Happy Friday and HOHOHO!!!!

An FO-Jeanne's birthday sock is done. No, she doesn't have just one foot. I knit just one because I'm not sure about the size. So I figured I'd wrap the finished one up with the second hank of Louet Gems with a note. The pattern is Rib & Cables from IK. It's a nice pattern so I just had to do it again. The first time was Muir's first pair of savior socks that never arrived. The surprise party for Jeanne is tomorrow night and will likely be rip roaring fun. Things get kind of crazy when the people in the 'hood get together. Good times!

Nishanna received her sock savior package last week and from her email is happy with her socks. I had a hard time letting go of those. I love pink and green together. It's a throw-back to my preppy days in the 80's at Fairfield University. But I was strong and let the socks go on their merry way.

For anyone who cares, for the time being, I am no longer annoyed with my husband. Tuesday he took my Camry to work. He NEVER takes it but on the rare occasion that he does, he usually asks if I have plans. Tuesday he didn't ask. I had plans. He left his Silverado which normally I'll drive if I have to go somewhere local. But I don't like driving it because I can't see over the utility box in the back. It makes a huge blind spot which is tough when I'm driving on the highway. Anyway, when I asked him about the car, he said I should have told him I had plans. He NEVER takes my car so why would I tell him I had plans. He made it my fault I didn't have my car and therefore had to change my plans for the day. ARGH!!! He got the silent treatment which he hates. Eventually I told him why I was pissed and he apologized and everything is back to normal. For now.

I leave today with a picture of my Gram O. Christmas cactus*. Or should I say holiday cactus. Because it's all about being PC, right. Bullshit! Sandy posted yesterday about mall Santas somewhere having to say "HaHaHa" instead of "HoHoHo". Because HoHoHo is offensive to women!?! What!!!! Are you kidding me? What is this world coming to? It stinks. Nothing is sacred anymore. Who are these people who deem such things as politically incorrect? I want to slap them in the head. How's that for politically correct! I had planned to post about it yesterday. Sandy was much kinder than I would have been so I left it alone.

Lastly, good luck to my friend, Linda, who is having surgery today. Lots of good positive vibes for Linda!!

*Pete's grandmother gave me a cutting from her CHRISTMAS cactus, oh, 20 years ago and this is what it's become. Gram O. passed a few years ago so I consider this my little piece of her.

May I have some Cantaloupe with that Monkey?

Now that my Sockapalooza 4 socks are done and mailed, it was time to move on to something else. The yellow, green and orange sock is Wendy's Double Eyelet Rib Socks Pattern . I used Sockpixie's sock yarn in Cantaloupe. I started sock #2 last night. The other sock is a Monkey in Meilenweit Colortweed that I bought at Simply Socks Yarn Company. I'm not one to jump on the bandwagon and do what all the cool kids are doing but I didn't want to do plain old stockinette socks with this yarn. I wanted to add a little interest to the stripes. You can't really see the pattern very well but I like how it came out anyway.

Speaking of Sockapalooza 4, my sock pal, Jessica, received her package last weekend. Thanks again, Jessica, for all the nice things you said. You really made my day. Heck, you made my week! You rock! And to Sarah and Emma who left nice comments regarding Jessica's socks, thank you. You two are very kind. And Nova, if you find your way back here, I am enjoying my "free" time. I use quotes because even though I don't work anymore, I have 3 kids who keep me VERY busy. P is going back to college this weekend so I've been shopping for stuff for his suite-they have a kitchen this year and need kitchen gear. M has been working a lot and if I want my car I have to take her to work. As soon as P leaves, I'll be school shopping for M and Z. Throw in laundry and housework and there goes my day. It's been good being here to monitor Z's computer and TV time. I was concerned about that at the beginning of the summer. He's been able to have his friends over more frequently and go in the pool a lot more. It's all good!

They're Done!

My Sockapalooza Socks are done and have been done for about 2 weeks now. I haven't been able to get any really good pictures of them. They are on Loopy Ewe sock blockers which are awesome! I avoided showing progress pictures after my last post because every time I posted I either changed my mind about a pattern or, once the New England socks got going, I'd have to rip a million rows because of some stupid mistake. So I didn't post anything, finished the first sock after a month, cast on for the second sock and finished it in a week without incident. That's the first sock on the right. I was relieved and proud when that was finally done. The second sock travelled to Jamestown, RI to watch the Tall Ships parade out of Newport 4th of July week.

S4 Sock

Let me start by saying I love STR. It feels good, it looks good and it knits good. No, great. It's a great knit. So while mulling around in my head what it was I wanted to do for my sock pal I remembered I had a hank of STR lightweight in Midsummer Night, a pretty dusky blue. I love blue. As I previously mentioned, I wanted to do Cable Rib socks. So I cast on and knit for a bit and.....it just wasn't working. I don't usually do gauge swatches for socks. I cast on with the recommended needle and knit and can usually tell fairly quickly whether it will work or not. Sometimes I'll go up or down a needle size and see what happens. Sometimes not. In this case, it just wasn't working. STR lightweight is a bit heavier than the yarn I used for my first pair of Cable Ribs and I was afraid that if I went down a size or two they'd be too stiff. So, I found another pattern in my Favorite Socks book-Diagonal Cross-Rib. PERFECT! So there it is. The lovely person I'm knitting these for didn't have any preferences really. I hope she likes them. I will finish them very quickly so sock pal may get a second pair. I'm thinking something a little more fun and colorful. We'll see.

A little side note: It took me a long time to take the plunge and start this blog trying to figure out all the technicalness (I know, not a word) and be comfortable with it so I could post updates for Sockapalooza and stuff. Now I have to work up the courage (and know-how) to do the pligg. I am afraid of the pligg. Step away from the pligg. One of these days when my comfort level is such I will give it a shot.

Let the Sockapalooza Begin

The Sock Pal matches have been made and posted. This is just way too exciting! And the participants list-man, that's a lot of sock knitters! And for like the first time in my life, I'm not the only Meredith on the list-there are THREE. Totally unheard of in my 44 years on this earth. Way cool!