Remember these?

By some miracle that one lonely sock is not so lonely now.

This was before I ripped out the heel the first time and started over. I actually have a heel (HA, spelled that hell at first!) and a quarter inch of leg now.

(Please ignore the obvious lack of sun and time with the razor, por favor?)

A close up of the patterning and cuff of the first one, since this is *gasp* a pattern I made up on the fly came up with myself and figured it might be fun to show an awful picture of a ribbing pattern done with black yarn.

I’m seriously thinking about writing this pattern down in followable format. I’m just not sure how to handle the whole different sizes thing. Ok, not entirely true. I know fractions and decimals, and I ‘get’ how gauge works. I’m just not sure what other sizes to write it for. Of course, sock knitters seem to be pretty bright people in general, and most adapt patterns. Or so it seems on Ravelry. At the same time, I’m a bit wary of becoming even the most casual of pattern writers/designers.

(A strong reluctance to hear “OMGZORZ ur paturn suxzorz i dun noe wut k2tog meenz!!1!” might have something to do with it. Can you tell I play online games much? I know most knitters are quite a bit more intelligent than the previous statement, but Murphy and I are almost on a first name basis at this point, so knowing my luck… /grin)

In other knitterly news, I finally swatched Lil Squish Cotton on larger-than-size-US1 needles. US3 to be exact. What a difference!! I went from having my doubts about a yarn I loved in the hank to debating knitting socks for myself in it.It even has this subtle shimmery thing going on that you can’t really see here. /love

And at around 7 sts to an inch before any blocking and what not on US3’s… well. We’ll just say that it knits up a lot faster than some of the other socks I’ve been working on.

(Evil size 1’s. But oh, how I love you all the same.)

I’ve not touched the sweater. I’m not sure when I will. It’s too hot to work on it right now. So The Big Project is The Shawl right now.

It’s not nearly as neglected as it looks there. It just stays in the Namaste Zuma bag (now named The Purple Bag) for safe keeping and so I can carry it with me.

(Leaving the house without my knitting… I think not. I do more knitting in public than I do at home, and feel naked without it besides. Go figure.)

Proof that it is infact NOT neglected:

Last known status:

And as of this week:

That is infact the back of my computer chair, and despite being fully spread out on a 60″ circular needle, it is still very bunched together. I’m on the second pattern repeat of Section 3. I’m really liking this section; after a round or two, I didn’t have to carry the pattern with me anymore. It’s easier to just read the knitting than count. <3

(Ok, I have to do that since I rotated the pattern for the past two sections a few stitches each section. I’m not OCD, just very visually oriented. No, really. )

Anyway, so that’s where the knitting is. I also knocked out a few inches on Kul’s socks recently, but still need to take pics of those. And I really need to dye yarn. AARG. I am such a bad yarnie. ): Here’s to hoping I get actual work done this weekend.

Three pounds of chocolatey goodness next to my desk. I waited over 24 hours before touching it. But the peanut butter filled chocolate bunnies and chocolate crisp thingies were calling me.

Surprisingly, though I love Reese’s like there is no tomorrow, the chocolate crisps beat out the peanut butter bunnies. Not saying much as it’s bagged Easter chocolate, not Ghiradelli.

(Yee, my ‘good stuff’ is still grocery store chocolate. /sigh What are we going to do with me? I’ll spend - without hesitation - hundreds on yarn, but more than $5 on chocolate? Nope.)

I’ll be sharing the remaining chocolate with the Yarn Babies tomorrow. I SWEAR it’s only to celebrate the Yarn Husband switching back to days, after three months of night shift. There is no ulterior motive or subconscious desire to put him through what I’ve been through the past three months… condensed into three days. None whatsoever. I’m just being a sweet mommy and treating the kids to a large amount of sugar and caffeine.

(I do love my husband, promise. But the kids so love chocolate…)

In other Yarn Babies news, I’ve been trying to read to them each night. Which wouldn’t present an issue, provided I knew what to read to them.

(No matter how much they already love looking through yarn-related books, I just don’t think they’d get a kick out of being read “Spinning Designer Yarns” at bedtime.)

As things stand, their dad has Dr Seuss covered, along with the Ironman comic book compilation we checked out of the library. Which doesn’t leave a heck of a lot left for me, when you factor in the attention span of 5 year old and 6 year old boys. And to be honest, I kinda wanted it to be something they’d remember when they were older, something only Mommy read to them. It only took me a few minutes of looking at my bookshelf before I found it.

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There’s a light on in the attic.
Though the house is dark and shuttered,
I can see a flickerin’ flutter,
And I know what it’s about.
There’s a light on in the attic.
I can see it from the outside,
And I know you are on the inside… lookin’ out.

-Shel Silverstein, ‘A Light in the Attic’

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We read the first 30 pages of A Light In The Attic tonight, complete with giggling at the (purple crayon covered) illustrations. But the best part? Even when I read it as poetry, complete with tempo and pauses at the end of the lines… they understood. Understood and laughed at the silliness of poems like ‘The Sitter’, ‘Shaking’, ‘Reflection’ and ‘Fancy Dive’.

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The fanciest dive that was ever dove
Was done by Melissa of Coconut Grove
She bounced on the board and flew into the air
With a twist of her head and a twirl of her hair.
She did thirty-four jackknives, back flipped and spun,
Quadruple gainered, and reached for the sun,
And then somersaulted nine times and a quarter-
And looked down and saw that the pool had no water.

-Shel Silverstein, Fancy Dive

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(6 year old on ‘Fancy Dive’: ” ‘They’re gonna crack their head.” Thank you Heaven, he’s understanding consequences! /relief)

(Aside: Shel Silverstein is one of my all time favorite poets, tied with e.e. cummings, and the ONLY poet I actually searched for and bought hard cover books of their work. Books, plural.)

It makes me surprisingly happy that they understand poetry, even as uncomplicated as Shel Silverstein’s A Light in the Attic may be. But it makes me want to shout and cry and glow knowing I finally found something I can share with my kids, something that they will enjoy as much as I did, and still do. Something that once was uniquely just me in our family, that they’ll now be able to look back on and remember as being ours.

I’m not sure why that makes me happy enough to tear up, but it does. It means so much knowing I have something I love that I can share with them… that they love.

Finally. <3

One last note… at the very end of A Light in the Attic is one of my favorite poems of his. Tonight, it took on a whole new meaning, one that I could see before… but tonight, tonight I understood.

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This bridge will only take you halfway there
To those mysterious lands you long to see:
Through gypsy camps and swirling Arab fairs
And moonlit woods where unicorns run free.
So come and walk a while with me and share
The twisting trails and wondrous worlds I’ve known.
But this bridge will only take you halfway there-
The last few steps you’ll have to take alone.

-Shel Silverstein, ‘This Bridge’

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I hope I can get them halfway along the bridge. <3

(All poetry from A Light in the Attic, by Shel Silverstein, copyright 1981.)