Post-vacation blues

I spent two weeks in Vancouver, Canada. Beautiful!!!!! Great scenery, great weather, great people, great food, lots of stuff to do and see... And best of all, vacation! Time to knit :). And time to do jigsaw puzzles. My sister-in-law and I have this tradition that I always bring a puzzle whenever we see each other. Since our time in Canada overlapped shorter than usual, I only brought a relatively easy puzzle. Turned out, I totally underestimated our abilities (or tenacity), and we had finished the puzzle within a few hours. So Sarah was kind enough to get us another one. And it was really hard!!! It's a beautiful picture, and even our girls had fun with it. In fact, they were the ones who finished it up:

Okay, so since I was afraid that airport security would take my knitting needles away from me, I only brought sock stuff, knitted with wooden needles. I finished one pair of short socks.

And mostly finished another pair of long socks. Did the rest on the commute to work after I got back from vacation. It's an easy thing for me to bring along. Not a lot of bulk, easy to stuff in your purse to take anywhere you go, and by now I know by heart how to knit my standard toe-up socks:

• Needles: size 0, 1, or 2 dpns, depending on needed sock size, yarn, etc.
• Cast on 24-28 sts with Magic Cast-on method
• Divide sts over 4 dpns (6 or 7 sts ea)
• Increase 4 sts every other round until you have a total of anywhere between 16-20 sts per needle
• Work this until you get to where you increase for the heel (your foot is about 2 - 2 1/2 inches shorter than you want it to be). Now, every other round, m1 st at the beginning of the first sole dpn and at the end of the second sole dpn until you have 30-33 sts on each sole dpn, like so:
• Work dpn 1 and 2 (instep dpns) per whatever pattern you might choose or just stockinette
• Work dpn 3 and 4 (sole dpns) as follows:
• dpn 3: k1, m1, k rem sts
• dpn 4: k to the last st, m1, k1
• (Remember to increase (m1) only every other round!)
• Repeat this until you have 30-33 sts ea on dpns 3 and 4.
• To turn the heel work dpns 3 and 4 as follows (the rest of the sts are resting during this):
• k3 more than you have on dpn 3, ssk, k1, turn
• sl1, p7, p2tog, p1, turn
• sl1, k8, ssk, k1, turn
• sl1, p9, p2tog, p1, turn
• sl1, k10, ssk, k1, turn
• sl1, p11, p2tog, p1, turn
• Continue this way until all sts are worked. Divide them up over 2 dpns again, combine with the 2 dpns from the instep needles, and continue working in the round again
• Work in whatever pattern you choose for as long as you want your cuff
• Prepare for bind-off:
• Second to last round: m1 after every 2 or 3 sts depending on how loose (and/or ruffle-ly) you want your bind-off to be/look.
• Last round: k
• Bind off any way you like. My preferred bind-off is:
• *Ssk, put st back from rhn to lhn, rep from * until all sts are gone.
• This makes for kind of a wavy bind-off. Use a different method, if you don't like this. If you have any great and easy bind-offs that allow for enough stretch to comfortably put socks on and take them off, without necessarily getting the ruffled look, I would love to hear about it!!!!
• And to make it even easier I knit both socks simultaneously, so I don't have to remember how I did the first sock when I start the second one.

Our niece Alisha got the monkey I finished just before the trip. I started another one after I got back home. I think my daughter has some friends who really like my knitted critters, and she wants to give some of them away. I made another baby monkey (like the one our exchange student Theresa got), including the safety pin for the punk look (Theresa's creation).

I am still working on the monstrous shawl... Haven't touched it in a while, until this week. I am really pretty close to being done, but it's all getting a big cumbersome. I guess I am learning that I am not very good with larger projects. Patience and stamina are not my strongest virtues. That's why I like socks and little toy animals :). It's good to know your strengths and weaknesses...

And before I sign off from this post, one more garden picture. The fruit of our labor... Actually, my husband planted all the tomatoes and peppers, but I harvested :).

Monkey-ing Around

My vest-shawl thingy has not made too much progress yet. I do work on it enough here and there not to forget how the pattern works, but it's still a long way from being done... But then again, here in Texas, I really won't need it until it gets colder again, which is, like, in November, if we are lucky!

The socks I finished are done, though. Seems like I can always whip a pair out in between. So, another pair of socks for my stash.Opal sock yarn: NEON. I was very excited to try that Opal yarn, but have to say that I was a bit disappointed. If feels kind of rough, though I don't know how it will wash. Oh, and it came with this extra little skein of thin contrast yarn in dark purple. I looked online but couldn't find anything anywhere. So I used it as a run-along string for the toes and heels. I don't know if Opal sock yarn comes with this or if the seller on eBay just gave me a little extra gift :).

So here goes my latest addiction: I have gotten into sock-monkeys for the girls.

I started out with the Red Heart Sock Monkey. Though, you know me, I didn't use Red Heart yarn. I think this is Hobby Lobby's "I love THIS Cotton" Ivory Print.

It's cute, but not perfect... They don't all come out quite as planned - yet (I guess there is a little learning curve), but the girls like them anyway, take them to school, and take orders from their friends for more. I can't keep up!

Next, I splurged (I don't usually like to buy patterns when there are so many free ones floating around) and bought the Patons Classic Wool Monkey Business booklet. This is the "Baby Monkey."

Since Michael's didn't have the Patons yarn, I used Lion Brand's Vanna's Choice. Colors are Linen, Scarlett, and Taupe Mist.

Please note that Baby Monkey was adorned with a safety pin through the lips. I guess what we have here is a Punk Baby Monkey or a Baby Punk Monkey...

The next request was for "Ellie Elephant," also from the Patons Classic Wool Monkey Business booklet.

This is still a work in progress...

The picture is a little dark. So far I have the head and trunk (though I think I have to redo that because it really does NOT look like a head and trunk and might, in fact, be somewhat offensive... Also finished are the two ears and one leg. I really have to start using the suggested yarns to make sure my projects come out the way they are supposed to. I am using lily sugar 'n cream, one twist and two solids. May just not be the right yarn for "Ellie Elephant."