New Socks! ... um ... Sock.

I kitchenered my Mizar sock this morning.  It's a beautiful, if somewhat difficult, pattern.  I sort of made up the instructions for doing the toe -- I felt like I'd already bothered Anna Zilboorg enough with questions about her pattern!

The shine from the silk makes it difficult to capture a picture of the intricate twisted traveling stitches. 

Here we see the heel -- the reason I chose this pattern -- which is richly patterned to be shown off in clogs.  (Ignore the cankles.)

And here is the sock at rest, waiting for its mate.  I'll have to take a deep breath before casting on again.  Fortunately, I made notes to myself as I went along, so the second sock should be a little easier. 

This morning, Neil Pasricha was a guest on the Today Show,  He's the guy who started the idea of having a blog of awesome things to be thankful for.  People liked his idea and his blog so much that he's won awards and has two published books of awesome things.  He inspired me to try to blog at least one thing I'm thankful for every day.  And, I must say, I think it's helped me look on the bright side. 

Anyone who reads this blog regularly (DOES anyone read this blog regularly?) knows that I don't actually feel like being thankful every day.  Some days suck.  But, looking back, there is a lot to be thankful for.  More often than not, there is beauty and grace and kindness in my life.  I'm glad that I've made a permanent record of the little joys, so they don't get lost.  I'm sure I'm paraphrasing, but I once heard a prayer that goes something like this:  "Oh, Lord, don't let my soul get caught in the machinery of everyday life."  This blog gives me a chance to step away from the machinery and think about what really matters for a few minutes each day. 

Last, but not least (how trite is that!?), I've been enjoying the pictures from my friend Judy's trip to Australia.  She's an artist, so naturally she has an eye for beauty.  She got a lot a fabulous shots that are well worth looking at if you have some time.  She inspired me to dig up this picture of Ally and me riding camels in the outback when we were in Australia about 10 years ago.    That's Kate to the far right of the shot.  We all had cool leather Australian hats.  That was a memorable trip and it sounds like Judy's was too.  "Australia! Australia! Australia!  We love you! Amen"  (Monty Python)