Q. Does wearing newly-finished, handknit socks make one feel better when one has the flu?
A: No. Absolutely not. But, when one’s feet look this cute, who cares?

Yannick has been sick since Friday. Since Friday I’ve been holed up in the spare bedroom, refusing to touch any surface that he’s been near. I’ve been taking my vitamins. I’ve been drinking lots of water. I’ve been avoiding him.

Guess who woke up sick at 5:30 this morning?

I so wanted to stay in bed all day. Except for the sore muscles, sniffles, clogged ears and the uncanny way it felt EXACTLY like I was digesting burning pins each time I swallowed, I almost felt like it was something a few more hours of sleep could cure. No such luck.

I had to buy my wedding dress shoes. My mom and Laura picked me up and we went to BCBG downtown to get Laura’s maid-of-honor dress, then to St-Hubert street for my shoes. I love my shoes. I LOVE my shoes. I love them so much I can’t wait for the wedding mainly because of how much I love my shoes, and I can’t wait until after the wedding when I will re-dye them black and will get to wear them with a skirt or dressy pants. They are cute, sexy, can be dyed to match my dress, and are comfortable to wear. Love. My. Shoes.

I knit on the silly Fun Fur Purse in the car, because it was stockinette and dark and made me concentrate so I couldn’t think of how awful I felt. I also want it finished so I can free up the needles and not feel too guilty about starting something new.

Now I’m home and just took a NeoCitran, which means I’ll probably be asleep in 15 minutes. Want proof of how crappy I feel?

There are 4 rows left to knit on the last Sunrise Sock. 4 rows. That’s it. Knit 4 rows of 2×2 rib, BO then finito. Done. Empty sock needles waiting for the next pair. 4 rows.

And I’m not knitting.

Yannick has been sick since Friday. Since Friday I’ve been holed up in the spare bedroom, refusing to touch any surface that he’s been near. I’ve been taking my vitamins. I’ve been drinking lots of water. I’ve been avoiding him.

Guess who woke up sick at 5:30 this morning?

I so wanted to stay in bed all day. Except for the sore muscles, sniffles, clogged ears and the uncanny way it felt EXACTLY like I was digesting burning pins each time I swallowed, I almost felt like it was something a few more hours of sleep could cure. No such luck.

I had to buy my wedding dress shoes. My mom and Laura picked me up and we went to BCBG downtown to get Laura’s maid-of-honor dress, then to St-Hubert street for my shoes. I love my shoes. I LOVE my shoes. I love them so much I can’t wait for the wedding mainly because of how much I love my shoes, and I can’t wait until after the wedding when I will re-dye them black and will get to wear them with a skirt or dressy pants. They are cute, sexy, can be dyed to match my dress, and are comfortable to wear. Love. My. Shoes.

I knit on the silly Fun Fur Purse in the car, because it was stockinette and dark and made me concentrate so I couldn’t think of how awful I felt. I also want it finished so I can free up the needles and not feel too guilty about starting something new.

Now I’m home and just took a NeoCitran, which means I’ll probably be asleep in 15 minutes. Want proof of how crappy I feel?

There are 4 rows left to knit on the last Sunrise Sock. 4 rows. That’s it. Knit 4 rows of 2×2 rib, BO then finito. Done. Empty sock needles waiting for the next pair. 4 rows.

And I’m not knitting.

Yannick has been sick since Friday. Since Friday I’ve been holed up in the spare bedroom, refusing to touch any surface that he’s been near. I’ve been taking my vitamins. I’ve been drinking lots of water. I’ve been avoiding him.

Guess who woke up sick at 5:30 this morning?

I so wanted to stay in bed all day. Except for the sore muscles, sniffles, clogged ears and the uncanny way it felt EXACTLY like I was digesting burning pins each time I swallowed, I almost felt like it was something a few more hours of sleep could cure. No such luck.

I had to buy my wedding dress shoes. My mom and Laura picked me up and we went to BCBG downtown to get Laura’s maid-of-honor dress, then to St-Hubert street for my shoes. I love my shoes. I LOVE my shoes. I love them so much I can’t wait for the wedding mainly because of how much I love my shoes, and I can’t wait until after the wedding when I will re-dye them black and will get to wear them with a skirt or dressy pants. They are cute, sexy, can be dyed to match my dress, and are comfortable to wear. Love. My. Shoes.

I knit on the silly Fun Fur Purse in the car, because it was stockinette and dark and made me concentrate so I couldn’t think of how awful I felt. I also want it finished so I can free up the needles and not feel too guilty about starting something new.

Now I’m home and just took a NeoCitran, which means I’ll probably be asleep in 15 minutes. Want proof of how crappy I feel?

There are 4 rows left to knit on the last Sunrise Sock. 4 rows. That’s it. Knit 4 rows of 2×2 rib, BO then finito. Done. Empty sock needles waiting for the next pair. 4 rows.

And I’m not knitting.

So, as I’ve already posted, I’m busying working on submissions. Knowing how soon the 19th will be here, and how much work I have to do to get my swatches ready to photograph, I spent a few minutes browsing online looking for yarn in a dk weight that will felt. I tried the usual suspects, but nothing really caught my eye. Finally I decided to check some local shops. This felt risky, as I’ve only been to one LYS as it is the only one “local” to my home. There are quite a few more, but I’ve never driven in those areas and their work hours conflict with mine, so I’ve just never gotten around to shopping there. I did a local.google.com search for yarn shops, and went through the list looking for names I’ve heard before.

The third name on the list is La Tricoteuse, on Rachel Ave. I called them up, and yes, they do have a dk weight yarn that felts, and yes, it does come in the colors I need. I got excited, then realized that their hours are the same as mine, which means I have no way of getting there.

Desperate, I called my cousin Robyn. I know she goes there occasionally, so my plan was to ask her to call me the next time she’s in that area. If I find something else first, fine. Otherwise I’ll ask her to pick up what I need and I’ll pay her back.

Imagine my surprise when Robyn told me that she was having lunch right across the street from La Tricoteuse, with plans to go yarn shopping there after eating! What a coincidence! I called the store back right away, asked them to put the yarn aside for me, and told them that someone would be picking it up shortly.

So now I only need to wait until the next time I see Robyn to get my yarn! That means I’ll have it by Wednesday at the latest, at the Montreal Knits meetup. Woo hoo!

I don’t know where he caught it, nor do I know what he caught, but poor Yannick is sick as a dog! He left work around 4 this afternoon and crashed. I don’t even think he’s sleeping at all, as every 5 minutes I can hear him coughing. I tried to get him to go to a clinic, but he’s a guy, so… He is taking Advils and NeoCitran (not together), but I don’t think we have any cough medicine in the house (well, besides the one brand that can kill him- allergy). He’s trying to sleep it off because he has more jobs to work tomorrow, but right now I don’t see how he’s going to make it. It’s all I can do to get him to stop touching every single surface in the house so that I don’t catch it too.

After work today I met my mom at the Plaza Pointe-Claire. While waiting I stopped in at the Wool Shop and picked up some of the yarn I need to work my swatches. I had realized that there was a second pattern I’d like to submit as well, but they didn’t have the right yarn at all so I’ll have to go stash diving to see if I have anything that would let me start right away.

My mom came to meet me in the first place because there was a shoe store that was supposed to have nice stuff, as I need to find my wedding shoes before my first dress fitting. They didn’t really have anything that appealed to me, so we both headed our own ways, her going home and me going to the gym.

Once I got home I made some supper, including some soup for Yannick. Since he and his germs are holed up in our bedroom, I brought my tapes downstairs to the living room and settled in with my box of knitting needles, my new yarn, some stash yarn and my knitting notebook.

The first swatch is one to see if some yarn I already have would work for a particular project. I forget if I’ve already given it some secret code name in the blog before, but I will now start calling it Plunger. So here is Plunger’s swatch. It is Knitpicks’ Wool of the Andes in Carrot, on 6mm needles. It IS to be felted, once I measure it. As a side note, I have discovered that I love the way WotA feels knitted up, pre-felting. I would really love to make a jacket or cardigan out of it, although I’d probably carry a small square around for a day or so to see if it pills badly.
I have included a CD for scale. Ignore the crappy pinning job, it’s late and I work tomorrow, so I grabbed the few pins I could find easily. I’ll pin it out properly with my blocking wires before I measure it.

The next “swatch” was with some of the new yarn. I was really disappointed when I pulled out the center of the ball to find the end- someone must have bought then returned this ball, because the entire piece I used to knit the “swatch” was cut from the original ball. As in, I pulled out the center of the ball plus a little wrapped section of yarn that was actually cut. Makes me mad, but anyways… Luckily it was just enough for what I needed right now. This isn’t a swatch to test the gauge, rather a little piece I needed to test some crucial elements of the pattern design. I am thrilled to announce that I achieved success. I was actually dancing around my living room, that’s how pleased I am! I have included the same CD for scale. 🙂

Now I’m off to guzzle a NeoCitran of my own before bed. I don’t feel too sick, but knowing that I have been feeling a little run down lately, and that Yannick has touched nearly every wall, light switch, door knob and sink faucet in this house, and knowing how easily I catch colds, well…better safe than sorry.

I will be taking a small, temporary break from the knitalongs I signed up with. I am still participating (and eagerly awaiting the next Amazing Lace Challenge!) but have something a little more pressing to occupy my knitting time in the near future.

About a week ago I was browsing through the Knitlist emails, and found one from Debbie Stoller, author of Stitch ‘n Bitch, Stitch ‘n Bitch Nation, and Stitch ‘n Bitch: The Happy Hooker, not to mention related knitting journals. She put a call out for submissions to the next “Stitch ‘n Bitch” book, which, in her words, will “be an advanced knitting manual, and I’m looking for patterns that incorporate a bit of fancy-pants knitting such as cables, lace, color work (either intarsia or fair isle or, hell, both!), beading, etc. The book will be covering these techniques in great detail, as well as much more.”

Remember that pattern idea I hinted that I’d be looking into starting soon? Well, I thought it might be perfect for the next book. However, it’s such an “out there” pattern, that I didn’t want to waste my time working up swatches and taking photos unless it would actually be considered, and not deleted right away because of it’s uniqueness. So I sent an email outlining my idea and asking if such an animal would be considered for the book.

I just received an email back from Debbie’s assistant telling me that it would definately be considered, BECAUSE it’s so unique and original. :]]]]

Guess who’s off to the yarn store tonight? I had really wanted to use Knitpick’s Palette yarn, but there is no way I could order it and have it shipped to me in enough time to work up some swatches before the submission deadline. So it’s LYS yarn hunting time!

On Tuesday I was a naughty girl and skipped the gym. It wasn’t my fault- by the time I’d made it out of the grocery store and home through all the traffic I wouldn’t have had time to do the required 30 mins before the gym closed at 8pm. So I went straight home, made some supper and knit my way through the premiere of Last Comic Standing. There are a few new comics I like so far, and one old one I’ve always liked- Nikki Payne.

I used that knitting time to start working on the Lacy Shrug, which I’d already cast on for. I did about 4 rows (1 pattern repeat) then ripped it completely and cast on again. This time I actually READ the pattern, which specified doing 2 rows of stockinette stitch BEFORE getting into the pattern repeats. It helps when you, you know, pay attention. I didn’t take a pic because it’s only about an inch long. I like working with the Kid, but it does have one bad habit- it scrunches up just like the Lion Brand Homespun did. Every few stitches I have to stop and push whichever yarn content that’s getting jumbled back down, or try to knit it in. It’s not the end of the world, but it is a bit annoying. I haven’t found any shedding so far, so that’s a huge relief!

I worked a bit more on the Sunrise sock and stopped just before the short-row heel.

Last night my cousin Robyn had a little knitting get-together at her house, so I went over straight from work. At first it was just Robyn, Angela and myself, but little by little knitters showed up, and we grew to a group of seven people. Robyn, me, Angela, Sharon, Isabelle, Jennie (with cornbread!) and Kadi. I had such a good time! We had the TV on in the background, so we spent from 8-9pm making fun of B-list celebrities playing The Price is Right on Gameshow Marathon, and then 9-10pm making fun of wanna-be dancers on So You Think You Can Dance?. I worked on the Sunrise sock some more, turned the heel and started the short leg portion. I left at 9:30pm because of the downpour, and dropped Angela, Sharon and Isabelle off at the metro on my way home. I was much too tired to knit once I got home, so I curled up in bed with the Yarn Harlot’s first book (I just realized I’ve had it on my bedside table with only 10 pages left to finish for the longest time, and her 2 other books are waiting to be read).

Now I’m at work, waiting to see if today ends up having yet another rainstorm. I took a quick lunch with Debbie over at Deli Boys, and once she’d left for work I enjoyed a decaf coffee with my knitting. I’m so close to finishing this sock! I’m at row 151, the 2×2 cuff starts at row 160, and I BO after row 180. If all goes well I’ll have some empty needles tonight!

I still haven’t heard back from Knit Simple, but I’ll post more on that as I do. I’m still seething.

Sunday afternoon I had some free time while Yannick and my mom went tux shopping, so I had some brilliant foresight. If I wanted to be able to work on Sunrise Sock the Second while at Aaron’s grad, I needed to have the toe finished because I didn’t want to have to fiddle with doing or removing the provisional cast on in the semi-dark. So by Sunday evening, the sock looked like this:Then Yannick had a little surprise for me. He’d made a reservation at Le Milsa a really funky Brazillian restaurant downtown. I couldn’t get any nice pics to come out with my phone’s camera, but check out the link. It’s really cool- the waiters come around with all different kinds of meat (rib steak, roast beef, filet mignon, chicken, turkey wrapped with bacon, pork, sausage, lamb and others I can’t remember) on these long skewers, and they slice off pieces right at your table. The meat is all-you-can-eat if you choose the “Turnstile” menu, and there are little disks at each person’s seat that is green on one side with “yes please” and red on the other with “no thank you” so the waiters know if they should keep coming. The meat is served with what are supposedly the best sauteed mushrooms around, rice, baked sweet potatoes, and salad with a delicious dressing. It also includes dessert, which is either vanilla ice cream sprinkled with cinnamon, or grilled pineapple. The pineapple is on the skewers just like the meat, and the outside is basted in cinnamon as its grilling, for a delicious flavor. Really, really amazing meal! And, as a special treat, at 8pm a Brazillian dancer came out and spent at least a half hour dancing around the place to fun music, interacting with guests. We had a great time, and I really recommend it (but not to vegetarians). 🙂

Yesterday was a looong day. First my mom and I went to the florist to see a sample of the wedding centerpieces. There was some confusion, but in the end they look great, and we now have our florist booked too. :]

From there we went to St-Hubert St to see about finding shoes. I need them soon because I have my first dress fitting on Father’s Day. We found one pair that I really liked, but they were a teensy bit narrow, and after stretching them they were a bit too large. The salesgirl was suggesting cardboard inserts. As in, torn pieces of cardboard. You know what? If I’m spending quite a bit of money on shoes, I don’t want to have to tear up a cardboard box to get them to fit right. We took a card, but we’ll still keep looking. At least now we know the style I like.

Then we went to McGill for Aaron’s grad. He actually finished in December, but they do the grad for everyone at once, so it was today. It actually took less time than I thought, as a lot of students weren’t there, so their names were skipped. After just about 2 hours, here is the proud new graduate:After the same just about two hours, here is the new sock:
Now that I’ve heard back from the Lacy Shrug people, I am able to start on that for The Amazing Lace, so I might toss the sock into my purse as portable knitting. Or, I might just try to finish it so it frees up my needles for another sock. We shall see…

p.s. Robyn feel better!