Chili Weather

An actual cold snap has come to Florida! The temperature plummeted to 53 degrees this morning. I almost had to close the windows!

A day like this is the kind that makes you want to wear socks--handknit socks of COURSE--and dash into the kitchen to get a nice hot pot of chili going. If I were still in the northeast, I'd say, "Today is a good day to make stew." I ought to bake something, too! I'm having the kind of morning I love: I'm wearing sweatpants, which is something I can only do a couple of times per year here in the Sweaty State; I had time to listen to an episode of She-Knits this morning; and I've started a new pair of socks, similar to the Laziest Socks Ever, but I think this yarn is so gorgeous:

pvsocks002

I'm still crazy about self-striping sock yarn. Has it lost its appeal for you? I bought this about a year ago from Little Knits (My God what good sales they have!!! hurrygobuysomeyarntheresaidthesubliminalvoiceinyourhead). It's On Line Supersocke in one of the City colorways. It's superwash. So far, I have refused to make socks out of any yarn that has to be hand-washed. It just doesn't seem practical to me. Knowing me, I'd accidentally throw them in the washer and dryer and felt them to death. Then I'd have to cry, and I don't want to do that. Anyway, this is just a "plain vanilla" sock. No pattern, nothing exciting. Cast on 64 stitches, then turn your brain off till you look down and you're holding a finished sock. Rinse and repeat. The fun part is seeing the various color patterns emerge. I have one worry: While winding this ball, I found a knot. Yeah. A Dreaded Knot. You know what that means with self-striping yarn, right? The color sequence is going to be messed up right there. I'll have to briefly turn my brain back on at that point, to make sure I can make the correct color striping sequence continue. Unlike The Laziest Socks Ever, I'm going to try to make this pair match.

I have a new Christmas stocking blocking on the dining room table. I have to put the finishing touches on the pattern and take pictures, and then I'm going to show you that in the next few days. I was chomping at the bit to finish it because I have received this:

stashinbox

I bet you can't guess what's in there!!!!
Oh, you guessed yarn...am I really that transparent?

I haven't allowed myself to open that box yet. It's still sealed, in my closet. I put in an order at Knitting Warehouse, which is a great online place to buy yarn. I always go there when I am getting Lion Brand or Caron or Bernat yarns. They don't carry a ton of brands, but they have flat-rate shipping of $5.99 and they are always 100% accurate and incredibly fast. This is my first real yarn purchase since the Great Knitting Slump ended. It contains yarn to make some of the stuff that's in my unrealistically long Ravelry queue. I've optimistically planned to make five sweaters, among other things. I'll have to elaborate on that in another post. I also bought some of the new sock yarn from Red Heart, called Heart and Sole. You have to buy two skeins to make a pair of socks, but a skein is only $4.69 which appeals to my cheap side. Once again, I'm sadly reminded that I'll never be a yarn snob no matter how much I plan to start being one.

Well, enough prattling on! I have to get back outside in my fleece jacket/socks/sweatpants before it gets back up to 80 degrees.

Despite the fact that I have comments enabled, in order to comment you need to actually click on the title of this (or any other) post. Sorry!

1 comment:

Jenn Carson said...

I love it that you're not a yarn snob! It means I can afford the yarn with which to make your lovely patterns.

It always offends me when I find the perfect pattern in some magazine and start shopping, only to realize that the yarn alone will cost more than three times what the finished garment itself would, even if I bought it at a designer boutique.

Not being a yarn snob means a bigger stash, too!

Thank you for all your blogging.