kmkat and her kneedles

Randominity and navel-gazing.

I have noticed that any number of [non-fiction] books have a premise that would be perfect for a long article or a pamplet*, but which do not warrant an entire book. Not that that stops the pundits and analysts and socio-political commentators from writing them. In that vein, I present any number of my recent thoughts and occurrences that do not warrant an entire blog post but which are perfect for the blog equivalent of a not-book.

* * * * *

We have been taking care of Elder Son's new dog while he is at Bonnaroo. Said dog is bigger (105 pounds) than our own two dogs put together (45 pounds + 55 pounds). This means we are buying twice the amount of dog food and cleaning up twice the amount of poop. This dog's name is, most appropriately, Moose. In the photo at left, he is standing on the floor with his paws on my chair. Notice how I am eye to eye with his collar. When he wants to get on the bed, he doesn't need to jump -- he just walks onto it. Happily, he is a big softie who wants nothing more than a head rub and to be told he is a good doggie. And to be fed. 

He also drinks what seems to us to be an incredible amount of water. Smokey and I marvel at how frequently we find ourselves filling the water dish; Elder Son remarks, "Wow, I wonder what his medical term that was gobblety-gook to me rate is?"

Moose was a bed hog the first couple nights after Elder Son left. I would wake up at 3am and find him occupying the entire lower two-thirds of the bed. Then I would discover that moving a 105-pound inert mass of canine was not as easy as I might have hoped. But after rolling him out of his spot those two nights, he seemed to understand that his place was between Smokey and I, not in the place where I wanted my lower body to be.

* * * * *

On Father's Day I saw several gifs and posts about things people were taught by their fathers. My dad was a very shy and insecure man not much given to being a father, although he tried. What he taught me was never to walk on ice with my hands in my pockets. Not exactly a life-altering lesson, but not a bad one, either. It has saved my butt -- and wrists and probably hip -- any number of times. 

* * * * *

I was out running errands one sunny day last week and saw four convertibles with their tops down. The next day was stormy and Younger Son reported he saw four accidents on his way here from Minneapolis, one of said accidents requiring an ambulance. Coincidence or enemy action? Hard to say, really.

* * * * *

Haven't done the unconscious mutterings for a while. Time to re-start my tradition, albeit on a different day than before.

1. Today :: is Monday. I wrote this yesterday.
2. Lips :: that long to be kissed.
3. Seethe :: rage.
4. Desired :: under the elms.
5. Patrol :: plane. A P3, to be exact.
6. Nails :: long and red.
7. Pastry :: chef.
8. Jacket :: potatoes.
9. Button :: -hole. The Lion Brand blog just posted a little tutorial on making buttonholes. I need to get on that, stat.
10. Feel :: good.

* * * * *

I think I mentioned I have been binge-watching House for the past few weeks. His character seems to me to be a medical version of Sherlock Holmes, right down to his affinities for music and drugs. (I realize that this similarity  has probably been remarked upon years ago by TV reviewers, but I just noticed it. Never read any reviews of the show when it was new.) Imagine my delight when there was an exterior shot of his townhouse, showing its number: 221B. 

Smokey was watching it with me last night and pointed out that the House character also has a lot of similarities to the Doc Martin character in that PBS series. Both are arrogant and abrasive, but other characters put up with them because of their life-saving brilliance.

* * * * *

Smokey had an appointment last week with his ortho's physician assistant to get shots of rooster comb in his knees. This PA is the one who started and did much of the CPR that kept him alive when his heart stopped just before his knee surgery in March. He brought her a bouquet of flowers at this appointment. She was quite touched. I told him he should bring her flower at every appointment from now until the end of time. She is our hero.

 

* Does anyone besides the Jehovah's Witnesses write pamphlets any more? Save some trees! Bring back the pamphlet! I say.

Bouquet photo credit: anne arnould via photopin cc

WIP Wednesday.

Here we have the linen stitch scarf as it existed on Monday afternoon. You may be surprised at how little it has grown since last you gazed upon it. This is because I frogged the @#^#$% thing and started over. Multiple times. I'm pretty sure what we have here is what will become -- someday -- the finished product.

I can knit complicated cables and I have knit a lace shawl [pretty much] to perfection. But give me a two-stitch pattern and it gives me fits. *K1 sl1* and repeat from * across? *K2tog YO* (ditto)? I can screw those up seven ways to Sunday.

I think the problem is that the stitch almost mindless, the key word here being "almost". My needles are flying while I am binge-watching House on Netflix as I did last weekend (more on that later), and bango! Suddenly the stitches are not lining up the way they ought. What has helped on this iteration is leaving all the markers on the needle. Every 20 stitches I have a badly needed reality check.

* * * * *

You may remember I mentioned that Yarnover was last weekend. Tragically, I caught the cold that Younger Son had generously shared with Smokey, and I felt way too wretched to venture out in public, not to mention I would have been sharing my disgusting germs with a couple hundred knitters and other fiber folk. So I spent the weekend alternately sleeping and grumping and binge-watching the aftermentioned House. 

When I mentioned to YS what I had been watching, he looked askance.

"Can't you sum up the plot of that show in a four-panel cartoon?" he asked.

He may be right, but it wasn't until episode 10 or 11 that I felt the writers were slipping a little. Besides, Hugh Laurie is a fabulous actor, and I found myself admiring Dr. Cuddy, the female director of medicine. She continually spars with House but respects him for his abilities. Don't know how far I will go with the series, but it certainly kept my mind off my miseries last weekend.

On any given Sunday.

1. dead :: ringer
2. bangs :: hair
3. future :: imperfect
4. holistic :: medicine
5. circumstance :: beyond our control
6. past :: future
7. fan :: girl
8. happened :: one night
9. room :: -ful
10. awful :: -ness

* * * * *

Last week was all gold and glorious.

Today, guess what.

It's snowing.

See?

* * * * *

Last night I watched the Ozmandias episode of Breaking Bad, then finished reading The Night Circus. The book is my pick for tomorrow night's book club so I will have to lead the discussion; frankly, I don't know what the hell happened in the book. Between the awful violence of BB and the weirdness of the book, I had one doozy of an insecurity dream after I went to sleep. Took me awhile to figure out where all that insecurity came from (had to snuggle up next to Smokey for awhile), but once I did I felt better.

* * * * *

Smokey baked another of those awesome blueberry pies Friday night. The only reason this one lasted longer than 24 hours was that we knew we should save some for Matthew, who wouldn't be here until Saturday afternoon. Let me tell you, that was a real test of self-discipline.

* * * * *

Elder Son called yesterday from the Michigan-Indiana football game, which he was attending with friends. He said he had decided that, although football is his favorite game to watch, he prefers to watch it on TV. More comfortable, and cheaper food and drink close by. $6.50 for a hot dog at the game appalled him, poor guy. He was sounding quite rowdy, which is extremely unusual for him. Probably had done a bit of pre-game celebrating...

* * * * *

I am currently on square 28 out of 35 in the red quadrant of the sock yarn afghan. I think I will take a break once I finish #35 because I have committed to several other smallish project before winter -- another dog sweater for Ser Percival The Energetic, mittens for martinimade.com's mitten project, a possible hat and/or scarf and/or mittens for Ali, Andrew's friend. 

* * * * *

Edited to add: I didn't think the snow was gonna stick.

Guess again.*

* That is spearmint, a hardy perennial, being weighed down by snow. I plan to winter it over somewhere cold so I am not too worried about it getting snowed on. :: fingers crossed::

Sunday.

But first, as usual, the mutterings.

1. Spirits :: high.
2. Admit :: ticket.
3. Gift :: bag.
4. Barry :: my half-brother.
5. Dredge :: river.
6. Pajamas :: bottoms.
7. Cheating :: tests.
8. Information :: overload.
9. Ivory :: ebony.
10. Past :: memories.

* * * * *

Are you eagerly anticipating the finale of Breaking Bad tonight? We do not have cable, so I have been watching it on Netflix, on season 4 right now. I plan to stay off the Twitter, the Facebook, and possibly the entire internet from 10pm tonight through at least Tuesday so that I miss the spoilers.

Last week someone on Twitter gave a link to a Breaking Bad spoiler foiler that would black out any spoilers in tweets. I immediately downloaded and installed it on my iPad but found that it worked only the first time. The next time I went into Twitter all the BB tweets were there in their entirety. 

I squint heavily at the screen anytime I see the words Breaking Bad, in the hope that I can somehow miss any spoilers. So far, so good.

* * * * *

Latest quote from Younger Son: If I had one complaint about my upbringing, it was that I didn't learn the difference between pickled jalapeños and fresh jalapeños. I ate the pickled jalapeños that we had and thought, These aren't too spicy. Had I known the difference, I wouldn't have had to learn it by purchasing a chocolate-covered jalapeño at the state fair two years ago.

* * * * *

As soon as I locate my camera cable, there will be North Shore photos and charity dog walk photos. As soon as I locate my camera cable.

 

Muttering and stuff on a summer Sunday.

1. Maintenance :: high.
2. Tight:: tights.
3. Disillusion :: -ment.
4. Horizon :: Lost.
5. In :: & Out Burger.
6. Humor :: Mad magazine.
7. Purchase :: burger.
8. Delectable :: luscious.
9. Stumble :: Upon.
10. Words :: are for dreaming. No, I have no idea what that means either, but it is what popped into my head.

* * * * *

Younger Son is a little stretched for money these days, so he and Ser Percival The Energetic have been coming here on weekends to work for pay. It's nice to have him around whatever the reason, plus he is a good worker. Current project is installing a dog run on one side of the house which will be accessible from the deck; when completed this will allow us to remove the makeshift poop yard at the bottom of the deck stairs. Smokey built that poop yard in 2008 when I had the broken ankle, so that I would be able to let the dogs in and out without having to go down the stairs to put the dogs on the tie-out. Several stages to this project: finding the right dog run (check, several years ago), clearing any intrusive saplings on that side of the house (check, Scotty our teenage helper has been working on this), moving the 4"x6" green-treated timbers from the former sandbox/swing set to the site of the new dog run (check), leveling the site (still figuring that out), painting that side of the house (working on that), digging in the timbers and erecting the wire walls of the dog run kit (not yet), making a new opening in the deck railing (not yet), and installing a gate at the top of the existing deck stairs (ta-da).

* * * * *

Last night he and I went to a fabulous new Mexican restaurant in a nearby village* that a friend** (hi, Julie!) had just told me about. (Smokey went back to work this weekend (after 38 days off) so he was sleeping in preparation for his night shift. Poor guy had to miss out on the Mexican food this time.)

This eatery has the potential to be our new favorite. Smokey and I had been to the other local-ish Mexican restaurant earlier in the week, where I had arroz con pollo and was disappointed in how bland and non-flavorful it was. In order to do a proper scientific comparison I ordered the exact same thing at this new place. The first bite convinced me that there will be many visits to Fiesta Loca in my future. I am sooo happy that we finally have good Mexican food available locally. Mmm!

Last night YS and I watched the first three episodes of Lilyhammer, a new Netflix series. Loved it! I look forward to more happy hours of knitting and following the adventures of Giovanni Hendriksen/Frank "The Fixer" Tagliano in small-town and rural Norway.

Speaking of television, have you been watching Borgen? The same friend who told me of the new Mexican restaurant also told me about this Danish series about a female prime minister in that country. (She had also told me about Lilyhammer, so when YS mentioned it last night I jumped right onto his suggestion that we watch it.) 

On our way to dinner we were stopped by a stubborn goose standing in the middle of our lane on the highway. YS honked the horn; goose gave us a dirty look. YS let the car roll closer; goose flapped its wings in annoyance. YS had to put on his flashers, get out of the car, and chase the goose off the highway and back towards its apparent home. Sorry, no photo evidence; not camnesia this time, but when YS pulled out his phone to take a picture of the fowl he noticed there were cars coming. He wisely chose to jump back into the car and get moving again.

* The restaurant's website (first link) has not been updated to reflect the second location.

** Said friend came over Friday afternoon to knit on the deck with me. She brought me a gorgeous deep red lily for my new garden and planted it, too. (I have the best friends in the world.)

Socks, bullet-proof.

Photo taken with iPad, hence, the poor quality.

I finished these Sunday night whilst watching Wallander*.

Better photos in daylight.  

Yarn: Country Classics Yarn for Sox
Pattern:  my usual, Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Socks, here worked over 48 st. Feet are a little too big (44 st would have been better) and legs are barely big enough, probably because I made them so tall. Shapely calves, etc.
Needles: US#2 for the feet and ankles, US#3 for the leg. I just looked at other socks from this yarn on Ravelry; most people used a US#6, although there were a few 3s, 4s, 5s, and even 9s. No one else was dumb enough sufficiently intrepid to use a 2, though.

Photo styling assistance provided by the ever-helpful En Esch.

En: "I'm outta here!"

I call these bulletproof. Here is an example of their heftiness and body.
I had to whap them back onto the table after they tried to walk away on their own.

* Kurt Wallander is played by Kenneth Branaugh. I would never have believed that Branaugh could be so annoying. He plays the character, a Swedish police inspector, as stoic to the point of being inarticulate. The only time he can put more than three words together is a, when he is discussing the case, and 2, when he is livid. After watching my way through two seasons of this on Netflix I have gotten used to him; either that or he has lightened up a bit on the tongue-tiedness. Also of note is the cinematographer's excessive fondness of wind-blown grasses/rape/other crops. Nice effect the first couple dozen times...

Life is random, why not me?

1. Baked :: Alaska.
2. Excited :: to go.
3. Print :: out of,
4. Obstruct :: -ionist.
5. Bladder :: full.
6. Matrimony :: wedding.
7. Car :: many.
8. Reconstruct :: Civil War.
9. Lenses :: contact.
10. Best for last :: save it.

* * * * *

I got to thinking about John Sandford and his Virgil Flowers novels because I noticed a new one had come out, Mad River. Love John Sandford, love Virgil Flowers. Maybe not quite as much as I love Lucas Davenport of the Prey series, but close. Couldn't remember which of the books I had already read so I requested all of them (five plus the newest one) from the library. Have been reading them one after the other, kinda like 350-page potato chips. Just started #4 AND got the email that the newest one is waiting for me at my local library.

Heaven.

Edited to add: the reason I like Sandford's novels and characters so much is that they are the most intelligent but down-to-earth ones I have read, amen.

* * * * *

Speaking of books.

I sit on the board of trustees of the regional library system, which is currently embarking on its [latest] long-range planning process. Members of the board were tasked with visiting all the libraries in their respective counties and chatting with the directors about the services they get from the regional system. On Friday the other board member from our county and I visited four municipal libraries and had four wildly varying discussions. Wildly varying in a good way, mind you -- their experience in the library system ranged from 1 to 29 years and their education/library size/community demographic varied almost as much.

It was an interesting and informative and fun way to spend a day. Which is good because next Wednesday we are going to do it again with four different libraries.

* * * * *

I liked the yarn I knitted the fingerless gloves out of so much (it's been sitting in my stash since 2007, why haven't I used it before?) that I decided to make myself a hat from it, the Twisted Toque from 60 Quick Knits. 

Fail.

Sorry, I should have taken a photo to show how terrible it looked. If you scan the projects in Ravelry you may notice that on some, the non-stockinette portion of the hat sort of... sticks out. Mine looked like the one in the link but much, much worse.

Ribbit.

In hindsight, I think the problem was that the pattern was written for Cascade 220, which is a light worsted, and I knitted it from a plump worsted. Perhaps if I had gone up a needle size all would have been well. 

But we shall never know because I am NOT knitting that pattern again.

So there.

Not that I am bitter or anything...

 * * * * *

(something I commented on another blog that seemed so revolutionary and astoundingly awesome that I had to include it here)

The possible long-term effects of global warming have been endlessly reported upon, but the day-to-day effects have been downplayed. I have concluded what the latter means for us in the northern latitudes is that our weather will change more quickly than we are used to. The past few weeks, with fronts blowing through seemingly every other day, are what have convinced me of this. Makes sense meteorologically, too -- globala warming is basically just more energy in the atmosphere = more volatile weather.

Kinda fun, actually. Every morning is a new surprise. Can I go into town minus hat/scarf/boots or will I need long underwear and three pairs of socks? 

* * * * *

Have any of you been watching House of Cards on Netflix? I started last night, got annoyed in the first 30 seconds*, so annoyed in the next three minutes* that I stopped watching. I eventually went back and am now ready to start episode 2.

But it is not nearly as good as the British original with Ian Richardson, imnsho. I blogged about that once twice before. When Kevin Spacey delivered that line -- You might very well think that. I could not possibly comment -- I actually groaned. He is a great actor, don't get me wrong, but this whole thing seems kinda flat compared to the original.

I will continue to suffer through it, though ;-)

* They broke a primary law of good writing/movie-making: show me, don't tell me. When FU kills the dog, that is showing; when he expounds to the camera to give every bit of background information we may need, that's telling.

 

Random thoughts on a Wednesday.

In the interest of full disclosure: I am writing this on Tuesday night.

* * * * *

I may not like the character of Lady Mary Crawley -- she is shallow, arrogant, and self-centered -- but if I were in trouble I would want her on my side. In addition to her less desirable qualities, she is also smart, tought, good in a crisis and exactly the person who could save my ass.

* * * * *

From the latest issue of Time magazine, in the article on guns and gun control:

"I'm not anti-gun. I'm just not pro-dumbass."

- Steve Mostyn, wealthy Houston trial lawyer, gun enthusiast, and friend of Gabriel Gifford.

* * * * *

The thermostat installed with our new ground-water heat pump does everything except wash windows. It reports on the outside temperature, the inside temperature, checks the forecast for imminent weather, and sends us emails if anything goes wrong.

 

Too bad the system doesn't keep the house warm. (Thermostat is set for 67˚, but the indoor temperature is 57˚. This is because it is -8˚ outside, and the system needs more ground water than the well can deliver.)

But at least it is significantly warmer inside than out...

Ten on Tuesday, the childhood TV edition.

Ten Favorite TV Shows From My Childhood.

1. Robin Hood. I am quite sure I am the only one old enough to have this on my list.
   
   
   
   
2. Crusader Rabbit. Ditto.
3. The Howdy Doody Show. Ditto. Buffalo Bob, Clarabelle The Clown, Princess Summerfallwinterspring, the Peanut Gallery. One day my school bus was delayed and the show was over by the time I got home. I cried. (I was only in first grade.)
4. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Two words: Illya Kuryakin. Yes, he is also Ducky on NCIS. 
5. I Spy. This, plus The Tonight Show, were how Bill Cosby got his start.
6. Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. High school and college years.
   
   
   
   
7. Sky King. Saturday mornings long before most of you were born.
8. Annie Oakley. Ditto.
9. Rocky & Bullwinkle.  Still on, I think. Great, great show.
   
   
   
   
10. Twilight Zone. One of the greatest shows of all time, as measured by how many of us remember certain episodes: the invalid in the isolated house whose new nurse removes *her* wig to reveal *she* is really the murderer that has been in all the papers; the guy who breaks his glasses when he finally has the opportunity -- after the bombs have fallen -- to read every book in the library.
11. Topper. Also way before your time.
12. Alfred Hitchcock Presents. I almost forgot this one. Definitely one of the greats. 

The Game continues.

Premiering April 1 on a cable network near you.

While Andrew was home for Christmas we watched Season 1 on his laptop. Excellent.

I had clued him in on these books a couple years ago, and he had found somewhere on the web where he could download a pdf of the text. He put them on his iPod Touch and read whenever he had a minute or two to waste -- waiting for an elevator, in the bathroom, wherever.

Last year when A Dance with Dragons, Book 5 of the series, came out I emailed him to let him know. He replied that he already had an autographed copy*, acquired when he went to hear George R.R. Martin speak. Rotten kid, taking advantage of all NYC has to offer.

 * "[He'd] already got one, you know." Name that reference.

I had my 15 minutes seconds of fame.

Some of you have seen this already, either on TV or Facebook or soxanne's blog or Ravelry, but hey, watch it again! Make me feel famous good!

 

 

Ellen and I were interviewed on Wednesday for this piece, which aired on the Thursday 5 o'clock news on WCCO, channel 4 in the Twin Cities. Ellen is an awesome person whom I am proud to have met and even prouder to have helped.

As of yesterday her efforts had secured hats for all 100 heads in the Senate and a large portion of the House -- 42% of Congress in total. I certainly hope those Congresspeople take the sentiment to heart. Thanks to all the knitters who have jumped on this cause!

Sneak peek.

Super Bowl ads.

Bibs and bobs.

 

How well do you know the keyboard in front of you? Take the quiz. (I got 80%).

* * * * *

A few random facts from Mental Floss:

In 2009, U.S. airlines collected $2.7 billion in baggage fees. Another $2.4 billion came from reservation change fees

Cheerios were originally called 'Cheerioats.'

The space between your pointer finger and thumb is called the purlicue. (!!!)

The long-running State Farm jingle ("Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there!") was written by Barry Manilow.

* * * * *

Stormtroopers in the Subway.

* * * * *

My sweetie basking at Many Glacier lodge in eastern Glacier NP.

Coming next year to a television near you.

From today's Wall Street Journal (I don't know if the link will work if you are not a subscriber):

Next year HBO will launch "Game of Thrones," a series based on George R. R. Martin's novels about power struggles in a fictional land inspired by medieval Europe.

From the HBO website:

Yee haw! That series is one of my favorite bunch of books EVAH! We don't have cable or satellite, let alone HBO, so I won't be able to watch the series until it comes out in DVD and I can get it from the library ::le sigh::

LMAOSaturday.

* * * * *

Jessalu is giving away a skein of her handspun if you vote for her husband's car club; it is applying to a local bank for a grant. Go! Vote! Win!

Separated at birth? and med school.

 

Inara Serra (actress Morena Baccarin from Firefly) and the cover model from the latest Knitty (Olivia Foppiano).

Discuss.

* * * *

Cathy-Cate asked how Andrew did in his first semester at medical school. I am happy to report that he passed all three subjects:

• biochemistry (barely);
• epidemiology (with a high score; he studied for the final by tutoring others. He liked epi a lot);
• anatomy (painfully).

Happily for him, the first two years of med school are recorded in the transcript as pass-fail, so his struggles with biochem and anatomy are recorded nowhere but in his brain. He says his problem with anatomy was was it was 100% memorization and that the course was essentially self-study. Pure memorization with no logical associations -- like there would have been if anatomy were combined with physiology, the study of the functions of the anatomical parts; some med schools do that but not Mt. Sinai -- he found to be boring. But after having his confidence shaken severely by failing the anatomy midterm*, he worked very, very hard to be sure he passed the final.

* I haven't checked this factoid with him, but I think this is the first time in his life he has ever failed anything academic. He phoned home in the depths of despair after he found out his below-passing grade, sometime in October, I think. I told him that failure was inevitable at some point -- no one wins forever -- and I don't think he wanted to hear that. But dealing with failure is a lesson we all must learn. Better he first learns it now in a school course than with a patient in the field (although that is inevitable, too).

* * * * *

Go read Heather's knitter's Christmas poem -- it is most excellent!

A merry Christmas to all -- may the Christmas faeries watch over y'all and your knitting!

Random Wednesday.

"I tell my sons, 'When you bring a girl home, I don't care about her family background. I don't care what colour she is, or what she wants to be... just don't bring me a girl who peers warily at her plate and says, "What's in this?".' "

  -- from passage des perles.blogspot

* * * * *
One of the duties of being a mother of a kid who lives faraway is the packing/repacking and shipping of stuff.

 

This duty also includes removing any hazmat from the shipment.

* * * * *

My newest wallpaper, featuring a hanging basket from my deck.

* * * * *

"You might very well think that. I could not possibly comment."

  -- from House of Cards / To Play the King / The Final Cut.

Awhile back I included that quote in a blog post and it got me to remembering the source, this BBC miniseries. A quick trip to the library's online catalog and the 3-CD set was on its way to my house. I watched it last week whilst recuperating from that little bout of food poisoning.

It was every bit as good as I remembered. Ian Richardson plays the most deliciously scheming, malevolent, downright evil politician one can imagine in 20th century politics. Hitler could have taken lessons from this guy. I recommend it highly to anyone looking for something to watch this summer while the TV plays reruns and other assorted crappe.

* * * * *

This business of quoting from stuff I have watched or read can have unanticipated consequences. When I said, Winter is coming, I of course had to go check my reference to be sure I had the title right. Lo and behold, I find that book 5 of the series comes out in September! Can I get a w00t?!

I am speaking of the epic The Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. It is a fantasy series, but unlike many books of that genre, these have engaging, fully-developed characters. The series is great. I listened to the audio books of #1 through #4 a couple-three years ago and was completely captivated. After browsing the plotlines again at Amazon I find I need to refresh my memory before I listen/read #5. Whee! My summer listening has just been decided!

* * * * *

After knitting six pairs of woolly socks since the end of tax season, I think I am ready to move on. I still have 1-1/2 socks to finish before I can truthfully say I knit six full pairs, but still. When those little details are cleaned up I am on to other game. Summer has finally arrived here in the Great North, complete with 80° temps, humidity, and swarms of mosquitoes so thick in the evening that it is problematic to open one's mouth to inhale. The onset of those all-too-brief weeks of balmy weather has inspired me to attempt my worsted-weight bamboo version of the Summer Raglan from More Big Girl Knits.

Wish me luck.