Argyle, anyone? (and UFO Contest)

Okay, so this weekend was great. Better than normal weekends. It's not that I had less picking up to do after all the "xy" 's in the house or anything, but everything just went smoothly. (Do I dare dream that the curse is over?)

On Friday night, I ended up going to spinning group (the Island Pond Spinners in Hampstead, NH)...haven't been in AGES....and I met Heather there....we had fun spinning and talking all night. The whole atmosphere is completely different than the ManchVegasans....it was mummering instead of screeching laughter....it was "oooh, that's so nice" said in a reverant way instead of screaming, "holy shit, that's friggin' awesome!" over a new FO....and it was the gentle whir of spinning wheels and the clacking of knitting needles instead of the squealing (mostly on my part) over new gossip, new yarn aquisitions and, of course, sex talk. I have to tell you that I get WAY more done at spinning group than at Wed night knitting group. But.....my knitting group is not only knitting, but also emotional therapy, delicious food consumption (not that I need it...quite the opposite) and a time for laughter and "letting my hair down". I would die without my Manchvegas knitting night.

On Saturday, I went to Weight Watchers (lost 2 pounds! yippeee!) and then Ian and I went out to lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant, Chen's. I, of course, had my extra Spicy Green Beans and Ian had his usual Sweet and Sour chicken lunch special. That night, we just hung around, had fun and it was relaxing. Later on, Ian and I had some time "not" relaxing....mmmmhmmmm!

On Sunday, Ian took Tim to go Geocashing and Tim brought me back a beautiful blue stone, brought Ben a squeaky frog and got himself some Mighty Beans. They left a whole lot of toys, too. Ian is completely addicted now....to geocashing, I mean. Sunday afternoon, the awesome Jackie and I went to our first Argyle sock class at the Yarn Basket in Portsmouth, NH. Jackie scored a great spot to park and we got there right on time. The shop is only a little bit bigger than my bathroom (though I love this shop...they have WONDERFUL yarn and even more wonderful people working there), but it was a GOOD thing that there were only 6 of us in the class.

The teacher, Jay, is a wonder at knitting argyle socks. Though it started off a bit rocky (Jackie and I hadn't known we had to wind our bobbins BEFORE the class) and I was completely confused...."what color do I need for the triangles?", "where does THAT go??" and..."who the HELL thought this class was a good idea????!!!??", which of course, the answer to that last one was...ME! It was comforting that most of the other women were also frustrated (except for the woman next to me who already had 1 1/2 socks done....damn her!). Jay was very patient with all of us and did her best to answer all our questions and help us untangle our "friggin' birds' nests". If you have ever had 4 huge bobbins and (4) 64" lengths of yarn hanging from the back of a 1/2 inch of knitted sock, then you know that it's KNITTER'S HELL!

After an inch is done, that's a little better. After 1 1/2 inches, much better. At 2 inches, you start thinking, "hey, I think I'm getting the hang of this!". At 2 1/2 inches, you're saying to yourself, "I'm having fun!" and at 3 or more inches, you're muttering, "I just can't stop! I'm addicted!!!!"

Here is my progress:

Here's what I got done at class on Sunday...



Here's what I got done on Monday afternoon....



On Monday evening.....



and

This morning....



So, now all I have to do is put the stitches on dpns, knit up the gusset, turn the heel and do the foot and toe. The rest of the sock is in plain stockinette, with no argyle. I almost (I say, ALMOST) wish I could do more argyle down the front of the foot. Then, of course, I have to do the OTHER sock. I think I'll knit the gusset and heel tonight and then start on the next argyle cuff/leg. That way, (when my other ball of yarn arrives from Florida...please hurry!!!) I can do both feet at once.

Did I tell you that Jackie and I were talking so much on the way home from class (um...mostly me...shocker!) that we ended up in Massachusetts and then couldn't find our way back north?....or at least for a little while. It was hilarious and fun. I can't tell you how awesome it is to have someone to laugh with and say anything to. It's better than...knitting! (I guess that's why I'm marryin' the gal! LOL!) Then, we went to the Olive Garden for dinner (knit on our hats), had delicious Italian food (in which I gained back the 2 pounds I lost that week) and had more girlish talk on the way home.

Ian and I watched "Matchpoint", which we didn't much care for....it was okay, but we both were slightly sickened by the too-feminine main character, Chris. And then, onto more "non-Matchpoint" fun. (boy, I'm getting lucky this week!)

I also had time to dye up a batch of fiber (my first time!!!) in the crock pot. A lovely lady at spinning told Heather and I about a very easy way to dye fiber. I took her advice, added a little fushia, a little turquoise and a bit of dark blue ....then, voila.....the next morning (without any muss or fuss), I had this gorgeous dyed superwash merino. You can't tell how pretty it is from the pic, but it's just wonderful. I'm going to make more tonight. It's not at all felted and the colors are rich and deep. I might start doing more of this dyeing of fibers business!



Well, my arms are tired from typing, so I'll go. I know I'm overdue for a podcast, but I need to grab Jackie so I can record her answers to the "What would Jackie do?" segment. Probably on Friday...at least that's my hope...I'm also trying to finish my 4th pattern for One Planet Yarn and Fiber. I need more of me to finish projects!!!!! I have so many things I want to dooooooooo!

Instead of doing the Odeo comment/Contest thing (I've yet to figure out what is wrong with it), I'll be putting the AwesomeYarn/Cute MeasuringTape/Candy prize "tickets" into a hat (Tim will choose the winner tomorrow at 4:30 pm) to anyone who emails me (gina@YogaGardenNH.com) and give me:

A list of all the UFOs that you hope to accomplish by the end of THIS YEAR. (I'll be printing out my own on Friday...FO Friday, of course.)

-1 ticket to each person to write to me with his/her list

-2 additional tickets to you if put the list on your blog along with my FO Friday button with link to my blog...(send me the link as well in the email when you've blogged)

-3 additional tickets to you if you do something unique to your list. Unique in any way. Good luck and....start typing!!!