Meezermeowmy’s Weblog

Today’s post is strangely plain. The rose garden looks like something planted for Disney’s Haunted Mansion…all dead blooms. The ducks are well out of photo range, their location only betrayed by their escort, the white goose. New semi-solid sock yarn (Araucania Ranco Solid) in 4 colors arrived, but it’s a grey, rainy day. So no photos for you today.

Knitting has happened, but nothing flashy. Let’s see: I put a dental floss lifeline in my Secret of the Stole-III to finish off Clue 1. The cuff and heel of the second Afrika sock was knit today, and I’m half-way done racing for the toe. That’s only slightly more exciting than plain stockinette (3 x 1 rib).

Mid-day the knitting was put aside for a music rehearsal.  DD and another lady are to sing for a function in September.  My role is accompanist, artistic arranger, and sometimes-back-up singer.  It went well for a first run-through.

Once again, the most excitement in the house was a toss-up between Victoria chasing Casper up and over the sofa where I was knitting, and the Olympics.  Life is good!

Yesterday I went to the kitchen to get a cold drink, and glanced out the window toward the lake. It was mid-afternoon, a warm, lazy Louisiana day. There, under the birch tree, was part of the Mallard flock, observing nap time. I couldn’t resist: must get closer picture! I quietly stepped out the back door, moving just a few feet, then stopping. Good, ducks still in place. A few more feet advanced, a few ducks awake, but nobody left. I was feeling bolder; this was good. Maybe just a few more feet for a good picture. Human alert!

Everybody in the lake! I hated to disturb their nap, but at least I did get some decent ducky pics for you.

Knitting has been happening here at the lake, mostly accompanied by Olympic watching. As you will recall, I was certain that my Online Supersock Afrika would have to be fraternal twins, due to the extremely long repeat on the colors. It turns out that I was being unduly pessimistic. (New picture was taken inside on a rainy afternoon, so color isn’t true.) As you can see, I was able to start again with the plain white that goes into the plain gray (what I think of as the “elephant” in the Afrika sock). I’ll be taking this one along tonight to a Homeowner’s Association Meeting, so more knitterly progress should happen.

I also have been knitting along on the Secret of the Stole-III (SOTS-III). Today I finished clue 1, and posted my picture as required to play along. This picture, too, suffered from afternoon rain. It shows the right half of the shawl. The directions for putting the individual beads on a stitch recommended a size 14 crochet hook. I have one, but it was splitting the yarn. These 6/0 beads have generous holes, so I experimented with #13, then #12, and finally settled on a #11 crochet hook. It easily slips through the bead, and grabs the yarn without fiddling or splitting. I’m happy!

The yarn is Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Horizon, a discontinued color.