Mixed Emotions - Warning! RSC Spoiler!

Note: This post was begun on Monday, but it's now Thursday, so not sure what will happen as far as dates on this thing.

I had a great mail day on Saturday when I went to my mailbox and discovered not one, but two packages of yarn! (yes, I realize I said I was "grounded" for the next six months, post-Stitches, but what the hell!) One package did not break my grounding, as it was ordered prior to Stitches. My memberships in two different sock clubs do not count!

That first package had my third installment from the Rockin' Sock Club. I can't show you the pattern, but the yarn is lovely and reminds me of amethyst (my birthstone for any of you who may want to send gifts).

The second package definitely breaks the deal I made with myself, but I couldn't resist when the KnitWitch herself offered to custom dye me some Tulane sock yarn. I think it looks beautiful and she called the colorway "Green Wave". She also did some for moevan's over in Pensacola, but she added some white to hers. I hope Molly shares a picture of her version with me! The yarn itself is superwash merino and feels so soft and cushy!

And now for the mixed emotions part - after all this warm, fuzzy yarn-joy, I decided to get back to work on the Aguona laptop cover that I started a while back. I had gotten interrupted by a couple of socks that demanded to be made. So I picked it back up and made great progress until I realized that I was going to be 5 rows short on the lighter red color! Dammit! This was a kit, don't you think they'd provide you with enough yarn to finish the stupid thing? Okay, I know what you're thinking, it must be a guage issue, but as far as I can tell, I'm pretty darn close on guage. I would think that the makers of kits would maybe take into consideration minor variations and give you enough to have a little cushion. But, that's not the case here, so I need to order more of the poppy color. This leads me to wonder if, since it was that close on the lighter red, if perhaps I should order more of the darker red, just in case. I think I'm going to so when I get back to work on this bad boy I can just finish it once and for all. (note: since writing this I have in fact ordered both colors of the yarn, but resisted adding any others. I did buy some needles and a book though to qualify for free shipping)

As I said, I've gotten distracted by a couple of pairs of socks, so here they are:

They're just plain vanilla socks that I made for my nieces for Christmas. I know what you're thinking - "Christmas?! Sarah, you do realize it's May, right?" Yes, I know, but I want to do a little Christmas knitting each month and that way I'm not freaking out at the holidays. Plus, I needed some portable knitting and the laptop kit didn't qualify. It requires way too much concentration.

I tried to pick back up the socks that I started working on when Bean last went to the Emergency Room, but realized that I had kinda screwed up the pattern and had to rip them out. They are from my other sock club that I belong to and look really cool. I love the yarn. I decided that I wanted to work them from the toe-up, which shouldn't have been such a problem, but somehow I managed to screw that up too, so I ripped them out again. I cast them back on and worked most of the leg of the first one, but when I tried it on, realized that it was never going to go over my heel (the pattern has very little give). So, I need to rip them out again and make them bigger, but I'm getting pretty sick of the pattern for right now, so maybe I'll just use the yarn for something else. Mind you, this is not a condemnation of the pattern designer, I think they look great and since she has a picture of someone wearing the sock on her pattern, obviously she is capable of producing a sock that will go over a normal human foot. This leads me to believe that either I knit too tight (the pattern consists of a lot of floats) or that I do not have a "normal" foot. Or some combination of the two....

Other happy things:

On Wednesday, I got a surprise package from Red Envelope which turned out to be such a lovely gift from my dear friend, Lara. She remembered that I take my rings off when I knit and sent me an adorable little elephant ring holder to put them on! It's already next to my bed and looks quite smashing with my rings around his trunk. In honor of another one of my friends, he has been named Ernie. No, I don't have a friend named Ernie, I have a friend named Megan who calls all elephants Ernie.

Also, just kind of a stupid happy. I discovered that Whole Foods has their own version of Lunchables (they call them Snackables), which contain chicken salad (WF has one of the yummiest chicken salads ever), grapes, pepper jack cheese, and crackers. It tastes delicious and has enough food to last me for at least two snacks during the day. I'm trying to snack rather than chow down during the day and see if that helps kick my metabolism into high gear.