Mystery Sock KAL Revised

I have decided to change pattern I am going to make for the Mystery Sock KAL. I have been sort of avoiding the blog because a lot of people are done already, and I haven't started. I was scrolling through sort of fast and noticed a pair of not-so-good looking socks. They were the Obstacle socks, and the person who knit that one was not continuing with the second one and decided to change her pattern, too. I think I will do Aran Braid socks, which seems to be a pretty popular choice. I find most of the socks on the Knit List to be made with worsted weight yarn, and I want to use regular sock yarn.

I have the Littlest Monkey Man's sweater almost done. I originally planned on making it a hoodie, but I won't have enough yarn. All I need to do now is finish knitting the collar and put the buttons on. It's a little big on him, and the sleeves need to be rolled up, but it's cute.

We went camping last weekend. We finally ran out of propane. The tanks were filled last year when we bought the camper in June. The only things that really run off of it is the hot water heater and the stove. There's a furnace, too, but we only ran that a few times. We've also been leaving the hot water heater pilot light on because it's quite hard to light. I think when we take the camper to be winterized this year I will get them to change the hot water heater to electric. It costs $250, and I wouldn't have to worry about no hot water again. (I had to use the electic kettle to heat water to do the dishes.) We also bought a big bag of peanuts in the shell to feed the squirrels and chipmunks. I'll have to take the camera next time. All day long the squirrel went through the cycle of coming to get a peanut and go hide it. The chipmunk went under our deck and pocked his little head up through one of the holes in it. (There's a few boards that need replacing.) They were quite entertaining. The boys also found a toad that kept them quite entertained after it peed on my hands.

A few weeks ago we got some work done to our leaky chimney. We really can't afford to have it rebricked (got a quote on that before - expensive!), so we got it "painted" with an acrylic/rubbery compound. On a good chimney it has a 20 or 25 year guarantee. On ours they figured it should last 5-6 years, long enough for us to have the money to get it done properly. Here's before, in the process, and after. It looks kinda pinky, but it dried to a brick red. They put three coats on (normal is two), and in addition to using a roller they also have like an air compressor that blows the paint stuff into all the little nooks and crannies. Knock-on-wood so far it hasn't leaked. We haven't had any major rainfalls, but it's looking good! If it does happen to leak they will come back and put a clear acrylic spray over it, but he said he only ever had to do that once or twice.

Lastly, here's some pictures I took at the wedding the other weekend. I've never taken wedding pictures before, so I was quite nervous. They turned out really well. I took over a hundred digital pictures and 5 rolls of 24 exp 35mm film. They picked their pictures up on Sunday and were quite pleased. They bought me a really nice fancy candle with berry ring as a thank you. It smells really good.

Bunch of drunken karaoke.

Happy knitting!