Every Rose Has Its Thorn

really cool plants in the Conservatory at Longwood Gardens

On Thursday, my father and I drove to Virgina to help my mother clear 15' of 'road' in the middle of her 12 wooded acres.

We left at 9:30pm for a five hour drive.

I did, however, discover that I have very good aim with an ax. And that it is very weird to look in your review mirror and see a severed tree trunk floating in midair ... and that it is chained to the back of your pick-up truck.

for some reason, the shadows from the other side of this window caught my eye

I also learned how to change the alternator in a 1999 F-350 Diesel truck, should anyone ever need any assistance in that way. And that if your headlights slowly dim while driving, odds are good that your alternator is going and that you won't make it very far before the vehicle will shut down all on its own. And that such an event can cause your departure time to shift from 8pm on Saturday to 2pm on Sunday.

star lights that looked a little less cool in person.

Also, they make me think of Ikea.

All in all, I would call it a successful weekend as we got a lot of work done with the trees and no one was killed. In this family, spending 48+ hours with each other and no fighting is a major accomplishment.

The Christmas knitting continues - I will need to write another FO post for the pair of fingerless mitts, and I also need to finish up the second pair of socks. I'm on the toe of the first sock, so there is hope. Something won't be finished in time, but I think that shall be my father's hat and he'll just have to deal.

Magically lit berries.  It was beautiful out that night, if cold.

A few random observations:
1. Cats always Know when you are making the bed, and appear out of no where. I swear that I had checked the room for kitties and shut the door, certain that there were none present. Somehow, they made it through the closed door to jump up on the bed and "help."

2. It doesn't feel like Christmas without finals and papers and school. Nothing to really look forward to, other than Christmas in and of itself. And while I like the holiday, it isn't my favorite.

3. Winter sucks. Somehow, I forget every year that I get the Blahs around this time, thanks to the whole day-light savings, shorter days and longer nights, wet winter weather, and the stress of the holidays. Having remembered that this is actually normal for me, I'm finally starting to shake it off, but you'd think I could figure that part out as it happens every year.

4. The smell of a kitteh who has been outside for a while is wonderful when you're curled up and drifting off to sleep.

5. The kitten's paws still smell like popcorn.

Finished Object: Monkey Socks

I'm currently pissed off, frustrated, tired, and so the negative-emotions list goes. So pictures:

The Specs:
Pattern: Monkeys by Cookie A. 
Yarn: Classic Elite Yarn's Alpaca Sox.



Color: Number 1856, lot 5346 - Greens, blues, a bit of purple, and some PINK.
Needles: Knit Picks nickle-plated DPNs, US Size 1ish.
Start to Finish: Uh... Some time in the fall of 2009 to November 28th, 2009.  



For: My mother, for Christmas 

Notes:  I did these toe-up, using the star-toe from the New Pathways for Socks book.  Garter stitch heel because I didn't want to be bothered trying to hide the wraps.  Not sure about the ribbing at the top - I wanted to try to keep the flow of the money pattern, and I think it works.  Had a hard time binding off loosely, so I did a round of yarn over, knit two together, a plain knit round, and then a bind off that involves knitting two stitches, then knitting them together.  It works, and mom won't care.  Not sure I like the way the yarn stripped, but mom likes it, so who cares?  They might be a mite short in the foot, but that's the problem with this pattern.  Not all that adjustable.

Camera Obscura

Really, I need to get off my lazy butt and take pictures. And then find the 12-in-1 card reader and upload them to the computer. To upload them to the internet.

No wonder I'm so lazy. Too many steps involved!

But there is a finished pair of Monkey socks, toe-up, in yummy alpaca, that need to be photographed. The ends are already woven in and everything.

There is nearly a finished pair of fingerless gloves, but I'm gonna have to break into the second ball of yarn to finish the last inch or two of the hand and to knit the thumb. And then weave in the ends.

And then knit a second pair, and fine-tune the pattern that I made up on the fly. Or I could just buy a third ball and call it even. I think the yarn is like, $4 a ball. I can afford that. I think.

Also, pictures of the fornicating reindeer hat. And I need to cast on a second pair of socks, which are a Christmas gift for a not-family member. Which means they actually need to be done somewhat on time.

Good thing I have dad's new toy to play with, then ... a Canon EOS Rebel Ti1. Or something like that. Pictures tomorrow, I think. For tomorrow is play-with-new-toy day!