Tuesday, March 20, 2007

IF I AM YOUR SOCKRET PAL, DO NOT READ THIS POST!!!

This means you, Jody! I will be posting a picture of one of your finished socks, so unless you don't like to be surprised, quit reading now.

But first, just so we don't have a situation where a spoiler is unavoidable, I'm going to try to fill up enough space so that the rest of you will have to scroll down to see any Sockret sock pictures...

I went yarn shopping last night. I need more yarn like I need a root canal (although since I haven't been to the dentist in way too long, I shouldn't say that...), but I had a couple of $25 coupons from the Yarn Garden that I felt the need to use. Here is what I ended up with:



A pinky-pink skein of Tofutsies (I am totally in love with this yarn after getting it from my Sockret Pal), some Louet Euroflax which I'm going to use to make a Passport Pouch since the original was given away, and some amazing Alchemy bamboo. I also picked up a gallon of Malabrigo, which is one of my new favorite yarns (it is SO soft - it's like knitting with a chinchilla). I'm planning a sweater with this one - in all my free time.

I also got yet another tape measure. I go through like one a month - I swear I'm going to clean the house someday and find a stash of 50 of them somewhere. But right now I can't find a single one (not even under the couch), and a girl's gotta have a tape measure! I keep saying I'm going to have one that's designated never to leave my knitting notions bag, but the boy now knows how to open zippers so unless I keep it permanently on a high shelf, that rule's shot to heck.

We had a wonderful, beautiful weekend that got everyone ready for summer. I'm busily obsessing about the garden. We planted two columnar apple trees (which is this really funky variety that stays really small, and the apples grow right from the trunk instead of on branches - freaky!) and a peach that's supposed to do well in the rainy NW. We'll see! My friend Chris is a master gardener and she thought I was insane to try to grow a peach tree here, but I like to experiment, so we'll see what happens.

We're also getting ready to become chicken central. Awhile back I posted about getting an Eglu, but that idea was nixed by the hubby who wants us to build our own coop. I am always skeptical about any project that requires us to build something, but fortunately my chicken-owning friend Brittney and her hubby are also coop-building this spring. We're going to have a couple of coop-building days which are scheduled on the calendar, so I'm totally looking forward to it now. Brittney's the kind of person who gets things done, so I'm confident that coops will actually happen (where I would NOT be at all confident if we were being left to our own devices).

The chickens are arriving next week, and I can not wait. I ordered us an Amerucana (these are the Easter Egg chickens that lay blue-green eggs), a Barred Plymouth Rock (the kind of chickens my grandma had when I was a kid), and a Rhode Island Red. I really wanted to get a Silkie Bantam, but they're only available straight-run (as in, non-sexed), and with my luck I'd end up with a rooster and have to make dinner out of it! I'd rather stick to eggs, thank you very much!

Our Owen is all boy, but he loves stomping around the house in his sister's tap shoes. Bill keeps asking me if we need to worry...



I think our little Gregory Hines is quite cute! And really, we're just joking - we'd be just as happy with a tap-dancing, dress-wearing, musical-singing Owen as we would a football-playing, frat-joining, strip-club-hopping one. Okay, I'd actually much prefer the first one! My theory, though, is that he only likes them because he can make such a racket. He's way too young to be having gender identity issues!

Okay, I think we're down far enough that I can show you some socks. Here it is - a Pomatomus sock made out of Mama-E's C*eye*ber Fiber in the Faded Glory colorway. Isn't it pretty?



Here's a close-up of the stitch pattern:



Love the pattern, love the yarn, can't wait to finish the other one and get them in the mail so poor Jody doesn't think I totally flaked out on her! I would like to have them for myself, but fortunately Jody's feet are a tad bit bigger so they don't fit me anyway. That makes it much easier to send them off!

12 Comments:

Blogger LavenderSheep said...

My parents had barred rocks when I was younger. They are so friendly. They would see my mother and all come running towards her for food

I also keep seeing the sign in town that Hot Chicks are Here (at the feed store) and it makes me laugh.

9:18 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

RE: tap shoes. The boys I know who dance get all the girls and play hockey so I wouldn't worry. Besides, if he really likes it he can train in the good summer programs for FREE

(from a mom who pays full price for summer dance intensives)

9:38 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

They are beautiful!! I love the socks. Also great yarn haul. I've really been wanting to actually see some malibrigo in person. Perhaps in April. :) Ben puts on my makeup with me and I'm not worried. Perhaps I should be....

10:23 AM  
Blogger Michelle said...

So glad you like the tofutsies yarn! I haven't tried mine yet. The socks look great. Have fun with to coop.

12:02 PM  
Blogger msubulldog said...

Okay, that apple tree is truly bizarre! And I'm ridiculously excited by the fact that you're getting chickens. That's so cool! :)

1:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've always wanted chickens!

Owen is so cute in tap-dancing mode. :)

The sock yarn you chose is absolutely perfect for that pattern - they're a work of art!

1:54 PM  
Blogger Yarnhog said...

So, how do you make sure you get a female chicken? We had one a couple of years ago that we got as a chick, and it (fortunately) turned out to be female. We kept her as a pet, and she was wonderful--she acted just like a little dog, except she laid an egg every day and kept the vegetable garden free of bugs. One day, she went to visit the neighbors, and their dogs got her. Now my husband wants another chicken, but I can't figure out how to get a female chick (and there is no way I need a rooster crowing at dawn next to my bedroom window!). Any tips? (If so, you can leave a comment on my blog. Thanks!)

2:44 PM  
Blogger Alison said...

$25 coupons... sounds wonderful! Looks like you did good at the yarn shop, have fun with all that!
The socks look fabulous, what a beautiful yarn.
Have fun with the chickens, I'm hoping to get some here some day...
Happy knitting,
ali
www.skeinsherway.com

6:46 PM  
Blogger Diane said...

Your tap shoe little man is so cute. I wouldn't worry a bit about him. Women love guys who can dance.

8:44 PM  
Blogger lexa said...

That Pom is gorgeous! I love that pattern, and the color looks awesome.

7:10 AM  
Blogger Beth said...

I love the pattern and yarn combo. They work very nicely together. Beautiful sock!

7:06 AM  
Blogger Shelley L. MacKenzie said...

Chrissy, just wanted to let you know the Japanese swag got here today. I've posted it on my blog. Thanks so much!

4:12 PM  

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