Sock Wars Update

Sock Wars V continues and, so far, I'm still alive. On the entry below this one, you saw my target's socks in progress. I ended up tearing those up 3 times before I finally cast on with a different yarn, different kind of needles, and a different attitude! A total of 14 hours of knitting down the drain before I finally got the pattern right! I mailed off my death socks to Target #1 last Friday and she notified me that she received them on Monday...so there's one kill for me!


I'm expecting unfinished socks from my target's target within the week (I hope) and, with luck, should get one more kill in before I get killed. Of course, I'll keep you posted.

Expecting snow and ice in the next day or so. The Director told me today that we might be closed on Friday if the weather does what's expected. I could do with an extra day off this week - more time to sew doll clothes...more on that subject soon.

In the meantime, thanks for stopping by!

Sock Wars V Began Yesterday

Some of you know that I began knitting socks on a competitive level a couple of years ago. Last year, I won one competition and got to the top 11 competitors on another and made it to round 3 on still another. Well, it's a new year and another competition.

Sock Wars V began last night at 7:00 p.m. my time. There are just over 200 people competing, from numerous countries, mostly the US. We received our target info last weekend and there were 3 patterns uploaded to the competition website last night. I began knitting almost right away and was about 2/3 down the leg, almost ready to begin the heel flap by the time I gave up and went to bed. Got up at 8:00 this morning (and , as most of you know, I HATE to get up early, especially on a day off work!). I began knitting and decided that I'd knit the leg wrong....ripped the darned thing all the way out! There went 3 hours of knitting. While I was casting on again, I decided that I had knit the first try correctly - what a doofus! So, I am re-knitting that previously perfect leg again...and here is the progress so far.

Notice the sock yarn? It's a nylon, acrylic blend that is so soft and comfy. The colours vary from blue-green to grey with a tiny touch of rusty brick red. My target lives on the west coast and I know that I hated the idea of wearing wool socks when we lived in San Diego. Hope she likes them.

I hope to post the finished pair before I head out to the Post Office on Tuesday to mail these weapons to my target. With luck, I won't be 'killed' before I get another pair to finish and live to kill again!



Thanks for stopping by.

ETA 1-19-2010: I've had to frog the darned thing 4 times already...finally changed yarns cause I was afraid I was mangling the other too badly. Ripped the sock for the last time on Sunday morning (from the gusset decrease - 8 hours' work) and started again...SUCCESS! Used different needles and took it slowly...finished sock #1 last night at 11:00 p.m. Cast on the second sock today and hope to finish by tomorrow nite and mail the darned things on Thursday. Will post a picture of the finished products once they are mailed.

Thanks for supporting this crazed sock-knitter and thanks for stopping by.

Finally, It's a Regular Winter!

As a lot of you know, we've had a very unusual winter here in southwest Missouri the last few weeks. It started with snow at Christmas (not usual), followed by more snow at New Year's (again, not usual) which was followed by temperatures ranging from 18° to -13° (VERY not usual!). My day off last week had a high temperature of 5°. It's started to warm up a bit and today we will see a high of around 45° - a regular heat wave.

I was outside the library this morning, and someone pointed out the drain pipe behind my office. When I turned, this is what I saw.

It looks like an ice cube dispenser, doesn't it? Fortunately, most of the snow has melted and the streets are back to normal, including our gravel road.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Martin Luther King holiday weekend. I'm going to knit - yes, son, I'm almost done with the baby pods for your photo shoot!

Thanks for stopping by.

Snow, Snow, Snow Everywhere

Woke to more snow this morning...so far, only about 4 inches...still falling. John went out to shovel the apron for the driveway, the deck, and the front walk earlier. Can't tell by looking at it now, though.

They've cancelled school for tomorrow...sure hope the director decides to cancel work for tomorrow, too. I've got tons of quilting and sewing I can do to keep busy.

Our frog pond is starting to look like a real winter pond now, too. And the poor cows are getting snow all over their backs - they finally all went into the barn...silly cows!

Thanks for stopping by...keep warm, y'all!