Redpop

I foster dogs now working with Wayside Waifs. Every time I fill out the questionnaire so that they can write about the dog on their website to find them the best homes I'm showered with praise and they are passed around to the staff. Doesn't everyone fill it out like this? After all, it's part of the "job".

I've been told multiple times I should start a blog with this stuff. Well, I already have a blog so here it is.

Her tail is fully healed, right? Will there be any long term issues regarding this? Is it completely gone? Is her prognosis good? 
It's completely healed. I don't know if there is any long term issued. However, the length of it looks like it was docked on purpose and it's attractive. The vet did a good job.

When will they start her heartworm treatment?
She's just started the pre-treatment of antibodies.

She's still partially housebroken?
Sadly yes. I'm finding a pee puddle many days. I need to tether her to me and whistle train but I haven't had the time to really address it.

When do you crate her?  How long at a time?  How does she do in a crate? I assume she would not be a good candidate for being crated all day while someone is at work. 
Redpop has been crated for up to six hours. She doesn't like being bored and shreds her bedding in frustration. However, there is no way I could leave her loose in the house. I don't think she naps as much as other dogs. So it is.

I worry crating her since she has a history of self-mutilation. While she hasn't had any issues in my home, I could see her starting to pick on herself if she didn't have anything else. So I crate her with chew toys and a blanket even though I know that the blanket will be in even 2" pieces once I get home. She's very methodical about the picking at things. However, the self-mutilation could have been because the tail hurt and nothing going forward. I don't know...

If she was my dog I think I would fence off part of my garage and add a dog door. That way she would have a heated inside with her own couch but a cement floor and access to outside for work hours. If I couldn't do that then I would crate all day when I was at work.

Where does she sleep at night?
She sleeps in bed with me. I was worried about crateing her in a different room because she wanted to pick at the stitches. In bed, with me, she was fine and left the bandage and the stitches alone.

Do you ever leave her free to roam in the house when no one is home?  How does she do? I know you mentioned she gets destructive if left alone for too long. Is that when she's in the crate or out? What does she do? Overall, when you are there, is she
 well behaved in your home? Do you have to closely supervise her? 
HA!
hahahahaaaaa,
oh boy....

Well behaved but always destructive if I'm supervising or not.

Let me tell you about an average day.

First, we wake up. She's content to lounge in bed as long as I want. When I get out of bed I have to crowbar her out because she is unwilling to leave the comfy spot. I grab her collar and march her to the backyard. If I don't have my hand on her collar she will stop and pee on the way. Once outside she does her business without dawdling.

I start to make coffee. She starts to remove a can of dog food from the plastic wrap holding it into the box.

She and my dog eat in the same room with no issues. She sits to be fed. If I'm too slow she "sits pretty" for emphasis and extra cuteness.

I give her meds. She takes the hotdogs daintily. When she finds a pill hidden in one she is crushed that I've betrayed her. She thought we were friends. Friends don't feed friends tainted hot dogs.

Then 20 minutes outside with my dog for play (cleared with the vet at this time) with no issues as I drink my coffee and stuff. I see her out the window eating a stick. I call them in.

I let them back in and I start my shower. As I shower and get dressed for the day she has pulled an IKIA cube box off the shelf, takes the lid off the box without damaging the flimsy cardboard, and takes everything out of the box neatly and gently. She's so smart! She's so careful! Then she ruins her cuteness by completely shredding two or three things from the box. No! No! No! Ok, so she now gets crated as I shower and get ready.

Walk around the block. She would rather a 40-minute jog but the heartworms. She's a good walker until she sees a squirrel. Then she bounds up and down in place like her legs are springs. I can mostly keep her from dashing and pulling by talking calmly. Mostly.

When we get back she gets a dog puzzle. She's really good at dog puzzles. The harder the better.

I have things to do. She's bored. She chews hard dog toys. She chews soft dog toys. She caries a glove in her mouth from room to room. She takes the toothpaste tube from the bathroom sink and hides it in the couch. She takes my favorite purple sparkly gel pen from the coffee cups of pens without spilling the others. She takes it to the couch and destroys it then makes purple sparkle footprints all over my house.  I'm at the computer and have no idea. It's not my first foster dog rodeo. There is a reason my couch has a washable waterproof cover but the poor floors.

Finally, she takes a nap on my bed. My cat sleeps with her. Not because they are friends but because the bed is the best place to be.

Red Pop wakes up and sees a cat next to her and bounces on him until he runs. It takes a few bounces. My cat is wily and slowly and carefully zig zags through the furniture to the "baby gate of safety". Rep Pop can't corner on wood floors when she's excited so wipes out taking out the coffee table and overturning a chair. My cat has enough and hisses from the safe side of the baby gate. Red Pop cries and runs away from the hissing cat and hides at my feet. I'm a terrible person because I find this very very funny.

Back outside for play with my dog.

TV time and cuddles and more chewing. If she gets up it's to check the kitchen for dirty dishes in the sink and the cupboards and counters to see if anything was left out. She brings me my coffee mug from the sink after giving it a good clean.... um, thanks? Also, the last thing Red Pop needs is caffeine.

She acts like she wants out. I get up and go to the door.  "On your feet, lose your seat". She jumps into my seat instead and grows roots. She pretends she's deaf. I pull her collar and she doesn't budge. I try to pick her up and can't. I try to shove her away and can't. I try sitting on her to see if she moves. Nope. I don't want to hurt her so I find a new sport.

I give her and my dog a new soft toy with a squeaky. Hers is white his is brown. They go to opposite sides of the room and both have a grand old time shredding. Yippee! Red Pop is finished first.

Red Pop: "That toy is different I want to try it"
My Dog: "No"
Red Pop: "It IS different. I got to see." She plucks is nonchalantly from between his feet ignoring that he's showing ALL his teeth.
My Dog: "NO MEANS NO!" he air snaps a few times and gets her once. There is a minuscule drop of blood on her check,
Red Pop: rolls onto her back and starts screaming "MURDER POLICE SOMEONE HELP ME CALL THE POLICE HELP HELP POLICE MURDERER"
My dog: rolls his eyes. Grabs both toys and goes to his crate in the other room.
Red Pop: "MURDER POLICE SOMEONE HELP ME CALL THE POLICE HELP HELP POLICE MURDERER"
Me: "Wow. What a drama queen."
Red Pop: "MURDER POLICE SOMEONE HELP ME CALL THE POLICE HELP HELP POLICE MURDERER"
Me: start to wonder if the neighbors will call the police for dog abuse.

Dinner time and pills is a repeat of breakfast

It's been a few hours and her energy has built up. She runs around the house jumping on and off furniture. I really should walk her around the block this time of night because I think she would be calmer walking outside. But it's dark and icy and cold and neither of us wants to go outside. I try to calm her down with another dog puzzle. The puzzle is well received but she doesn't really calm down. Instead, she solves the puzzle vigorously with lots of throwing it around and pouncing.

Then time for bed. Because of her size, I make her sleep at the foot of the bed. No cuddling! No bed hogging! No exception! If she breaks the house rules its to the crate. She gets it and is good. I tuck her in with her own blanket and she sleeps all night long. She has a lot of nightmares. Probably of the vet. Poor baby. 


How does she do in your yard?  Does she ever try to escape?  Does she like to go out to explore or play?
Great in the yard. Doesn't try to escape. Runs and romps with my dog.
Update: She does escape the yard. She now hops over my 3.5ft fence like it's not there to play with the neighbor kids. So sweet. So bad!

Does she bark much?
No? Yes? She's mostly silent. She doesn't bark at my visitors. She does growl out the window at delivery people on the porch that run up drop a package and dash away to meet their quota (I agree, it's creepy behavior without context). She goes crazy barking at the window when she sees small furry animals. That happens a few times a week.

How is she when you have visitors over?  Does she approach new people for attention appropriately?
She is great with people. She neither rushes them nor shies away. She's regal and allows them to give her the attention she deserves. Once she starts getting the attention she does go up onto her back legs for a face lick. However, she's not the jumping knocking people over type. 

She does well with your dog, right? Do you think she'd be ok as an only dog or does she need another because of her energy level?
She loves playing and running with my dog. She could care less about him when they aren't playing. Because of the next step of heartworm treatment, and the needing to be kept calm, it would be easiest for her to be the only dog as she will romp and run with another playful dog for hours. However, she's extremely athletic and running is her joy. Red Pop would like to be adopted by a jogger for when she recovers from the heartworm.

I know your cat is dog savvy and knows how to put them in their place. Do you think she'd do ok with cats in general though?
Because she is heartworm positive and needs to keep calm, no cats. Once she moves to the next step of treatment I can't keep her because of my cat. I can see her blood pressure go up when she starts thinking of a good chase.


What are a few words you'd use to describe her?
What do you like best about her?

She's pretty, soft, graceful and smells good. She's also wild, energetic, and a clown.

She's so careful and polite. She has an oral fixation. She's clever and smart and likes to open things. She is less willing to learn tricks on command but will with extra work. She has selective hearing. The thought of coming when she's called hasn't entered her brain as even a possibility. It's a completely foreign concept. She loves walks and runs with her whole heart.

She supplies the external motivation for me to improve my habits. If I don't keep the house company ready clean she shreds anything left out. I have to put the dishes right into the dishwasher and can't let them build up in the sink. If I don't get out and walk her more things are destroyed. It's like living with a personal trainer and life coach.

While she thinks my cooking and my ability to open the front door to the world are magical, in all the rest she belives we are equals. I'm in charge because I'm larger, more stubborn, and have the food, but she sees us as friends and equals rather than as a parent and dog-child. I find the self-contained self-assurance and independence refreshing in a foster even if I still have to follow her around like a toddler because of the chewing.

What sort of home will she be happiest in?

A 40-minute jog before work. A 15-minute walk after work. A rather consistent schedule. Someone willing to own a locking trashcan and might have to baby lock the cupboards. Other than that, she seems unflappable and flexible.

Keeping her calm for heartworm treatment will be a challenge, so also dedication. But she's worth it.

Gray

The sun declined to rise today leaving the world gray and wet. I used the rainy day to start the work of freeing my bobbins.

First up is a UFO so old the 8oz of luxury fiber only cost $12. Except the term "only" isn't right as I hemmed and hawed before buying it because that $12 was a lot of money. You know, back when lattes didn't come in Pumpkin Spice. That's some deep stash.

Zipping

I've dusted off...Ha! Like I leave them alone long enough for them to get dusty. Let me start again.

Once again, I'm listening to the Dresden Files audio books while spinning and I'm zipping through my fiber at a speed that I find a little concerning. I hope my stash is large enough to keep up.

 2 oz of Cashmere and by the next morning it's yarn.

I remember my first time spinning cashmere and it was a slow, painstaking process involving sweaty hands and me clenched over the wheel trying to keep control. Now I can spin it like it's nothing. I can spin it like it's made of dandelion fluff and fairy dust. Heck, I could probably spin dandelion fluff and fairy dust if given half a chance. That's what 19 years of practice will get a person.

Gratuitous shot of  Sumi-e as he insists that I stop spinning to give him phone time.

Indian Summer

Not every day is a walk at the lake but everyday is a walk in the park across the street from my home.

 It's the crystal clear part of October with the first hint of fall color on the trees.

 Late summer flowers are filled with butterflies.

Fall flowers are in full bloom.

The last few days have been a spectacular Indian Summer. I spun up a yarn to capture the colors as summer turns into autumn.

4oz of merino/tencel blend spun fingering weight into a self striping yarn.

Sunrise at the Lake

There was lots of wildlife on our walk today. Ducks, geese, rabbits and deer all ignoring the early risers. As the sun comes up the path gets busier and they slip away until dusk.

Eclipse 08.21.2017

My house was in the path of the total eclipse. This morning a severe rain storm rolled though with thick black clouds, high winds, and another lightening strike to my trees but by 11:30am start of the eclipse the clouds had parted. I had a normal work day, however, I was able to nip out to see it progress and then at the time of the eclipse everyone was given half an hour away from their desk so I saw the full eclipse and watched the sun reemerge.

I did it old school with a pinhole projector and just looking at it during the totality so I wasn't able to take photos of the sun as I didn't want to risk my iPhone. My eyes- sure, but not the iPhone. Instead I bring to the blog-

The Phases of Galen

 12:30pm it's noticeably darker

 12:45pm dusk, like just after the has sun has passed the horizon at sunset. This was as dark as I was expecting.

1:09pm at totality and it's dark enough the camera gives up the ghost. I would call this deep twilight, not quite night dark but much darker than I would have ever guessed.

My neighborhood had a nice half an hour of shooting off fireworks and having a celebration before wrapping it up as another workday.

Deja Vu

I'm back to dividing the body from the arms on my Zombie Apocalypse sweater and have reknit all the unravled yarn. When I went to add new yarn I couldn't find it. I'm not sure if it's in a safe place or out in the open camouflaged by other yarn but as I didn't have time to look for it I picked up my default knitting sock yarn blanket.

While knitting I watched Charlize Theron in Aeon Flux. What a deja vu moment. I've never seen the movie, didn't recognize the story or plot, and yet I have seen each and every action scene from that movie before, and I don't mean on Liquid Television.  I finally decided that the movie trailer way back when must have shown all the action scenes, or I watched a "Making Of...." piece someplace, or something.

The sock yarn blanket is to the point it needs two new colors every row as it increases in width. I had been looking at mini skien clubs when I noticed the clearance colors of Louet Gems at Webs and that a 50g skein was marked down to the same price as 10g mini. I took the amount of one month subscription of a box of minis and used it on the clearance yarn.

I'm set for 5 more rows I'm hopeful that 5 rows will also get the final width too. At that point I'll only need new colors as the current yarn runs out.

I'm going to hold out as long as I can but I feel the grays are dwindling rapidly and soon I will need to be buying replacement full size skeins of the base colors. Emotionally I'm worried. The rational part of my brain says it's going to be a non issue for the rest of the year. Almost out, yes, but a small amount on distance on the blanket is a whole lot of knitting .

Spicy

Back to the Budget Byte App

149 calories for 1/2c

African Peanut Stew from the app. This is very good! I've been making a different recipe for years that uses a whole 2c container of peanut butter instead of Budget Bytes 1/2c. That recipe is thick and rich and dense. This recipe is light, fresh, and but rather thin right off the stove however the next day its thickened up into the dense soup I'm expecting. With 1/4 of the peanut butter I will be replacing my old standby with this one. I just need to remember to make it spicier next time. 

 

Horrible photo of the Kit Kat hat but the only current photo of me on my phone. Hat knit out of scraps of Plymouth Encore

Today is my year anniversary of my 30lb weight loss.  It's thrown about that 95% of the people that loose weight gain it all back plus more in the first year. While that study from the 1950s isn't likely to represent the general population I went into this determined I would beat the odds whatever the % might be. 

How have I done it? Quite simply by learning the calorie count of food and the amount I need. Like everything in life, simple isn't the same as easy, but, man, is it worth it. So worth it. Physically I feel better in my 40s than any other point in my life. A year later I'm still amazed at how much fun it is to be light on my feet. It. Is. Awesome.

Flax Seeds and Slivered Almonds

The nice thing about the cookbook is that there will be a run of recipes that use the same ingredients. The flax seeds and slivered almonds that I bought special for the Breakfast Parfait are then used in the next recipe, Cherry-Almond Granola. Maybe the app does that too but if it does it's not as evident. I appreciate the specialty ingredients are being used again in other dishes. 

Cherry-Almond Granola is pretty good.  I'm not keen on the amount of oil it uses and I left out the almond extract all together (I already mentioned how I feel about Marzipan) and I disagree with the choice to add the dried cranberries before cooking, but I'm thrilled to see a granola recipe in a current publication. It's so easy to make.

What I did like is the vanilla. I've never added vanilla to granola before and there is a substantial amount. The vanilla holds well and comes through the mild sweetness of the granola and accents the nutty flavor of the slivered almonds and roasted flax seeds. I also like that it isn't sweet at all. I will make this again. - maybe- At 305 calories for a small bowl filled half full I would rather more filling things for breakfast. Oatmeal is a calorie dense and I'll be glad to leave this section of the book.

With the oven on and the ingredients out I also made Autumn Delight Baked Oatmeal. Now this is what I'm talking about. It's so good!

Pumpkin and apples, cinnamon and cloves, along with some of the dried cranberries left from the last recipe. It's rich and sweet and reminds me of coffee cake. At 260 calories for a reasonable sized slice this is a winner.

Well, except that I promptly ate two slices and wanted a third but that's my issue and not a problem with the recipe. I was able to get the rest safely away in the freezer for later.

The Future is Now

The second recipe from my 14 days of Budget Bytes is Thai Curry Vegetable Soup from the App. While the cookbook is new recipes, not to be found online, the app recipes are directly from the blog.

The cool thing about the app is that it's hands free voice activated and it talks through the steps. I prop it up in a safe corner of the kitchen and say "Next" when I'm ready for the next set of ingredients and instructions and it reads them out to me. This recipe is voiced by the author and some have a robot voice but they are all too cool. It has built in timers and little how to videos.  The app has a learn to cook feeling to it with the how to videos but I'm really enjoying it. It's amazing living in the future.

This recipe turned out pretty good. Just pretty good because at the end the instructions were to balance the salty/sweet/sour levels as I've never tasted a similar soup before I had a hard time choosing the balance.

As far as the budget it called for Fish Sauce at $3.59. That's a hefty price for a 1/2 Tablespoon if I don't end up using it again. 

193 cal per 1/2 cup. It's pretty amazing that there are places I can input the ingredients and it pops out a nutrition label including the calories. Truly living in the future.

I'm enjoying how Breathing Space starts by knitting the ribbing then the neck shaping is done by short rows. I've always felt that this would be an elegant way to start a sweater with no picking up the stitches for the ribbing at the end but I've never gotten around to trying it before now. I really like it.

With a Spoon

The first recipe in Budget Bytes is "Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal". There are three flavors I detest; marzipan, spearmint, and banana- so banana anything just isn't happening. Moving along I spotted "Breakfast Parfaits" known other places as overnight oats.

After grocery shopping I was too tired to cook but I could assemble some fruit and oatmeal in a Mason jar..... crap.... I don't have a Mason jar. My Pinterest account will be revoked!

With some digging I found a mostly empty jar of pesto in my fridge and after eating it up with a spoon I was able to assemble a Breakfast Parfait.

The jar even says Mason. Take that, Pinterest.

It might look hefty in the super sized photo but that is a really small jar packed with 276 calories. That is a mighty calorie punch for what looks like a small snack and it's not at all meal sized. I'm dubious it will keep me full.

When I had it for lunch it was not good. Not good at all. The oat and flax seeds had soaked up the moisture from the yogurt leaving them gummy and the yogurt the consistency of cheese. I don't know how long it would have kept me full as I spent the rest of the day with friends noshing on vegetables, dip, and nachos.

The next jar (it had Mango Salsa that I polished off with a spoon) is better. It looks meal sized in volume and at 320 calories is a meal. I added pineapple juice with the pineapple so the texture is better but overall it was uninspiring. This batch was a bit like paste and it was difficult to mix in the jar. It did keep me full for hours so it was acceptable but it's doubtful I'll ever make overnight oats again. My goal in life is to eat tasty food not acceptable food.

Budget Bytes isn't the only gift I've received this year. I was given two tasty tasty skiens of malabrigo in my favorite color. Malabrigo is the dark chocolate of the yarn world and as far removed from overnight oats as possible. They are an excellent addition the to the 2017 Stash rebuild.

Yarn

Stash building 2017 has begun with two sweater quantities from Webs clearance. I'm a few years late to the party but I'll finally be able to knit fingering weight sweaters.

 The Araucania "Bubblegum" is a disappointing coral color and not bubblegum pink at all. I adore Araucania and once it's over dyed with more pink or turned into red it should be stunning.

The Viking Nordlys is better than I imagined. That's good because I bought it for a specific pattern.

I haven't bought yarn for a pattern since.... never? "Never" doesn't sound right but almost never is close. I prefer to find a yarn I love then search for a pattern that fits. However, I'm loving Veera Välimäki Breathing Space and have been on the lookout for a suitable yarn for a while. 

I couldn't wait and cast on right away. I do have a knitted swatch that is still drying to verify my gauge and I want to know if the single yarn skews the knitting.

I'm also loving my orchid. This plant was my housewarming orchid that I bought as I moved into this place. Here it is, two summer later, in bloom again!

I'm a terror to house plants and can't keep anything alive but Mother In Law Tongue and Grocery Store Orchids. Both are dead easy to grow but as orchids have a reputation of being difficult I allow myself to feel smug that they thrive under my neglectful care. "Grocery Store Orchids" or Phalaenopsis Orchids also know as “Moth Orchids”don't have any sort of reputation of being difficult and are actually know for their hardiness but I latch onto the term orchid and go with it.

What Are We Eating?

It's quite common for knitting blogs and podcasts to have a "What are we reading" segment and in a play on words I'm going to use it as an excuse to fan girl out a little on Budget Bytes.

I've read the food blog budgetbytes.com for about forever and while I don't get to cook the recipes as often as I like, I've always enjoyed them. I've been pretty vocal about recipes posted online as being terrible but budgetbytes.com (and allrecipes.com) has never failed me.

I was given the cookbook for my birthday and I bought the App hours after it was released. The app is FANTASTIC! This has inspired me with ideas of cooking my way though both all "Julia and Julia" style. Or the way knitters talk about knitting every pattern in an especially exciting pattern book. It will probably end the same as any knitters declaration to "knit ever pattern" but at the moment I'm stoked.

I set up my meal plan and made my grocery list.

The before photo.

Yes, my fridge looks like this before every grocery shopping trip. I'm against wasting money on spoilage and try to plan my meals so all the fresh food is eaten 2-3 days before the next bi-weekly trip. Occasionally lettuce goes bad on me or I'm making an emergency stir-fry with vegitable about to turn, but overall it works great.

This is perfect timing as my freezer meals are depleted too.

  Freezer storage containers clean and ready to go!

They are so cute and tickles me that they are the same size. Each holds exactly 4oz of water. For real. The one on the right fits better in the freezer so I'm working my way to only having that shape.

After shopping! I may have gone a bit overboard in my excitement. That is a lot of food to cook in two weeks. Much of it will end up in freezer meals so I have faith it won't spoil. But, wow, that is a lot for two weeks.

My food cupboard, yes, my kitchen is small and only has one... My food cupboard is overflowing. I had to buy a surprising amount of specialty ingredients so at the moment it's not feeling very frugal. That doesn't matter as long as it's delicious.

No pictured: my freezer is worrisomely full of ingredients too. Will they get used up at a rate sufficient to add the freezer meals? Will I be able to tetris everything to fit? Will the lack of a deep freeze cause my goal of making 14 recipes in 14 days crash and burn before it gets off the ground? 

Now to get cooking and find out.

Test Drive

While waiting for my yarn to show up in the mail I did a little swatching.

The yarn is Berroco Linsey a 64% cotton 34% Linen blend. The yarn is fabulous! The color not so much. It's a sage green marl. The color is classic but it dulls my complexion and I don't sparkle when I hold it up to my face. That's the danger of online ordering. The color isn't terrible and the yarn so wonderful I still plan to use it for a sweater. With a deep V neck or as a cardigan it should work.

I swatched plain, texted, and cabled. When finished I traced around it on paper adding notes on gauge, needle size (size 3/3.25 mm), brand of needle, and anything else I could think of before throwing it a load of laundry.

Here it is out of the dryer. It shrunk a little in width and substantially in length. The finished gauge is 22 stitches over 4 inches and not the 20 stitches for the project I was swathing for. Also the fabric is too fluid to hold the shape of a cardigan. I like it the way it is so I'm not going to swatch with lager needles. It won't work for what I had in mind but I'll put this away for later and all the information will be waiting.

It's nice to put a yarn through it's paces once and a while.

The 80's Called and They Want Their Sweater Back

Browsing online I saw stores stocking textured striped raglan sweaters this spring. I was smitten and since they are striped it meant that I would be able to dig up yarn from my stash.  I don't have many sweater quantities left but I have plenty of scraps. 

This sweater pleased me to no end in April but pulling it out today, so I could start the sleeves, I don't know if I can continue. Ugh. I though pink and sea foam quite striking in 1987 but I don't think these two colors would be combined even then. The only thing that keeps me from ripping it out is knowing the colors will fade in the wash from the prior projects. It might have a chance but at the moment it is firmly in time out.

Actually- I can't see ripping this one out. If I'm not inspired to finish it will go strait into the trash because of all the cut ends.

It's this sweater right after the socks that decided me. After years of knitting down the stash 2017 is going to be a stash rebuilding year. I want to have sweater quantities on hand. Lots and lots of sweater quantities.

While I wait for my yarn order to be delivered I pulled out a partial ball of TOFUtsies from scraps to make ankle socks for the gym. I cast on and made it through the heel flap at the dog park. Inspired by the defunct Lichen Ribbed Socks, I'm going to work my way through all the heel variations in Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush again. I keep reverting to the French heel by default because it's popular and I have it memorized but there are so many other variations.

Or wait! Maybe I won't work my way through the traditional heels again but do a study in short row heels. It's been years since I've even thought of short row heels.

Anyway, I want a wack of shorty TOFUtsies socks for summer and plan different heel variations.

Not Literally Forever

I love how hand knit socks last FOREVER! But it's not literally forever so I post whenever a pair comes to their end.

Lichen Ribbed Socks from the book Knitting Vintage Socks: New Twists on Classic Patterns by Nancy Bush.

I knit these in 2008 as I was knitting my way through all the different sock heels in the book.  The yarn is SWTC TOFUtsies  made from 50% superwash wool, 25% soy silk, 22.5% cotton, 2.5% chitin (made from shrimp and crab shells!).

Photo evidence that is really was 2008 this pair is the second photo, they have faded a bit over the last 9 years. 

Sock made from this yarn are wonderfully soft and cool. They make the best gym socks. However, the yarn is very thin and a little splity so I don't love knitting it. I can't bare to throw these socks away since that hole is from 3 stitches snapping and it should be an easy mending job. However, I know myself and it's unlikely they will ever get mended.

Instead I whipped up a replacement pair. Some Henry's Attic Kona Superwash that I dyed an unfortunate combination of mauve and jade a very long time ago. I'm only knitting it now because my sock yarn stash is so depleted that I'm down to the dregs.

I do love the Kona yarn. It's a sport weight and at 44 stitches a pair of socks knits up in a hot second. I made a basic sock in a garter stitch rib. For all that I disliked the color of the yarn I'm pleased with how they turned out.