i feel right at home in this stunning monochrome

Gray: a dull neutral that I love. Even though the color of the Lion Brand Cotton Ease I'm using to knit Wicked is called taupe, in some light it seems gray.

I frogged the collar of my Wicked a couple of days ago and began anew. I felt like the cables in the previous work were a little too sloppy for me to live with, and after giving it a time-out, I decided -- like usual -- that if I don't love it, I should rip it.

(left) first collar, with the messy cables; (right) new collar, knit super tight.

Wicked is a wickedly easy knit, but I think I'll work in some bust shaping for my OUTgoing girls, and some waist shaping. At this point, I am planning to knit the pocket, but we'll see for sure as I get closer. I don't need any added bulk at the tummy, but I've heard that this particular pocket doesn't seem to add too much.


Grey's Anatomy is back on network TV tonight. To say I'm excited is a bit of an understatement. Since Carl's at work and the kids will be asleep, I can enjoy a live broadcast (usually, I rely heavily on my DVR's faithfulness) and a hot cup of chai tea. Oh, hopefully the show is so riveting, I really won't need to knit, but in case, I have another sock to work on, cast on JUST for the re-entry of Grey's:


That's right, it's sKNITches Syncopation in "Seriously?". This is described, on sKNITches.com, as "blue scrubs, lab coat, Meredith's grey, anatomy red." Isn't it perfect??

Oh, and my one finished Snicket sock is going in the mail today, being sent to The Plucky Knitter. She's going to try to color-match some new yarn for me! Thanks, Sarah; you're the best!!

Seven Randoms

The fabulous Hilary tagged me with a "Seven [Random] Facts About Me" meme. I really can't explain why I love reading these on other people's blogs and profiles, but I do, and so to reciprocate, I'll play too.

I am damn good at Goober's Lab on Webkinz. Webkinz are Beanie Baby-like toys that come with codes that give the new pet owner access to webkinz.com. The stuffed animal you hold in your hand becomes an animated virtual pet that you must feed and house (you can also dress it in -- among other things -- fruity hats and ball gowns) and to do this, you must earn KinzCash by playing games and answering trivia. Goober's Lab is a game similar to Bejeweled; this is a game I also have on my iPod, so I've had a lot of practice. (I feel like I must disclose that I have a four-year old with multiple Webkinz and she's not quite yet skilled in the ways of KinzCash acquisition without aid.)


I do not generally like knick-knacks; however, I am compelled to keep the complimentary shampoo and lotions that sit in the bathrooms of hotels that I've stayed in on extraordinary vacations.

The only other knick-knacky things I enjoy are antique hat pins. My collection isn't huge, and that's because authentically vintage hatpins are extremely hard to find.

I really like office supplies. The fact that companies have to police their supply closets is completely understandable to me. If I had it my way, I'd have a freshly sharpened Mirado Black Warrior pencil, its Pink Pearl eraser untouched, each and every time I wrote. And Post-Its flags? Those are little drops of organizing heaven...

...leading me to the different types of organizing types. Did you know there was such a thing? I suppose there are types for everything humans do, but I never really gave it much thought until my husband took a seminar in organizing. I have found out that I'm a "sorter", but I'm not exactly successful. Sorters go through a room, sorting the items out into different piles, like "to file", "to shred", or "to donate", "to store". I'm wonderful at that part. It's the next part that always trips me up: "the sorter is required at some point to determine the final status of the items."

I am not a big TV viewer. There are a handful of shows I watch without fail: "Grey's Anatomy", "Eli Stone", and "The Barefoot Contessa". When "Rome" was on HBO, I lived for the next episode. But I have one show that I can't keep from tuning in for; in fact, as I sit there watching, I'm asking myself, "Why? Why do you waste 30 minutes for this?"

And lastly, my strange human tricks attesting to my agility: I can make my tongue touch my nose, and should I ever have a very odd need, I am capable of biting my own toenails.

So, I'm tagging you ALL -- anyone over there, on the left, in the blogroll. You can participate if you'd like. Be assured that I'll be reading it. Especially now that I've finally taken the time to set up my Bloglines! Can you believe that I was just clicking my way to your blogs from my own??

The fine print:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

catching up

These might be my most favorite hand-knit socks to date. I adore the Snicket pattern (from the now-defunct MagKnits website) and The Plucky Knitter BFL/Alpaca yarn combination. There is so much great texture that it's hard to resist running my hands down the legs and across the instep.

Sadly, however, I have run out of yarn:

So these will sit, in a Yarntainer, for an unknown amount of time, waiting for a possible matching donor.

Of course, since I am well adept at yarn stashing, I cast these on to brighten my mood.

Garter Rib socks in Scout's Swag 100% Superwash Merino -- "ZuluKnitty" colorway.

Garter Rib socks are slightly addictive to knit. I love that I can sit and knit with girlfriends without glancing down at a pattern every row. The pattern can also hide minor errors well. As much as I do adore the pattern, I wonder if a stockinette sock would have looked better with this particular colorful yarn.