Socktoberfest

I joined Lolly's Socktoberfest and have almost finished my first sock. I'll work on the second during October. I know that I've been saying that it would be done for a long time, but it really is! I just need to get a needle to graft it together. It's been all but done since last weekend. I thought I'd finish it then, but alas, I did not have the supplies I needed. But this weekend, I will get myself to a craft store, buy the proper needle and finish these suckers.

I did get lots of other errands done. It was a good weekend:

cleaned out my car (not fun, but needed to be done)

washed some quilts at the laundry mat

picked up some yarn from A Good Yarn, oh la la!

went to the farm stand near our house on Sat. (yum, local corn, eggplant, summer squash!) and the Baltimore farmer's market on Sun. (yum, perfectly ripe Asian pears, tomatoes, mozerrella, basil--made a great salad last night)

heard a little bit of the Who while taking out the garbage. They were performing at the Virgin Mobile Fest, just a few blocks away at Pimlico. G was at the concert with his aunt. I had no interest in attending: huge crowds + hot weather + bands that I don't really like all that much + a lot of money = not my thing. Now if it had been a concert/yarn fest, then I would have been there!

Pie and Yarn (and socks)

On my last trip to Madison, Wis., I visited my favorite bakery, LMNO Pies. She makes the best pie ever. And there are at least 50 kinds of fruit pie alone. Plus cream pies and savory pies, meat pies, pasties, quiches, cookies, brownies, cheesecakes, and more. For a great lunch when I'm at HQ, I get half a pasty with a side of fruit salad, a cookie and a drink for about $6. The woman who owns it has three daughters and the youngest one (born in July) was sleeping strapped to her back as she worked the last time I was there.

So, I love the place (and is one of the places that I still miss; it had just opened a few months before I moved out to Baltimore; I never got to try all the pies!). Imagine my surprise when I stopped in last week and saw ... jars of yarn! She had one wall lined w/ shelves of yarn in jars. It is this tiny shop, but so cutely decorated and the jars of yarn for sale are perfect. I even saw the Regia sock yarn that I am currently using. So if you are ever in Madison (or technically, Fitchburg, just next door) stop by LMNO Pies for tasty treats to satisfy all your cravings. Honestly, I have no connection to this shop. What can I say, I just love pie and yarn.

So, I worked on my sock this weekend. It really is almost done, thanks to one baby shower, two flights, three (or four?) football games. I have to say, I've loved working on it since starting the heel flap. I hated doing the five inches of ribbing (and I even made this shorter than called for, partly because I was afraid I'd run out of yarn since I have long feet--size 10 1/2--and partly because I hated doing that much ribbing. It went very slow.).

I tried it on last night here is a picture from the front (please pardon my lone strip of nail polish, anybody need a pedicure? But at least I shaved today!):



and from the back:



Question, it is right up next to my toes on the front, but not the back. This could be because I have crazy toes that curl. So, should I keep knitting the foot until the back is right up to my toes, or is it time to shape the toe? Another pattern says to start the toe two inches minus the total number of inches in your foot (so for me about 8 1/2 inches). Should I just do that?

Other news:
I chopped my hair off. Yeah! It was driving me crazy. But, see I had to wait until I was back in Wisconsin because, even after almost two years in Baltimore, I still haven't found a hair stylist. I haven't really looked. I think it is time to transition this. I am thinking of trying out an Aveda salon on Falls Rd. in Mount Washington. But if anyone has recommondations, please let me know!

G and I had a nice Friday night. We went down to Fells Point (just as Oyster Fest was ending around 9, so only heard the last few songs of the set, oh well). But we had dinner at Shuckers. Good oysters, good fish and chips, good crab cake (G thinks it is the best he's had, but I am partial to the ones at Jennings Cafe in Catonsville), some nice Riesling, a table outside facing the water, then off to Maxs for the beer (for G, that is, I stuck to water), hmmm good times. But poor G got really sick later that night. We thought it was food poisoning, but he's still feeling bad. Poor guy.

I was going to go to my bellydance class tonight, but I need to work. I would have finished up earlier, but my QuarkXPress isn't working right now. I need to restart, again. Hope that works. In the meantime, I am blogging.

And here is a picture from the Maine wedding G and I went to last month:

Live From the Quality Inn--Again

Maybe I have to be on the road in order to blog. Maybe I have to be at this Quality Inn in order to blog. At least there aren't any tornado warnings tonight. But it has been raining since I got here. And it looks like that weather will follow me right home to Baltimore. Sorry friends.

I am back at headquarters for a few days. But after this trip I have a travel relief: no trips til November! (But then I'll have two a month--half personal, half for work--through mid February. I am going to savor these next few weeks at home, especially the weekends!!!)

Aside: I am watching reruns of Sex and the City on the WB. It's the one where Miranda runs away from Steve on the street after they break up and then he stops by her apartment and she cries, then later they have breakup sex. I love Steve. Such a cute dork.

OK, back to the post. What is new? Went to my a baby shower for my sister-in-law in Chicago on Saturday (one of the perks of this work travel: I get to see lots of family!). She got lots of cute, cuddly, soft things. I didn't make anything. A few weeks ago I thought of running to the yarn store and buying some bulky baby yarn but I just ... didn't. That's OK. My mom made her a knitted blanket and a quilt. At the party, I worked on my sock (picture coming soon, I promise) and several people asked me who it was for. My great aunt asked me if it was for my husband. One woman even asked if it was for "someone special." I said, "well it's for me!" I am special. :)

But I wish I were almost done with my second sock. :)

Another aside: I heard a Hem song on a TV commercial for Liberty Mutual today. Cool! I am so excited for them. I am not the kind of person who wants her favorite band to stay underground. No, I want everyone to know and love Hem. Then I found out they are coming back to Ramshead in Oct. and to somewhere in Falls Church. G and I will definitely see them at one of those shows. And speaking of music, love the Justin Timberlake song SexyBack. Love it. So crusty (crusty means kitchy, cheesy, the stuff of guilty pleasures). I think it may make it on to my iTunes soon, much to my husband's dismay, I'm sure.

Speaking of husbands, he tells me I got a package of yarn from Elann this week! Yeah, can't wait to see it and touch it. And like four yarn catalogs. Exciting.

I'll get some batteries in my camera and post all sorts of pictures this weekend.