Thursday, July 17, 2008

Fun & Games

Just to show that I haven’t been totally idle this week, here’s the scoop on the socks I finished yesterday:

Imperial Purple Socks
for Milord Son-In-Law


Begun: June 19th, 2008
Completed: July 16, 2008

Yarn: 2 balls Phildar Preface, 70% machine-washable wool/30% nylon, 211 yds = 50 g, original colour Metal 060 (one strand each white, lt gray, dk gray) dyed purple in LWI technique using acid and Lanaset dyes.
Needles: Addi Natura bamboo dpns, size 2mm (plus one bamboo skewer after I broke a needle).

Pattern: Garter Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. I worked it in my usual Damselfly’s Basic Sock Pattern on 72 sts, 8” before heel flap, re-oriented sock sts slightly to put a k2 rib at beg and end of instep, EOP heel stitch, scant 8” before toe decreases, dec to 24 sts, dog-ear reduction.

Comments: I like this pattern. It is fairly easy to work (1 round plain, 1 round k2/p2 rib), gives a bit of stretch and looks very smart. The finished socks look rather long and skinny off the foot though!

Meanwhile I’ve been trying to ignore the racket and the mess and amusing myself by reading blogs and knitting. I picked up the A-Maizing Socks again and am past the heel turns on both. I’ve also decided to make a tam to go with the Peeenk Cardi since I have several balls left of the yarn. No idea whether the Princess will wear said tam but you never know. It should go pretty quickly!

OK, the roofers are finished. And just to show that my whining wasn’t all for naught, there has been somewhat more damage done than I expected. There’s a huge gouge out of my lower cedar deck. The gutters look like hell. There is still a lot of trash around that they missed picking up. The roof itself looks a whole lot better than it did but our work is just beginning to put things to rights again. Here’s what the inside of just one of my 4 attic spaces looked like before the plywood went on:


Yes, that is the sun shining in through the roof! And the insulation down where the staples popped out of the plastic sheeting. What you can’t see is all the dust and grit that will need to be cleaned out. Times four. Bleh. They were all clean and organised before this all started. And it’s about 1,000 degrees in there (F or C, take your pick). This is going to be fun. Not. Can I wish for cooler weather next week? Or would that be a mortal sin since we are actually having summer in July for once.

Have I mentioned that there is a new house being built just two houses down the alley from us? My noisy workmen just finished but theirs just started. As T-Man says, “Let the games begin!” Unfortunately being hard of hearing doesn’t help. Thank goodness for my podcasts.

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