A little pre-senile dementia, anyone?

According to the Journal of Neurology, knitting is one of 13 activities shown to reduce the risk of developing dementia by as much as 38%.

Given that, why am I having so much frigging trouble making a sock that fits? I studied pre-senile dementia in grad school, and well, I'm just wondering...

I finally figured out the Grasshopper pattern from last month's Blue Moon Fiber Arts kit

and I don't like it.

I don't think this has happened to me before, but I finished the sock, put it on, and I don't like it. For several reasons. The fit is a little baggier around the ankle than I like... the top is a little snugger than I like. But I think that the most likely reason of all (yes, I am quoting the Grinch a little) is that the pattern doesn't do justice to the yarn. The yarn, a silk/wool blend, is absolutely gorgeous and knits into the most beautiful fabric with a soft sheen. With the lace pattern, the sheen is lost.

So, I don't like it.

I started the second ball as a Monkey sock, and much prefer it. Of course, I got to the heel before realizing I couldn't pull the damn thing over my foot - too small... so I frogged and am using slightly bigger needles, and am finally making socks that fit!

I started these a couple of weeks ago, from the Pick Up Sticks sock club.
Again, beautiful yarn ( bamboo/wool/nylon),interesting pattern (see the shell motif at the right end? works with the pattern name - Beach - get it?) - but it doesn't fit. Too small. Only one size was given for the pattern and in my enthusiasm I didn't bother checking. And it's too small. So off to the frog pond with this one, too.

sigh.

However, I do like how you can take something like this:
,
add a little of these

and come out with this


The sweater is now done and ready for mailing to Artisan Knitworks... yay!

And remember the nest in our euonymous vine? Look who showed up...

The mom is in the middle, flanked by two babies! I can't tell you how much fun the boys and I have been having watching them, and talking to them - the boys so much so that they TRY NOT TO SLAM THE DOOR - this is significant progress, let me assure you!

So now I must try to get my brain cells back in order - I cast on a sock on June 21 for Summer of Socks, which I will post later, and am hoping, praying - actually, I'm measuring - so that it fits...

Beware - knitting content ahead...

Why, yes, I do still knit, and I have the sticks to prove it...

Beautiful bronze sticks, handcrafted by Molly at Celtic Swan, which were my birthday gift to myself, and which I am chomping at the bit to use on my next socks, the April Kit from Blue Moon Fibers Socks that Rock club:

Sorry for the flash effect - this is a much better representation of the truly edible colours in this wool/silk blend:

But first, I must finish the twins' socks, which are due this Saturday... hmm, sounds like a test or paper or something, doesn't it? Not like the relaxing, satisfying activity we all know knitting to be...
They should be done tomorrow, and I did do the second pair while we were away last week:

Project: My own generic sock pattern, size 7, for the twins
Yarn: KnitPicks "Bare", dyed with orange KoolAid and received in a yarn swap some months ago
Started: May 5, 2007
Finished: May 14, 2007

These are the red and blue Bemidjis, knit for Artisan Knitworks and mailed the week before I left, all cuddled up on the couch:


Hmm, funny how you don't necessarily see the chaos surrounding you until someone comes to visit unexpectedly, or you take a picture of some of it and get an objective look - remind me not to take pictures anywhere else in my house...

Today's project has been to wash and scrape our old plant pots, so that the boys can paint them in their own personally selected colours, and then fill them with their own personally selected flowers - so tired and old looking, huh?


They were here when we moved in, must be older than dirt, but for now, they do the job just fine - and WAIT till you see the colours the kids picked - this will be one glow-in-the-dark kind of garden...

speaking of the kids, Ben had a project a couple of weeks ago wherein he had to build a real structure out of common household items. He chose the Skydome in Toronto:


and opted to make it out of... are you ready?... marshmallows.

BEHOLD! Edible Skydome:


You have to picture, us, sitting around our table, stringing endless amounts of mini-marshmallows ( couldn't use the BIG ones, oh, no) on toothpicks, stranding them together, and then glue-gunning them (and they actually didn't melt like I thought they would). We had a tough time coming up with the dome part, but I had a flash of inspiration at the grocery store and asked if I could buy one of the plastic tops they use on vegetable trays. No, apparently they don't have a code for those and can't sell them. Could they give me one? What, am I NUTS? GIVE something away? For FREE???? So, I paid $15 for a veggie tray, the contents of which I then jammed down the throats of my kids and their friends who were lucky enough to be visiting that day, and we had a dome.

Which was too small.

Saran wrap does, in fact, have a million uses, and I would gladly offer a testimonial to that fact.

All in all, a fun project, and so damn creative - however, it will be a long, LONG time before I can eat another marshmallow.

and now I will leave you with the latest addition to my fridge:


Am I the only one who finds this pee-in-my-pants funny? My girlfriend and I made asses of ourselves in the cardshop with our uncontrollable laughing, but apart from her, no one else really gets it...

sigh

Meme tomorrow, Scarlett, I promise...

Ahh, that's better!

So much more sock-like, donchyathink?

So, this morning I went to renew my passport, which expires in a few days. As we all know, it is, I think, impossible to travel anywhere out of country without one these days, so I thought it best to get it done. Did the photo thing on a day I thought I looked okay - came out with my hair looking like a comb-over faux-hawk - and prepared myself this morning for the rumoured 3 - 4 hour wait at the passport office.

I did one clever thing... I completed my application online.

I arrived, knitting and iPod at the ready, to a S.R.O. (I only recently learned that that means Standing Room Only - most of my life, I thought it was 'Sold Right Out') waiting room - no chairs, and they had only been open 10 minutes!! Because of my online application, I was moved to the "special" line with only three people ahead of me. Folks, I was in and out of there in less than 25 minutes - honestly! I left thinking that I had forgotten something, or something went wrong, because it just seemed impossible.

Nope. All fine. Done in under 25 minutes. I love the internet.

And now onto spring projects... for moi... in my spare time (a favourite oxymoron, right up there with 'extra cash'):
I started this, using navy bamboo yarn purchased some time ago from Discontinued Yarns from the spring 2007 issue of KnitScene because I am... I don't know... there's something wrong with me, that's why.

And as I started it, I pulled this out of my stash, and I want to start it, too.

I am working on my 2nd of 3 Bemidji sweaters for Artisan Knitworks - will take pics once all are assembled - during the day, but night knitting is for me... I just have to figure out what the hell to knit!