More February Socks

I finished another pair of socks this month. This must be my fourth pair, I think. They are knit with Austermann Step color 02. I normally make sure my stripes match, but I got this skein half price because it had a swatch knit from it. I didn't want to run out of yarn trying to match the stripes, so I just knit. I ended up having enough left over that I could have matched them, I think. Now the Littlest One will be getting a pair. I may have to do solid heels and toes to make sure I don't run out. The pattern for these socks is from The YoYo Knits. I can't get it to link directly to the post, but it's in her January 2007 archive, on the 23rd, called Slapdash Socks. It has an Eye of Partridge heel, but it's hard to tell. They took about a week to knit. I can't remember the exact day I started, but I finished them yesterday.




I also made another pair of felted slippers for the store out of Patons Classic Wool. I did the plain join sole for this pair, size ladies' medium. I still want to do a pair of ladies' small in Briggs & Little so people can compare the two. I try to push people to the CW for felting, but B&L is cheaper. CW makes life a lot easier, though, when it comes to the felting process! One trip in the hot wash and these fit me perfectly. Started these February 21, finished February 22.

We had a really nice weekend. It was above 0C both days and sunny. We went to a local wooded walking trail both Saturday and Sunday. These pictures were taken the first day. I didn't take the camera the second day. Sunday the boys took their crazy carpets and slid down any little hill we came to, provided it wasn't where they could slide into the river or the little pond. The best hill was the one at the start of the trail, packed down snow from all the feet, and it's nice and open. They got me to push them, which made them go even faster. I took only one turn cuz I didn't want to get all wet (didn't wear snowpants).

Big snow-covered dirt pile, must climb...

The Oldest One made it up first. The Littlest One got there eventually. They had to slide down on their butts, of course. No pictures of that. They decided to slide down where there was a tree at the bottom, so I had to make sure there were no collisions.

Check out this Leaning Tower of Tree. Poor thing is just holding on by the roots. It's huge, but the good thing is it's leaning over the pond. When it goes it shouldn't fall on the path or on top of anyone. They have warning signs up to stay out of the park if it's really windy because it's a "mature" forest, and there's the risk of getting hurt by falling trees or branches.

I went back to the trail this morning while the Littlest One was in preschool. I couldn't believe how icy it got since yesterday! We were home at one, so it must have melted a lot in the afternoon. I was very careful where I stepped in some places . It probably won't be fit to walk on much more for awhile with the weather warming up. Not until the snow and ice melts off the trails.

I like Doctor Who, the new ones, not the old ones. I was disappointed to see that Billie Piper left the series. She was originally going to do a third season but ended up leaving. It's kinda open for a possible return or maybe just be back for an episode or two. I really liked her and David Tennant together. But I guess that's how the series goes. Ever-changing Doctors and different companions. (I really like Rose's fingerless mitts at the end of Doomsday. I'd like to sit down and figure out a pattern for them.)

It's looking like hubby will be leaving in a few weeks for Yellowknife. I'll be a nervous wreck. He says it's all flat driving and isn't bothered by it, but black ice is black ice and happens anywhere. There's three of them scheduled to go, so I'm hoping they get to drive together. He should be home tomorrow night. This was one of the longest trips he's been on. He left three weeks ago today, but granted he was held up four days because of the accident.

Speaking of hubby -- Happy 7th Wedding Anniversary!

Happy knitting!

Grrr! This really annoys me when Blogger doesn't keep my paragraph spacing!

Before and After

This was the little girl last year. This picture would have been taken in February probably. I think it was taken by the dealership where we got it, I'm sure I didn't take the picture. I think the sales rep e-mailed us this picture when we were thinking about getting her. She had just been painted (previously she was white).

This is what you definitely do not want your truck to look like a year later. Poor thing, makes me right sick to see her laying on her side. These pictures aren't very good. He took them with his cell phone. My old 35mm was still among the missing inside the truck. At least the mountains look pretty in the background. You can't really tell, but this was on an upward hill, I believe. I said it must have been a really big bang when she fell over, but he said he was too busy holding on and trying not to go flying out of his seatbelt to notice. He did say it was a helluva job to open the driver's door like a hatch to get out. He's on his way to Quebec with several drops to make before heading home. I think everything can get off-loaded tomorrow except one piece, and they were going to see if he could do that Saturday. He won't be happy if he has to wait til Monday for one drop. He's anxious to get home and get her looked at to see just how much $$$$ worth of damage there really is.

I don't have anything to show in the world of knitting. I am working on a pair of socks and also another pair of sample felted slippers for the store. I've been alternating between them, but I think tonight I'll concentrate on just the slippers. I'd really like to get the socks finished this weekend. I need to finish a pair of mittens for the Knittin' Mittens KAL for this month, and I'd also like to get to work on the cabled sweater I started for the store last fall. I'd like to get that done so I can start a summery hoodie for myself. I already have the yarn, and if I start now it may be done for 2008! (I'm slow on adult sweaters.)

I got to waste two hours today at the DMV getting my license renewed. (Horrid picture -- that won't get shown anywhere unless I have to.) I should have taken my sock with me. I also took the paper with me to plate hubby's ATV. Thank goodness I was there for two reasons and at least accomplished one -- the salesman didn't sign, date, or put his dealer number on the back of the Certificate of Ownership. I couldn't plate it today. I called him and have to mail him the slip, he'll fill it out, and then send it back. Today's wait was enough for me. His ATV, he can go to the DMV and plate it next week. (The DMV in our town is only open two days a week for four hours at a time, and there's only one person to wait on people. It usually takes a good hour.)

Well, must go do my dishes so I can work on the slippers.

Happy knitting!

I'm a Winner!

I won some yarn from The YoYoKnits, Alyson! She had a contest that ended over the weekend, so thanks to the good old random number generator I won. That's a good thing considering the crappy time we've had lately. I don't know exactly what I won yet, but it's either sock yarn or yarn for the shawl I had wanted to make. I'll be happy with either one for sure! Edit: I got an e-mail from her, and she said she found the perfect sock yarn. I don't get many surprises, well, not good ones anyways, so I'm very excited!

Here are a couple of final-final pictures of the slippers I made for myself, on my feet as I type. These were taken after defuzzing. I must say I love them and will always have a pair. Once these start to wear out I'll have another pair on the needles. I think I'll make a pair for the camper, too. I won't need them in the middle of summer, but our campground opens the end of May and runs til October, so it's chilly mornings in the beginning and the end.


I finished one of the sample pairs for the store. These are men's medium made from Patons Classic Wool in chestnut brown and natural marl. These felted with one trip through the wash. Mine are Briggs & Little and took like 45 minutes to felt down to my size. I much prefer CW for felting. A lot of people are frustrated when trying B&L for felted projects. I do have some B&L to make a pair of ladies' medium for the store, too, so people can see how they both look. Anyone using B&L has to be prepared to put a lot more effort in the felting process. We also had a lady in not long ago who could not get her B&L slippers to felt as small as she needed and had to make another pair with CW. Luckily the first pair were made with browns, so she could gift them to a man. (Sorry that the picture is blurry. I couldn't tell til it was transferred from the camera, then the batteries were dead so I couldn't do it again.)

We had our first real snowstorm today, no school, of course. We probably got about 6", enough that I can snowblow the big driveway tomorrow, provided I can find the snowblower key. It has an electric start, so if I can't get it going the normal way I'll plug it in (provided I find the key!). I will not ever snowblow with the kids in the yard. Tomorrow the Oldest One should be gone to school, and the Littlest One will be in preschool in the morning, so I'll do it then. I have to get gas in my jug first. The nephew took it over the weekend and brought it back empty, of course. He said he wasn't going to use all of it. Yeah, whatever. I'm lucky I got the jug back at all. The snowblower has gas in it now, but the forecast is saying snow on Wednesday. Doesn't say how much, but I better be prepared. No real snow all winter, now we'll probably get storm after storm. (Pardon the crappy pictures. I just stuck my head out the front door and snapped. Not much for scenery around my house. Yes, that's a graveyard across the street, but they're quiet! My great grandparents are the first ones on the far left, and I've got other relatives over there, too.)

Hubby made it out of the mountains. You'll never believe it -- three of them were travelling together, all work for the same company. He said it was snowing so much they really shouldn't have been driving, but they did. One of the other guys has a yellow Peterbilt (ours is black), and they ended up having to wait half the day on Saturday for him to get pulled out of the ditch! Luckily his trailer was empty, and he went straight in. The lack of a load and all the snow helped hold his truck up. Hubby said if he would have had a load on he probably would have tipped over, too. His bumper got bent, and he probably came away with only a $1,500 towing bill or so instead of $23,000. (Of course, our truck was a "salvage" operation that required two tow trucks, grader, couple of half tons, extra people, 1200km round trip drive, and reload the steel he was hauling.) There was one more load going to Whitehorse, and I guess the company sold it to someone else. Out of the eight trucks that went up there, three had accidents, and a couple of the other ones ran into truck problems. Hubby took pictures of this last incident and has some of the damage to his truck. He wants a picture of the other guy's truck, too, so he can put them on the wall at work. That way if they ever get the bright idea of sending them over the mountains in the winter again he can say, "Refer to the wall, boys, refer to the wall." Head Honcho found out about our accident on Saturday. He had been on vacation in Bermuda and didn't know anything about it. He wasn't happy about it, but what do you do. Accidents happen, not like he did it on purpose. They won't be out anything anyways. We have to pay them back for the deductible, and insurance covers the rest (it better).

Well, I've got it quiet for a bit. The boys conned me into getting Ice Age 2 on Pay-Per-View. I think they tried to use that as a ploy to avoid bath night. Wrong! Baths will be done right after the movie. I have to watch Coronation Street after and part 2 of Doctor Who. (The new Doctor Who. We get the old ones on BBC Kids. Talk about corny! Reminds me of this old show they used to show on Switchback when I was a kid.)

Happy knitting!

Moving Up North to Start a Towing Business

First off I want to thank everyone for their comments regarding our current crisis with our truck. It really helped to be able to come on here and vent. Thanks to all who listened and helped cheer me up. Blogland can be a wonderful place!

I think I've decided on a career change. Hubby called this morning to say he made it to Whitehorse. He ended up having to get a tire replaced on the truck once he got there. One came unsealed after the truck was running and couldn't be fixed, likely a result of the accident, so he bought a second-hand tire. He isn't leaving Whitehorse until tomorrow when the other guy leaves. He doesn't want to travel alone, and at least the other guy has phone reception in the towns at least with his phone. (Our phone has zero reception.) Anyhoo, he said that they got the towing bill. Remember I said it would probably be like a minimum of $7,000? Upon rethinking we all thought maybe $10,000ish. Guess again. Take a wild guess. I think he was a little farther away from Watson Lake than he thought. It was about 600kms each way, so 1200km total for the two tow trucks, grader, and accessories people to drive. Are you sitting down? Make sure you are holding onto your seat. Don't want anyone to hurt themselves lest you fall on the floor... $23,000! Yes, that is not a typo. Twenty-three thousand dollars for towing! I think we should move up north and start a towing business. Obviously they can charge whatever they want. When you're in the middle of nowhere, hundreds of kilometres from civilization, truck and trailer can't stay there, no choice but to pay whatever they want to come tow you out. Unbelievable. (I know the towing of heavy trucks ain't cheap to begin with no matter where you are, and you're over a barrel up there because it ain't like you can shop around.) I'm still flabbergasted, dumbfounded, shocked, annoyed, irritated, aggravated, you name it, I'm it. Rough estimate so far on truck damage is $10,000, but I won't know for sure til the insurance people look at it once it's back in Nova Scotia. Thank goodness for insurance, even if it has a large deductible. (Looks like I should join up with one of the knit from your stash KALs. Guess I can kiss the shawl for banquet goodbye. Oh, well. There's always next year.)

The kids lucked out and had the day off school. Our storm turned out to be wind and rain, but through the night it got cold, so everything froze. The roads were really icy. There were lots of fender benders and cars in the ditch according to the radio. I'll be so glad when spring hits. We've been lucky so far, no real snow, but it's been cold, and I don't like it.

I finished my slippers. Here's before and after shots. They're still wet, I just felted them tonight. They still need to be defuzzed. I prefer to do that when they are dry. I used leftovers from Ma and Pa's slippers I made for Christmas, Briggs & Little Regal in Lilac and Quoddy Blue. I would not have picked those colors to use together, but I just wanted to use up leftovers and not buy new yarn.


This is the yarn I plan on using for the sample slippers for the store. I had the Briggs & Little in my stash, this is Fundy Fog and Grape. I had the brown Classic Wool and picked up the natural marl to go with it. I'd like to use better, brighter colors, but I'll just use what's kicking around. It's mostly just so people can see how the two yarns work for the slippers. We have a lot of people that come in looking for yarn to knit them, so it's nice to see what each would look like.

Here's a couple of shots of the seals from yesterday. It's not the same one from last time. This one is about the same color, but his face is a lot pointier. It was overcast, and they weren't as close, but Tim's camera still did a lot better than mine ever would. (Thanks for the pictures again, Tim!)



I forgot about this yarn in the stash. I bought it quite awhile back on eBay. I think I will make Falling in Love socks with it. But first I started some socks out of my Austermann Step I got last summer.
Last night the Littlest One saw a package of matches and wanted to know what they were. I said they were for adults to use. Out of the blue he says when he's an adult he's going to marry me. (Little boys always go through the phase that they're gonna marry their mommies, don't they?)

I asked, "What about Daddy?"

LO, "He can marry someone else."

I asked, "What about your brother?"

LO, "Daddy can marry him!"

Happy knitting!

Happy Valentines Day & Truck Update

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Hope everyone who celebrates today has a good one. I don't do too much for Valentine's Day, but I did get the boys some chocolates and a few other candy. I also bought them KFC for supper. That doesn't happen very often. (I'm not a fan, I just like the burgers.)

I haven't talked to hubby since this morning, but it looked like he'd be back on the road late today or tomorrow at the latest. He didn't call last night, so this morning close to noon I called the office and asked if they had heard from him. (He couldn't believe he called the office before he called his wife!) Anyhoo, the guy I talked to said the truck was in the shop, it didn't look too bad, hubby and the other guy made it to where they were supposed to go. (Which I figured cuz I saw a debit from our bank account dated today that I didn't do. I can always track him by on-line banking and credit card usage.) A few minutes later my cell phone rang, and it was hubby. He said most of the damage can be fixed when he gets home. The mechanics were going to drain all the fluids and replace them. Since I didn't get any more calls I'm assuming the fluids checked fine. I'm sure if it looked like there was engine damage he would have called. He said there's no scratches on the paint, really weird, just the ripple in the side of the bunk. (Guess the snow on the ground helped cushion the fall.) He found my old 35mm camera and took some pictures, so once he's home I will develop the film and scan some pictures to post. I asked if he knew what the towing bill was, but he said not yet.

What I thought was going to happen was the other driver who came along was to deliver the load hubby had and then his own load. Now, apparently, since the truck will be good to go either now or tomorrow, hubby is continuing on to Whitehorse. There was a third driver from their company meeting up with them today. So now there should be a small convoy of three Classic trucks. My nerves won't rest til he's out of the mountains. It's supposed to snow there today and basically through the weekend. I'll be a wreck.

Speaking of bad weather, our storm is turning out to be mostly wind and rain. It started out like heavy flurries, then quickly changed to some freezing rain, then rain. We have a wind warning and a heavy rainfall warning.

I have my slippers almost finished. I am on the second sole of the second slipper. I will have them done and felted tomorrow night, so hopefully I will also have pictures. I have some leftover Briggs & Little and leftover Classic Wool. I picked up some more CW today to go with what I have, and I think I will make a pair of felted slippers in each yarn to take to the store. That way people can see what they look like in both wools. The CW felts much, much easier. There was a lady in the other day who used B&L. She made the ladies' medium, ran them through the hot wash cycle about five times, then boiled them in a pot on the store for over an hour, and they wouldn't shrink any more. They were down to about men's medium. (She used shades of brown, so she can gift them to some special guy.) She ended up buying CW to make herself another pair.

The seal has been visiting pretty much every day, sometimes bringing a friend. (I say friend -- they stay a fair distance apart.) They were both there today, and Tim took some picture but hasn't e-mailed them to me yet.

Well, I must get going. Got to do some dishes and get ready for bed. I'm quite relieved over the truck situation. I will feel better once he calls and says he's moving, and it will be even better once he calls and says he's in Edmonton and down out of the mountains! (He did say today that he's been seeing bison around. He said they're quite the site to see, huge!) Thought there for a minute I'd have to join one of the knit-from-your-stash KALs cuz I wouldn't have any money to buy yarn. I shouldn't say anything, cuz I still may have to!

Happy knitting!

PS -- Alyson has a contest on til Sunday night. Check it out.

Update

I was talking to hubby this morning. He said the towing people got his truck out late last night. I don't even wanna know what the bill for that will be. Two tow trucks, a grader, half tons, middle of nowhere... Probably a good $7,000. Anyways, he said most of it seems cosmetic. The truck has to sit for a day for the fluids to settle. They will have to drain the oil and check it for antifreeze, make sure the engine didn't get damaged. The steps and fuel tank are okay (I worried about a rupture in the fuel tank, environmental clean-up and whatnot). The truck looked twisted to him last night, and he was worried that the frame was twisted (that's what wrote our first truck off), but the bunk sits on little air bags, and one of those was gone, so that's why it looked crooked. The stack is bent, mirror and bracket gone, bumper is bent, there's a ripple in the side of the bunk and some rivets are gone, faring is bent up, headache rack twisted and damaged, one of the brand new beacon lights is gone. That's all I had written down as he told me. Got my fingers crossed that there isn't any engine damage, and once they get it back to the shop I hope they don't say the frame is bent. (He wasn't going very fast, and the truck was pretty much stopped and then just plopped over on its side.) So he's hoping to be on the road maybe the end of the week. They will fix all the mechanical stuff there, and the cosmetic stuff will get fixed in Halifax. He should be able to haul loads home, unless something major pops up on closer inspection. Once he's home one of the head guys said he and the other guy who had an accident in about the same place two weeks ago can fight over who gets to use the company truck! Hopefully the other guy's truck will be fixed by then, and we can use the company truck and not lose any more money. Hubby will be gone for another two weeks probably.

I do have some FOs. First up is a hat for hubby out of Patons Shetland Chunky Tweeds in charcoal. It's just the basic hat pattern I modifed of Pat's to suite chunky yarn. Started February 11, finished the 12th. Cast on 64sts, 6mm circs, knit til about 10.5" (depending on how much of a roll brim you want, I like a lot), change to 6mm dpns, K2tog around, knit one round, K2tog around again, knit one round, K2tog around again, draw end through remaining stitches, fasten off. Can't get much more simple than that!

Sorry about this next crappy picture. I'm only using it because it shows the true color the best. The other pictures don't look like the real color at all. This is Diagonal Lace Scarf by Midnight Purls. I started it February 9, finished the 11th. I used two skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and 4.5mm needles. It's a very nice, easy 6-row pattern repeat. Easy to memorize, good knitting. The close-up totally sucks colorwise, but I wanted to have a better look at the pattern.


I don't have a bunch of houseplants any more. I used to have a ton til I got Simba and Nala. They demolished most of them. Pretty much all I have has to hang in hangers from the ceiling out of reach of teeth. I got this little pink polka dot plant last week when I went grocery shopping. I had them before. He's on top of my entertainment centre for now. I only put him on the endtable to take a picture. Shoulda seen the day I tried to replant the spider plant -- the cats were like vultures.


I was on the computer yesterday, and I could hear little feet running back and forth in the living room. I looked in, and the Littlest One was folding the laundry that I brought up from the basement but hadn't gotten around to putting away. He did a good job, and I put it all away just as he folded it.

Must get going. I have to go to school and get the Oldest One. He's getting his stitches out this afternoon.

Pop on over to Aija's and take a gander at the test sock she's knitting. (Gotta love Cookie.) Also congratulate her on her second acceptance of a pattern for Knitty.

Check out April's amazing sock yarn contest. Also go over and see Tonia's Newport Aquarium pictures.

Next FO should be felted clogs for me.

I'll update more on the truck situation as I hear it.

Happy knitting!

The Good News and The Bad News

No pictures today, just a quick post. First the good news. Dad came down yesterday and checked the fuses to my dryer. One was blown, so now I'm back in business. I used it once, and all seemed to go well. He said if it happens again it may mean there is a problem with the dryer.

Now the bad news. The shitty, pisses-me-off, if not for bad luck we'd have no luck at all, nothing ever goes our way, one step forward ten back kind of news. Phone rings this afternoon around 2pm. It's hubby, calling from northern BC to tell me his truck is laying on its side in the ditch. He's fine, he actually had his seat belt on (face it, not many truck drivers wear seat belts). He said it wasn't snowing, but there was snow on the ground, and it was blowing around the road. He must have hit black ice, first thing his truck starts to go, then it goes into the ditch, and the truck and flatbed just kinda tip over on the passenger side. He has no phone service there, so luckily about 1/2 hour later a highway worker came along and took him back to Fort Nelson. He's in a hotel, his truck will be righted tomorrow sometime, and we'll see what damage is done. There's another guy from his company that left Whitehorse today that will probably come get this load, and hubby will head back home if/when his truck is able. (I don't even want to think about the towing bill let alone repairs.) We have insurance, of course, but the deductible is $10,000!

I don't know how many times stuff like this can happen to one person. About seven or eight years ago he was in a van with his friend, friend was driving, and they hydroplaned the van, rolled three or four times, totalled the van. Then in June, 2005, it was the big one that wrote our first truck off and resulted in the death of the lady who hit him. Now this. Luckily he wasn't physically hurt in any of these accidents, but he's got another 25-30 years of driving ahead of him, makes me wonder.

I will post tomorrow with some FOs. I had a rough afternoon, but I did manage to finish a scarf. It's blocking now. I also started his hat. I can't do anything that requires much concentration at the moment, too much on the brain.

Happy knitting!

PS We did get our new sock yarn in, three new Fortissima Sockas, and only one of the Austermann Steps came in. This company sends backorders, so hopefully that won't take too long to arrive. Of course it was the green one that didn't come.

Finally Out of Work Sock Yarn

I am finally out of work sock yarn. Now I can move on to new things. Here are shots of work socks #3 and #4. I only had a smidge of the grey ragg left and a tidbit of the heel/toe odds and ends stuff. There may be enough for a kids' pair. These ones are patchwork, green stripe and heel, blue toes.

Got some Cherry Tree Hill ready to go. This is fall foliage. I think I will use it to make YoYo Knits socks like the ones she posted on January 23 of this year. (You'll have to go into the archives. She so nicely says how she did them.) It's too busy to use in a fancy pattern.

In other news, my dryer has gone caput. It just turned seven, I got it when the Oldest One was born. Dad will come look at it tomorrow morning and see if he can fix it. If not I guess I will have to call the official repair people to deal with it. Totally dead, no light, no nothing. I'm hoping it's something simple. I do have a spare element, but I think it's more than that. I can't go too long without a dryer! I took a load up to Ma's yesterday to dry, and this morning I had a small wash that I hung on a wire laundry rack in the basement to dry.

Anyone who popped by the blog around Christmas probably noticed that the Oldest One had a bandaid on his forehead. I thought he had a pimple, so I left it alone. It turned red and started to get bigger. Over Christmas break it bled really badly twice. I called the doctor, thought maybe it was a mole starting. I couldn't get him in until January 16. The doctor called it proud flesh. He said he either got hit or nicked it, and it overhealed. (I think it was from a whack he took with a seat belt buckle thrown by the Littlest One. It didn't leave a mark, but that's about where he got hit with it.) He would call me to bring him to outpatients at the hospital to have silver nitrate put on it to shrink it. Of course, he didn't call, and it kept growing. Thursday of last week the Littlest One hit it when they were playing, and the big bleed was on. I took him up to the hospital, and our doctor happened to be on call. He put the silver nitrate on it and said to call on Monday to set up a time for treatment #2. The next morning his hair was sticking to it, and I noticed it was weeping and getting quite ugly. It bled a bit a couple of times, and the doctor had said if it did that to put a clean cloth on it and apply pressure. Anyways, I really didn't think it should be doing what it was doing, so Monday morning I called the office and told the receptionist. I had to take him back to the hospital in the evening, and sure enough, it wasn't supposed to look like this. He said it should have just shrunk by one third or one half. He wouldn't do anything else to it til the surgeon that comes to town looked at it the next day.

So the next day I have to go to the school and get him, take him back to the hospital to see this other doctor. He takes one look, calls it a big long complicated name, says he's never seen one on the forehead before, and it won't heal on its own, bleeds like crazy if it's hit, has to be removed. He gave the Oldest One two choices -- he could freeze it and take it off that day, or he could wait a month and be knocked out in the hospital in the next town over and have it removed.

The Oldest One does not like needles, and he's a big boy, so we have not had good experiences getting blood samples, booster shots, flu shots, etc. He had found a penny on the floor, so heads he did it today, tails he waited. I'm like, "Do it today and get it over with." It was totally yucky, I wanted it gone, plus it had grown a lot in the past week. So after several coin flips he ended up, "You may as well do it today." Not a peep, not a cry, nothing. I was soooooo impressed. He did ask lots of questions during the procedure, though. Nosy! Of course, I had to go in with him, but I made sure I look away once the cutting began. I don't like blood and can't stand stuff like that, and since it was on the forehead it bled like crazy. Five stitches later we were outta there. He goes Tuesday to get them out. (The shiny stuff is polysporin.) He had school skating yesterday, but we didn't stay. The helmet came across the stitches, so I didn't want to irritate them, and he said it hurt. They are not allowed to skate without a helmet.

This doesn't really have anything to do with anything, but when I was younger all the doctors were old. Or I should say older. They were near retirement or had kids a bit older than me. There are some in town now around my age with kids a bit younger than mine. This surgeon was about my age. I met another one of the new doctors before Christmas, and he's a young 'un, looked more like a surfer dude than a doctor. (Heard afterwards that he does surf!) He's very nice, and I've heard good things about him. Anyways, I just can't picture some day when I'm 60 getting a pap test from some young whipper snapper about 30, but I know it's gonna happen. My doctor is in his early 50s, and I can't picture him working til he's 77ish, which is when I'd be 60. Bad enough that he teaches a lot of interns, and when the day comes I go in for the yearly thing and the intern is the one supposed to do it? Ain't gonna happen. If my doctor ain't there that day, it will be rescheduled.

This is one of the pictures of the seal that I took the other day. You can see he was quite far away, Tim's camera has a great zoom, but he was a little closer when he took his pictures. He was back yesterday, but not until after lunch. I took the kids down to see him. I looked for him today, but I didn't see him.

Lastly, I will leave you with a strange bit I overheard at work today. (We take passport pictures.)

Boss Man, "Are you getting your picture taken, too?"

Lady, "No, I don't have my teeth in today."

She did end up getting her picture taken because the passport people will reject pictures if the person has his/her mouth open even the slightest crack, so it doesn't matter if they have teeth or not. They don't class an open mouth as a "neutral expression". Trust me, we've had them rejected for that reason.

Happy knitting!

Warning -- Cutsie Wootsie Ahead!

I have no knitting to show tonight. Instead I have pictures taken by my co-worker, Tim, today of this sweet little guy (actually he was quite big) sunning himself on the ice in the river behind the tourist bureau in town. He was there this morning when we were going to work, and he was still there when I left at 2:30. I accidentally left my camera at the store yesterday, so this morning I went over and took some pictures, but his camera is much better than mine. My zoom isn't as good. He was having a great old time flopping all over the place in the sun. At lunchtime he was drifting on a small patch of ice and nearing the bridge. When we came back from getting our lunch and Tim's camera we thought he was gone at first, but he had jumped in the water and swam back up to the ice behind the tourist bureau again.

I love seals. I love animals in general. I can't watch footage of the seal hunts on tv. When the hunt opens they usually show it on the news, and I change the channel. People may disagree with me, but in my opinion it's cruel. I know they say there's too many of them, and they eat the fish, but I'm sorry, clubbing them to death is inhumane. Look at that sweet little face! And the fuzzy little white babies! Don't get me goin'!

I do have another pair of work socks completed and a fourth (and final pair for now) almost done. I will have pictures next post. I may as well wait until I have the fourth pair finished. I would have probably had them done this evening, but last night my right elbow and forearm ached so much I had to stop knitting once I finished the first sock. I had a hard time weaving in the ends. At least it's gone now, although earlier when I was knitting my arm kinda felt funny certain ways I was holding it.

Well, I'll stop here for now. I will have a post again really soon, I hope, with actual knitting content. Anyone interest in doing a sock swap? Pop on over here for the details. I haven't decided yet, but I have been thinking about joining.

Thanks again to Tim for letting me post his seal pictures.

Happy knitting!

I have no idea why, but this new Blogger still isn't keeping my spaces between paragraphs. Grrrrr!!!

February Socks Complete

I have finished my first pair of socks for the SAM3 KAL. It's the second pair of work socks for hubby, made with the same stuff as the first pair, same pattern, just ten rows shorter in the leg length and a different stripe pattern. I started a third pair, too. I don't know if I'll have enough yarn to make a fourth pair or not. It could be cutting it really close. I probably won't have time anyways. He may be leaving for Whitehorse on Monday, Tuesday at the latest.

The boss lady at work placed my sock yarn order the other day. Our folder is over a year old, though, and two of the yarns I had down are now discontinued. She ordered three of the Fortissima Socka's I had marked down, plus she ordered some Austerman Step. I have a skein of it in the stash, and it's very soft. She only ordered two colors, I think, #03 and maybe #01. I would have liked her to order at least six colors, but I'm sure she wants to see if it will sell first. The wholesaler told her they can't keep it in stock. It will sell for $17.95/skein.

The kids lucked out and had a storm day yesterday, but it didn't really storm. It was icy first thing in the morning and was supposed to be really nasty all day, but we didn't get any of the snow the forecast called for, and there wasn't much freezing rain either, just rain. The Oldest One had no school Friday anyways because his school was having an inservice. Now he'll have two long weekends in a row because they sent a notice home saying the inservice would be the 9th if school was cancelled.

The new Magknits is up. I like these, a pattern by fellow SAMer, Anni. I will have to pick up some solid or mostly solid yarn to make a pair. One thing I really like is that they are toe-up, and she has instructions for short row heels or heel flap. I have yet to master short row heels, but I have started a pair toe-up before. (Wyverns, only to be ripped and the yarn reborn into Broadripple when I got POed at the heel.)

Anyhoo, must go clean up from supper.

Happy knitting!

Don't ask me why it won't put an empty line between my paragraphs. I typed it that way, but this is what I get.