Snow Day

We have a snow day today! Lots of snow outside -- It's 11:15 a.m. and the girls still aren't up. They're enjoying the chance to sleep in.

I finished one sock last night. It's sort of an experiment. It's a very plain sock, but at the heel I started working so that the knit fabric is on the inside to give a smoother surface for the foot. I've heard it called a "princess" foot. I slipped it on and it does feel a lot smoother.

The yarn, however, is simply awful. I ran out of knitting projects when I was in Florida, so I went in desperation to "Michael's" and bought -- gasp -- some "Red Heart" self-striping superwash wool sock yarn. Now, in my own defense, I have to say that I did check the label and it is WOOL, not ACRYLIC. I had never seen "Red Heart" wool before and I thought -- in my desperation -- that I would give it a chance. As I knitted it, there were FOUR (4) breaks in the yarn. I'd be knitting along and just come to an end. Moreover, the dying is just horrible. It's meant to be a self-striping yarn, but there are accidental blotches of color that show up randomly just anywhere.

I seldom have Second Sock Syndrome because I'm eager to complete the pair and wear them but, in this case, I don't know if I can bring myself to knit the second sock. That being said, the princess foot is nice and I think they'll be comfortable after they're washed. From the very beginning I intended them as a gift, so I may follow through.

Last Saturday, I got to attend Pat Maley's Designer Yarn class at the Guild. We did chunky yarns and I learned a great slub yarn that I'm making a skein of here at home. I had a bunch of Romney/Mohair/Silk top in my stash in a sky blue color, so I'm spinning up 4 ounces of it with a view to making Kate a hat. The color will look great with her eyes.

It's not the hat she wants. She wants one like Ally's but made out of Genevieve's fur, but I'm not up for all that labor again just yet.

Speaking of Ally's hat, last weekend at church the VMA elementary art teacher saw it and just about had a fit when I explained that it was handspun and hand knitted out of our angora fur. She was thrilled with it and borrowed it to show some other people. It was very flattering.

I guess I'd better rally the troops and try to get something done today. I told the girls that if they got a snow day part of it would be spent cleaning their rooms. Now to bring that threat/promise to fruition! (evil laugh)