Holy Socks On A Cow, Batman!

Dulaan socks # umm, 5? Yeah that sounds right. Modelled by the lovely Norma (apologies to the real Norma, I'm quite sure you don't look like a cow). Norma and I have been together for over 20 years now. She's quite the international cow, having lived in both Vancouver, B.C. and San Jose, CA. When she's not busy modelling, she sits in the window watching the world go by and thinking deep thoughts.

I'm getting quite bored with taking pictures of just a pair of socks or just a square so I thought I'd start throwing in some props to add a bit of interest (see Norma above). Anyway, I finished square #5 for the Rebuilding Greensburg Block By Block project and thought it would look nice with my fake white roses.

Ahem. Thanks, Andy for deciding to be a prop. This square was knit in Scout's handpainted sock yarn, "Harlot's Mums" colorway. Thanks to my second prop you can't really see the square but it's soft, squishy and most importantly, 8 INCHES.

Friday FO On A Saturday

Our very kind and generous CEO at the House Of Torture gave us the day off yesterday so that we could have a four day weekend. What better way to spend it than knitting?

Another pair of socks for Dulaan. These are the Little Runes Socks, a pattern written by the incredibly talented Trek. Knit in Fearless Fiber's "Fruit Pop" colorway on US 2 1/2's. This is a superwash merino sportweight yarn so mine came out a bit bigger than what you'd get if you used the yarns listed in the pattern. I'm crazy about this colorway, it's so bright and sunny. It also makes me crave lemonade when I knit with it.

In food news, I seem to have more lasagna than pan here. This is my all time favorite lasagna recipe from Allrecipes.com. The only change I make is that it calls for ricotta cheese which I think is GROSS so I simply substitute mozzarella. You can never have too much mozzarella cheese in lasagna. And when you add some of this ... well, it's hard to understand how I manage to keep my Size 2 figure. Ha.

Enjoy your long weekend, everyone! Some of us have already started.

Yeah. There's A Problem.

I seem to have a new addiction.

It wouldn't be quite so bad if I was using yarn strictly from my stash. But ... I went out and bought this Malabrigo on Friday specifically to knit a square with. Indeed. I bought 210 yards of yarn to make an 8" by 8" square. But look at the color, how sunny and happy it is! Doesn't it scream, "Make me into a charity square" to you? Yes! My thoughts exactly.

And when you've got odd balls of Koigu fingering weight what better use for them than a square? Two strands of sock yarn = worsted weight, how great is that? Because you know, I might have some sock yarn lying around. And this Koigu square is unbelievably squishy. In fact, while I was knitting this square I was having the most disturbing thoughts about knitting myself a coverlet for my bed. All in Koigu. Good thing I only have a twin bed.

If you're wondering what all this square nonsense is about, please click on the link in the sidebar for "Rebuilding Greensburg - Block By Block".

Justin (left), Victor (right)

On the equine front, Victor has a new friend. His name is Justin and he's a 10 year old quarterhorse. A rather expensive quarterhorse. Justin can pretty much do it all when it comes to the rodeo / cowboy stuff. But he's not at all arrogant about it. In fact, he's an even sweeter horse than Victor. He also likes to give kisses, lots of them.

Justin has always been a pasture horse so he likes hangin' with his buddy Vic. And Victor likes other horses as much as he likes people so it's a good match. They literally follow each other around the pen and when one looks one way, the other looks that way. I'm really happy that Victor has such a good pal.

And finally we have Victor doing his "Nicole Ritchie" pose. This picture is a pretty good example of how far we still have to go on the weight gain. We've tweaked his diet yet again and I wormed him last week. His coat is getting some of it's shine back and I can see a tiny bit of hoof growth. It's just one day at a time.

One Day Off, Two FO's

I took yesterday off in a valiant attempt to catch up on my charity knitting. However, that ended up being a bit delayed because SOMEONE is refusing to eat his oat hay and will only eat grass hay and alfalfa. How do I know that SOMEONE doesn't like oat hay? Because SOMEONE has been throwing it out of his stall. And the hay that doesn't make it out of the stall is either pooped or peed on. Sigh.

Our barn only offers oat or alfalfa. If we want grass we have to buy it ourselves. So my friend Pam and I hopped in her very large truck and headed for Gilroy (THE GARLIC CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!). She has a pony that can only eat grass otherwise he gets rumbly bumbly, so to speak. I must say, I felt like quite the ol' cowgirl rolling down Hwy 101 in a Ford long bed on my way to buy hay. I might even have uttered a "yee ha". Anyway we picked up the hay and then, well, err, we passed the outlet mall. WOW! Is stuff ever cheap there!. Uh, moving along.

It's a hat! This is the Kable Kid Hat from Kpixie. Fearless Fibers superwash worsted weight yarn in the "Clear Sailing" colorway on US 6 dpn's. Miss Lydia feels ever so stylish, although a tad bit warm, in this lovely chapeau.

Well lookee here, it's an 8" bias garter stitch square. Yes, miracles do happen here at Chez Insanity. I'm getting a bit addicted to these bias squares. Especially when I knit them in Malabrigo, which I love love love. This is the "Vetiver" colorway on US 7's. My craptastic photography skills really don't do the colors justice.

And I'd just like to let all my East Coast friends know that you may have Rhinebeck and the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival and all those other great events but neener, neener, neener. For your information this weekend is the Artichoke Festival in Castroville. Including the Agro Art Competition! We're talking three dimensional fruit and vegetable artwork here people. AND tours of the artichoke patches. Oh yeah, you're jealous now, AREN'T YOU?

One Month To Go

Thank you, Cookie, for reminding me that's it just a mere month until the Dulaan deadline. And I'm still a little short of my goal of 5 items. Blerg.

I'm currently at three pairs of socks but one of those pairs I gave to Knitting Arts to put in their Dulaan box so I feel like I'm at two pairs of socks. With a month to go. However, here we have half of pair number three. A boring blue sock. Knit in Mission Falls 1824 Superwash Wool which is quite nice for sock knitting. I was hoping to get two socks out of one ball of yarn but umm ... no. To liven up the boring blue sock picture there's a postcard from Valerie who's off vacationing in Australia for a month. I asked her to bring me back a Koala bear but I think this is as good as it's going to get.

Continuing with the "Dulaan How Am I Ever Going To Get Everything Knit?" theme, there was yarn in the mail today. More Fearless Fiber worsted weight in the "Hendrix" colorway. For another hat. Which will be started as soon as the other hat is done. Breathe, April, breathe. Anyway, I really, really like this colorway and I may have to buy more.

Last but not least, the bias square that wasn't. I think I may felt it and make a ... coaster?

Weights And Measures

(Author's note - I have no relevant pictures today so instead I'm throwing in random pictures of cats that I've fostered over years. Everyone likes random cat pictures, right?)

So I went to the feed store on Saturday because Victor needed grain. While I was there I remembered he also needed a salt block. Now a salt block isn't that big. Maybe 12 inches by 6 inches by 6 inches. And yet they were marked "Morton 50 LB Salt Block." Ha, I said to myself, that can't possibly weigh 50 pounds, I'll just hoist it up and throw it in my trunk. Now I'm not quite sure why I thought Morton's would mislabel their salt blocks and I'm not quite sure when I'll be walking fully upright again.

Polly

I'm sure most of you have heard about the tornado that literally destroyed Greensburg, Kansas. Laura, at Sugar Bunny Boulevard is organzing a drive to collect squares to make afghans, it's called "Rebuilding Greensburg - Block By Block". She's collecting 8" garter stitch squares, knit on the bias. I've never knitted anything on the bias before so I was EXCITED.

Bear

Friday night I went to Michael's and picked up some Paton's SWS in "New Geranium." Laurie had posted pictures of the yarn in that particular colorway and I fell madly in love with. Since it's self striping I thought it would be really great for my bias square. Saturday morning I got up early (9:30am!) and started knitting. An hour max, I thought, I'll have this banged out in an hour. And I should be able to get oh two, maybe three squares out of this little ball. Two hours later I was still knitting. Every five minutes I'd whip out my tape measure, confident that I was at the required 8" along one side.

Mr. Bumbly

Finally, after about, well let's not mention how long, I was at the required 8". Wee! It was downhill all the way after that. However, it was obvious there would be no two or three squares derived from this ball of yarn. I *finally* finished my square last night (that would be SUNDAY night). My lovely square is 9 1/2" by 9 1/2". What the heck?

Finn

I'm still not sure where I went wrong. I carefully measured along the side for 8". In fact I had half the stitches on one needle and half on the other when I measured just to make sure it was laying flat. And yet ... too big. Which is not surprising, considering when you measure across the bias it's umm ... 12 inches. This bias business, very confusing. Well I'll give it another shot again tonight. I refuse to be foiled by the Bias Beast.

Fear Not The Bendy

Valerie is psychic.

A few months back Valerie, who is generosity personified, sent me a boatload of DPN's in various sizes. But these were not your average, run of the mill DPN's. Oh no.

These DPN's were bendy.

Bendy!

And they were long

Long!

And they were made from space age polymer! (Author's note - There are currently no pictures available of the Space Age Polymer Tree). So of course I did what I always do when faced with something new. I put them in the closet.

But then along came this ball of yarn from Fearless Fibers in the "Clear Sailing" colorway. It's a heavy worsted weight yarn and I was going to make Dulaan socks from it. But this yarn did not want to become socks. The entire time I was attempting to knit a sock it kept whispering, "I want to be a hat, I want to be a hat."

Now we all know how circular needle challenged I am. And please, don't bother leaving me hints in the comments about how to make circs "work for me." We just don't get along. So I browsed a few patterns online for one that was written for DPN's. And actually found one. But there was a problem.

You needed to cast on 90 stitches and all I have are itty bitty DPN's. And it was the day before payday. Then I remembered! I have the Bendy Longs!

See how nicely the hat fits on the Bendy Longs!

Now, I'm not saying the Bendy Longs are for everyone. The yarn does have a tendency to "drag" a bit on these, as compared to say, bamboo. But that's about the only complaint I have. It can be a bit disconcerting at first feeling your needles bend as you're knitting but the larger the needle, the less bendy. And they come in really pretty colors! And they'll never break! Because they're space age and all. And best of all, they make a pretty hat.

Horses, Socks And Cats. The Usual.

How could you not love a face like this? Even if it is split in half by a scar.

Victor's ribs aren't quite as visible any more and his butt is filling out nicely. He's pretty flabby though but we have to go easy on the exercise until we can determine whether he can breathe properly through his nose. I'm not quite sure how we're gonna figure that one out. Horses. So confusing.

Hooray, the third pair of Magic 28 socks! Mine are actually Magic 32 but I don't think Norma will mind. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, and most people don't, clicky here. Stats - Cascade 220 (or it may be Cascade Quattro, lost yet another damn ball band), Garter Rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks. This tiny pair of socks took FAR too long to finish. Someone needs to re-focus on her Magic 28/32 sock knitting. Sheepie measuring instrument included for scale.

In other knitting news ... Wait. just. a. second. What the HELL is this? That's not a sock. And it sure as heck isn't a scarf. Then what's it doing on April's blog? Is that SHAPING? Since when did we start shaping? Shaping implies there may be some of that other "ing" word - finishing. This can't be good.

Andy says, "Don't ask me dude, I'm just tryin' to stay cool."

Happy Horse

Good news from the barn! I put Victor out in the sand pen tonight to roam about while I cleaned his stall. Five minutes after I put him in there a girl started screaming, "April, April! Look at Victor!"

Well he must have thought he was in the Kentucky Derby because he was tearing around that arena like I've never seen. Then he'd stop, snort, throw out a few bucks, a couple kicks and away he'd go again. This went on for a good 15 minutes and it's the first time I've ever seen him act like what he really is, a four year old Thoroughbred.

Everyone was watching him and cheering. To say I'm beyond happy is an understatement. Sometimes miracles do happen.

Pictures tomorrow of my "wild child."

Shit

How come no one told me you could buy FOOD on Etsy?!?!?!?

Rosy Sweets

I'm so doomed.

The Cowardly Lion

The Scene - Victor's Stall at the Almaden Equestrian Center

April enters the stall, swinging the door wide open, Victor on a lead rope behind her.

April - "OK, buddy, all clear. Come on in."

Slowly a nose comes sniffling around the corner.

Victor - "I smell a bobcat."

April - "Nope. Just me in here."

A few minutes pass. Half a face appears.

Victor - "I think there's a MOUNTAIN LION in there."

April - "It's all clear, really. Just me and that hay you peed on. Let's move along here, Sunshine."

One very large brown eye appears.

Victor - "Are you sure there's NOTHING in there?"

April - "You bet. Safe and sound."

A hoof moves.

Victor - "POSITIVE sure?"

April - "Looks good to me. Almost dinner time, better get moving."

Another hoof moves.

Victor - "REALLY positive sure?"

Victor and I go through this same routine every night after we've finished our evening walk. It would appear I'm fostering the world's most timid horse. It takes us 10 minutes to go 20 feet because we constantly, well Victor, has to stop and sniff the air, do a quick survey of his surroundings and THEN we can move. Another 20 feet. Our walks take a VERY long time but we don't go very far. And if someone comes into his stall with me? BAM! He's behind me in an instant, head on my shoulder, waiting for me to protect him. He doesn't seem to realize he's 1,000 pounds and almost 17 hands high.

OK, enough horse talk, let's talk SOCKS! Over on the ol' sidebar is a link to the "Summer Of Socks 2007." Sign-ups are being held right now and will run until May 26th. Jessica is going to be having contests to see who can knit or crochet the most socks in three months, there's a design contest, oh heck, there's all kinds of stuff goin' on. You should sign up! It'll be fun

Also in the sidebar is Sockapalooza 4 which I'm looking forward to as well. I've gotten my swap person and she's pretty much left the door wide open as far as pattern, yarn and color go. Wendy has posted a new toe-up pattern for sportweight socks so I may give those a shot. I've never done toe-up before.

Half a pair of Dulaan socks # 3. This is the Garter Stitch Rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks, the yarn is Cascade 220. Does anyone know if this yarn will soften up if I wash it? It seems a little scratchy right now. I don't want a little person to have to wear scratchy socks.

This yarn was intended to be socks but I started a sock with it and just didn't like it. It didn't feel as though it would wear very well. This is Classic Elite's "Inca Print" and it's 100% alpaca. Umm, I bought six skeins. But it was HALF PRICE! So since all I seem to knit are socks and scarves I guess I'll be making some purple scarves for Dulaan as well.