Slow Going

I don't think I've knit a stitch since I finished that sock in the last post. Not sure why I'm at a standstill, but I've been busy getting other areas of my life straightened out, so it's not all bad.

Work has been crazy and I'm filling up some freetime working the system now that I'm back on Weight Watchers. The Core stuff has been fascinating and (who knew!) I actually love to cook if I can keep on top of the dirty dishes. So I've been working on better establishing those habits and more or less getting out of the "do nothing & eat out" funk I was in for the last several months. Also trying to dig my apartment out from under all the stuff I've accumulated. But at least I'll have some stuff to post soon enough for the swaps going on. And I've got a few more occupied weekends in October to contend with and actually do something interesting and worth typing about.

Also, apparently that Math minor I had in college has gone to good use and I can't count. I'll be overhauling the carousel horse pattern because of it. I had it all written down on paper first and was doing it as I went along. I should have typed it up first and used that initially instead. It's a learning process for sure, and I'm definitely not perfect.

One stripey sock

I finished something, well... half of a pair anyway. This is the sock I started at the airport on my way to Denver a couple weeks ago. My first picot hem, my second short row heel (the other half a pair with my first isn't finished or photographed yet) and the first sock I've made that hasn't fit me. I went a few stitches wider than I should have, and I started the toe a few rows early, so the foot is a little short and the cuff is a little wide for me. I'm going to bring it to my parents' house this weekend and see if it'll fit my mom since her feet are shorter and wider than mine. I do love these colors in combonation and the way the stripes work out with this yarn though.

Ambitions and Joining

I had an ambitious weekend. At the end of last week, I re-joined Weight Watchers, a much needed thing for me, so this weekend I finally rearranged and gutted my kitchen. I hadn't eaten out of the kitchen in forever, and it was like excavating in some of those cupboards. 6 bags of trash from the fridge, freezer and pantry and a really expensive grocery run and I think I'm prepared to capably feed myself again. All that scrubbing and rearranging and tossing didn't lend to much knitting though, maybe I'll have photos of actual progress and do an on-the-needles update later this week.

However, in recent weeks I've also joined two swaps. I know the attempt at a KAL didn't go to well for me, but I can handle sending and recieving packages just fine. So I'm now part of both the Secret Pal 9 and the Knitters Tea Swap 2. Looking forward to a spoiled and papered fall and can't wait to share and meet some fellow knitters through all of this.

Picking up

The jaywalker sock got frogged, I'll start it again soon, but it was too tight after I tried it on, so I'm going to try it it the larger size next time.

I had another sock on the needles I'd considered frogging, but I turned the heel, tried it on, and it fit fine, so I'm continuing on with it. It was my first attempt at a short row heel and I now understand why so many prefer this heel to others. It was so much simpler.

While flying back and forth to Denver, I started yet another sock, this one a cheerful self-striping hand-painted merino in oranges and greens. This sock was my first attempt at a picot hem and my second short row heel. I'm loving how it's turning out, and at this point both socks are at about the same place in the process, so I'll probably have a mismatched pair going for a while while working on seconds for both.

Denver was a blast. We had a group of 12 that more or less split off into three groups of four for most of the weekend. Mountains, chilly weather hinting at fall, alpine slides, coasters, and good friends made it a lot of fun. Good meals didn't hurt either.

Elitch was ok, not too crowded due to the chill so we weren't there long but rode everything we wanted to. Colorado Springs was beautiful. We stopped at a couple small parks and drove through the Garden of the Gods which was amazing and gorgeous, especially to a flat-stater like me.

Lakeside was my favorite traditional amusement park of the trip, amazing old rides and lots of art-deco neon and just a generally pretty, well layed out old style amusement park. However, Glenwood Caverns blew everything else away. Any park that requires a liability waiver is my kind of park. The alpine coaster was so much fun, the zip line was decent, and we ballanced the swing out so that it was almost turning 180 degrees while we were swinging which just added to the thrill factor, never mind the fact that it was perched on a 1300 ft cliff.

Monday was fun with food at Casa Bonitas, an Alpine Slide just outside of town and a quick stop back at Lakeside before racing to catch flights home.