Heating Up

It’s kind of hot today so I’m hiding in my dark house with only the glow of the computer monitor lighting the room. I don’t want to turn the A/C on yet!! I plugged in the big fan in the den where it was helping me enjoy the latest episode of “What Would Brian Boitano Make?” (lots of cheese related items, apparently.)

This has been a nice relaxing weekend except for the moment of “OH CRAP” when I was at Walmart buying cake pans and paper goods when my debit card was not in my wallet… but then I remembered where I put it and whipped out the abused USAA card to complete my purchase. Didn’t want to charge it, but whatever. Best that I was prepared! 😛

Incidentally, the cake pans I got, which I needed to replace the old ones that are suspiciously rusty, worked out really great, and I say this about Walmart brand cake pans. I’ve actually been pretty pleased with that cheap-tastic brand. I wound up making a Devil’s Food cake with them that turned out pretty much perfect in terms of getting out of the pans all right.  I think I may have over mixed the batter because the cake was more light and fluffy than I care for. However it was eaten up by Malvina and Sam and I brought over a big piece for my dad today.

I’m getting geared up for the Milwaukee trip that is happening in like ten days. It snuck up on me! I first posted about Milwaukee back in February, and since then 2010 has been one big awful blur. So it’s nice that there is an inevitable-already-paid-for trip on my horizon! The only thing that is going to be tough is that I will be on Jason duty while my parents are gone (being that I am not retired or a business owner I am not participating in the road-trip portion of this trip and instead am flying out with Abby to rendezvous with the rest the fam in Chicago). This will entail me going there before work and making sure he has taken his pills and is fairly lucid. Sigh.

I also have another dentist appointment this week, a continuation of the Epic Dental Saga In Which I Have Yet Another Cavity Drilled Upon. I would have rescheduled it but decided to suck it up and go because I’m going to have to go at some point, so.

I definitely feel whiney about it, though.

SO WHAT I HAVE BEEN KNITTING ON? I’m glad you asked.

I finished one of the Laeticia socks and it totes doesn’t fit.

Laeticia

I hope it fits Abby because I liked making it and I still owe her a couple pairs of socks so it would be a nice addition to her collection, plus it looks like falling leaves which I know she wanted. As I was making it I was kind of thinking of this pair being one of hers anyway (seriously, it’s not an “oh it doesn’t fit me so I’ll just give it to Abby” sort of situation).

It has a handsome gusset:

Laeticia

So, with that sock finished I ADD’d over to a sock from the new Wendy Knits book, Toe-up Socks for Every Body and cast on with some Knit Picks Essential in a long discontinued color (which is why I’m saying Essential and not Stroll). This pattern is the Cables and Diamonds pattern for an obvious reason:

Diamonds & Cables Sock

Considering I taught myself how to do toe-up socks long before I learned cuff down, I find it humorous that I’m not sold on them anymore. I just love a top down gusset!! But I decided that I should learn how to do a gusset from the toe-up (rather than a short row heel) and so far it’s pretty interesting. I’m curious about how it will look (supposedly identical to a top-down gusset) once I’m done. It’s a new technique for me, so I hope it works!

Diamonds & Cables Sock - gusset

It’ll be nice to have some socks out of the Essential for myself finally. It’s my go-to yarn for Malvina’s socks because it’s hard wearing and she likes it because it’s soft. I like it because it’s nice to knit with and also dirt dirt cheap, hah. Abby also likes it and the Monkey socks I made for her forever ago still look really good, she says.

Anyway, so that’s what I’m working on right this second in my ADD knitting life.