Friday, November 18, 2016

Sockiness Shenanigans While Showing Superior Self-Control....

Another week blew right past me... but it has been a week of glorious weather. As I type this I have the windows open enjoying what is probably the last beautiful weather of 2016. Today it is 75 degrees ... tomorrow the high will barely reach 40 and there may be snow flurries... shorts today... a parka tomorrow... ahh... typical Ohio weather. Not much I can do about it ...other than complain... and I do that A LOT...LOL!!

I've made the most of the week... on Wednesday I planted 190 bulbs... 100 daffodils...60 Japanese irises... 15 allium... and 15 tulips which I put in a pot instead of the ground.  My plan is to let the pot sit outside this winter and when they start to bloom in the Spring I'll let them sit out during the day, but I'll drag the pot into the garage at night and hopefully avoid having them be a midnight snack for the deer. Hope springs eternal in every gardener's heart...

Today I cleaned out my window boxes of deceased mums and frosted sweet potato vine. I chucked the ferns on the front porch and put the porch furniture in the garage. Then I put out my Christmas lights....LOL... I'm not going to plug them in yet... I'll wait till next Friday for that. But I figured it would be a much more enjoyable task today than when it is 30 and sleeting.  I am very proud of myself ... I feel like I got the jump on Mother Nature... and somehow I'm sure she'll get me back!

There has been some activity on the knitting front... some sockiness shenanigans... first I finished  one of my Sunday Swing socks....you can find the free pattern here.


I'm happy with this sock... the Regia Colormania yarn is very pretty. I've already cast on its mate and it is sitting right next to me now waiting for some attention.

And the Zitron Trekking XXL 415 sock is just a toe away from being complete...


It is turning out BE-YOUUU-TI- FUL.... so happy happy happy I remembered I owned this yarn. I will finish the toe tonight and cast on its mate too. I added some dusty purple heels and toes so that I have a nice bit of this yarn leftover. I know I'm going to want to use it in other Frankensocks in the future.

And somehow this lovely skein of Madelinetosh appeared in my home...


the colorway is called Night Hawk and I love the bits of purple and teal and pops of lime green. My friend Cathy... who is also my personal yarn shopper... she works in a great LYS called Lambikins Hideaway in Hamilton Ohio... brought it with her to dinner last night. She said it had just arrived at the shop yesterday... well I was immediately smitten and asked if I could buy it... she graciously let me pay her for it, even though she had selected it for herself. She said the shop had 9 other skeins and she would get another for her... isn't she sweet?  I'm envisioning this as a shawl... or a scarf... need to peruse Ravelry and find some inspiration... and ask Cathy what plans she had for it... she always knits the most gorgeous stuff.

And drum roll please... this is the biggest sockiness shenanigans where I have shown SUPERIOR self control... an Opal Sock yarn Advent Box!!!!


this box is a 1 foot cube stuffed with 24 mini skeins of Opal sockiness goodness... each skein is 15 grams and I should be able make 4 pairs of Frankensocks from  it... I have had this box in my house for almost 2 weeks and I have not opened one single door... SUPERIOR self-control... something I am NOT known for... LOL!   I became aware of this delightful box last December when it was too late to obtain one. I was on the prowl for it starting this summer and found an Etsy shop in the UK that was selling them. I know I visited her Etsy shop at least a dozen times before I convinced myself that I was worth the box and the shipping... and I am glad I did!  I can't wait to open the first door on December 1 ... TWELVE more days... the suspense is killing me.

Last night I showed the box to my friends and they decided that they wanted to peek inside and see the yarn. I left the room and they opened the top of the box...the suspense was mounting... only to find out that the way this box is assembled you can't see a darn thing by just opening the top... each day is enclosed in a cardboard partition... we all laughed and laughed because we figure we weren't the first ones who thought we could sneak a peek.  If you have time check out this Instagram tag... #opaladventcalendar   and you can see all the ways people have used the yarn from the Advent Box.

The days are certainly speeding by... next week is Thanksgiving... and then in a blink of an eye it will be Christmas..aaaaayyyyy... I have a little shopping done and a couple of hand made gifts completed... or close to complete. Last year I got my tree up and all my decorations out early. I'm going to try and do that again.

Hope you have a great weekend... don't know what the plans are yet for dinner on Sunday... I'm thinking if my son and daughter in law come over I'll make beef stroganoff in the crock pot... some comfort food that sticks to your ribs... LOL... listen to me... I make it sound like it will be Artic cold... oh well ... I shall survive!

happy knitting -
carol fun





















5 comments:

  1. Your socks are nice I hope you stay warm I live in Texas where the weather conditions change day by day

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  2. Our weather has also taken a turn for the worse. Last week was very mild this week it has been cool and damp. You are so smart to put the lights up. We will be doing it the first good day. But like you, no plug in till after Thanksgiving. I like to drag fall out as long as possible. Well, enjoy the week-end. Oh by the way, I was so impressed with all of your planting. Your yard should be a paradise next spring!!!!

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  3. Beautiful sox and yarns! I just LOVE that advent calendar!!! What a kewl idea! Hopefully you will let us in blogland peek at what you find in there? :-)

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  4. Pretty Sunday Swing sock. Your bulbs will be a wonderful reward come spring - this is the first year in a while that I've not planted any.

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  5. The weeks are blowing past me too...trying to catch up. This morning it was 18 degrees..time to pull out my favorite socks from you. Made me giddy! I'm proud of you for showing self control with your advent calendar. I always had the chocolate ones from Germany growing up. I still send them to the kids each year. At least yours is calorie free. :)

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