I Turn to Yarn For Solace

I am bad, I admit it.  I am also an enabler for people who need yarn and they don't know it.  I am on an email list for yarn companies that have quality yarn for cheap.  Yep, I am one of those knitters.  I also crochet for those of you who don't know it.  I spin, and weave as well.  I am busy.  Now to find the time to work with all of this luscious yarn.  There is the problem.  I never seem to have enough time in my day to do what needs to be done. My hubby tells me that I don't know how to manage my time.  I guess he is right, I am not sure though. 

My next project to take care of has to deal with my Sprigg's triangle loom.  7 feet of pure wonderment.  I fell in love with the thing when I saw a friend had bought one.  I had to have it.  It is a nifty item, just be aware that it takes up some space when it is all together.  It has a huge stand to go with it.  Although, from what I remember, it is not included in the loom price, it is extra.  Of course, you can always make your own if you are nifty with a saw and lumber, sadly, I am not.  I am not allowed around saws, with my luck, I would cut off my arm.  I like my arm, thank you.  I pulled out the yarn that I am going to need to weave with, it just has to make it's way downstairs and then the fun will start, I have to wind each ball of yarn into a center pull ball.  I get to spit splice it together for convenience.  I know some of you are asking...what is spit splicing.  It sounds gross and I guess it is but, it works.  Wool has scales on the shaft of the hair and if you apply the right amount of spit and friction, it will stick together.  The process is simple, take the end of the yarn, spread out the individual strands and do the same with the other end of the new ball.  Place both spread ends together in the palm of your hand and spit on them.  Now rub furiously together, making sure both ends are placed together, add more spit until they are together and won't pull apart.  Ta da, you have yarn that is now joined.  It only works with wool. 

Every year about this time, I get interested in lace and shawls.  I guess the cold makes me want to knit one.  I get part of the way through and I get bored.  Yep, I have that problem with sweaters, too.  I need excitement in my knitting.  Then of course, there is lace shawls via crochet.  Crochet is quick.  If you are ADD, this is the best thing, it goes fast and you can still use gorgeous yarns, it just takes more of it. 

I was perusing that free knitting/crochet site, the one that starts with an R, and found some gorgeous free crochet lace shawl projects, ooh, I can do these, I thought to myself.  Now, I just have to find my crochet hooks.  There is the problem.  I used to have gorgeous Brittany birch crochet hooks...notice, I said used to...you see the problem is Ody.  He thought they were his chew toys and ate them, along with several pairs of new shoes.  He even ate a pair of 20 year old leather shoes that were my favorites.  I wasn't happy.  I bought them in college and they were on sale and so comfy, they were my dancing shoes, I always wore them out dancing at the bars.  My party girl shoes are now dead.  Grrr! 

So, I have to dig around and see if I can find a crochet hook or two to make something wonderful.  If you want to know if I have finished the Joe sock...Nope.  I am procrastinating on those and I do need to find his yarn and start the second sock.  It is just so big and boring.  I wanted him to try the sock on before I continued with the second one but, I don't think it will happen.  He lives on the other side of town and I am not going that way anytime soon. 

Anyway, today I found myself reading an email about crochet hooks, books, and yarns for cheap.  I even contemplated purchasing Addi clicks lace needles and cords...after looking at the price, nope, it wasn't going to happen and besides which, I have some Susan Bates silvalume knitting needles that have some killer points on them, they are cheap and they will work great for lace.  I have to use a nice bandage on my finger for those since I have holes in my skin from the points.  I get lazy when I knit sometimes and push with my finger.  We all do it.  I just have to put something on my skin to protect the finger from that point in the second layer of skin...painful. 

Back to my story, I found new steel crochet hooks, a book about crocheting lace, and some yarn.  The yarn is for knitting since it is a mohair blend in the most gorgeous blue.  I have plans for it for me.  No one else will be benefitting from that yarn. 

I admit, I keep the really good stuff for myself.  I pet it, and let it sit.  Now, I do work with nice yarns for hats, mittens, etc.  My sock yarn is primo stuff and I use it as well.  If you are going to knit socks, use the best yarn you can afford, it makes a complete difference.  Seriously.  If it is icky, it isn't worth knitting with and wearing it is a bad experience.  Really bad experience. 

Now off to the races, I have so much to do today, the worst being I have to finally finish laundry.  I have been dealing with it for 3 days now.  Sigh.  I don't want to deal with it anymore than this. 

Get Your Hands Off Of Me

I experienced something on Black Friday that I really don't ever want to happen again.  I was at the Wally world sale and let me tell you first of all those people are complete idiots and should have done it differently.  I have never had to defend myself in a damn store against people trying to get at Wii games.  I managed to get three games, one for Melinda and two for myself at the sale price.  I had to help the small lady next to me, when a woman picked her up and tried to forcefully move her and then myself when some dude tried to move me out of the way.  I am no light weight and when someone is trying to force me away from my spot, I am not a happy camper.  I told him to back off and when he didn't, I gave him the backwards thrusting elbow and told him to unhand me or I would drop his ass.  When I finally got out of the mess, I gave him a nice parting gift, a nice stomp and grind on his foot.  He deserved it and so much more.  The jerk. 

After the hell of Wally world, we went back to Melinda's to unload her vehicle and then head to our third stop, we had hit the local craft store to get my 1/2 off Christmas tree, I purchased a pre-lit tree for a nice sum.  It was about 60% off when all was said and done.  I was completely happy about that one. 

My last stop was the Kohl's sale.  Melinda had to be at two others stores at 5 am and 6 am.  I was going home.  I wasn't going to buy anything at Kohl's.  I came home with a birthday present, some jewelry for me and some presents for my sisters.  I even came home with a straw basket since I had to use it to put my stuff in.  It worked out quite nicely.  That basket will be going on future jaunts when I need it.  I got it for half off.  I came home and went to bed.  I will say this, it was so freaking hot in all of those stores.  Melinda was almost throwing up in the parking lot after we got out of the store, I had some sweet tea in her van and I promptly emptied the cup, I was thankful that I brought it with me.  I needed it.  I was pouring sweat in the store, it was completely awful.  I made it home and was so exhausted, I dropped into bed, I had to get up earlier than planned and take a much needed shower, I couldn't stand myself.  I was rank.  At one point, I told Gary not to move or I would throw up on him. 

This past week was not a good one over here, I had the stomach virus that is going around.  It starts off with a killer headache, then comes the vomiting, after you puke, the diarrhea starts.  Poor little Maribeth has it.  It took me three days to get over it.  It was completely awful and extremely draining.  I felt so bad.  I even had fever with it.  I spent my week sleeping under a quilt on the couch.  I couldn't stand to sleep in our bed. 

Last night was not a good night over here, come to find out our dogs are covered in ticks.  The backyard is loaded with them.  So, when  the yard dries out, Gary will be spraying the whole thing.  We had to run to the store and get tick solution for the dogs.  Ody and Boots had it applied to them.  We have to go get some for Napoleon today since he weighs more than either one of them.  The stuff isn't cheap, either. 

I will also be purchasing oranament hooks. We don't have enough of the things and I need some.  I am doing my tree in reds this year and bought the cutest cardinals for my tree.  I even found more ornaments in my office and the guest bedroom along with the angel.  She is so pretty.  I can't wait to top the tree with her.  Gary will be the one taking care of that. 

Poor Melinda has cat troubles, her Siamese kitten loves the tree and spends her time in the middle of it.  Now, she knows why I believe in plastic ornaments, I know, glass ornaments and cats don't mix. 

Right now, I am tired and I have a sore throat.  Ugh.  The weather is the culprit, one day it is hot and the next, we have ice.  Who wouldn't get a sore throat from that? 

I haven't had time to knit.  I have been busy cleaning my home.  I have to get something going already since I have to make my Christmas present for the family.  I know what I want to do, I just have to find the time to take care of it.  I will be the one making it before we have to leave for the party.  Yep, that is pretty much going to happen if I don't deal with it. 

Zippy Pouches

I have been sewing zippy pouches lately.  I love this pattern because it is so verstile and the best part, I can use fat quarters and scrap material to make them.  The only thing I have to go buy is the zippers and thread in the right shades.  I am getting quite the line up of thread. 

I made these two for my niece, Maribeth.  She had chosen a pretty pink daisy fabric but, I was in the fabric store and came across this fabric and some others so, I bought them just for her.  The bottom pic has butterflies in a darker color than the fabric.  I was hoping it would show up better than it did. 

I Missed that Sale

I just realized something, I missed a sale by a bath and body company that I used to love.  I loved her products until I realized that she is so popular that I can't even buy her products.  So, I stopped creeping her shop.  Now, I received an email asking me why I have left purchasing items from her.  Well, if there are no products to purchase, how can I purchase them?  I moved on to other things anyway and since I bought that book on how to make my own body scrub, I decided to forgo buying her stuff...not that I could anyway, since it is sold out all of the time. 

Oh well...moving on.  I am currently sewing zipper bags.  My sister, Melinda gave me a huge amount of scrap fabric to make the bags with.  They are simple bags and very cute with just the right fabric.  My only problem, I need more interfacing and zippers.  So, I am off to the fabric store today to get those zippers and interfacing. 

I have discovered something, I hate the invisible zippers.  They are a pain for me.  Maybe as I get better at sewing I will discover a like for them or still an intense hate.  We shall see.  Why the sewing bug you ask?  I have a machine, I normally use my fat quarters to make sachets to keep the moths at bay, if you own wool and lots of it, invest in good quality lavender...it does make a difference.  Do not use the stuff that has lavender oil in it, it will ruin your wools, use the good natural lavender flower heads, they are the best.  I found a lavender farm outside of Austin, Texas that does mail order.  She sells the flower heads in bulk.  I used to order from the UK but, that wasn't cheap.  Besides I like the idea of keeping American's employed. 

The yarn sale will end on December 31, 2011.  My shop has yarn in it, what you see is it.  No more will be coming to the shop.  I have no more to sell.  After the new year, more will appear as I get back to work painting. 

Sharing Time

I am grumpy.  I will admit it.  I have no idea why...could be I am just sick of all the bullshit going on right now.  Driving home the other night from a trip for chicken fingers from the spicy chicken joint, I was appalled at the driving going on.  For once, I wasn't zipping around in my car like an idiot.  I was actually doing the speed limit because I was tired.  I noticed things I normally don't notice like the crazy damn fools driving like they were all hopped up on crack.  I started to look around. 

This looking around has continued for a while now courtesy of this night of driving.  What the hell is wrong with people?  Do the holidays cause this or is this permanent?  People are driving like they have no sense whatsoever in their brains.  Weaving in and out of traffic, cutting people off, and just being really obnoxious. 

SIGH!!!

We hit the grocery store last night to pick up our items for Thanksgiving.  We are staying home this year and we aren't headed out to someone's house.  I am rather looking forward to staying home with my hubby.  We are going to do a normal sized meal, nothing huge and the main goal was to use what we have around here.  Our Thanksgiving meal that we bought the last items for cost a whole whopping $56.  Not bad, I say.  The most expensive thing was the hamburger meat for the dressing.  I have a unique recipe I use, it was given to me by my Daddy.  He told me I could cook which was a shocker to me since I pretty much can throw anything together and to be told by the man who made the best food in the world, that I could cook was high honors indeed. 

Melinda wants me to go shopping with her for the deals of the year, I said yes, I will be wearing my tennis shoes for this one.  I already know.  I have one more gift to buy and that is it.  No more.  I am making the family Christmas gift for the women in the family, Gary is on his own as to what he is taking.  I want to make something unique and truly original.  You see, I have plans.  I am not sharing those plans because I think some of them read this blog. 

I also broke out the sewing machine.  I have a pattern for small zippered pouches and after trying to figure out how in the world they wanted me to work the gusset into the actual pattern...after three attempts, I threw the gusset out and made it my way, it worked out like I knew it would.  So, I showed off my work to Melinda yesterday and the first time I had ever sewn in a zipper, it looks great.  I had asked her if she wanted one, on the phone Saturday night, no, was the answer.  When she saw the bags, she sent me home with loads of material.  I am now making Maribeth several.  I will have to go buy some more zippers for my bags but, they are pretty cheap. 

I also have done so much charity lately.  One of those charity items helped someone complete their bucket list.  I wasn't going to do it but, I decided to go ahead and do it since for some weird reason God brought her to us.  I have no idea why but, she is meant to be here.  My other 5 acts of charity are done, and I have no more to give.  I have had to turn away two people already because I can't do anymore.  It has been a really bad year for the business.  I was seriously considering getting out of the yarn business because it has been so bad.  Then I received an email telling me how gorgeous my yarn is.  That really made me feel great.  I am still doing a good thing, it seems. 

I guess with the economy being so bad and so many people out of work, it is hard to justify buying yarn.  I know, I am the same way.  I have a load of yarn in my stash courtesy of all those sales years ago when I first started knitting.  I am using my yarn stash. 

I am also dealing with a sprained right hand.  I was trying to open a jar of spaghetti sauce and something popped in the hand.  It hurt like the blazes.  I have been wearing my splint and I can't pick up anything heavy with it.  It makes me scream in agony.  I had to give up my golf membership to the local range because I can't even pick up a club with it.  I can't hold the grip.  Trying to knit with it, is another story...for anyone who wants me to knit for them...no, it isn't happening at all.  I can't physically do it. 

I am learning to say, NO this year. 

Enough of my babbling...I hope everyone has a very safe and blessed Thanksgiving.  I am thankful, I have a roof over my head, a hubby who adores me most of the time, except when I am being difficult, which is a lot lately, and 6 wonderful 4 legged kids, even though this past week was a new experience in hell with them and for my huge family. 

From Bad to Worse and it isn't Getting Any Better

I woke up this morning with the most horrible headache.  I wasn't feeling myself at all.  So, I had to run some errands and while I was out, decided to pick up a quick lunch.  First off, the fast food place got my drink order wrong, I wanted a plain sweet tea, what did I get?  A Peach sweet tea.  Just to tell you how bad I feel, I didn't tell them a word.  I have no fight left in me today. 

I picked up milk and a dosing syringe for Ody, he doesn't think a teaspoon is a good idea and neither do I.  I wanted to get the dosing syringe so, I can just squirt the antihistamine down his little maw.  He was cooperative for about 4 seconds and it went downhill from there.  He wasn't a happy corgi.  Nope, not at all but, I did get most of it in him.  He was spitting and trying to get his mouth away from the faux bubblegum flavor.  He hates the stuff but, he is getting it since his eyes are running with goo. 

I was getting ready to mail off my box tops to the DAR school and I had the things sitting on my desk, I went to the restroom, came back and they are completely gone.  I would like to know where they are because I can't find the things.  How do I manage to lose something within 5 minutes of setting it down?  I need some help with this one. 

When I was on my errand run, I felt like my eye balls were going to pop out of their sockets, so, I realized what was happening.  I have fever along with the headache.  Apparently, I just found out, something is going around and I managed to get it, like usual.  This sucks. 

I am working on another beanie flap hat.  This one is a custom paint order and it is awesome looking.  When it is finished, I will go ahead and take pics and send it off to it's owner.  I am thinking of using that same colorway for a pair of socks, it is the most drop dead gorgeous color I have seen.  I think I will name it Drop Dead Gorgeous because it is. 

Here...Let Me Get That For You

This weekend was something else.  I think I slept most of it away.  Saturday we went and bought our Christmas lights, LED's this year and they were on sale.  I used my rewards card and managed to get 20% off of the lights.  We saved a whole $14, which is nice. 

Gary started the light hanging process.  So far, looks good.  I spoke with one of my nieces and she said that she wanted to get the light hanging process started as well, she plans to start it this weekend coming up.  We both agreed that it just feels like it should be time.  I told Gary I needed some cheer. 

Sunday we went to lunch and boy was that disappointing.  I won't be going back to that restaurant, it wasn't good at all.  We came home and sat down on the couch, I fell asleep.  I had a bad headache.  I woke up 3 hours later with a worse headache.  It was just headache day. 

I did pick lemons off of the tree, and some of them fell off as soon as I disturbed them.  I took a huge bag to Melinda.  She was happy to get them.  I told her if she needs more, to come on by and she can have some.  The tree is completely loaded with fruit this year.  I have no idea what we are going to do with it all.  I have told family members to bring their bags to come picking.  I think this coming weekend, I am going to call them all and tell them to head over, the lemons are ready.  They can have a lemon picking party. 

My sister, Cheryl said that she juiced her batch and it is sitting in her fridge.  I let her know that the lemon juice is zingy.  It is a meyer lemon.  She loved how thin skinned they are.  Yep, easy to work with and very juicy. 

My okra is still producing and Gary informed me he is sick of okra.  We have eaten a bunch of okra this year courtesy of those 5 plants.  I think for my summer garden I am going to only plant two plants.  I am working out my plans for my garden for the summer.  I have my seed order ready to go.  I think we decided to only plant two kinds of tomatoes this next year.  We had tomato issues.  One of them was a massive vine that took up space and didn't produce a damn thing.  Total waste of my time.  Come to find out, it likes really cool weather...GRRRR!!!!  We are in a drought down here and cool was not the weather we had.  It was very disappointing. 

Hopefully, as we go along our little garden will keep producing what we like to eat.  I do enjoy working out there, it is very relaxing.  I just hope we no longer have a milk weed problem like this year.  It was awful.  The weeds were everywhere and I was weeding them out.  I couldn't keep up. 

Today I get to work on my pool...I am not very excited about that prospect but, it has to be taken care of already.  sigh!  I need to add water and figure out what is going on with it.  I know I have to load my chlorinator...ugh.  I hate dealing with chlorine, the stuff is completely awful.  sigh!  Just the story of my life. 

Some of my Pretties

Here are some of my roses in the backyard in bloom.  The Kennedy, top photo, hasn't bloomed this well in a long time.  Mr. Lincoln is the red one, which always produces the most beautiful blooms and they are generally massive, it is one of my favorite roses. 

The Noisette, Madame du Alfred Carriere is dead.  The drought killed it.  Poor rose.  I miss it terribly but, there was nothing I could do to save it.  I watered it and the amount of heat did it in.  I guess Texas weather was just too much for it. 

These two roses are hybrid teas.  I don't spray them, I just water them occasionally and give them some plant food every now and then.  They are fine. 

Introducing Bad Girl

This is bad girl, a new yarn of mine.  I hand painted the yarn, and now I am making a beanie flap out of it.  I can't decide if I should sell it or if I should give it as a Christmas gift.  It reminds me of a certain pastel licorice candy, I was going to name it that but, I really don't want to infringe on someone's licensing, I don't roll that way. 

The yarn is a Peruvian Highland wool, which I love, it is not scratchy, it is soft.  It knits up like a dream.  I am using size US 8 circs for this and I will switch to US 8 dpns when the time comes for crown shaping. 

Charity Knitting and Me

Lately, I have had more and more people needing charity knitting and then there was yesterday.  I felt really awful that I wasn't able to help the lady out.  I have given to several groups this year and the really sad thing is that this lady has a noble cause, unfortunately with the economy sucking on so many levels, I had to refuse her.  Yep, I can't do anymore this year.

I donated the hats that didn't sell at RHF to a chemo group.  They were the last ones I had.  I hope they will help out poor souls who need them. 

The lady who begged me for assistance wanted cash.  I don't have any cash to spare.  I am on a tight budget and I was giving the one thing I had, yarn knit up into something.  I have yarn galore in my stash and I can help out that way....you see it all started when I first learned to knit, I started buying yarn when we had money.  If I saw a sale, I bought yarn, good quality wool.  Now that we are in the lean years courtesy of the economy, I have something to fall back on.  Like Mom and Daddy always said, you put aside for lean times.  Well, they taught me well, I did just that.  Now, I have yarn.  I would make her something for her to sell but, right now, I am worn out.  Completely worn out. 

My right hand is sprained and I am working slowly on the Joe sock.  I am still on the first one which should give you a clue.  I am usually very fast knitting socks.  Not with this one.  I am going to have to find a way to make my hand work better.  Right now, it isn't happy.  I have been dropping stuff courtesy of that hand.  I can't stand for Gary to hold my hand, it hurts too damn much.  The fingers are swollen and it hurts.  I may have to find a mitt for it and wear that to help it out.  I have some single mitts running around here some place.  Yes, I am a one mitt knitter syndromer.  It used to be socks but, I have worked past that.  My next goal is to become a two mitt knitter and get past that syndrome. 

As a knitter, I refuse to stop but, when do I stop before I completely damage the hand or screw it all and blow the hand out completely.  I know that the hubby is reading this and telling me to not be stupid and stop working and let the hand rest.  I have to agree with him.  I am going to slow down and give the hand a nice time out and let it rest.  If I owe you custom knitting, sorry, I need a time out. 

Once the hand heals satisfactorily, then I will continue on my yarn journey.  Each project I knit up is a journey through life.  What people do not realize is that knitting does take time and yes, each piece is a part of time.  It is a relaxing journey and there is that section of "what the hell is this pattern talking about?", and having to rework it many times.  It mimics life.  The section of frogging evil when I am screaming in frustration and throwing it across the room, only to pick it up when I am looking for another skein of yarn in just the right shade...what do you know, I am going to work on this again and realizing how stupid I was to chuck it.  Or looking at it and deciding the yarn can be put to better use with a different pattern.  So, I wind it back up into a ball and move on to another pattern. 

For the time being, no charity knitting will be done, talk to me after the New Year and  I will think about it.  There are plenty of other knitters who have yarn to spare and the time, please seek them out. 

Happy Thanksgiving and I hope everyone stays safe. 

The Joe Sock, a Work in Progress

Here is the freaking huge Joe sock.  As you can see, I used a normal sized ball point pen as my scale object.  Not only is the sock wide but, it is very long.  I am working on the leg right now and then the cuff will be last.  I am going to have to bind off really loosely for this one.  This by far is the biggest sock I have ever knit.  The biggest, I can't stress that enough.  I would be lost without my sock wizard software, it has more than paid for itself over the years. 

The yarn is from Elann.  It is more conservative than Joe but, I thought it was a nice manly yarn.  From what my gauge is, I thought I would use more yarn on this ball than I have.  I guess the US 2 needles make all of the difference.  This yarn is comparable to Opal.  It will hold up to carpet quite nicely.  Gary loves the pair of socks I made for him.  I will get pics of his socks when I can get him to wear them and I have my camera handy. 

This yarn is a superwash wool and nylon blend.  My niece, Meagan said that is great since she can just throw them into the washer and not have to worry about shrinking them. 

Knitting Along...ONE Project at a Time

This hat is 50% wool and 50% llama.  It was fabulous to knit.  I added hot fix jewels to it for a little added sparkle.  It went to my niece, Carol for her birthday. 

The little pink hat made out of 50% wool and 50% llama that has pink hot fix jewels.  This hat will be having two ear flaps added on plus some pom poms.  Maribeth insisted.  There is also a pair of matching mittens to go with this hat. 

This hat was a lot of fun to knit.  I used a bulky weight wool with some of my hand spun yarn.  I love how nice it turned out. 

A pair of much needed socks for me.  The yarn is from Elann and it is a dream to knit with.  It is cotton/wool/nylon/and elite.  I ordered several more skeins of this yarn.  One skein made a pair of size 8.5 women's socks.  I used US 2 needles for this project. 

Pictures of the huge sock will follow when I get a chance to snap a picture. 

Sometimes Life Just Intervenes

Lately, I haven't had time to post a thing...life has been hectic around here.  The month of October was fully packed with obligations between DAR and family.  Hopefully, the month of November will slow down for me.  I am ready for some quiet knitting time.  Time to just sit and work on the sock of the month. 

The sock of the month for me this time around is a size 14 man sock for my nephew, Joe.  I may have posted about it earlier.  Frankly, I can't remember.  Joe has been wanting hand knit socks for, well forever but, his mom a knitter, refused to knit them for him.  Since I just finished two pairs of socks, one for me and one pair for the hubby, who insisted they be knit in size 12, what is two more inches of knitting?  So far the sock is coming along nicely, when I have time to sit and knit on it. 

We have been discussing razor blades or the price of the cartridges...did you know the brand the hubby uses wants $13.70 for 4 of the things, and the really exasperating thing is the older razor that the company has is more expensive!  I refuse to drop $15+ on razor blades, just for 4 of the things.  He even suggested he buy a straight razor.  No, those things scare the hell out of me.  I don't want one in this house.  So, I was toodling through wally world today when I saw it....Wilkinson Sword Razor Tech 3 for $5 and the blades for 4 of them are the same price...$5.  That was a sold deal.  I even noticed a woman's version and threw that in the cart as well.  Same price as the men's and same price on the refills.  I brought them home and I tried out the women's version...works just the same as that expensive brand...it starts with a G.  The only place to get them is Wally world.  Oh well, I go to the one by Melinda since it is cleaner and less crowded than the one by me.  It is a smaller store, too but, that is okay.  I don't like being pushed, prodded or run over by a moron pushing a cart.  That usually happens in the one over here and I manage to always catch something in that store. 

I bought sock looms for the two older nieces, the ones who always want hand knit socks...I don't have time to knit for them anymore.  I have no time to knit for me.  So, I am hoping it will inspire a need to knit in both of them.  I can try to get them to learn the art of knitting and to better themselves with it. 

Now, I am going to find a huge glass of ice water and go knit on the sock.  Happy Fall to everyone.