This is my other cat, Emperor (aka Empie). He gets to go outside. Maybe that's why he waiting at the door instead of the window.

I' m just feeling the need to show off this Christmas present in the making. The yarn is Lorna's Laces in camoflage, needles size 1 (my first time using this size !!!), and pattern is from here.

As you can see I found the pattern on another blog and must express gratitude for the wonderful clarity of directions. The pattern is fun and easy to knit with five needles, 16 stitches on the needles, patterns of 8 stitches each. Thank you Marguerite for making this so easy.

I finished the Sockotta Fair Isle socks that I was whining about so much. I couldn't get the toe right. After many many kind and helpful responses at socknitters.com, I frogged it up past the decreases, reknit and all is fine now. It looks good to me, anyway.

These are the first socks I have made for myself. My son has the first pair I made ever, as well as the first gloves.

Ivan really really wants to go outside. He can't though because:
1. I signed a paper saying I wouldn't let him out.
2. He's not savvy enough to trust not to get hurt.
3. His long fur attracts sand spurs.

Ivan was adopted online from a Siberian rescue site. This a relatively new breed of cat in the U.S. and in addition to being sweet and incredibly soft, they are mostly hypoallergenic and they come when you call. Honestly if I call this cat, he will come 70 percent of the time. It has nothing to do with treats or any other bribe, it's just genetic.

The person who owned him before said he's a Grand Champion showcat but I have no way of verifying. He also said Ivan has no bad habits and this is true. His real name is Velikan.
The celery plate that my darling friends Cathy and Charlene helped me make for my part in the Thanksgiving dinner. I think it turned out well and I made dip (per their instructions) also.

I have that book Learn to Knit Socks and I have a new philosphy of life which is that I will embrace my shortcomings. This started when two people, both of whom I respect, told me in one day that I might not be doing well on job interviews because my depression shows through.

First, I thought about what to do to cover the depression.

Then, I thought that if I were not depressed in this situation, some form of mental illness worse than depression would have taken over my mind.

Then, I gave up sugar and am no longer depressed.

BUT IF I WERE depressed, I would have a right to be. And as a new sock knitter, I have a right to be bad at it. So I have this beginner book Learn to Knit Socks and it has patterns for 12 socks, all knit on size 3 needles (which I know is not cool .. size 0 is the cool one .. size 1 is ok, too). Mostly, these are socks I would not want to wear. They have funny cuffs and curly-cues and look about right for a 12-year-old. Yet, I am going to make them all and from this, I will learn to make socks.

I'm wondering if CIC needs socks in adult women's size. I'm sure some kids wear this size. They don't stay small forever. The socks will all be wool, washable and warm.

I'm copying this from Christina becasue it was so cute on her blog. Besides I'm unoriginal.

1. The name of the town where you were born

Columbia, South Carolina. I left there when I was three.

2. The name of the town where you live now

Lake DeFuniak is supposed to be one of only three perfectly round lakes in the world, I think. It may be a sinkhole, however.

3. Your name

Is this a blow up doll?

4. Your grandmother’s name (just pick one)

My dad was 12 when she died. He was 14 when his stepmom decided he was old enough to go out on his own.


5. Your favourite food

I wouldn't eat it alone, of course, but I go through a lot of it.


6. Your favourite drink

I had to search for a picture of iced tea without lemon.


7. Your favourite song

Johnny Mathis. I wanted "Could Be" from West Side Story but didn't find a picture.


8. Your favourite smell

This must be almost everyone's. How could it not?

(As Christina said, the pictures remain the property of the owners.)

I finished one of my poor little socks. My theory here is that you learn as you go and perfection is not required right now. In other words, the toe is not what I want it to be. I just don't get that kitchener stitch. It seems to involve tying knots in your yarn as you go along. Anyway the toe is finished and the sock FEELS good and the yarn is so cute. Will post a picture when they're both done.

Zach models his new fingerless gloves. I found them easy and enjoyable until the end when there were so very many ends to weave in. The yarn is Smart superwash. The plain colors in this yarn feel soft while this is a bit scratchy, probably because of the white strand wound around. I've washed them and applied conditioner. We'll see how that turns out. Needles were size 3.

While I'm at it I might as well post the socks I made for my 17-year-old. The beautiful brown and blue merino superwash is from Fleece Artist.
In my haste and ignorance, I cast on one sock so that there was only an inch or so of tail left. Not enough to weave in. A flash of total stupity hit me and I cut the other off to match. Then ... I took sewing thread and basted both ends into the sock fabric. I wonder if they've held up. Since they've disappeared into a teenagers room, it'll be a while before I know.

Maybe I should say "poor little yarn." What a tragedy for this gorgeous and FUN sockotta to fall into my inexperienced hands. One sock was finished in such a manner that the toe was shaped like an old fashioned Coca-Cola bottle. And to emphasize this, the pattern ended right where the stitching began so the grey end of toe had ugly white big crooked totally irrational stitches on it. They've been frogged. The second sock has a teensy hole where I twisted a stitch but I guess that's not so bad. I intend to finish them right after the gloves and then we'll live happily ever after. I will get a princess to kiss them and they'll turn beautiful.

Not much to see here but I'm excited anyway that the software is working. At least, it's working temporarily. There was something about a 30 day period and our serial number not being valid.

I finished one fingerless glove except for some ends and holes between fingers and am doing the fingers on the second. I believe the boy will really use these! I haven't seen the socks I knitted for him since the day he wore them to school but fingerless gloves are something you just can't buy around here and I think we have a winner.

I am looking for a job. Today, as part of that endeavor, I met with a nice lady who helped me with "interviewing skills." There were many lulls in the conversation as she tried to find things on her computer and I filled one of those quiet times by pulling out the fingerless glove I finished this morning and showing it to her. "Look at what I finished this morning," I said.

She looked and asked, "Will it have fingertips?"

"No."

"Is it for playing an instrument?"

"No. It's for my son. Sometimes he needs his fingers but needs to stay warm, too. He may use these when he's camping."

Her facial expression never changed. "When my son played an instrument, I just bought some gloves and cut the tips off," she said. Then she turned back to the computer.

Why didn't I think of that?

I will not be knitting the Six Sox mosaic socks. That is, I will not be knitting them before December as I don't have the right needles. When I joined the knit-along, I ordered yarn and needles and they seemed to take forever to get to me. They took eight days which may not be forever but is a long time for something ordered online.

I ordered circular needles that were 12 inches long! I could barely force the needle into the stitch to purl if I gritted my teeth and used momentum from leaning back hard in my chair. The vendor graciously allowed me to exchange them but I won't have them in time for this knit-along.

In the meantime, I'm working on son's fingerless gloves (which look good) and a pair of socks from beautiful Sockotta yarn (which don't look so good). I'm actually considering frogging the socks and making something else, or other socks, with the yarn. There's a hole where I twisted a stitch, some messiness in the heel stitch and the leg part is just too loose.

I have another pair of socks started with Trekking yarn that have been put aside as the pattern begins with size 2 needle then changes to size 1 around the ankle. I'm still in need of those needles!