secret pal revelations, etc.

Hey guess what! My secret pal for SP6 was one of the hard-working hosts! I don't know why I'm so impressed with this, but I am. Ines of Stacks of Wool was the one spoiling me... she set a good example by keeping in touch with me and letting me know when things were on the way. In my final package I received a ton of great yarn, a book on entertaining (I could use all the help I can get), a M&Ms jar full of candies, a broomstick pen, a sheepy frame, a red knitting bag SCREAMING to be embroidered... what else? Lots of cool stuff.



Thanks, Ines, for the thoughtful gifts you sent these past few months, and extra thanks for helping arrange the swap itself.

I haven't seen anything about SP7. Have you? I wonder if the flickers of disgruntlement during SP6 put some knitters off on joining another round. That's a shame, since Secret Pal has been such a kick!

About knitting, I've been working on some projects for the Solid Sock-along.



I decided to use the scalloped edging featured in the pattern and I really don't like it. Since taking this picture I have ripped out the sock and restarted. I figured now was as good a time as any to relearn the tubular cast-on. Could I have made it more difficult for myself: learning a new technique (it had been years since I'd done it that once, and had totally forgotten) using black yarn on US0 needles, in the round, drinking red wine? At least the movie I was watching wasn't subtitled. Anyhoo, the cast-on is successful and I am IN LOVE with it. One day you will see a picture! Since restarting the sock I have been doing nothing but non-knitting stuff, like going to see Medeski, Martin, and Wood play last night at the Lincoln Theater! (They were GREAT! It was my first MMW show and I wonder why I wasn't going to see them play before, since I've been listening to them for years.)



Finishing stuff is fun, too. I finished these puppies in record time, or so it seemed. I didn't use the toe technique specified in the pattern, but I did use the unusual heel short-row technique and I like the way it fits. I think I made the socks just a squidge too small. If it becomes a serious issue then I will make them longer, but I've worn them many times since I finally finished them, and they don't seem to creep down my foot or anything. I should reiterate that the Mountain Colors Bearfoot is so insanely soft. I should also point out that the color saturation was different on one sock as compared to the other. It is apparent in the above photo. I don't really care, but am pretty glad that the "differentest" part will be tucked inside my shoes.

The knitting weekend at Figure 8 Island was wonderful. Good food, good friends, and nice weather. The house was huge and comfortably appointed. The first morning there I got to watch the sunrise over the ocean; I used to watch the sun rise over water all the time (six years of sunrises) but it never gets old. During vacations all I want to do is sit around and eat, so appropriately, during my only solid day at the beach, I sat in my jammies and knit and ate, only leaving the house to ... go out to eat!



I hope no one minds having the top of her head featured in this-here blog, but one must see the general disarray (mind you we'd only been there for a couple hours yet) to appreciate what a knit-fest this was. Books galore, skeins aplenty! On Saturday night we watched some 80s TV on DVDs; one person aptly put it: "We watched the weirdest After School Special (ASS). I'm trying to limit my use of 'retarded' and 'gay' but Ace Hits the Big Time is the most retaredly gay ASS. BB noted that like Alf, it was probably written by junkies." I am forced to quote RC because the word "GAY" was running through my mind too but I am too tactless to say it as artfully as she.