Domestically Challenged

Sock Bath

Since I've gotten back from my honeymoon, I have been desperately trying to catch up on a month's worth of blog reading. I am almost entirely caught up with the blogs I read regularly. While reading Laura's blog yesterday, I came across this post where she was hoping that the lace nightie she's making out of  Alchemy Silken Straw (100% silk) grows "when it hits the water". Silk grows when it gets dunked? This is not good for my sock pals socks, which are 25% Soysilk, assuming that Soysilk behaves like actual silk. I was planning on knitting the second sock on the car ride up to Sudbury but I wasn't going to knit something that I would only have to rip out once I gave it a little bath. I frantically finished the first sock and this morning, while I was in the shower, the sock enjoyed a bath. I'm hoping this yarn's mutt pedigree (50% Superwash wool, 25% Soysilk, 22.5% cotton, 2.5% chitin) prevents it from becoming suitable for a sasquatch.

Luckily, the sock appears unchanged...although, it smells a bit like what I suspect chitin (made from crab and shrimp shells) would smell like. Maybe it needs a bath in some yummier smelling stuff? What does Soak smell like?

Fringe

After following Cassady's advice for a while, I decided ultimate to listen to Mary de B and just put it away until I decide what to do. In the meantime, I went to the Ottawa Fringe Festival. Wednesday night I went to go see “Miss April Day’s School for Burgeoning Young Strippers” and it was hilarious. June got me up on stage and demo-ed a lap dance on me, which was very amusing and may explain why that guy hit on me after the show. I thought my wedding band was big enough, but I guess unless I wear it near my breasts, no man will ever notice it.

By Saturday, I was in need of more than just entertainment. I needed a knitting related distraction. What better way to take your mind off an old UFO (with giant holes in it) than new yarn? The bus ride out to Orleans where Wool n' Things is located was quick and painless.

The blue stuff is phildar Lambswool for sue's birthday socks and the pinky stuff is Tofutsies by Southwest Trading Co. for my sock pal's socks. The Tofutsies yarn (in the Three Feet Short colourway) is really strange - 50% superwash wool, 25% soysilk, 22.5% cotton, and 2.5% chitin, but it is really soft and the chitin (made from shrimp and crab shells - I know, bizarre) is supposed to give it antibacterial properties. I'm skeptical on this last point and I'm sure there is no easy way to test whether it is true. They might as well add "Fat-free!" or "Cholesterol Free" or "Calorie Reduced" to the packaging.

I started knitting Monkey on Sunday. After a long night at the Fringe after-party, I couldn't do much else. This pattern is extremely addictive and before I knew it, I was ready to start the heel. But I held back because I was a bit nervous that they wouldn't fit. The pattern says, "women's medium" and "8 inches in circumference unstretched", the latter making the most anxious. My sock pal has larger feet than I do (not that there is anything wrong with that, Jessica!), so, not having ready access to a person with feet 9 inches in circumference, I needed to figure out a way to see if they would fit. Luckily, the candle on our livingroom table was the exact circumference I was looking for.

Tada! A candle cozy. These socks are going to be great. I hope my sock pal likes them. 

Il fait chaud

It is HOT in Ottawa. It just rained but it did nothing to decrease the temperature. If anything, it made everything worse by increasing the humidity. This hasn't stopped my big, furry cat from sitting in my lap, though. I tried to explain to her that this would only make her warmer, but she won't listen to reason. It also didn't stop me from getting Kristin from modeling one of the black, alpaca arm warmers I've been knitting for her since the beginning of February. Kristin was such a great sport about it too, seeing as my 7th floor apartment does not have any sort of climate control. I'm hoping to be finished these soon but because I am making up the pattern as I go along, there has been a lot of ripping out to get the increases perfect. Also, my progress on these will inevitably be impeded when I start my SOCKAPALOOZA socks this weekend. I plan on picking up some Koigu at Wool n' Things on Saturday and casting on Monkey from Knitty, but who knows just what I'll find at the yarn store...

HOLES!

I did the stupidest thing before the wedding. I cut a HOLE in my knitting. With scissors. I was so shocked, I had a little moment. In fact, I had to tell the person I was talking to on the phone that I would have to call them back as I stared in horror at what I had done.

      

So why did you have scissors near the knitting, Allison?

Ok, that's a good question. I had been seeming a sweater, but I wasn't happy with one of the sleeves. While trying to take out the seam, I cut the wrong thing...twice...on two different parts of the sweater. I was a bit dizzy when I realized what I had done and that I had no idea how to fix it. My first instinct was to go outside, in the dead of night, and burry it as though it had never happened. The garbage can was also looking attractive. Costin suggested that I put it aside for a while before doing anything rash. I tried to explain to him that it was only acrylic and that the back had been re-knit and looked a bit wonky, and that it would never really be perfect anyway, so why bother trying to save it.

Costin, wise as he is, said, "Why not?".

The internet suggests I try this. Anyone else?

First Post as a Married Woman

I’m back! Costin and I had an amazing wedding followed by an equally amazing honeymoon. I still haven't seen the professional wedding pics, but I've seen a lot of the guests' pics and it seems as though it was a pretty wild party. I hope everyone had a good time. I was so happy that so many people were able to share our special day with us.

We spent the last two weeks in Paris and Barcelona, just lounging. It was so nice to wake up whenever, and just do whatever we wanted all day long. I also quite enjoyed the beach in Sitges, just outside Barca. Living apart, it was especially nice to spend so much time together.

To ensure my undivided attention, Costin requested that I not bring any knitting on the honeymoon. This may seem like some sort of cruel and unusual torture, but I completely understood - I can get a little obsessed with the knitting.

But now I’m back and I can knit (mwahhahahaha!). So what's on the needles after a two week hiatus? Why cute little ballerina slippers for my niece's birthday, of course! Because of the soft acrylic, they are a bit shapeless, so I'm hoping that they are even cuter on. To see them in full ballet form, go to the pattern on knitty (see below) and check out the little toddler pics.

 

       

Pattern: Twinkletoes on Knitty

Yarn: Smooth DK by King Cole

Needles: 4.00 mm