Apparently, Melody sleeping on my pillow wasn’t a fleeting fad. I no sooner make the bed, than she jumps up and hogs MY PILLOW! Don’t believe me? I have evidence right here.
EXHIBIT A: This is clearly a dog without boundaries. Look a that tongue. She knows that is my side of the bed. Wanna know what lurks behind that tongue? The razor-sharp teeth of a T-Rex. Now observe what she is sleeping on. If you answered “Hello Kitty pajamas”, you would be correct. I do believe, dear readers, that I heard a collective gasp. What am I to do? What any dog lover would do…wedge myself in the last remaining inch of space left and call it a night. The things we do for love!
In direct response to my post on Melody (Shawshank’s Redemption), my son sent me his version. Somehow I can see her fondling a martini glass with ease and attitude. Just further proof she is a girl with a past.
Shaken.
3 olives, please and thank you.
Knitting Podcasts revisited.
When we spoke last, I mentioned following podcasts that are more informational/tutorial than show and tell. One I would like to share with you is @EarthtonesGirl. Denise is a sock wizard. She has a fabulous tutorial on the Shadow Wrap Short Row Heel that was a game changer for me as a sock knitter. I love a good heel/flap/gusset like the next gal, but could never move beyond the “everybody stop talking…I’m turning a heel” paralysis that came with it. Then I watched Denise’s podcast and my world changed. I found myself turning heels at the diner, or while watching football! I was incorporating contrasting heels like a bandit! (and we know bandits are all about contrasting heels!). I found new purpose for those small quantities of sock yarn from other projects. I was free, people…I was FREE! Free to knit all the socks and that is what I have been doing.
Here are a few:
Knit for my husband on 2.25mm 9″ circular needles. The yarn is Yarn to Dye For in the Serendipity Colorway. All my notes can be found here: Vanilla Hawks. The yarn was a gift from my friend Jen, who knew socks in our school colors would make this school secretary very happy!
Next up, a pair of gift socks. These will be part of a Christmas present for a special someone. Shhhh…
These were a Christmas Eve cast-on. Thanks to some time off from work and absolutely DIVINE yarn, I knit these in less than 2 weeks (a total record for this gal!). The yarn is Malabrigo Sock in the Archangel colorway.
Note to dyers: There are some knitters (me) who will buy yarn just because of the name of the colorway.
Another note: I will also buy a bottle of wine because there is a dog on the label.
…and maybe I have been known to buy diapers because Hello Kitty is on them.
Back to the socks. This yarn is so great to work with. I did not want this project to end.
The final pair I will share come with an interesting story. I received the yarn from a friend whose cat wreaked havoc on a new skein of yarn. Sound familiar? Anyone? I have that creepy gene that makes untangling yarn and things enjoyable. She gave it to me and said “If you can untangle it, you can have it!” I had it straightened out in no time. The yarn is Schoppel-wolle Jeans Ball in the color Nacht Und Nebel (Night and Fog). It’s a lovely, sturdy German sock yarn. As a way of thanking her, I made her socks with it. I get the pleasure of knitting the socks and she gets the pleasure of wearing them. Except for one small detail. I knit sock #1 on Chiaogoo 9″ Circulars which proved to be too slippery for this wool. For sock #2, I switched to bamboo dpn.
But Regina…why, oh why would you tempt the knitting gods like that. You know switching needles mid-project is baaaad juju!
It’ll be fine. I’m fine. I know what I am doing. Thankfully, I use stitch markers to mark every 10 rows so I know my socks will be identical. My friend now has one pair comprised of two completely different sized socks. Congraturitos, Regina. She wears them to bed and thankfully, in her sleep, her feet don’t know the difference.
This just in from the knitting gods…Never change needles mid project. It’s not fine. It will never be fine.
Socks for Carmela…No, I am not giving you the satisfaction of seeing both socks! Just imagine “worst-case scenario” and go from there.
See those stitch markers? They are mocking me.
Well, my friends, that is all the knitting I have for you today. I thank God the people I knit for have two feet. Double the fun! Or in Carmela’s case, a very odd pair of socks.
I hope everyone in the US is looking forward to a long relaxing Columbus Day weekend. A special “HELLO!” to all my readers in China! Wow! According to my stats, there are a lot of you. I am grateful for your time. Thank you for the visit.
In my cup: Water. Plain ‘ol water with lemon. As my husband recently mused: “Babe, this tastes really…healthy.” It’s water, babe. Water is healthy.
In my earballs: This ding-dong who is currently losing his mind because the mailman is coming.
Saint of the Day: St. John Henry Newman. John Henry Newman was born in England in 1801. He had his first real experience with God at the age of 15. He converted to evangelical Christianity and began university studies at Oxford. During his time at University, he began studying the Fathers of the Church. He found that the Fathers had a vision of the Church alive in her faith, unified and growing. “Some portions of their teaching,” Newman wrote, “came like music to my inward ear.” Isn’t that a beautiful sentiment?? In 1845 and after many years of study and struggles with prejudices against the Church of Rome, he asked a poor Italian missionary to hear his confession and he entered the Catholic Church. He went on to become a priest, then a bishop and now a saint. Here are two quotes that spoke to me:
“Fear not that thy life shall come to an end, but rather that it shall never have a beginning.”
“A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault.”
Not to make this post any longer than it already is, but…As we strive for perfection in our culture-the perfect home, perfect hair/face/nails, perfect job, perfect children, perfect gardens, how often do we miss out on living our lives because we have bought into the LIE that we have to be perfect. Guess what? We are all flawed and no amount of AI or social media filters will ever change that. So for all of you who dream about doing something but hesitate because “you’re not any good,” STOP IT! Go! Do! Begin!
Oh, I do love chatting with you all. May God bless you and yours. I look forward to catching up in the comments.
Love, Regina Mary
Melody knows her cocktails 🙂
What a lovely read your post is – thank you.
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Thank you so much! I have never had a dog with such a saucy personality! She really is a hoot! Thank you for stopping by. xoxo Regina
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I’m on a yarn diet since I haven’t knit anything (other than a sweater for my sister’s rescue dog) BUT that Malabrigo yarn in the Archangel color way just might make me go off my diet. If I do decide to get it, I must vow to actually use it. Thank you for the temptation.
We go across the state line to buy some Fine Wine & Good Spirits as some of the prices are just too good to pass up. My husband actually reads the contents on the wine bottles. I, on the other hand, look at the labels. To each his own. 😁🍷
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As a knitter you know that some yarns just feel soooo good to knit with. The Malabrigo is one of those yarns. I have to be honest. My photos are taken with my phone, in my house with NO special anything. I wish you could see the colors in this yarn. They are so beautiful. Definitely worth going off-diet for. You won’t need any discipline to knit with it either. You’ll want to cast on immediately.
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