• Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 78 other subscribers

  • “Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers” — Isaac Asimov

  • Recent Posts

  • Pages

  • Categories

  • Archives

  • Blog Stats

    • 195,088 hits

Bex Finds Her Soul Mate

Posted on March 8, 2010 by auburnchick

When last we saw Bex, she was sailing the high seas, in search of her soul, or should I say “sole,” mate…

Super Sis even tried her on and made no secret about wanting Bex all for herself…

Dream on, Sista!

Anyhoo, last night, the great search ended when, lo and behold, her mate appeared!

At last, I don’t have to stare into Bex’s lovelorn stitches peeking through the plastic baggie I’d stored her in.  She’d been giving me the What For ever since I cast on last August, and I’d put her away in the extra bedroom to spare myself the guilt trip.

“You’re weak,” she would say, “Allowing your heart to be swayed by this or that project and, thus, sharing…no GIVING your one-on-one attention to another.”

Yeah, yeah.  Whatever.

I’m cold, what can I say.

I knew that Bex would ultimately be residing with me and thus gave her the lowest priority.

But FINALLY!  I was ready to resume work on her.  I actually think I heard Bex laughing at my early struggle to pick up where I’d left off.

A little background…

This is Cookie A’s design from her book Sock Innovation.

She’s one of my favorite sock designers. Her patterns are always so intricate-looking.

I used a wonderful and inexpensive yarn for this project…Berroco Comfort Sock, Color 1702, and knit on size 1 1/2 (2.5 mm) needles. It required every single bit of one skein plus about a yard of another skein (to finish the last two rounds and the bindoff).

The pattern really wasn’t that hard, except for the top of the heel. The directions did not mention this, but you have to knit the cables in reverse on the wrong side.

Um, yeah. At least the front of the book gives you information on how to do this, but if you plod right through the chart and don’t think about it first, you’ll find yourself tinking. This was one time when I was smart and figured it out beforehand. It was easier said than done, though. Cabling in reverse will not be something I do very often.

Regardless, the end product is DIVINE! The yarn is soft, and the cables make the socks thick and smooshy. They are fabo and will stay in my dresser drawer because, as most of us know, only yarnies truly appreciate socks like these!

Now…what to cast on next…

Filed under: Knitting | Tagged: , , , , | 2 Comments »

My Week – In Pictures

Posted on September 18, 2009 by auburnchick
The cheerleaders threw this into the bleachers during Friday nights game. It landed right by my feet.

The cheerleaders threw this into the bleachers during Friday night's game. It landed right by my feet.

Chick-fil-A Nugget Party Platter - A treat to eat during the Auburn/Mississippi State game

Chick-fil-A Nugget Party Platter - A treat to eat during the Auburn/Mississippi State game

Pele must maintain his public image as a lovable, lazy dog...

Pele must maintain his public image as a lovable, lazy dog...

Typical male...keeping the remote close within paws reach...

Typical male...keeping the remote close within paw's reach...

Buckets of rain poured down on us this week...

Buckets of rain poured down on us this week...

Parts...

Parts...

I finally turned the heel of my newest sock. I hope to start on #2 next week.

I finally turned the heel of my newest sock. Can you guess which pattern it is?

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Star Struck

Posted on August 18, 2009 by auburnchick

Ok…so I didn’t get to go to Sock Summit.

If you’re not a knitter, let me explain what Sock Summit was.

It was probably one of the most fantastic knitting get-togethers ever.  Think of it like a Woodstock for knitters.

You know how much I love knitting socks…so I would have loved to have attended.

But I had a couple of problems…

1)  No money

2) No job to make money

So, I stayed home, turned a bit green every time I read about someone else’s brush with this or that famous designer, and knit my own pair of socks all by my lonely self.

I also consoled myself by reading the blogs of some of these designers.

I even posted a couple of comments.  I tend to be a little shy, but when I see something that strikes my fancy, I like to say a little something.

And you know what?

Two of the ladies emailed me after I commented!

The first person was Anne, who writes KnitSpot.

And she didn’t send me just one email.  I think she sent me three!!

Take a look at her blog and join me in ooohhhing and aaaahhhhing over her incredible shawls.  Her photography is incredible.

The next shock came tonight.

I was doing my “mom” thing…

No…not cooking dinner…

I was at the high school, handing out schedules at the Freshmen Orientation.

During a lull in the action, my phone vibrated.  I had an email.

Upon opening it, I discovered the sender’s name…

Are you ready?

It was…

Cookie A

I almost fell out of my chair.

Remember the red socks I just finished?

That was Cookie’s pattern!

And I’ve got a little something new “cooking” on my needles, if you get my drift.

I tried to explain to the volunteer sitting beside me why I was picking up my jaw from the table.

I’m not sure if she got it.

If you’re into fibery crafts, you understand.

Both of these ladies’ responses were personal and very sweet.  It was cool to find out that they do really pay attention to the people who comment on their blogs.

It was probably a good thing that I didn’t make it to Sock Summit.  I would have returned home with a serious case of dry eye syndrome from not being able to blink…afraid to miss a glimpse of a famous knitter.

Filed under: Knitting | Tagged: , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Socks and Tires

Posted on August 15, 2009 by auburnchick

I had a little wrench thrown into my plans this morning.

The grand plan was for me to get up, finish a pair of socks, and take Rooster to the beach to ride go-carts.

Instead, I spent an hour and a half here…

alt text

Yeah…I had to go to the auto place to fix this…

alt text

I ran over a screw yesterday. I even heard a pop when I did it but thought something had fallen off of the back of the car. I looked in my rearview mirror, didn’t see anything, and drove on…thinking I’d take a look when I stopped at the grocery store. Well, I was so preoccupied with the horrible smell of my hair, that I forgot to look.

The Mr. got up this morning to take Chicky across state to her practice and discovered this…

alt text

He didn’t have time to take the car in before leaving (praise God for having more than one vehicle), so the task of getting it repaired fell into my lap.

Now, let me tell you…I will gladly fix things around the house.  You know this.  You’ve read about my home-repair adventures.  However, I draw the line at car repairs.  Tell me to take the car in for an oil change, and I’m all over it.  But please, do not make me get a new tire.  I don’t understand the speak and am forced to act as the intermediary between the Mr. and the salesman.

Not fun.

The technician could not patch the tire, so a replacement was in order…as was a brake fluid flush.  Ugh.

Fortunately, I am a knitter.  Knitters come to such situations prepared.

I had the good sense to pack my knitting bag, so all was not lost.

I used my sitting time wisely and finished knitting sock #2 of my latest pair of socks.  I snuck in the following picture while the technicians were occupied elsewhere…

alt text

The pattern is Rick, from Cookie A’s new book Sock Innovation.  You can find corrections to the book here.  Make sure you print them out before starting this pattern, because there were a couple of slight corrections in the instructions for this pattern.

The yarn is Cascade Heritage, colorway 5607.  It’s more of a cranberry red.  It took 75 grams to make this pair.  Because it’s 75% merino, the socks are soft and warm.

alt text

I began this project on August 4th and finished today, August 15.

alt text

I used size 1 1/2 needles and, fortunately, the socks fit!  There is a Sock Innovation group on Ravelry, and my research made me a little concerned.  People who knit this pattern found it ran a little small.

I’ve gotta tell you that I LOVE Cookie A’s patterns.  The directions in this pattern were very easy to follow.  It’s amazing how simply arranging a few stitches this way or that can create such a beautiful effect!

One thing I did with this pattern was scan the charts for the feet.  Yes…I said feet.  If you look closely, you’ll notice that the “striping” on each sock goes in different directions, so each leg and foot has different charts.  After scanning them, I used a highlighter to mark through each round I completed.  This enabled me to see where I was at a glance.

The pattern looks like it would be difficult, but it really wasn’t!  This is a pattern where you definitely can “read” your knitting and know instantly (with few exceptions) if you’re knitting the wrong stitch.

alt text

I think that this is one of my favorite pair of socks.  It’s vibrant and has a lacy look that is very feminine.

Filed under: Knitting | Tagged: , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Mother-Son Weekend

Posted on August 1, 2009 by auburnchick

Soccer season has officially begun.

Chicky and the Mr. left for the other side of the state for her first weekend of practice.

That left Rooster and me at home alone.

It’s actually a good combination, as our personalities mesh quite well.

This morning, he casually mentioned how we had not been to Such-and-Such Restaurant in a long time, and how we’re the only two in the family who really like it.

Gee, boy, could the hint be any more obvious?

I had to laugh.  You see, when the other two members of the family are gone, we have a couple of things we like to do together…eat at this restaurant and watch movies.

We knew that a movie would push the budget too far, so we opted for lunch out instead.

But first, I wanted to get in my workout.  After biking 5.6 miles with a minimal amount of pain and a lot of sweat, and a nice long shower, we settled in to watch the X Games.  I find it difficult to watch these sports…too many people falling down wrong on ankles and elbows.  Ouch!

We finally got around to our lunch plans.

It was so much fun!  Rooster is a cute kid (did I actually just type that?) teenager with the personality to match.  The conversation was easy, and lunch was terrific.

Then, we drove to the bookstore on the beach.

Ahhh…the smell of new books.  It’s almost as satisfying as a a Godiva Caramel Chocolixer (almost but not quite).

I had a $2 coupon that I simply could not allow to go unused.

I headed straight for the knitting books.

In my heart, I knew what I wanted, but I looked, disinterested, at some of the other books before walking away from that aisle.  In my hands?

Ahhh…Cookie A…you’ve just got to love her patterns!  I’ve made a few of the patterns available on Knitty and love how creative she is!  I’ve already googled for pattern errata and found a list here.

Rooster was ready to go by then, but when he mentioned that Brad Thor has a new book out…well, I had to take a peek.

Thor is the author of the series of books I’ve recently read my way through…with the exception of the second to the last one.  Its paperback version was a temptation that proved too much for me.

I mean…I had to find out what happened between the last book I’d read and the final one in the series.  It would be like reading the first and third Lord of the Ring books and skipping the second (were there only three?).  This one went in my hands with the knitting book…

I figured we’d better get out of the store after that.

We had a rather mellow afternoon followed by more X Games.   We watched one gal, a deaf young lady, win her Super X race (dirt bike).  It was very inspirational to see her fly through the course using her other senses and raw talent.  Wow!

Tomorrow will be a day of church, NASCAR, and knitting…maybe even a little napping.

Boy, do I love these Mother-Son Weekends!

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

« Previous Page
  • December 2025
    S M T W T F S
     123456
    78910111213
    14151617181920
    21222324252627
    28293031  

  • Currently Reading

  • Books I’ve Read