Till my dyeing day.

Warning: cranky whining and moaning ahead. Skip this post if you don't wanna read it.

What does one do when it's &)%#*(&@)()%^& hot and one's ankles are &*)#&(@)(*$& swollen?
One attempts to do a quick dye job for some instant gratification. Alas, the best laid plans, and all that...



After two days of untangling (that pile up there was only half the original skein) I finally got two roughly equal balls. (Not bad, given that I broke the yarn once at random and was only two grams off.) Anyway, I skeined up one of the balls...



...and decided to attempt something I saw Jen do once, a million years ago. Only in this case, I wasn't using RIT, or taupe, or salt, I was using Wilton's and vinegar. I left it a little too long before I dumped the second part in, so the third part will be almost white, but hey, that's why they call it an experiment (and also why I do't cook).



For the rest of the day, I am going to indulge my cranky-ass self by sitting around complaining about the heat.



For those of you who think I'm a wuss for whining about 84 degrees in the house, keep in my that I showed you my thermostat. The thing that is supposed to regulate the A/C. The thing that is NOT set to EVER reach 84 degrees. There is something wrong with the &%)(#@*(&@)(%&*#$()@) thing and I must turn it off periodically to get it to work again. (The DH thinks the compressor is icing over since it's been so humid here, and we have to turn it off to let the ice melt before it will work again.) During the week this is not a problem - I set it way high while we're gone and when we come back the cool comes on and all is well. When I'm supposed to be sitting with my feet up to reduce the swelling, and "laying down" makes me sweat, we have a problem. What, you mean that isn't the best time to have a large pot full of boiling water in the kitchen? Huh, that's an interesting point of view.
Anyway, in between bouts of whining about the heat, I've been working on the Lene sock. Did you know, if you Keep Your Shit Tight™ and your husband or child pulls the needle out of your stitches, the stitches pop out of the wraps and you have to rip the whole heel? Yeah, I serve as a warning of what not to do. Anyway, I have moved past the heel and have at most four pattern repeats before I can slap some ribbing on the sucker and call 'er done. I can't wait - Twist Collective has gotten me all in the mood for fall (I dunno why, since we have nearly three months of summer left in this horrid place) and I'm not allowing myself to buy yarn or pattern until I finish and mail those socks!

I tried to get a picture of the dog sleeping with her tongue sticking out, but when I got out the camera she woke up. I got the next best thing.

As it turns out

I still remember how to knit!



I knitted the cuff on this sock on Sunday afternoon, decided it needed to be shifted 2 stitches, ripped, and reknit. I expect I might actually finish it tonight at Knit night. It's Dizzy Blonde yarn in the JenLa colorway, in the Charade pattern. It's a little snug over the ankle, prolly due to the PSSOs, but once I get it on it fits very nicely. It doesn't count toward SoS, but it does count toward my summer goals.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, my Lene socks, which will be my main traveling project next week, DO count for SoS, even though I've already knit a whole one - it is too snug and must be ripped. Sigh.

Wow

You want lurkers to come out and comment, just announce a pregnancy! ;-) Thanks for all the congrats, well wishes, and commiseration. The energy is creeping back into my life, though sadly, not for handwork, and the nausea is reduced, though not gone entirely. I went back to work in the office yesterday, and three different people told me, "Wow, you've really lost weight!" LOL I overdid it a bit yesterday, so today I'm back at home in my too-big, untied-drawstring pants, hiding out in the A/C and listening to water music. (Currently, either Yanni, George Winston, or some of the Lifescapes things you can get at Target. Ottmar Liebert is on my work-music playlist too, but his music puts me in mind of late afternoon Mediterranean heat and dancing in the piazza, and it's just too hot for that right now.)


C'mon, Sunday.

Soon, though, we leave for Montana. I will be forced to restart the handwork, because we are driving. (Yes, even with gas prices as they are, it's cheaper to drive than to fly.) Four full days of driving, out of the nine we will be gone. That constitutes a lot of car knitting. I have plans to restart and finish Lene's socks during that time (first pair for Summer of Socks, yeah!), and I'll be bringing the Charade socks out of my JenLa yarn. It's quite possible that's all I will bring, though if the mojo strikes hot and fast, there's a nice little yarn shop there, and the Mountain Colors factory (complete with baskets of millends, for $1 an ounce) just up the way. I wasn't really looking forward to this trip. I'm one of those who, when I feel bad, I curl up in the fetal position and DON'T go with the flow. However, I just looked at this



and now I'm excited for the trip. Wooo Montana!