Let it be known...

...that we had our first light frost last night. This is utterly ridiculous. Summer hasn't ended yet; after all it's only August 31. Can we start summer over again? We have had only three or four days of really hot weather this summer. The air conditioning has rested most of the summer. We've also had a wetter than usual summer--not thunderstorms, just plain old rain which, of course, is good for Lake Michigan. I hope this unusual cold is not an omen of what winter is going to be like. Maybe we'll have a mild winter, and we can spare on heating costs as well.

But enough of whining. The Woodruff socks by Monika Eckert have been finished for at least a week. I have finally taken photos. The sock has an unusual heel treatment, at least as far as I am concerned. Rather than having a regular gusset, the increases are each side of the middle two heel stitches and the main pattern continues on the top portion. Then the heel is turned as usual. Again, the yarn is Fortissima Stretch 100, color is actually tan, and needles used were 2.75 mm.

Another pair of socks, Clouds, from the Six Sox Knitalong are halfway done. The socks are knit with some hand-dyed yarn from Angie that was just laying around the house waiting to be used and some Regia Crazy Color sock yarn. One of the colors in the Regia yarn matched the hand-dyed yarn. How lucky can you be? These socks will go into the stash of socks I am knitting for some one's birthday.

In one of her books, Elizabeth Zimmermann speaks about knitting needles and that it is not really that important if one sock needle is not exactly the same size as the others. That it will all work out. Well, I thought I'd test this theory although if I were honest, I would have to say that my needles only match the first time around after purchasing the set of needles.

Here is the set of needles I am using for this pair of socks. From bottom to top: metal needle of unknown origin, bamboo HyaHya, Knit Pick metal needle, plastic needle that has a thin metal rod running through it, Knit Pick metal needle. They all fit more or less through the No. 2 hole on my needle sizing thing-a-ma-jig. So don't be afraid to mix and match. EZ is correct: in the end it all comes out fine.

Finally, I knit two pair of infant socks and two hats for charity. One pair of socks and matching hat were knit while crying my eyes out watching Sen. Kennedy's funeral. (I have been in this country now long enough to have experienced the death of all three Kennedy brothers.) These will travel to South Africa along with a Baby Surprise Jacket which still needs buttons sewn on--as soon as I find the sewing needles. Of course some of the chickens had to congregate as well. The black one is an Astrolorp named Gimpy Sue. She sits a lot since she limps quite badly. I'd like her to visit the stew pot, but Angie answer to that suggestion was: "You are going to put one of my pets in the stew pot?" So she received another reprieve.

Teddy is taking a nap in the shade.

Please let my nap just a wee bit longer.

Knit on merrily!