are now up 2 games to 0. We move to Colorado tomorrow night. Go Sox!!!

World Series

The World Series starts tonight. Colorado Rockies vs. Boston Red Sox. You all know who I have my money on. Well, I don't literally have my money on anyone because I'm not a betting woman but you know what I mean. Sunne, however, suggested a friendly wager between knitting buddies. She's a Rockies fan. I won't hold it against her because she does live in the beautiful state of Colorado and her husband is a Rockies fan. She thought it might be fun to place a little wager on the series. When the Red Sox win, Sunne will send me two skeins of Apple Laine in Red Sox colors (or colors of my choosing). If the Rockies win, I will send her Apple Laine in their team colors. Who could turn down such a tempting offer?

Let the games begin.

For the record, I'm putting aside the October socks for the series because they won't keep me occupied for more than one game. Instead, I'll be casting on some Green Monster socks tonight. I'm still taking suggestions for the perfect pattern.

Go Red Sox!!

Big Decision

I'm too old for this. Seriously. I was up until almost 1:00 this morning watching the Red Sox defeat the Indians. The game was awesome and there were many times I thought it was lost but, in the end, the Sox prevailed and will move on to the World Series. Then I'll really get no sleep.

So I have a decision to make. I knit the Good Juju socks back in September when it seemed the Red Sox were going to somehow lose the 14.5 game lead they were carrying. The Red Sox held on to the lead and won their Division. Then I started the October socks for good luck through the playoffs. Once again, even though they were down 3 games to 1 and even though I had all but written them off, the Red Sox prevailed. In 7 games they defeated the Cleveland Indians to clinch the American League berth in the World Series.

I've got my second October sock partway through the gusset and it's moving along fine. I can't see it lasting me through 4 or more World Series games. Do I put these aside for now - well not really aside but finish them during the day - and knit a new pair of good luck socks for the World Series? Or do I just finish these and start a new pair when they're done?

Blogless Diane is knitting some Green Monster socks. I've never seen them because she never uploads pictures to Ravelry (*hint*) but I love the idea. I don't really want to knit another pair of red socks right now but I do have some lovely red Shibui yarn that I could use. I also have some perfect green Dream in Color Smooshy yarn that would make great Green Monster socks. But there's no Green Monster in Denver so would the socks have the same good fortune in Denver?

Please tell me your thoughts as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the red Apple Laine socks have been washed and are drying outside in the 80 degree weather (WEIRD!). I'll wait to wear them until Wednesday night. I need to catch some mighty sleep before then.

October socks

More than one person suggested I start a new pair of Good Juju socks for the Red Sox. Trust me, I've got that covered. Originally I had planned to start another pair of red socks for good luck but after giving it some thought I changed my mind. Instead of red socks, I started some October socks. The whole point of the very long baseball season is to make it until October. If you don't play well, you don't play in October at all. If you do play well, you play until the very end of October and, perhaps, even into the beginning of November

This Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn in Goldrush all but screams October to me. The pattern is Lichen Ribbed sock by Nancy Bush from Knitting Vintage Socks. I followed the pattern as written and I really like the Welsh heel. It fits me surprisingly well. I altered the toe, however, to my standard round toe. I'm not about to begin the heel flap of the second sock.

The Red Sox can use any luck or mojo or prayers or charms that you have at your disposal for the next 40 hours or so. Do you think that's too long to keep your fingers crossed?

Yarn PrOn Friday

I bought these two skeins of Yarntini - Cherry Cordial and Chocolatini - a couple of weeks ago from The Loopy Ewe during a Sneak Up. I felt the need for a little lift me up and a change from the fallish colored yarns I had recently bought. I simply could not resist these beautiful, cheerful skeins of Yarntini.

And now, because I'm feeling guilty, or if guilty isn't the right word I could say pulled toward, the yarn already in my stash, I'm done with yarn buying until after Christmas. I'd like to say I'm done until the Super Bowl sales but I try not to set my goals so far away. But I really have so very much yarn that I want to knit with that I don't want new yarn to get in the way.

Good Juju finished

While I was outside yesterday taking not so good photos, I snapped a picture of my finished Good Juju socks. They're just a plain vanilla, cuff down sock pattern knit with Apple Laine's Macintosh. I love Apple Laine! It feels wonderful and it smells amazing. The socks are soft and squishy and a delight to wear.

The Good Juju got the Red Sox all the way to the playoffs but there's only so much Juju can do. I don't want to talk about it or bore all you non-baseball folks but let's just say I think the Red Sox are done. I'm not a fair weather fan but I'm a realist and the Sox don't have what it takes this year. There is still at least one game to be played and I'll be watching like the good little fan I am but the truth of the matter is I'm just waiting for the agony to be over.

An overdue thank you

I headed outside this morning to take some long overdue pictures. Sadly, the pictures didn't come out great but I'm thinking that if I wait to get perfect pictures I may never update the blog.

First things first. I owe a long overdue thank you to my wonderful SP9 buddy. Jessica was truly a wonderful pal. She really took the time to put together packages just for me. All three packages she sent were filled with items that let me know she was trying to find the perfect gifts for me. I appreciate every single thing she sent. What I liked best was that she appealed to both my foodie and fiber side. She sent this cute little cookbook as well as hand made goodies. She also sent lots and lots of tea. She even knitted a cozy for the travel tea mug she gifted me. AND she dyed yarn especially for me. Thank you, Jessica! You truly were a special pal.



I made these socks from the Artyarns Ultramerino that Jessica sent in my second package. I knit them toe up and learned lots of new-to-me techniques. I really liked Judy's Magic Cast on and feel that Wendy's toe up gusset and heel flap makes the best toe up heel I've tried yet. I used a bind off found on Grumperina's blog. The socks are definitely a mish mosh of toe up techniques that best suited me. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the socks. They are, perhaps, a bit too big and the heel is sort of bunchy or something but I finished them and I'll wear them. The yarn is wonderful and I'd love to use it again.

Celebrating

Today is my 15th wedding anniversary. It hardly seems possible. I feel very blessed to have married a man that I love more today than I did 15 years ago. I am grateful for our three boys, our wonderful home, and our strong marriage.

To celebrate, I made this Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie. A month or so ago I asked Mr. Baseball to go through one of my cookbooks with some Post It flags to flag recipes he would be interested in. This is one of his flagged recipes. We haven't tried it yet but it sure smells good.

In other celebratory news, this is our first day without Contractor Dude. He's all done. I can't even begin to tell you how happy the boys and I are to have our house back. There's still some work to be done but Mr. Baseball will finish that on Friday. I am SO happy with how the renovations turned out. I'll take pictures on a sunny day to show it off. Mr. Baseball and I went out last night to buy some carpets for two of the rooms and new furniture for the family room. We got carpets at The Christmas Tree Shop and furniture from Bob's Discount Furniture. Here's the furniture we chose. We got the love seat, chair and ottoman (the sofa wouldn't fit) and it will be delivered next Thursday.

Knitting has been slow going. I've just been too tired to get much done at night and too busy during the day. I'm enjoying the Harvest Cables, however, and I'm working on the heel flap of the first one. The first Lichen Ribbed sock is just about at the toe. Perhaps tonight I'll finish it.

Too stupid to knit

Yesterday morning while reading my email I was quite pleased to discover that Oldest Boy's soccer game for the day was canceled. It's not that I don't enjoy seeing him play soccer, but this is his recreation team and if he wasn't playing it meant I had the day off. I knew immediately what I wanted to do. I got myself ready, made sure Mr. Baseball had what he needed for the day, and headed off to the New Hampshire Wool Arts Tour.

It was a beautiful day - perhaps a bit too warm for fall. I enjoyed my time alone in the car, listening to the radio, noticing the foliage (or lack thereof really), taking my time. I haven't done the tour in years but it was pretty much as I remembered. There really isn't much yarn for sale and I'm not interested in spinning so I didn't spend much. The farms and homes were peaceful and the folks on the tour were very pleasant. I bought one skein of yarn that I needed to make a hat I've been planning to knit and some delicious lamb stew.

Last night, I was bone tired. I decided to finish the pattern repeat on the Harvest Cable sock. I discovered, however, that I was simply too stupid to be knitting. I couldn't remember to purl when I needed to purl and I kept having to tink back. I finally put away the knitting before I did any real damage to the sock and vowed to get back to it when I had more brain cells.

In which there is actual knitting

Yesterday, as we attempted to stay out of the way of Contractor Dude and friends, we headed to two new skateparks. The boys had a great time skateboarding and scootering most of the day. I enjoyed the beautiful weather and was able to knit the cuff of my Harvest Cable Sock. I'm using Wollmeise in Spice Market and think it's a perfect color for a harvesty Socktober sort of sock.



We had a great day topped off with a win on the soccer field for Oldest Boy's team and dinner at a fantastic burger place recommended by a friend. I've driven by this place tons of times and it never occurred to me to stop in. We all had a great time and a super dinner and came home exhausted and ready for bed.

Today the adventure continues.

You asked to see it

This is the site the boys and I came home to today.



Contractor Dude had his friend Electrician Dude here for the day. Electrician Dude put in the wiring for our new double oven, installed new lights over the cabinets, moved a cable outlet and fixed some funky wiring issues. Contractor Dude worked on the kitchen walls, ripped out more flooring and took off my cabinet doors.



I hesitate to share this last photo with you but here goes ... Turn away if you're squeamish.



That's my kitchen sink. A brown porcelain kitchen sink. Seriously. Who the heck installed this monster? I can tell you that it doesn't normally look this bad but Contractor Dude told me they've been abusing it. I can't wait for a shiny new sink.

The boys and I spent the day just trying to stay away from the house. We ate breakfast on a picnic table at a nearby grocery store, ran some errands and hung out at the skatepark. The weather was beautiful and we had quite a nice day. I finished the Garter Rib socks (pics hopefully on Wednesday) and cast on for the Harvest Cable socks.

Tomorrow we need to be absent for the whole day while Contractor Dude has two more friends here - Plumber Dude and Chimney Man. He promises me it will all be over soon.