One Crazy Monkey down!

Remember photo P1060022.JPG that I posted about on the 28th?

Well, the ankle was seriously too tight. I took the advice of those who gave it and decided that I was fooling myself into thinking that it was only a wee bit tight. Because "wee" doesn't even come close to how tight it was. It was "hella" tight. Like "vein poppin' on my forehead" tight. Like "need to work on my upper arm strength" tight.

So I ripped. All the way past the heel flap. It was sad, as I was pretty much at the ribbing for the cuff. That's okay because I would have either ripped the socks after the third or fourth wearing or I would have just kept them in a drawer due to the fear level of ripping them if I wore them.

Thankfully ripping also gave me the chance to fix the aesthetic issues I had with my lack of eye of partridge in places and now my heel looks loverly. In the end, I added an extra 4 rounds to the heel gusset (total of 64 stitches instead of 60) to give me a much better fit without overly altering the pattern. Yea!

What I did during Earth Hour '08...

What?! Were you expecting something else?

Take My Class (Please!)

Michelle and I are co-teaching a class at In The Loop Café next Sunday (April 6th) called:

Photography for bloggers and ravelers - Improve Your Knitting Photography

Cost: 35 + Kit cost (TBD aprox $10) - includes a free drink.

Time/Date: Sunday April 6, 2 pm - 4 pm

Do you wish you took better photos of your knitting? Are you tired of washed out, blurry pictures of projects that you put hours and hours of hard work into? Are you confused by the buttons and features on your digital camera? Do you feel like your friends point and laugh at the photos you post to your blog or Ravelry account?

Take your knitting photography to the next level with this introductory course in basic photography techniques. Anyone can learn to take beautiful photos of their knitting and other craft projects, and you don't need a fancy or expensive camera to do it! In this hands-on course you will learn the basics of:

* Composition
* Lighting
* Focus

Bring your camera, the user manual (if possible) and a small knit project or two to practice on.

Sorry for the late announcement! I guess that's what happens when one is traveling for half the month. What's that saying? The path to hell is paved with good intentions? Whatevs.

I'm back!

Did you miss me? Or are you wondering who this person is who barely posts? Are you even reading this anymore? (Bueller? Bueller?)

Anyhoo, I have to say that the trip was awesome. I spend quality time with a friend in need, ate amazing food (natch!) and soaked up the sun when I could. I even came back with the slightest of tans. (Go me!)

Yes, that is a fried chicken sandwich. I'm drooling just thinking about it. Of course, I didn't take a picture of my favorite SF food, the burrito. But trust me when I say I enjoyed a few. If I'm stumped as why my pants no longer fit maybe you can remind me of that fact.

Unfortunately I had very little time for knitting, but I'm not asking for a pity party. I did have something like 10+ hours waiting in airports/airplanes, so I did get a little time for my favorite craft.

Behold, it looks like a sock!

Although don't look too closely at my heel. I was trying to multi task and my eye of partridge looks like normal knitting in a spot or two. Also the heel is really tight. I can get it on my foot but not without a little bit of a struggle. I'm trying to decide if I should rip it out or not.

Any thoughts?

more sunny pics

Thanks to all the Torontonians who reminded me why I moved to Canada. I think just sometimes one needs a break, you know? Sometimes you just need to see this:

Green grass!

And this:

Blue sky!

And of course, I had to get a mani/pedi:

Like little Easter eggs!

Shhh! It's quiet time.

I don't know about you (specifically the other folks who feel like they're living in The Ice Age: The Sequel), but with all the snow we've been having I don't know what to do when I look out my window and I see this:

Greenery! Hazard-free sidewalks!!

Actually, what I am doing is crying and rocking back and forth. But BESIDES that, I don't know what to do.

Especially when I left my house it pretty much looked like this:

Fetal position inducing shoveled walkway

Tell me again why I left California??!