Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Really Quick

A pictorial summary of my week thus far:

I'm back in Tucson for another class. I've got the same room in the same door, and check it out--



There's a crane under my window! Surprisingly, it's not near as loud as the much smaller earth moving vehicles.

I really miss Stella.




(Bad placement of desk chair in background)

A friend from class took me to see Sabino Canyon.



I really wanted to eat one of the prickly pear fruits.



And for a finale...



I made that little book all by myself! Well, Iowa Book Works drilled holes in the boards and folded the signatures and threaded the needles, *but* I put it all together. Check out the spine:



I love class activities!

Friday, July 17, 2009

The Sock 2



The sock is back on track! (Wouldn't it make a very nice mitt, too? Just throw in a space for the thumb to come out...)



And here is the little beginning of a heel flap. I'm so excited to be getting to the exciting part of the sock. Not that I don't love the meditative nature of the leg and the foot, but working the heel and the gusset is always the part that I love to see working up for its sheer mathy cleverness. I've never designed a sock heel myself, but being able to work one always makes me feel very ingenious.

I'm hoping it all goes smoothly--there are so many other socks I want to make!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

I Find Wisdom on the Inside of a Juice Bottle



It was a really. Long. Week. Tucson was absolutely awesome, my class was awesome, most of the people *in* the class were awesome, but ye gods. Eight hours of information a day for seven days straight is a *lot*. So long that when I tipped back a rawther nasty juice I bought on impulse at the campus convenience mart, I thought putting a quote on the inside of the label was so terribly clever and insightful that I had to have a picture. In retrospect, I find it random, but the quote still holds.

I've been home a week, but it's taken this long to get myself organized again, so let's take a quick recap.

The construction workers made a really nice hole under my window by the end of the week.



Mum's Swallowtail Shawl is done, and she loves it. Evelyn Clark, you rock.



I learned Tucson is not the only city in the U.S. that paints their fire hydrants silver. (Quick poll: what color does your city paint its fire hydrants?)

And the second sock hit a snag.



It didn't occur to me to try the thing on until I was nearly done with the leg, and at that point a) I discovered it was not just a titch smaller than the first, but considerably smaller than the first and b) I broke one of my needles trying said too-small sock on. Augh.

I'm pretty put out with myself for having done both things. However, stubborn perfectionist that I am, that's given me the determination to get that sock started right back up again. (That, and I have a million and one things to be doing besides knitting socks)