It's a good day

Not only is it Friday, which makes it good, I got my glasses AND I get to go see Harry Potter on a lunch date with my hubby. All of which make it a very, very good day.

In fact, now that I look at the time I have to run, but I at least wanted to share...

Movie review & knitting news coming soon! Happy Friday!!!

Random Thoughts & Giggling Nephews

• I hate insurance companies
• My inbox has over 4,000 messages in it. that sucks.
• putting a 'whale tail' on your chevy celebrity will not make it look cool
• nor will painting flames on your ford escort station wagon
• I have serious knitting ADD
• My spiffy new eyeglasses are in & I am dying to go pick them up
• Someone *might* be interested in buying the Excursion. cross fingers.
• Long Island Iced tea is the Devil's own private concoction
  
• I still miss my Reenie
• We got approved for partial funding for a fence! We will have to pay over $500 but still, every little bit helps. Just need to do the paperwork & get the permits now.
• I love the new Ravelry chat feature. And bacon.
• My state's governor is a moron.
• I just finished watching Firefly. I am now a part of the cult.
• I just started watching "Dead Like Me". Love it so far (2 episodes in)

Today's happy video -- my adorable nephew:
Nathan has the giggles :)

Ode to Joy

Beastie is home from his eye exam. Everything went smoothly, although he came out of the anesteshia rather mean & grumpy. His astigmatism has gotten much worse, but the good news is that the cupless optic disc in his left eye looks the same as it did a year ago & the right eye is showing no new issues. So, in celebration I give you some Beaker!

some WIPs & some tnna & some Beastie

(wow, that title almost sounds naughty! anyway.......)

I've been kniting & crocheting like a mad-woman lately. Never without 2 or 3 (or more) projects with me wherever I may be going. Some of them are TSS (top secret stuff, not therapeautic support staff [sorry kristy!]) but some of them are able to be shared, so I will happily do that now.

First up is my second Summer Sock Hop Sock

This was taken yesterday. Since then I've gotten almost to the toe decreases. And yes, in this photo the sock is on DPNs. But that really didn't work for me, so never fear, it is back on the loop and buzzing along fine again.

I hope to have this one done tomorrow. It will be perfect knitting while Beastie is having his eye exam (more on that later).


Next is my Geisha Wrap by Kristin Omdahl from the book Wrapped in Crochet. I'm doing it in the Moda Dea Silk N' Wool blend that I got from Coats & Clark as a thank you for organizing the Special Olympics Scarf project on Ravelry. I'm almost through my second skein of yarn and it is just skipping right along. Perfect mindless summer crochet.

I'm hoping to finish it in the car this weekend when we are on our way up to the Poconos for the weekend for a family reunion. Won't that be cute for firework snuggling?

I truly believe absence does make the heart grow fonder. I was gone for five days at TNNA. What a fantastic time we had, but wow, was I happy to get home to my men. And I'm pretty sure they missed me too, although with all the testosterone floating around they would be hard pressed to admit it to anyone.

I met so many wonderful, amazing people. I tried hard not to act like a fangirl a few times, but wow, was it hard when so many of your needlearts crushes are so near. I won't name any names in order to save myself embarassment, but suffice it to say that I get to check off some names on my "people I'd like to meet" list.

Our booth was great looking & great fun too. There were so many wonderful LYS owners stopping by to see the new yarns and so many great designers coming in too. Really, it was a fibergirl's dream come true. I'll blog about the new yarns later this week on the Paca-Blog and be sure to link here when I do so. You better get your bibs ready, because these babies are drool-worthy!

And speaking of babies...

Beastie sacked out after a long hard day at camp. Tomorrow morning he goes in for an eye exam under sedation. It appears as though his astigmatism has had a 90 degree shift in the past year, something that is highly unusual, so we have to have another 'surgical procedure' done to see what is going on inside those eyeballs of his. Cross your fingers for us; I'll update on his results as soon as I can.

Summer Sock Hop Sock on DPNs

I've gotten a few requests to modify the pattern for knitting on DPNs. Since I seldom use DPNs anymore, I will try, but bear with me if I'm not explaining it perfectly.


CAST-ON
Using your preferred method, cast on 140 stitches. Divide evenly onto 4 needles, 35 sts per needle, and join in the round.

CUFF
Rounds 1 - 4: Knit
Round 5: *K2tog, K3tog* (56 stitches remain)

Continue knitting in stockinette stitch for 1" or to desired cuff length. A cuff longer then 1" may require an additional ball of Panda Silk.

HEEL
Knit across Needle 1. Turn and purl across Needle 1 and Needle 4, consolidating all 28 sts onto one needle.
Row 1: (WS) Sl 1, P 27, turn

Row 2: *Sl 1, K 1*

Repeat these two rows 16 times, for a total of 32 rows.

then repeat row 1 once more.

HEEL TURN

Row 1: (RS) Sl 1, K 16, ssk, k1, turn

Row 2: Sl 1, p 7, p2tog, p1, turn

Row 3: Sl 1, knit to 1 st before gap created by turn on previous row, ssk to close gap (1 st from each side of gap), k1, turn

Row 4: Sl 1, purl to 1 st before gap created by turn on previous row, p2tog to close gap (1 st from each side of gap) p1, turn

Repeat rows 3 and 4 until all stitches have been worked - 18 sts remain.

GUSSET

Set up Row: Knit across working needle (Needle 1), using same needle, pick up 16 gusset stitches, plus pick up one extra stitch between last gusset stitch and Needle 2 in order to eliminate any possible holes in your sock.

Needle 2: Knit all sts
Needle 3: Knit all sts

Reintroduce Needle 4, picking up 1 stitch between Needle 3 and your first gusset stitch and then pick up 16 gusset stitches. Still working on Needle 4, knit the first 9 stitches from needle 1.

At this point your stitches should be aligned as follows:
Needle 1: 26 sts
Needle 2: 14 sts
Needle 3: 14 sts
Needle 4: 26 sts

Begin gusset decreases:

Round 1: Needle 1 - knit to the last 3 sts, k2tog, k1. Needle 2 & 3 - knit across the top of your foot. Needle 4 - k1, ssk, knit to end of needle.

Round 2: Knit all sts.

Continue repeating these two rounds until you get back to a total of 56 sts with 28 sts on each needle.

FOOT

Knit all stitches until sock is 2" shorter then desired length of foot.

TOE

Round 1: (even round) Knit

Round 2: (decrease round) Needle 1 - knit to 3 sts before the end of needle, k2tog, k1. Needle 2 - k1, ssk, knit to last 3 sts of Needle 3, k2tog, k1. Needle 4, K1, ssk, knit to end of needle (4 sts decreased).

Repeat rounds 1 & 2 until 16 sts remain (4 on each needle). Transfer sts from Needle 2 onto Needle 1 and from Needle 4 onto Needle 3. Graft sts together using the Kitchener stitch.

I hope I did all the conversion correctly! If you have any questions or comments, please let me know. Enjoy!!!