Hey, hey, hey seventeen!!!

Yup, it's official now... seventeen freaking pairs of socks that I have finished this year!!! I grafted the toe on Derek's bluejean Tuffy pair last night while watching "Thirteen Days" for the third time. I actually made it through the ENTIRE movie this time without falling asleep! I'm quite proud of myself for both accomplishments *teehee* That adds another 392 m to my total. I'm nearly at 5 KILOMETRES of sock yarn!!! Can you believe it? I know I can't! I'll be casting on an oxford grey pair of work socks for Derek as soon as my hands behave this morning. I hope to have the stripes done before I go to work tonight.

The next two weeks are gonna be busy ones. I only have 7 more shifts at work. *YAY* I have Knit-out at the Forks on Sunday, and McNally's on Tuesday. Next Friday is my last night at work, and Saturday is the party my aunt is throwing for us. Sunday-Monday-Tuesday is moving. I'm very proud of the progress I'm making here. I've put up quite a bit on Freecycle to get rid of, the garbage bins behind our house are never empty, and the Salvation Army store is almost ready to make a permanent spot for my car at the donation door!!!

On the new house front, we now have a PO box, and a phone number. I have the kids' school supply lists... HOLY CRAP!!! I've been spoiled with only having to pay a fee for the kids for the last 10 years or so!!! Derek will be bringing home the transfer papers this weekend. We're moving on the 26th or 27th, and even though the phone is getting hooked up on the 27th, I'm not sure when I'll be setting up the Interweb. I'm hoping it won't be too long. It will only be dial-up, so I can see me doing a LOT of stuff offline, and then hopping on just long enough to get everything updated. I still need to take "The Purl in the Oyster" website down since the ISP change will mean that I will lose that web space.

All the packing in the front room this week has led me to the following conclusion: I HAVE TOO MUCH FREAKING ACRYLIC YARN!!!! I have absolutely no clue what I'm going to do with all of that stuff. I can only off-load so much to Rebecca. I know I'll be crocheting up quite a few lapghans and such. I'll definitely need an afghan to keep in my car. It may be only 20 minutes or so to either Virden or Brandon, but this still *is* Manitoba, and we still *do* have wicked winters. Better safe than sorry, right?

Work boot approved!!!

Well Derek's feet didn't fare too well during his first week back in steel toed boots. This silly guy was afraid to ruin the new socks I had made him by wearing them in his boots. After I told him that *that* is why I made them for him, he decided to try them out last week. He'd gotten several blisters his first week, despite double-socking. He proclaimed that when he wore his new socks, he couldn't feel the blisters at all. Only problem is that *this* weekend when he came home... he tossed them not only in the washer without the protection of the laundry bag, but he threw them in the DRYER as well. I couldn't look... I'll see them next weekend... I hope. I'm afraid -- *very* afraid. The only bright side of this possible disaster is that I somehow made the legs of that pair two different lengths... about half an inch of difference, so when I make the replacements {if necessary}, I can rectify that.

His second pair of work socks is nearly off of the needles. As of this writing, I only have about 20 more rows to the toe decreases of the second sock. That means he will have a fresh pair waiting for him when he comes home on Friday. As an added bonus, Derek has said that we can go to Rams on Saturday to stock up on my supply of Tuffy. It's not like I won't have something to knit in the meantime. I've started a pair for him in Durasport using a pattern given to me by a designer friend of mine. I've also got 2 more hanks of Tuffy in charcoal to get another pair of work socks started as soon as these ones are done.

On the home front, we move in 2 weeks!!! I have 7 more shifts left at my store, or 52.5 hours. Yes, I'm counting the hours already!!! I have plenty of work socks to knit, and plenty of packing to do during that time. I'll be on my two weeks vacation when we move, so that will require even more sock knitting, and even more unpacking! I can't wait... yes... really!

Another ball of sock yarn gone!!!

Yup, I finished the Mega Boots Stretch socks for Derek this weekend. That makes SIXTEEN pairs of socks, and another 400 m added to my total distance knitted this year! I started a pair in Durasport in green for him, and finished off the first sock in the second pair of Tuffy socks, this time in blue jean for him. I'm just trucking along here!

FOURTEEN!!!

Yup, I just updated my sidebar to realize that the 14th pair of socks to come off my needles this year was Derek's work socks that I finished up on Sunday before he left for Virden. That makes over 4 km knit this year in socks!!! I just turned the heel on the first sock of his next pair, so those will be finished soon too.

Our new house... well in a month anyway!

I'm not going to bother apologizing for being such a bad blogger lately... but I *will* apologize for this image-heavy post. I'm very proud of our {nearly ours} new house, and I'm posting this for those of you that are interested in seeing it. If you're not interested, you might as well stop the page loading now 'cause it's gonna take a while!!! *ROFL*

Griswold, Manitoba

We are moving to the village of Griswold. It's located approximately half-way between Brandon and Virden on Hwy. #1. You can see the other half of our property here. Scroll down the page to the general store, and that's on the right side of the house. According to the website, there's about 30 people living there. With the two that are moving out, and the seven of us moving in, that's a population explosion of 17%!!!

Outside

This is the view of our house as taken from the road looking down the driveway. The store section of the property is just to the right of where this photo was taken.

This is the front of the property line, and shows about half of the frontage we have. Where the hedges end, is where our property ends.

This is the front of the house. The bay window on the right is the dining room and the living room is on the left. Somewhere in here I need to find room for Mom's peonies... they *are* coming with us.

This is the left {north} side of the house. The living room is in the front and one of the larger bedrooms is in the back. This is likely where we will have our garden until we tear down the other building. The septic tank is in the back, so can't garden there!!!

Inside - Main Floor: Kitchen, Dining Room & Living Room

This is the first thing we saw when we got in the house to view, and it sold both of us immediately! An oak kitchen is what Derek has dreamed about for years, and in about a month, that dream will come true for both of us!

This is what made me fall over... a wall of built-in glass cabinets. Mom's crystal, china, and silver is going to look stunning in that!

This is the kitchen and dining area as seen from the living room. Even though the oak is fairly dark, I still think that the stainless steel appliances that Derek and I want will look very nice in there.

This is the living room. I'm so happy to be having a 'picture' window again. I can't remember the last time I had a nice big living room window like that... probably when I was still living with Mom 18 years ago! We'll need to get something for in front of it so that Aladdin can sit there and look out the window. These sills are *way* too narrow for his fat butt! The half wall is actually a built-in bookcase, and is currently set up as a reading corner... I think renaming it a knitting corner is a good idea, don't you?

Another view of the living room. It shows off the size of it a lot better. I'd guess that it's around the same size or a bit bigger than what we have now, but seems huge in comparision as it's physically separated from the dining room. Derek doesn't want any computers in there, but we may do that at if we can't get a computer set up in the kitchen under the glass cupboards... I'm hoping to get a portable dishwasher to fill that space anyway! *teehee*

Inside - Main Floor: Bedrooms, Craft Room, & Bathroom

This is the bedroom on the northeast corner of the house, and the one that I'm leaning towards for our room. The house currently doesn't have A/C, and the north side will be more protected from the sun, and therefore the heat in the summer.

This is the southeast bedroom, and the one I'm leaning towards for Alex & Melissa to share. It will easily fit two twin beds, and we need them upstairs. I don't trust them downstairs at night! *LOL*

Even though this is the third bedroom on the main floor, it's too small to be a decent bedroom. I'm not even sure if a twin bed would fit in there, just a futon. Derek has allowed me to claim this as my craft room. The cabinets should be staying, so between that and the closet, I should have a lot of storage room. One of the computers will also be set up in here. Hopefully I won't need to completely take over the rest of the house with it... just some of it!

This is the main bathroom. It's not out-dated, so Derek and I won't need or want to do any renovations in there right away. The downstairs has a half bath with a shower drain already installed. Getting a shower stall and fixtures installed down there for the girls to use will be fairly high on our priority list.

Basement

When you get to the bottom of the stairs, this is what you see... a totally 70's rec room! It's absolutely huge, and Derek desperately wants to get a pool table for it! Until I relent, it's going to be the main living area for the kids.

This is the wet bar. I see it as being the kids' kitchen. You can fit a full-sized refrigerator behind there, so I think that would be a good idea. They can take care of their own dishes and such right there in the sink!

I only included this picture because we've been joking about having an indoor pool. Behind the blue wall is actually the cistern for our water. Our top priority for the house is changing the furnace over from oil to wood/electric, and getting this water storage outside. Derek is thinking about making this area his workout room once we do that. I'll be glad just to have the humidity level in the house drop!

This is the one of the bedrooms in the basement. It's fairly small, but a twin bed and such will easily fit in there.

This is the last bedroom in the house. It's a mirror image of the other one in the basement. We will need to set up bunkbeds in one of these rooms eventually so that they can be shared.

A-socking we will go!

While in Calgary, I didn't seem to get as much knitted up as I had expected. I suspect it was because I spent quite a bit of time out of my hotel room for sanity purposes, as well as the fact that I worked for about 9 hours a day and didn't take any days off. I did get some stuff done though, and I'll put up pics soon of them. I also got a few things started, and I need to update my ticker as well as my sidebars.

On my weekend home I finished up my STR socks, and started on a generic pair out of Mega Boots stretch for Derek. When I returned to Calgary, I cast on another pair of Hockey Socks for him as well. The FO adds another 300 m to my distance travelled. I still need to add up what all I bought in Calgary, as well as my pre-flight purchases at Rams to add them to my total available distance.

Currently I have 3 pairs of socks on heavy rotation. I have to cast on the second sock of Derek's Hockey Socks, have just started the second sock of the Mega Boots, and have cast on a pair out of Tofutsies for myself. Once completed, these will add 392, 400, and 425 m to my total respectively.

She's baaaaaaaack!!!

Well I'm finally back home from Calgary! This time for good {temporarily maybe!}. It's been a very long 6 weeks, and I have quite a few pictures and some yarn to show for it! We're busy preparing the house for the move, and I need to get things set up to move many of the Purl in the Oyster sales pages as we will be changing internet providers.

A lot has happened in the last month and a half, and I hope to be able to bring you all up to date. I guess the first thing I should explain about is our move. While I was in Calgary, Derek was offered {and accepted} a promotion with his company. He will soon be the new assistant manager in Virden. This requires us to move 3 hours west of Winnipeg, selling our house, and buying a new one. This is where most of my time, energy, and money will be going for the next while. I also need to find out about getting a transfer to the Brandon Wal-Mart, as well as hopefully being able to get placed at the Airdrie, AB renovation which runs until October.

Forgotten FO report...

I forgot to report my first FO of June. I didn't quite make it to finish it in May, but June 1st is okay too! I got my "Pretty Work Socks" done. That adds another 234 m to my marathon total. I've kept careful notes on how I made them, so once I get home I can type it all up and get them listed on my website.


I haven't finished anything else yet. I am actually quite disappointed with my poor knitting progress out here. I have, however, been working with my STR. I had gotten the leg of my first sock done in a pretty lace pattern when I discovered that the leg was *way* too big. I frogged it all back, and decided to go ahead with a generic sock. I'm now on the gusset decreases of the first sock in that pair.


My lacy design in Regia 4 fadig hasn't been touched in over a week. I broke one of the dpns, and havent' gotten around to fixing it all up to be knit on 3 working needles. I am still on the gusset decreases of my FA socks. Somewhere I screwed up the decreases and have a different number of stitches on my two foot needles. Once I figure out where I screwed up, I'll get working on those again. I also have to get Lissa's bumble bee socks done... *sigh* so many socks, so little time!!!!

Till we meet again Wendy...

I am in a large ballroom of a fancy hotel. There are preparations going on around me for an immense party. Is it a wedding reception or just a huge gala? I am unsure, but I know that whatever it is, it's *very* important, and for someone important. Everyone is rushing around making sure that everything is perfect. Every single detail is being studied and re-checked to make sure that nothing is forgotten, not a thing overlooked. I am confused, but doing everything I can to make sure that I am doing my part and helping with the fancy decorations. I am rushing around just like everyone else and working hard to get everything done in time. There is a feeling of urgency, but not to the point that you are being pushed into rushing too much, and making a tragic mistake. Everything must be "just so", and you take just the needed amount of time to do it, and get it done right. Next thing I know, the phone is ringing... I awaken from my deep slumber to answer the phone. On the other end is the saddened, distant voice of my husband, trying to explain to me in my semi-conscious state that our precious Wendy has passed on. I am upset by the news even though it wasn't completely unexpected. I am confused and bewildered by my strange dream and how I was woken up. I don't often dream, and even more rarely do I remember them, but this dream moved my soul in a way that I can't describe.

That night at work I was a zombie. My eyes were open but my mind was a million miles away. It was the same reaction I had when my Mom passed away. I was in mourning, but I didn't know what else to do but go to work. I suppose this is how I deal with grief... pushing it away and only dealing with tiny little bits at a time. How else can you explain someone serving coffee at a coffeeshop not even 12 hours after her mom died??? I found meticulous tasks to do to keep myself busy. Many of my co-workers hate doing things like that, so it is easy to find tons of the tiny, time-consuming products to put out.

I am alone with my thoughts and I am drawn to meaning behind this strange dream that I remember. All of a sudden it all hits me... I was dreaming of the preparations in heaven for Wendy. She was loved by all that knew her, and will be greatly missed by all those that she left behind. Who else, but someone so beloved would be worthy of this kind of reception? She isn't gone... not at all. She is simply somewhere else right now, awaiting the rest of us to join her in paradise, with a spirit that is no longer ravaged by that evil cancer. She is reaping the rewards of her earthly life now as those of us left behind mourn our loss and wait for the day that we will all be reunited.

It's not "goodbye"Auntie Wendy... it's "till we meet again".

Success at last!!!

Well today the sock and I got to take our first train trip ever!!! I hopped on the train at the Southland station, and went 2 stops north to Chinook. I was with 3 of my co-workers and we had a lunch/dinner at Ricky's, which was absolutely *fab*.

After our dinner it was time for the main purpose of the train trip, and that was YARN of course!!! A hop, skip, and a jump away was this wonderful shop called "Gina Brown's". I was smart this time and phoned first to make sure that they *were* actually open, and would still be open by the time Catherine and I walked over there! As we walked through the parking lot to the shop, I stopped to take a picture of the sock and its first Calgary yarn store... unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera cord with me, so all pictures of all of the Calgary and Banff adventures will need to wait until I get back home.

I have to say that I was in awe the moment I stepped into the shop. It was a beautiful, airy place with yarn as far as the eye can see. So many of the various yarns had sample projects knitted up so that you could really see what you were looking at. I was encouraged to touch and feel at leisure, and even though they were closing in about 30 minutes or so, I wasn't rushed at all. The owner showed me where the sock yarn was when I asked, and I was immediately in love. I was very impressed with the selections and brands available in many different price ranges. Even the prices were reasonable. I *am* used to paying a little less for the yarns I already had in my stash, but I have found that prices here in Calgary *are* a little higher... like a dollar or two more per $10-20, so it wasn't anywhere near enough to discourage my purchases. I am a cheap Winnipeg bargain shopper by nature, but I *know* my prices when it comes to certain yarns. I * also know* that if I'm here till the end of the month, I *will* return there, and I won't leave the shop empty handed!!!

There was Fleece Artist/ Handmaiden prodcuts all over and nearly each and every one of them was begging to follow me home. I completely resisted the temptation by reminding myself very loudly that I have the Sweaterkits projects that I *need* to complete. Gina Brown's *does* offer mail order, so I *can* order them later if I like... especially since Ram's doesn't have a lot of the stuff I saw today, and I *did* get to see and feel it up. There was a lot more in various brands, but it was mainly the FA that would not leave me alone!!!

Now... for what *did* manage to follow me home!!! I was extremely restrained, keeping in mind that I *am* supposed to be on a yarn diet!!! I mostly got stuff that I can't back home. I am now the proud owner of my first balls of Trekking XXL and Mega Boots Stretch! I also bought two hanks of a local wool... Mule Spinner Yarns/ Custom Woolen Mills, which is from just north of here. It's a beautiful 100% wool worsted, and I'm thinking a nice small felted bag {or two... with one flying off to Cambridge!} is in order. I also picked up a 6" set of bamboos... They didn't have any 2.5 mm left, so I bought a 2.25 mm set, which if nothing else will be *very* handy when knitting the kids some socks. I also got myself a new crochet hook so that damned Bates hook can be used for the only thing its good for IMO... picking up dropped stitches!!!

I just have to say that if you live in the Calgary area, or are going to be visiting it, do your best to make the time to come visit the shop. It's a mom and daughter duo that run/ own it, and they are both very friendly as well as knowledgeable about the products they carry. They have a blog too, but the paper I have the address written on is upstairs in the room. I'll link it back when I can get my pics on here.

I'm wondering...

... about so many different things right now that it's hard to think straight!

Firstly, I've only had one day off since I got here, and that was an enjoyable but very exhausting day at Banff! I cannot be held responsible for any typos or any rambling that I may or may not be responsible for!

That being said, I found a few operational brain cells and decided to use google maps to find out where all the bottle return depots are here in Calgary, and decide which is the easiest and/or closest to here. Well I'm very happy to announce that I've found one that's just over a kilometre away {less than a mile}, and *very* easy to find as well. I still need to call them to get their hours, but at least I now know that it's only about a 15 minute walk each way to go get rid of the growing heap of water and other bottles in my hotel room! That's not an adventure for today, however, as I have no choice but to trek over to the laundromat today... I *have* to or else my co-workers will definitely protest!!!

The kindness of strangers...

Or, "The Yarn Crawl that Wasn't"...

Yesterday was a very strange collection of events. I was in the mood for Chinese food, and wanted to go to that "walking distance" LYS I had looked up. Catherine {my roommate and recipient of the super-secret project} and I trekked off in search of this LYS and then pick up the food on our way back. Silly me, I didn't write down EXACT directions on how to get there... and obviously the day that I was perusing the phone book map of the city, I wasn't paying as close of attention as I should. Fast forward about an HOUR, and you find two ladies drowning in Lake Erie {there was like 15 different Lake Erie streets and such!}.

Then we tried to walk back to the main street that we knew. For those of you that know Calgary, we're staying at the Delta Calgary south which is bordered by Macleod, Bonaventure and {I think it's} Southland. Anyway, Macleod and Bonaventure are parallel here, and we went down Bonaventure. Well somewhere along the way, one or the other moved.... REALLY FAR!!! I *think* we were walking south, and somehow the 1 block west to go from Bonaventure to Macleod turned into a mile or more. Finally, on some strange street, we asked a lady for directions on how to get to Avenida Place, which is the mall where the LYS is. She tried to explain where it was from where we were, but it was quite difficult. For all of Calgary's street planning, this particular neighbourhood is full of winding and curved roads. When I showed her my sheet with the listing of the LYS, she then offered to DRIVE the two of us there. I couldn't believe my luck! This particular lady was very grandmotherly, and the two of us were {well me at least!} in no shape to continue walking into oblivion. I'm guessing that the fact that we were looking for a yarn shop took care of any concerns she may have had about two strange ladies coming up to her and asking for directions! As she drives towards the mall, we discovered just *how* much further from Macleod we were than we though {that street REALLY moved far!!!}, and how far we were from our hotel! I'd say that we were at LEAST a mile *past* the mall, which was well over a mile from our hotel {I'd estimated about half that!}. She pulls into the mall and takes us to the shop.... WHICH WAS CLOSED!!! gone, kaput, no longer of this earth. I was beyond devastated. I *had* checked the phone book to double check my listing, which is how I found out that Avenida Place was a mall, and not just a street address. Unfortunately, due to major hotel issues {will blog that later}, we have *no* local phone service available in our room... I can only call other rooms in the hotel, so I neglected to phone this particular place and confirm their hours and such.

Anyhoo, this kind soul {I never got her name :( } then offers to drive us back to the hotel. I pause slightly and say, "Well, actually, we were going to stop for lunch... if it's no trouble, could you drop us off at Willow Park so that we can go to the restaurant?" Willow Park is a small strip mall that was about half-way between where we now were and our hotel. She agrees to take us there, and when we arrive, she refuses to take any money that I had offered her for gas. At around $1.20/L right now, gas ain't cheap!!! I thanked her profusely and into the restaurant we went, extremely grateful for her absolute kindness. If this is the worst thing that happens to me during my stay here in Calgary, it will be a great trip indeed!!!

Our adventures *still* weren't over though! We placed our orders, and had them to go, as all I could think about by this point was getting back to the hotel and resting! Good thing I didn't go to the exercise room beforehand!! It ended up that the hotel was a *lot* further from the restaurant than I had remembered from the walk the other way. I can't get over just *how* out of shape I am!!! We *finally* get back to the hotel to discover that this particular Chinese restaurant has customer service out the ying-yang!!! I had ordered separate dishes, which were packed very well... cardboard separating the layers so that nothing got damaged, HUGE portions, and even after the 15 minute or so walk back to the hotel, was *still* too hot to eat!

Sooooo... in the light of all this, I don't care what I have to do to phone first, I'll figure out *something* before attempting any more yarn crawls, and I'm forever indebted to the kindness of some generous grandmother in South Calgary!

The Eagle has landed!!!

Well... not necessarily, but I *have* found interweb here in Calgary. Stupid me, I didn't find out about it until yesterday though. Oh well. That now means that I can now annoy you all with stupid tidbits about working in a city that seems to have no one working in it!!! Every freakin' place you go, there's a "help wanted" sign *somewhere*. You can't get away from it... except at the little Vietnamese laundry where I went to wash my clothes on the weekend... that place is run by a family and didn't need anyone else!

BTW: A little birdie told me that there's a yarn shop a not-too-long walk away that's by a Chinese food place to try out, and another one a very short C-train ride away... I get to take a train!!! YAY!!!

See ya in a few!!!

Weeks that is! I'm off to the airport in a couple of hours. I'm heading to Calgary for a few weeks {months?} to help out at a store there. I'm *supposed* to be getting a trip home every 3 weeks, so if you post a comment while I'm gone, it might take a while for it to show up! I'll miss you all, and hope to come back with lots of pictures. If the O/T pans out like I'm hoping, I should even have some yarn pr0n too!

*waves*

Cheesecake for dummies

AKA my idiot-proof pineapple cheescake recipe.
Can you remember ½ cup of sugar? Can you operate a hand blender? Then you are capable of making your own pineapple cheesecake! BTW: I haven't tried it myself, but I've heard of others using other canned fruit with yummy results.

Recipe:

1. Take one brick of cream cheese and place into a largish bowl to warm to room temperature.
2. Take one can of crushed pineapple {or fruit of your choice} and drain well.
3. Make one graham wafer crust following the recipe on the box of graham crumbs.
4. Make one envelope of Dream Whip according to the recipe on the packet {a tub of Cool Whip also works well}.
5. Take the ½ cup of sugar and cream it into the cream cheese.
6. Add pineapple and Dream Whip to the cream cheese mixture and mix well.
7. Spread mixture over crust.

Now comes the hardest part of all: Put in fridge for 8 hours/ overnight to set... don't touch it!!! {Trust me... after you've tasted the mixture, it *is* the hardest part of all!

Fifteen days...

... from start to finish for the benefactors. I'd say that blasts the 4 weeks for Derek's tigers out of the water!!! *teehee*

And the knit goes on...

Sometime today the benefactor socks will be done. I'm just about to start the toe decreases on benefactor #2. This will add 380 m to my marathon total.

I cast on a new pair of WW socks in a simple design for me. I'm expecting the pair to take 3 balls of the Mission Falls 1824 {100% superwash wool in Aster} yarn I have, so that will be 234 m more when done. I hope to get this pattern written up and offered for sale once I complete them.

There's 3 pair on the backburner for the moment... I'll see how inspired I am to work on them. I'd like to keep up my pace of 4 pairs a month since it's been very encouraging to me to see so many pairs of socks completed.

Decisions, decisions...

Well today's dilemma is what to put on our desks. I spent most of yesterday moving mine and Derek's desks here in the dining room, and now comes the daunting task of deciding what's going back on them. I deliberately put nothing but the peripherals back after the move, and left them like that overnight. It's *very* refreshing to see the desktops for a change. Unfortunately, it's making it hard to put stuff back... oh well.

Tomorrow I will post the pic of benefactor #2. I cast it on last night while I was working on my computer. It's horridly slow, and I was doing all kinds of things to it to try and speed it up. I did manage to get a really good start on the sock at least.

Challenge met...

Well I'm sitting here wearing my DK generic socks, and just finished sewing in the toe end of benefactor sock #1. I'm not sewing up the cuff end yet as I will be using it to help me match up tomorrow morning's cast on for benefactor #2. Once that's cast on, I'll be fixing my design sock and working on that... I haven't decided if I'm going to have a second generic sock going here at the computer, or just make do with the one...

I'm now just under 2.8 km knit for the marathon, which is absolutely amazing for me. And in other news, I *might* be able to treat myself to a trip to Ram's in 2 weeks... wish me luck!

Challenge...

Well it's the last day of the month, and I've challenged myself to get both socks I'm currently working on done today. I'm more than half-way through the foot of both my benefactor sock #1, and my DK #2. I *know* that I can get them both done on my weekend, but I think it would be really nice to finish them today... wish me luck.

I'll post tomorrow for a belated birthday wish for Jackie... we'll be having her birthday cake tonight after dinner.