Finished Fern Lace Toe-Up Socks!

Okay, so, the UFO count is getting back to where it was at the start of the year. Progress in May, thus far, has been pretty good.

1. Finished my third Yarn Candy headband, in some sort of lace from the Barbara Walker Treasuries.
2. Finished the current Michael Powell XS project. (I count all my crafts in my UFO list.)
3. Unraveled Tailored Scallops II - it wasn't gonna happen. Must now find new sweater for pretty grey yarn.
4. Realized that I was never, EVER, going to finish my little canvaswork winging-it mandala, and pitched it. I feel bad for wasting the lovely fibers already in it, but enough is enough is enough. This is as far as I got:
   It's just never gonna happen.
5. And, oh, finished my Fern Lace Socks!!!

See? They are sooooo pretty! It's my first original sock design, and they went quickly, and didn't come *close* to using a whole ball of TOFUtsies! Also, the UFO count is back to 60 almost UNDER 60 now. If I am a Diligent Gryphon, then I should be back to being headed back to the right direction (under 50) soon!

Anyway, back to the socks.

First, the sock started small. But look at how well it fits my foot!	Getting the ankle-bit worked better than I thought it would, too!
Putting 20 rows of ribbing in my arch helped. Getting it on the proper part of the foot for the second sock was a challenge!	I really like the Fern Lace. It worked well, and would be good for tall socks when you don't have a lot of yarn.

They make my feet happy!!

Meme! Meme! Baa!

Gryphon tagged me with this one. The rules are thus:

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer.

Okay, seems easy. Here goes:

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
Almost exactly what I'm doing now, with less knitting. I've now had a job longer than I ever thought I would (I've been employed at my job just over a decade now), so that covered the day...

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):
a. Send check to MaryKay rep in California to cover "Hey, I got a Tax Refund!" order;
b. Check PO Box for possible Fairly Tale Sock Club package;
c. finish my Fern Lace socks (original design!);
d. finish murder mystery on loan from library so I can get next one (Laura Durham's For Better or Hearse, the second Annabelle Archer/Wedding Planner mystery); and
e. take final gauge swatch before unraveling the final six rows of what was going to be Tailored Scallops II.

3. Snacks I enjoy:
Goldfish Colors. Which for no apparent reason were available, for free, in our break room today. Yum!

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Quit my day job. Then just have fun being an angel for various local crafting start-ups, drama productions, and writers. I would totally get my own publishing house, with a strong crafts division. Wheeee!

5. Places I have lived:
In no particular order, Washington, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Alaska, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia (3x), Massachusetts (3x), Arizona, South Korea, New Jersey... and I know I'm forgetting a couple, but I was Very Small when my dad got stationed the most.

6. Peeps I want to know more about:
Okay, no guilt whatsoever, since I know some folks don't like playing with memes, but I'm curious about:

Vykky
Karen
Cindy
Cat and
Alexandra

Wheeee!

*Awwwwwwww!*

We interrupt this knitting blog for an *awwwwwww* moment.

My virtual kid sister, K, is getting hitched this summer. She got the following custom-order stamps through zazzle.com for her response-card envelopes:


If they'd had this sort of thing when I got married, I totally would've done the same thing. I think it's adorable!

Congratulations, Kitten!

Okay, time to get back on track...

Okay, so, Thursday last, I went to Sweet Life (this is when Husband was too sick to make the trip to Detroit, but before I realized that I was gonna be that sick, too) to see people's Sheep and Wool stuff. It was all beautiful, and fuzzy, and wonderful. My favorites from vendors I don't already know are pictured below:

I mean, this stuff totally looks like ice cream to me. If I actually ever got my hands on it, I don't think I'd spin it (even if I learned to spin well). It's decoration. It's so wonderful existing just as a Giant Ball of Fluff!

Over the next few days, during The Sick, I could still coordinate one hand working. Thus I finished my Michael Powell Tiny Cottage II:


And, this morning, I took advantage of the only sunshine we may get for a while (that I've been out to see) to take a picture of my almost-finished Fern Lace socks. I just have the top ribbing to do on each - this doing-both-at-once *really* works for me. And because it's an open, lacy pattern, I totally have enough left over for a couple of matching headbands, or maybe a whole headscarf. (Seriously - one ball of TOFUtsies is a LOT of yarn!).


Finished socks, really, REALLY soon now!

*whimper*

Still a bit under the weather. I've slept a lot the past five days (so I actually feel rested, which is very odd), and did manage some knitting after all (pics tomorrow). Also didn't buy yarn.

Did, however, run amok at The Scarlet Thread, my favorite needlework store. (My order from the On-Line Needlework Show was in. I'd actually shown admirable restraint in ordering, and only bought five other things besides my order once I was in the store.)

More sleep now.