Work In Progress Wednesday v.46

Update:

Thanks for all the kind words last week, folks.  Sorry that I didn't have more to share with you.  Long story short, Mr. Right and I are trying to figure out if we should get married or go our separate ways.  Honestly, it's been the worst week and a half of my life.  While we work things out, the knitting needles have been pushed aside, so no knitting to speak of.  Hopefully, things will get back on track around here in the next few weeks.  Thanks for hanging with me while I muddle through.  I'll try my best to update here when I get a chance. 
On the flip side, I've lost 14 pounds in the last 12 days.  Best. Diet. Ever.*

* Just in case it needs clarifying -- I don't recommend it.  Under any circumstances.

Hope y'all are doing well -- I miss you!

Work In Progress Wednesday v.45

No words this week, folks.  Just this...

If you're the praying sort, and could spare one this week, I'd be grateful.  If not, any good thoughts you could send this week would be much appreciated.

More later...

Work In Progress Wednesday v.44

Man, the weeks just keep zooooooming by, don't they?  Hard to believe that it's Wednesday again.  There's been precious little knitting time here this week.  We got back from Kansas on Monday night (post STILL coming -- promise!), then left on a camping trip after work on Friday (post! coming!).

Somewhere in between I put in a full week at work, then finished the ribbing on Secret Sock #2, realized that I'd totally ignored the pattern, ripped the whole thing out and started over.  Turns out that in my 3rd pair of socks, I started to get a little Sock Cocky (Socky?  Definitely not Sake).  I finished up #1 and dove right into the ribbing on sock #2, completely forgetting that the pattern starts in the very first row of this sock and and goes all the way to the toe -- which, incidentally, is a very long way in a Boy Sock.  But we've covered that already.  Anyway, since this was sock #2 and not #1, calling it a "design feature" seemed a little iffy.  And so there was much ripping and frogging and gnashing of teeth.

So, ummm... Voila!  Here is sock #2...

I know it doesn't look like much, but with all the screwing up and frogging and re-knitting, I think it's not bad.  That said, I'm pretty ready to work on something else.  Lucky for me, the Estes Park Wool Market is coming up this weekend, so I expect there might be one or two yarny distractions waiting for me.  It should be lots of fun, and I promise to tell you all about it after a week or two of good, solid heel-dragging.  At this point, I'm sure you expect nothing less.

In that spirit, here are a few shots I took when I was in New York for Book Expo America a couple of weeks ago.  I wasn't able to get out much, but it was a great time...

I mean, who wouldn't want to have their picture taken with Olivia.  I LOVE Olivia so much that I don't care if I'm super duper blurry (sorry, phone pic.)!

I had the biggest hotel room I've ever seen in New York.  It was amazing. 

It had both a desk and a bathtub...

which might not sound like much, but I've definitely stayed in expensive Manhattan hotels that sported neither. There was even *gasp* a kitchen. 

It was right in Midtown, with a view (!) of my favorite flower shop in New York, Bloom. 

They do gorgeous flowers for ungodly prices, much as you'd expect.  Great window shopping though!

And, because I am insane, I spent my only free evening eating take out sushi on my bed (Outstanding!), then hopping the subway to Union Square and hiking a few blocks to Trader Joe's where I filled my suitcase with goodies I can't get my hands on in Colorado.  And I did it at sunset, which was really kind of pretty -- in a super-urban sort of way.

That's it for me at the moment.  Hope y'all are having a great week!  Go check out all the other WIPW folks and see what they're up to these days.  It's pretty much guaranteed awesomeness.

Work In Progress Wednesday v.43

Aaaaaaaannnnd... we're back!  But only just barely, so this will be sort of a quickie post for WIPW.  NY was great (post coming!) and Kansas was really super great. (For serious.  Post coming there, too!)  Unfortunately, the only real knitting time I got in the last week was on the plane to and from the east coast.  Not even a middle seat between two guys who were each too big to put their armrests down (ugh) was enough to deter me.  I knitted the whole way with my elbows pinned to my sides.  To be honest, I think the pointy sticks were the only reason I had any room at all. 

Anyway, it was enough to finish Secret Sock #1.  Yay!  It looks pretty good, I think.  There are a few glitches in the pattern, so mine doesn't look exactly like the Yarn Harlot version, but I think I'm the only one who'll notice.  Also, following the instructions means you end up grafting the stitches in a line that's perpindicular to the toe of the sock.  Weird, no?  Again, I think I'm the only one who'll care.  Also, I've learned something very important with Sock #1, and it is this:  Boy socks are crazy HUGE!  Holy cow, these things take FOREVER to knit. 

Secret Sock #2 is now officially underway.  It looks like this:

Not much, I know.  I blame Mr. Right.  Last night, after the Big Road Trip, we started mowing his lawn.  No small task, since it's about a third of an acre, and he hadn't mowed it yet this year.  So instead of knitting, I have this:

That's my sweetie with his Darth Vader mask (he's violently allergic to grass, and the last time he did the lawn without it, we almost ended up in the ER.  Now he looks like a dork and everyone's healthy). 

That's also 13 trash bags filled crammed with cut grass, plus one regular garbage can plus one super-sized garbage can.  Let me save you the calculations:  It's a freaking lot of grass.  And  it took the two of us about 6 hours over 2 days.  Phew!

And now, I'm going to go guzzle some allergy medicine myself and collapse on my bed.  When I wake up though, I'm going to go visit all the WIPW posts.  I missed you guys last week!