A proper pair of witches socks . . .

A proper pair of witches socks should be elegant, yet simple in design. They should appear normal to the muggle passersby, hiding that which makes them special for only magical eyes to see.



I had a great time knitting these. I decided what I was going to do when I saw these on Eunny's blog. It's a fairly basic toe up sock, changing the color of yarn every 4 rows, with a short row heel and a bit of ribbing at the cuff. I used Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Sunshine and Cranberry. I used the method Eunny suggested to minimize jogging, and it seemed to work fairly well:



I hope my pal likes them! I liked them so much, I decided to knit some more. I started today on a pair in sunshine and blackberry for my sister to take backpacking in Europe. When I finish those (she's leaving pretty soon) I'll start a pair in jeans and rainbow. I hope to finish my sister's pair over the weekend, since we're flying to Indiana and back. We'll see.

I've been tagged

by a blue turtle!

Here are the tag rules:
Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write on their blog the 7 facts as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag 7 others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you are tagging a note in their comments so they know they have been tagged and to read your blog. Have fun!

Seven Random Facts:

1) Many sweet people gave us wine glasses as wedding presents - my favorite use for them? Chocolate milk!

2) I rarely go to the downtown mall without going to the library - it makes the parking free (although I walk a lot) and I love books.

3) I don't pack my lunch for work because it saves money; I pack my lunch because it leaves me with more time to knit at work.

4) I can't have a normal schedule in my current field - my work day either has to start at 4am, 11am, or 3pm, there are no holidays and weekends are basically expected.

5) One SIL is also a friend from college, and I almost had a BIL who had the same name as my husband.

6) I think roast goat may very well be the best meal I've ever had.

7) My current cooking related goal is to make a decent pie crust from scratch.

I am ending this trail here, because I don't know who to tag. If anyone reads this and wants to play a long, feel free to continue the thread.

Life List Update - May 07

3. Master fluffy biscuits
. . .
32. Learn three more languages to a 4th semester college level
33. Raise bees and eat more honey
34. Spin the whole fleece of a sheep I've had a chance to meet
35. Own a spinning wheel
36. Collect a few attractive and useful drop spindless
37. Find a job that I don't feel guilty about and do that for a living


On a less lifechanging, yet similarly self-referencing note . . .

Finish your blessed thank-you notes you freakin' slacker!!! For the love!

I didn't buy any yarn . . .

. . . but I'm getting to be very fond of the spindle. We've been hanging out in the evenings. This is my first two ply handspun, isn't it cute?? All of about 40 yards and it varies in weight from lace to worsted, but I did it.




This is my new project - 80% black alpaca 20% Silk, and thus far I'm keeping it fairly even. I may dye it, once it's plyed to make the white bits of silk have some color, maybe deep greens, blues, and purples. I'm hoping for enough lace/fingering weight yarn to knit myself a lacy shawl or scarf.

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival 2007

Man was that ever fun! The boy and I drove up into Maryland Sunday morning to check out the Sheep and Wool Festival. We saw so many different kinds of sheep. Have you ever heard of Jacob sheep? They're cool! They can have 4 horns, two that wind around their ears fairly typically, and two that wind down around their jaw. This one only had two.



And they are so cute when they're little!



This one is a Corriedale, check out those cheeks.



Good times were had by young and old. We saw llamas.



And I think these are goats.



We watched a sheepdog demonstration.



And saw a lady spinning angora straight from the rabbit.



And, of course, we had to check out the alpaca. The one on the left is a huacaya, the one on the right is a suri. They were so soft.



There were also some who'd been sheared. This one is also huacaya - just with less hair.



It was a lovely cool spring day; we had lamb for lunch (gyro for me, burger for the boy), a couple of oldfashined sodas, and a great time. And for the record, I didn't buy any yarn. I did buy a little fiber and a drop spindle, but no yarn.

Mini List

1. Leaving town tomorrow, little sister's graduatin' (yay)
2. Work has been nuts lately, and way high pressure (boo)
3. I have mastered the biscuit (yay)
4. We're going to the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival on Sunday (yay)
5. I don't see much of the boy during the week on my current work schedule (boo)
6. I'm tired, and my feet hurt (boo)
7. Tomorrow is friday (yay)
8. Gray's Anatomy is two hours tonight (yay)
9. I broke a sock needle (boo)

yup, that's it for now.

Formula for Summer

A warm sunny Saturday
plus
two twenty somethings
plus
hand and power tools yields:



plus
three pallets of cinder blocks, twenty bags of sand, and 30 bags of gravel
plus



plus
another warm sunny Saturday
plus
two twenty somethings . . . and hopefully it will look like a lot of tasty food growing in the back yard.