March of the Penguins (and Other Birds!)

Today was the Canskate Ice Show. It was called Birds of a Feather. Darren was a penguin. He did really well - better than I thought he'd do! I figured he'd get there and see all the people and not want to go out on the ice. His group were second out, and he had to sit there til the end when they all went back out. I wasn't allowed to stay over where he was, and I had my fingers crossed that he behaved himself! I kept watching, and he seemed to just sit there wrapped up in his blanket and watch the show. He said he enjoyed watching all the other kids skate, especially one boy who skated solo to the Star Wars theme song! I didn't get any still pictures. I had the video camera, and Travis is in Saskatchewan, so it was only me! I did get Darren to try his outfit on last night. It was quite snug. He has a long torso, so the costume didn't quite cover his belly. One of the other little guys had the same problem. The hood looks too big here because it was made to fit over his helmet. It's hard to see, but there's a bunch of little yellow beaks in a row on the right end of the bench. I was too far away to get a decent picture. After the grand finale a lot of the kids stayed on the ice so parents could take pictures. Not Darren, of course. He took off so I didn't get any. My video turned out well, and that was most important! I can always try to take some pics off that.

Remember this from a couple of days ago?

Now it's slowly turning into this:

My very first ever toe-up sock! I didn't realize that Wyverns were toe-up, short row heel. I had terrible trouble with this so far, but it's my fault, not the pattern. I tried short-row toes in the tutorial linked in the pattern. Ripped it out three times, then I decided to try the third method listed in the tutorial, the "Easy Toe". That one worked fine. (I don't crochet, but I did have a 3mm hook and looked up how to make a chain. I used to be able to make chains only, but that was a long time ago.) I won't go into detail about my problems with the sock - they're so lame I'm embarassed! Let's just say I should have been paying more attention, and the problems wouldn't have happened, and I'd be a lot farther along by now. (Sometimes it's not good to try to watch a movie and knit at the same time!) I will have to see how I can cope with the heels. I was thinking of making a pair of these for Sockapalooza, but I'll have to see how mine look in the end. I'm terribly fussy, especially when giving something to of all people a fellow knitter! I may try these heels when I get to that point (probably tomorrow night). Take a look at Dave's socks in his post from March 17. He used Sherman heels, and they look awesome. I was reading through the pattern yesterday, but I really need to actually do it before I really grasp what it is I'm doing (or supposed to be doing!).

This is where hubby is supposed to be tomorrow to offload a bunch of farm equipment. He's in Saskatchewan now, and they had terrible driving conditions today. I was talking to him after the ice show, and he said they were advising people to stay off the roads. He saw a lot of cars in the ditches. It wasn't really snowing, but the snow was blowing onto the roads from the ditches and turning to ice once it was driven on. I watched the Global news from Saskatoon, and it was their first news story. I'll be a wreck with him driving in the dead of winter next year!

Must go find something to watch so I can get lost and mess up my sock again! I should be okay til I get to the heel, then I better have "quiet concentration"!

Happy knitting!