A Fail, A Finish, A Feline & Flowers

Have you ever dropped a Size 1 DPN on an airplane and found yourself crawling around on the floor to find it? Well, I have -- and more than once. Since I've got some travels planned for this summer, I determined to learn the Magic Loop method.

I spent (wasted?) an hour trying to get a pair of socks started. I couldn't even get the first sock going. At first, I spit out a few bad words in the direction of the book. But I know a lot of people have used this book. I think we may be talking user error here. Maybe some You Tube videos would help me more.

This failure was balanced by the finish of my mindless knitting project, a pair of self-striping socks in the Hermoine's Everyday Socks pattern. 

I bought this yarn at 50% off and it worked out be much prettier than I expected. Into the gift box they go.

 I have to throw in this photo of Kola. I love making their heads look too big for their bodies. Makes me laugh every
time. If that seems odd, remember that I work with teen-agers.

And last, but not least, we finally have flowers around here. I love spring flowers, especially the early ones like lilacs.

Wishing you a productive week!

Unraveled Wednesday: Car Knitting

All I have to show is a finished sock, the one I keep in the car.

You have one, too, right? It's for long drives (when someone else is driving) and waiting in doctors' offices. This is a simple Hermoine's Everyday Sock in Plymouth Yarn's Splash. I love this yarn. It's very pretty and squishy, if a bit splitty.

I'm almost done with Dark Matter by Black Crouch. It is being heavily marketed at Barnes & Noble and I fell for it. Mistake. The plot does move quickly, but the characters are flat and the "science" isn't very believable

As you can tell, The Sixth Extinction, by Elizabeth Kolbert, went to Copenhagen with me (thus the messed up edges). It reviews past mass extinctions that have occurred and then moves into the current situation, in which many species are disappearing quite rapidly. It's beautifully written and fascinating. Obviously, it's not the most cheerful book.

Do join in with Unraveled Wednesday. It's easy, just jump over here.

Finishing One Project; Starting Another

Well, I'm home taking care of someone I love today. Also taking care of myself, apparently. I drank my usual two cups of coffee this morning and fell right back to sleep!  Tomorrow will mark the one-month "anniversary" of this illness, and it's been a long month. I wish I could say that I'm an angel who tends to my loved one with infinite patience ... but I can't. I've had my moments of frustration and exhaustion. I guess all you can do is get up every morning and do your best.

But it continues to give me lots of time for knitting. I'm finishing up the cotton yarn I bought, making The Almost Lost Dishcloth, which was recently popularized by Mereknits. They are fun and fast knit. I'm planning on picking up some "gourmet" soaps to pair with the dishclothes as hostess gifts on my travels this summer.

I can't cast off without also casting on, so here is my third pair of Hermoine's Everyday Socks. This has become my go-to pattern for mindless socks. I love the way it spices up stripey yarns. I took it with me to the School Board meeting on Monday night, so they are a good two inches longer than in this picture, which I took on Sunday.

I went to the meeting because my district, like many others, is trying to reduce suspensions and expulsions. It's a worthy goal that I genuinely believe in, but the implementation is messy and many teachers feel the new plan has made behavior worse. Sigh. I guess that anything worth doing is challenging.

Don't forget to check and see what everyone else is up to with Nicole's Keep Calm and Craft On and Ginny's Yarn Along.