Hip Hip Hooray …

Posted by ann

For FA in PA!!!

how about a little sockie sugar for FA in the comments?

if you’ve come around here for awhile, you know that FA in PA is one of my Aunts in Pennsylvania. You will also know that while she is a very talented knitter, she got stuck in a knitted dishcloths rut. (I should buy her Ann & Kay’s book!)

Well, that phase is over – check out the socks she knit! YAY for FA!! She used the two circular method and we had many hilarious phone conversations when it came time to separate the stitches for the gusset. I am almost sorry she got good at them, now I’m not talking to her everyday!

hope everyone has a great time in Maryland! Our town is having its own Sheep to Shawl Festival this weekend.

abc ….. h!

Posted by ann

Everyone who knows me, knows what a homebody I am (it goes hand in hand with that whole not-a-wild-thing of yesterday). Snug as a bug in a rug is my motto and would be featured prominently on my family crest if I had one.

I do not enjoy extensive travel – my favorite part of any trip is coming home. Weekend jaunts are okay – and if I know I am leaving my house and poochies in good hands I actually do enjoy them. But for the most part, I am happy to stay home.

There is so much work involved in going away – arrangements to be made, clothes to pack, more arrangements to be made, weather to worry about, connections to worry about, planes to worry about, kids and dogs left at home to worry about. It is exhausting. And then the hotel mattress makes my back ache and sometimes ye olde system decides to go on strike until it is back in the comfort of its own bathroom. I wake up at ungodly hours on vacation – it’s 5:30 am and I’m wide awake. It’s a mess. I’m a mess.

Why not stay at home and read a great book, or see a great movie? go out to dinner, go into the city?? go to a friend’s house? take a walk on the beach, or on a trail? why go anywhere?

But how best to picture being a homebody? With lovely pictures of my house like Vicki? That would entail me getting up and firing up the camera, going about taking pictures and then transferring those pictures – and at the moment, I am snug as a bug in this chair. I realize that this could be viewed as a direct violation of the abc along.

In any case, I am happiest at home. And when I was visiting D#1 at college last weekend and saw this at the school’s bookstore, I knew I had to have it. Even Boar said, “You have to buy that”. Which if you knew Boar, you would know is like him speaking in tongues.

are you a homebody too?
home is where my ♥ is!

Posted by ann

Here are some pictures of the Diagonal Rib Socks I was working on during our weekend of driving. I am using StR in Petroglyphs. I like this pattern and I very much like how stretchy the rib stitch is. I am not sure I like how the colors are pooling, but everyone who sees them really likes what the colors are doing. It seems to be a fact of life with space dyed yarns that this is what happens. oh well, what can you do?

Interesting how all the colors seem to pool on separate sides of the sock, no? I wonder if the same thing will happen on the 2nd sock. As I knit these things, I wonder about the mathematics involved the yarns, both self striping and space dyed. I mean, there has got to be math involved, right? Truly, math is involved in everything. But then I can feel my brain starting to fizzle. Then I quickly switch topics because I don’t want to hurt myself!

I don’t think that the yarn is doing the pattern stitch justice. Here is a closer look. Another great pattern from Ann Budd ……

On the homefront, there is not much news to report. D#1 has one more week of classes and then finals begin. It is hard to believe that her first year of college is almost over. gah! She is hoping to find a summer job on campus so the good times can keep rolling on. She says it’s not that she doesn’t love us, it’s just that she really loves college! D#2 is studying hard for upcoming AP exams – she is giving herself an ulcer! When Cara was here, she couldn’t believe the freakish amount of studying. Kids need to loaf around more!

This morning I am hosting a birthday brunch for a friend. Very poor planning since tonight is my WW weigh in. Or, maybe it was a stroke of genius ….. I am not sure what the scale will say tonight. This weekend, I got a tad carried away with snacking in the car and the street festival had fried dough, which my religion dictates I must always eat when available …… furthermore in the past I have been an every-other-week type of loser, so we shall see.

Posted by ann

Just waiting for D#2 to come home from school and then we shall hit the road. First stop is in Brooklyn to pick up the Boar and then westward ho!

The car knitting is all set – another sock is being born. I am using StR in Petroglyphs to make an online Interweave pattern called Diagonal Rib by Ann Budd. It is looking pretty cool so far – I would show you, but the camera is already packed.

Our friend Nancy is here to babysit the dogs. Nancy loves the poochies and the poochies love her. It’s a real love fest. Around here they call her Full Scoop Nancy. (I have a measuring cup in the dog food bin to dole out their meals, Nancy disregards this entirely and just feeds them up) So they will be fat, spoiled and happy.

Have I told you that D#2 will be bunking with her sister this weekend? When the Boar and I arrive, we shall drop D#2 off at the school. We will meet up with them both tomorrow for a bit of family time and then the Boar and I are heading to Rochester to visit the relations. Yes, this means that my darling little soon-to-be-16 year old is spending a weekend at college. A party weekend.

Do you sense trouble?

I have informed D#1 that it is her job to keep her sister sober and pure.

: )