C is for...

C is for clever, after a good long time of being not clever. Let me explain.

Over the course of my life I have used my feet a lot. As a result my heels are beginning to look and feel a little rough. (This might be a bit of an understatement.) For the last 2 years, especially in the winter, I find that it's good to put some good lotion on my heels at night just before I go to bed. (I like Burt's Bees Coconut Foot Cream) While this is good for my feet it caused a problem. I didn't want all of my good foot cream to get rubbed off of my feet while I was sleeping. I decided that the logical thing to do was to put on socks. I tried this for a couple of nights, but ended up kicking the socks off in the middle of the night because my toes just don't like being cooped up. They seems to like the cool refreshing feeling of sheets, not the confined space of sock toes. So I solved my problem like this:


This would be the not so clever portion of my life. I am somewhat embarrassed to say that I, a card carrying knitter, used these cut off gym socks for over a year until I had an A-Ha moment about 2 weeks ago. I was looking through a yarn catalog and saw some unusual socks. They had no toes or heels. They were basically stirrup socks. While I wasn't interested in those socks per-se, it did finally cause my brain to think of my lotion socks and think, "Hey, I could knit some socks that would work for night time foot cream use." I found 2 skeins of Maggi's Merino Aran wool and made these:

Having used them for the past 3 nights I can say that they work wonderfully. No lotion on the sheets, warm feet and free toes. Clever, after a good long time of being not so much.

Oh, and C is also for Cookie, who was completely unwilling to pose for a picture. She's our cat who doesn't like people. She's basically just a cat food recycler and leg sleeper on-er.

They're Entrelacy

I finished my entrelac socks. This is the first time I have done entrelac (other that a couple of practice triangles at a guild meeting) and I'm happy with how they turned out. If you're going to try this you just need to keep in mind that you have to decrease your stitches by about 1/3, unless you're trying to create slouch socks. They also use up a little more yarn than plain stockinette. I was getting a little nervous towards the end of the second sock. It didn't look like I was going to have the same amount of ribbing, but it worked out and I have 6 feet of yarn left. Husband even commented on them, which never happens. He said they look warm, like a campfire.


This morning I'm taking Dad over to visit a conifer specialist. Dad's bringing him some pictures of this witches broom. Apparently every now and then a tree (this is a black spruce) grows a ... a branch tumor I guess you could call it. This is a particularly fine example of a broom, or so I'm told. Dad's hoping to take cuttings and have it propagated.

Later That Night...
We had a lovely trip top Woodstock to see Rich Eyre at Rich's Foxwillow Pines Nursery. We thought we'd go up (~1 hour drive,) chat for a little while, then start home and maybe eat lunch somewhere on the way if it was late enough. Well, we got there at 10 and left at 2. Rich can talk. We talked and talked, and then we walked around as much of the grounds as we could with a foot of snow everywhere. I was wearing the new socks, but didn't wear the correct shoes, so my toes did get a bit frosted. Then he drove us around to look at his mother's house and his home, which is where his research plants are, along with acres of other cool stuff. It was quite a day. We got home just in time for me to go get daughter off the bus.

And Now For Something Completely Different

I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. If you look at a map, it's that part on top that doesn't look like a mitten. On some maps it looks more like a piece of Wisconsin than Michigan, but we belong to Michigan. We usually shorten Upper Peninsula to U.P, then pronounce it semi-phonetically as Yoopers. A Yooper is a hearty breed of person who (in most cases) loves the outdoors, doesn't make a lot of money, and is likely to be of Finnish ancestry. You can hear many jokes about Aino and Toivo getting into trouble because of their lack of intellectual prowess. The photo below depicts two true Yoopers who gave Dad a helping hand with directions while they were trying to locate the Witches Broom.

I should point out that these particular Yoopers are actually Polish, rather than Finns, and their names are Uncle Tom and Cousin Dave, but otherwise these are fine examples of Yooperhood. (And to begin to imagine their accents, please rent the movie Fargo.)

Have Some Manners

I think I have decided on what to do with the sock. My inspiration came from the Annetrelac Socks from the Holiday 2007 Interweave Knits. This is the second go round as I didn't bother to do any decreasing before I started the entrelac part. The resultant sock would have fit nicely on any rhinocerous. I'm not sure if I decreased enough, but I think I'm close this time.

It's snowing in Chicago again. Shocking, I know. Even better than the fact that it's snowing is having daughter home again because of the snow. This is her second snow day in 2 weeks. It's not that I don't enjoy having her around, it's just that I don't enjoy having her around so much. To make the day even more complete Husband decided not to go in to work today, so he's working from home. Oh, and did I mention that I've had a tremendous cold for the last couple of days? I think we can all safely expect that nothing of consequence will happen at my house today. I could bemoan my sorry state of affairs more, but there are plenty of people who have it worse than me. At least I can flush my toilet without having to melt snow first.

I'm sure with this new batch of snow Daughter will want to go sledding this afternoon. We went last Friday and I was reminded that there are people, even here in the Chicagoland area, who don't seem to know the basics of good manners while sledding. If Miss Manners hasn't covered this in one of her column, she should. Having grown up in an area that gets close to 200 inches of snow every year, I have some personal experience and would like to share some suggestions.
1. When ascending to the top of the hill, each sledder should carry his own sled. While she may be dressed in a similar manner to a sherpa, your Mother is not there as your personal sledding assistant.
2. Please remember to use the restroom facilities BEFORE putting on your long johns, sweat pants, long socks, snow pants, heavy boots, warm jacket, scarf, hat and mittens. Announcing that you, "HAVE to go NOW." Will only lead to offensive language on the part of your sherpa mother, and prematurely end your trip to the sledding hill.
3. After sledding down the hill, do not walk back up on the sledding surface. Make your way to the side of the hill for your return trip. This will decrease the chances of you being struck by another sledder as well as keep the sledding surface clean and smooth.

4. If you are a teenage girl and choose to disregard number 3 and choose to sit with your friends in the middle of the hill, you need to peacefully accept the consequences of your actions. One of the consequences will be that the mothers at the top of the hill will aim their children at you with every intention of knocking your silly twittering selves off the hill.

5. Be sure to remain well hydrated, but keep in mind that over hydrated children will be driven home to use the facilities and not returned to the sled hill.

6. Looking cute is good, but if you are the child of a knitter and refuse to wear a hat, remember that besides the certainty of catching you death of a cold, you are shaming your mother in the face of the whole world. Think about that missy!

Random Stuff Friday

Daughter has taken up a new hobby. I'm not sure if I need to be worried by this or not. At first I thought that perhaps Barbie was joining Cirque and doing some kind of acrobatic routine, but the second time I found her (hanging from the ceiling fan chain in my bedroom, by the way) she seemed a little more...uncomfortable.

We need to install avalanche warning signs around the front door, as this is what's waiting overhead today.

Even Moose is having a bad day. Did I mention it snowed in Chicago last night? Moose lives on the front porch which is sheltered from the snow most of the time.

I've gotten to a decision point on my new sock. I need to decide what kind of pattern, if any, I'm going to put on the tops of my socks. I've tested a few and decided I don't like them. I'm either really boring and only like plain socks, or I'm really finicky about what I'm putting on my socks.


And finally, a couple of pictures from our Christmas trip to Colorado. On the coldest, snowiest day we were there, we drove to the Ouray Hot Springs. We were in the water, which ranges from 96F to 106F for about 3.5 hours. In order to get the right mental picture keep in mind that with water that temperature and air that temperature there's a lot of steam in the air. There were lifeguards all bundled up in parkas and balaklavas, but they couldn't see more than 6 feet most of the time. The best part was that when we got out someone had taken the towels that Daughter and I left next to the changing rooms. So we did what any other person in that situation would do. We borrowed someone elses towels. If they were yours, I apologize for the frozen state of your towels when you got to them.

B is for...

B is for a lot of things in the ABC along.

First, B is for Brett, also commonly referred to as Husband. He's a wonderful guy, and if you're interested in a long list of his virtues, check them out here. He has other fine qualities, but we like to keep him as humble as possible.

The second thing B is for is Bubba the Brainy Beagle. Well, maybe he's not really that brainy. He does know his own name, but he's still sure that every time we leave the house it is the last time he will ever see us again. He also eats anything that falls within his sphere of influence. Last week, for example, he ate 3/4 of a large pepperoni pizza that was left on the island in the kitchen. My guess is that the box was left open and he managed to snag the lid and pull it down. He also ate half the Christmas cookies my mother sent me, for which he nearly received capital punishment. He is cute, however, so I let it slide just this once.


Next, B is for Buffalo, both the rounding up of, and the fibre from. The buffalo roundup was in South Dakota at the end of September, and the fibre was a Christmas present to myself acquired during my visit to The Fold. I enjoyed the first a lot, and am anticipating enjoying the second.

Interruptions

My vacation has had several interruptions in the last few days. The first was this <-. It's really not possible to imagine that you are in Greece when this is what your thermometer looks like in the morning. I'd like to note also that I have a picture taken an hour earlier where the temperature was warmer. It's not a great start to your day when the mercury is going down, not up as the day progresses.

The second interruption was this. How's a person supposed to enjoy sipping Ouzo on the coast when they know that there's a couple of skeins of yummy sock yarn just waiting to be dealt with at home? Especially when the colors are so very cool.


And that brings us to today's interruption. This morning daughter skived off school (I hope I used that word correctly) because she wasn't feeling well. She has no fever and wasn't showing other major signs of being ill, so I asked her the question. Are you sick enough to stay home and NOT watch television? Yes Mom. so now for the past 1/2 hour I've been interrupted approximately every 3 minutes: Mom, can I have some chicken noodle soup? Mom, how do you pronounce Lucinda? Mom I need some more pink lemonade. Mom, can you bring me my paper dolls? Mom, does no TV mean I can't play with my DigiMakeover? Mom, when are you going to be done on the computer? I have to take care of my garden in WebKinz world every day or the plants will DIE! Mom, I'm bored, can I please watch TV?

Oia Vey

I spent the day today on the lovely island of Santorini. I visited the town of Oia, which, as you can see, has got some lovely architecture. As I shoveled out the 3 inches of snow from the driveway strolled around town I really enjoyed the smell of the sea air which was a nice change from the stale, still somewhat ghastly aroma of my own house. As I sit and watch even more of that stupid, cold, evil snow falling the seagulls wheeling around over the clear blue water of the Agean, I'm glad that I took the time to get away from all the hassles back at home, if only for a short while.

This afternoon I'm jetting up to the mainland to check out Thermopylae. That's the mountain pass where a teensey band of spunky Spartans held off a big bad bunch of Persians for a couple of days. I hear there's going to be a historical recreation of the big battle tonight.


I'm not sure what I thought when I was packing my knitting for this trip. I should have brought cotton or linen to make a nifty string beach bag, but for some reason I feel compelled to work on slippers. I mean the temperature here is a temperate 15F, 7F with the wind chill 60F. Somewhat cool, I grant you that, but much nicer than back home. I bet back home they're wearing long underwear, shirts, sweatshirts, and even scarves in the house today. Ha, I'm so lucky I'm traveling.

Slipper pattern: The Yarn Harlot's basic sock recipe from Knitting Rules with a creative twist from Cat Bordhi's book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters. See the gusset decreases there on the tops of my feet instead of the sides where they usually live? I've started another pair and I'm going to put them somewhere else, I haven't decided where yet, but Cat assures me they'll work anywhere.