Update on the Yarny Things

Well, I did not mean to be away from blogging for quite so long. Oops! I should have been updating this entire time.

I have been doing quite a bit of knitting these days.  Maybe even to the point of being ridiculous? I'm not sure. It has occurred to me that I did not ever post pictures of the gray Hermione's Everyday Socks I was working on. That is because there currently aren't any of the finished pair, as I am lazy and have not taken any and I haven't even woven in the ends for them yet! However, I do have a picture of the first one right before I began the toe.  That particular pair of socks was rather amusing, as I found out after knitting most of the first one... that I have been doing the knit stitch incorrectly for a number of years. Purl, also.  It's rather sad and I am not happy about it, but I have corrected the issue and the second sock was knit very differently. The difference in how the eye of partridge heel looks between the two is astounding! It also fits much better. I have a number of beautifully done things since, and I will shamelessly flaunt them before you as they come up.

Anyway, nearly immediately after I finished these socks, I started another pair. Surprising, I know! I decided to use the pattern BFF out of Cookie A's book, Knit. Sock. Love. This apparently used to be a free pattern, like Monkey, but I had it in the book and it fit the Sock Knitters Anonymous prompt (cables!) for March... so why not?  I have not quite finished, but I have gotten to the heel flap of the second sock and am really enjoying the knitting. Really.  I have a picture of the first one completed:

And another of the yarn in more natural lighting to show off the color:

I absolutely love this yarn! It's Tosh Sock by madelinetosh and now I understand why people rant and rave about it. Really.  The color is beautiful, the yarn is soft and workable, and the stitch definition is good. All around, a great yarn. 
Another thing I have been getting into recently... is the sock yarn blanket. I know, I'm so shameful! I resisted temptation for over two years before I caved. I couldn't help it. Mine is just now starting out. I don't have a ludicrous number of squares yet, but I do have one picture so far:

I have not been taking any pictures of it, as it is significantly larger than that now, because I have not been weaving in my ends like a good girl and it is spiraling out of control.  It's an off and on project, so hopefully I will remember to take and post pictures as I go along. Hopefully. My grand plan is to knit it large enough to fit a king sized bed. I figure it'll be a wedding present to myself or something... which is nothing to worry about. It's going to take me forever and I'm not even dating anyone right now so I'm right on track!

I also feel like I have been very blessed with the people on Ravelry being so awesome.  I posted the need for sock yarn scraps for this blanket in Random Acts of Kindness, as I have not been a sock knitting fiend until quite recently, and received two packages so far. I only have a picture of the contents of the first, but I will put it here:

I was so happy upon receiving this, that I skipped around the house saying "yay, yarn!" for several minutes.  I'm sure my family thinks I'm absolutely  nuts. Really.

Aside from that, I have a few other little things going on here and there.  I will be sure to post about them as I see fit. This is a horrendously long blog post with tons of pictures, as is. I will say, though, that I went to Yarnivore with Chirp in a fit of madness quite recently and came home with this:

Yes, it is orange malabrigo sock yarn. Yes, I am aware that there is something painfully wrong with me and I do.not.care. I am enjoying this particular fit of insanity, thankyouverymuch. We will see what this becomes. I am also looking forward to the Yellow Rose Fiber Fiesta coming up this month. It just so happens it's the weekend before my birthday and I do most certainly plan to attend and blow every bit of birthday money I may have. :)

Insanity (with socks!)

So, things have been going pretty insane for me in the past week. I have had a lot going on. Everything pretty much happened on Monday in a two-hour time period, too. I went to drop off time sheets at work and talked to my boss. She told me that the patient I had been working for passed away on Friday and no one was notified, so we could not have anyone attend the funeral. It makes me really, really sad. I am going to have to get a condolences card for my patient's wife. She must be in a very hard place, right now. Poor thing.

The other bad news was that, since he passed away, I was not going to be getting any work this week. That was a real bummer and horrible news since it happened the week before I start school. Oh, joy. I was flipping out thinking I was going to have to spend this week job hunting and hoping for something good to come of it. Anyway, today my boss called and told me that they just got a new patient with a 24 hour care order and I was getting first call on shifts. I went ahead and took Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. It's a hefty schedule, but I am more than happy for the hours and something to do.

Also, the check engine light came on in my car.  It's an older car and I knew I needed to get an oil change and such, so I hoped beyond hope that that was the problem. I took it in to Jiffy Lube yesterday and they changed the oil and the light went off. Yay! Also, they changed out the air filter so I should be getting somewhat better gas mileage, now. That's good.

Also, my iPhone is slowly getting to become mine. We are currently getting my mom's stuff off of it and resetting the settings on it. I'm pretty happy with it so far. All I have to do, now, is change my phone plan and swap the SIM card. I'm so happy. A phone that will not die after fifteen seconds of being used for something. Finally.

Also, I have started some socks for me. I started working on them because I was in dire need of therapy knitting with everything going on and I like them so far. It's a pattern called Monkey by Cookie A. It used to be a free pattern, but she published it in a book and, well, it's not free anymore. I like it and the other patterns in the book enough to have purchased the book, so there is that. The book is called Knit. Sock. Love. by Cookie A. If you enjoy knitting socks, I would suggest this book. I have it in .pdf format on my Nook. Very handy access, there. Also, I have another of her books called Sock Innovation and that one is very good, as well. I must admit, though, that I have never knit any of the socks in the book. When I purchased it, I was still very much a sock knitting newbie so I was sort of terrified of them. Not anymore. I plan to knit at least two other pairs of her socks this year. Probably for me. Because I want to be selfish so there.

I do not have current pictures of the sock, but I started it at 1 am on January 10th and have already turned the heel on the first one. I guess that's fast knitting? Anyway, I have the ravelry project page if anyone's interested. I will add pictures soon because I absolutely adore the yarn and the pattern. I promise. I just need to get a good handle on my phone/camera situation. I do have a sort of crazy initial picture to post, though.