I'm better now.

After crying for a couple of days, I finished the second Welt Fantastic sock. It fits now, and they're pretty freakin' great. The second heel (well, the second heel of the second sock) didn't turn out as well as the first--there are some holes where I picked up stitches--but at that point I really didn't care. It was just time to get them done. And since the pattern has holes in it anyway, I'm calling it a design element.

I've also finished the next traveling scarf square. I even used my stitch pattern book! See, I didn't just make up an excuse, I actually used it for what it was intended.

We spent the weekend at my in-laws' lake house on Lake Hamilton. It was a good weekend. We got out on the boat some, swam some, and relaxed a lot. Monkey got a little bit sunburned--she has lines from her life jacket. Squirt didn't much care for the water, but he enjoyed jumping off the sea wall into JTK's arms and getting his feet dragged through it.

Right now JTK is getting ready to start grilling a massive porterhouse for us. I love long weekends.

Disappointment, heartbreak, and devastation

I finished the Welt Fantastic socks yesterday, and they did indeed look fabulous. There was just a teensy, tiny problem though. The second sock was much too small.

I have no idea how that happened. I didn't try it on like I did the first one (because that's how I snapped the dpn--oops), so I guess I just didn't notice I was knitting at a tighter gauge. RAR. It's been frogged back to the leg and I'm going to start over on the heel [Ha! I accidentally typed "hell" instead of "heel." Talk about Freudian slips ...] today. I had planned on taking my rusted root to the lake with me this weekend, but evidently I will be working on this sock instead.

It's a darn good thing socks don't come in sets of three. I can handle two, but the thought of doing this heel and foot for the third time is sort of wearing me out.

Everybody have a good Memorial Day weekend!

I'm just a girl who can't say no

When marketing execs dream, they dream about me. If I get a coupon for a percentage off any item in a store, I use it. If I get free shipping with orders over $X, I'll go ahead and order things "I was going to get eventually" to qualify. A limited-time sale? Seasonal closeout? I'll be there on the first day.

There's a saying that a sucker's born every minute. What that saying fails to mention is that those suckers grow up and continue being suckers.

All this is to say I got another knitting book. Barnes and Noble sent me a 15% off coupon; what was I supposed to do, throw it away? (I have another one left. Somebody take it away.) I came away with the Vogue Stitchionary, Volume 1. I've never really wanted a stitch dictionary for anything, but this traveling scarves group pretty much demands it. And I had a coupon!

My first instinct was to get one of the new Harmony guides. They've got sooo many patterns. I was thinking the eyelets and lace guide, but when I started flipping through the Vogue one, I liked it better. And while there are fewer patterns, the one I bought has both knit and purl patterns as well as lace, and for whatever reason, I found the Vogue book more visually appealing.

The second Welt Fantastic sock is almost finished, and I've swatched for my Rusted Root. So much knitting, so little time ... and school's out this week. I'm thinking about hiring a high school kid to come watch my kids one day a week this summer just so I can get some knitting done.

More sock pictures! Woo hoo!

Here's the first Welt Fantastic sock, completed on the plane to Vegas last week. I've gone from being "meh" about them to really liking them. They're comfortable and they look great with jeans. I'm almost to the heel on the second one. (I did have an Addi dpn break on me, though. It was a bamboo one. Are bamboo Addis known for breakage?!)

The trip was great. We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton at Lake Las Vegas for JTK's conference, and it lived up to the Ritz-Carlton hype. Gorgeous, comfortable rooms, a nice pool (even if the drinks there were exorbitant), and a killer spa. I got the hot stone massage and it was worth every cent.

Saturday night we went into Vegas and stayed at the Venetian. The Venetian also kicks much ass. We weren't there for very long so I can't comment on its pool or spa or any of that, but the casino was nice. It took a bunch of our money and then graciously gave most of it back. How can we complain? And we ate at Mesa Grill (JTK might have a little crush on Bobby Flay--shhhh!) and it was easily the best meal we've ever had at a restaurant.

Knitting, gambling, massages, food--yeah. It was a great trip.

More books

So we've covered the "I-have-no-willpower" thing here a couple of times, right? Yeah, I thought so. Today I went out and bought more books. Lace Style by Ann Budd and Pam Allen, Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Killing Yourself to Live by Chuck Klosterman, and another Agatha Christie (The A.B.C. Murders). I got a gift card for my birthday, and I'm surprised it lasted this long.

I'm going to take the Klosterman and Yarn Harlot books on vacation with me tomorrow. I've never read a Yarn Harlot book before (I know, I know!), so I'm excited. I've already read a teeny tiny bit of it in the bookstore, but I'm not letting myself read any more. It'll be perfect with a margarita next to the pool. The Chuck Klosterman one just sounds hilarious. I've been wanting to read it for a while, and when I saw it on the discount table I just had to get it.

Nothing much knitting-wise ... I've decided I like the Welt Fantastic sock. The first one is almost finished; just a few more rounds before I can start the toe. That's going with me to Vegas, too.

Oh, and did I mention I'm going to Vegas? To lay by the pool? And drink margaritas? And get a massage? For five days? Did I mention that?