Jaywalkin' Thru Oklahoma

So I had a busy day today. As you should know, I'm a lawyer. What you might not know is that the bulk of my work is through a non-profit organization that provides free legal services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and/or stalking. My law partner, Eric, and I cover the entire northeast corner of Oklahoma, which, unfortunately in this age of high gas prices, results in our driving around a lot.

Today we had court in Delaware and Ottawa counties, and, as always, we tried to stack as many clients in those areas as we could. We ended up working on six clients today, and since I am trying my hardest to complete a pair of Jaywalkers for a graduation gift (by a week from today--yikes!), I decided to bring along the sock I was knitting for the ride. It had quite a journey....

So here we are on the road from Jay to Miami. When you live in Oklahoma, you get used to sights like this. People are always trying to use religion to sell their products. Here, Eric is asking the Auto Aution gods for help in completing the Jaywalkers on time.

The big cowboy just called out for a picture.

Here's the sock on the dash, hanging out with the two essential tools for a road-tripping lawyer--the cell phone and the iPod.

Here's the sock with Madelyn, the perpetually friendly and cheerful court reporter, who, along with Susan and Judge Reavis, make Ottawa County my favorite county to practice in by far.

The sock prosecuting the case of The Grotesque Gauge. The issue at bar: Frog or Not Frog.

And here's the sock at the county jail, where we had to serve some divorce papers on an (alleged) abuser. They wouldn't let me take any more interesting photos inside the jail, but the deputy sure was cute!

Both the Jaywalker and I had fun with our trip today, and next time, I promise more pictures of things like the alpaca farm and the World's Largest McDonald's. It was just too rainy today.

And for fun, my emergingly beautiful Pomatomus.

Promising Pomatomus Progess--And A Storm!

So we had a little thunderstorm here in Tulsa this afternoon, which is great for drought-stricken Oklahoma.









I love thunderstorms, but this one got kind of scary really fast, but my favorite local weather guy wasn't worried, so neither was I. The picture above is what it looked like right before it started raining. And please note, this was not a nighttime storm--this was at a quarter til two in the afternoon.

The picture at right is the tree in front of my house. The rain was just pouring down.

I finished knitting the crazy striped socks meant for my sister, finally. Just your basic sock pattern with Regia self-striping yarn on size 1 needles. I tried really hard to make them identical twin socks, but despite my best efforts, they are fraternal twins. *sigh* Eddie certainly seems to like them though.

A little bit of indulgence this afternoon. I got some Koigu Painter's Palette yarn for some new socks. I don't know what the color is, but it looks nice in my bathroom!

And, finally, Pomatomus progress. I'm just about done with the first of three pattern repeats, and, knock-on-wood, it seems to be progressing nicely at this point. I know I have made some mistakes along the way, specifically with not keeping my knits and purls lined up the way they were supposed to be, but I don't think the mistakes are noticeable, and I pledge to pay better attention with Repeat Number 2! And because I've gotten a few questions about it, the yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Spanish Moss.

Do Pomatomus(i?) and Frogs Mix?

They do if you're my skein of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock! I've tried this pattern twice now. The first time I ripped back from Row 2 of the pattern. The second time I got to Row 5 before it all fell apart. I think what's giving me problems are the yarnovers at the beginning of each needle. When I get to the yarnover in the middle, I don't have a problem. If anyone has any advice about how to better handle it, I'd appreciate it.

And if there's someone in Tulsa who has done this pattern and would like to give me a lesson, so much the better!

On the plus side, my STR was in my mailbox today, so that's exciting. And tempting. Gotta get the Poms done first!

And just for fun, a shot of a rosebush in my backyard, sort of in bloom.

Whee! Cascading Leaves--Done!

And here they are in all their glory, er, in my kitchen. Ta dah!

I just can't believe how quickly the second sock went. I started it Sunday morning, and just finished the toe decreases this morning before work. Amazing!

I think they turned out so pretty, I just love the pattern. It's easy to follow, and the results are impressive. Not bad for my second ever pair of socks, huh?

If you're interested in that sort of thing, these were made with Gems Pearl Merino in crabapple on a set of 5 size 2 dpns.

Now I just don't know what to work on until my mail-order stuff gets here. I've been wrestling with a scarf pattern from the oddly-shaped scarf book (I can't remember the title). I bought the yarn for it a while ago, but was never able to make much progress on it. Then last week that book was featured on Knitty Gritty and they showed how to make this particular scarf, the one with the crossovers.

Well, I've been trying to make it work, watching the video over and over, but I just can't get my crossovers straight. So I got frustrated and gave up for now.

I probably should get started on the second sock for the pair that's going to my sister. It's so very boring though. Hmmm. I'll have to think about it for a bit.

Ah, If Only

If only it were this easy to duplicate a finished sock....

Yes, I finished the first of the pair last night, which means I went from working the ribbing on Wednesday to completely finishing, Kitchener and all, Friday evening.


Below is a photo of Cascading Leaves with leaves that have yet to cascade.

And, yes, I have already cast on for the second sock.

I know it LOOKS like I'm only knitting pink socks, but I have actually just this week ordered some black sock yarn from knitpicks, some Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Spanish Moss, AND some STR in Marbles. Can't wait for all of those to get here. I will post pictures when they do, of course.

And it was just a few weeks ago while yarn shopping with Sue that I remarked, "I would NEVER pay $20.00 for a pair of socks!" Guess I should know by now, never say never.

Anyway, I don't know yet what I'm going to do with the STR, but I'm making some socks for me with the black yarn, maybe in Cascading Leaves again because it's a totally fun pattern. The Cherry Tree Hill is for the Pomatomus Knit Along, which I'm hoping is not going to be beyond my skill set. I've got the pattern printed, but I'm not sure what's the best way to follow a chart like that, so any suggestions, tips, or hints would be greatly appreciated.

Also, suggestions on what to do with the STR would be fun, so send 'em in!

First Pair of Socks

This is my first ever pair of socks with my darling mini schnauzer, Elly. We have another dog, a fifty-pound Australian Shepard mix, but you'll never see her. She's camera-shy for some reason, and won't be in the same room with one. You can even hold your hand to your face and squint and make a sound like you're taking a photo, and she's off like a shot. Very odd.

But Elly's a very placid, easy-going dog, and she doesn't mind having her picture taken, even though she looks supremely irritated right here, but I think that's because I woke her up.



Here's a better photo of the socks, made with cascade Fixation, also purchased at Fringe in downtown Tulsa. And I absolutely have to acknowledge the wildly talented and creative Sue, my knitting mentor, who guided me through every step (ha ha, no pun intended) of the creation of these socks. I could never have done it without her, and I never would have even attempted it if not for her assurances that it really looks more complicated than it was, and that I could do it. And you know what? She was right.

Cascading Leaves...Progress

Amazing what a couple of hours can do.
The pattern gets so much easier to follow the more rows I do, and it's fascinating watching the pattern emerge.

My only regret is that I promised these babies to my mom....But I am thinking this pattern would be mighty fine in the pale green cashmerino.

Socks and Taxes

Little bit of progress on the Cascading Leaves. I'm on Row 7 of the first pattern repeat. One thing I'm finding kind of discouraging is that it's difficult to know if you're doing it correctly because the pattern takes so long to emerge.

I did, however, take the advice of a very smart knitter and wrote each pattern line on an index card, then looped them together. It seems to be working well for me.

I was working on these this afternoon while my business partner was working on our tax return, which, as everyone knows, is so very dull. So I made some progress and plan to work on it more this evening.


And, just for fun, a photo of my sock yarn stash. I've got pale blue Cascade Fixation, more Regia self-striping, in blues this time, and pink, white, and black self-striping, which I think will be really fun to work on.

All this yarn, plus the green baby cashmerino, is so tempting, but I'm really trying to stay focused on Cascading Leaves.

Sock Block

These socks, made with Regia self-striping yarn, are going to be for my sister. I was just kind of making them with no particular person in mind, then I took them with me to my nephew's soccer game last Saturday and my sister said she wanted them.

So I finished the first one, and I have yet to cast on for the second. I'm more interested in Cascading Leaves right now, so it may be a while.

Isn't that one of the cardinal rules of socks: Always cast on for the second sock as soon as you finish the first. *sigh* The thought of all that stockinette stitch is just too much for me right now, I guess.

Skinny Scarf

And here's the looong, skinny, garter-stitch scarf I finally finished. I bought the yarn four years ago, right before I gave up knitting. So when I decided a couple of months ago that I wanted to start again, I was going through all my knitting stuff and found this yarn, along with the receipt dated four years ago.

I'd always loved this yarn and thought it was beautiful, so I promptly started knitting it up. I tore it out several times because I wasn't getting the right effect. I finally switched to size 10 needles and kept it real skinny, and I love the final product.

I finished it literally the day before our last cold snap and got to wear it once.

First Project Ever!

This is the very first thing I ever knit. It was about five years ago, right before my nephew Noah was born. It's supposed to be a basketweave pattern, but there are lots of mistakes in it, which, fortunately, the multicolored yarn hides.

Noah used the blanket all through babyhood, and his little brother used it too when he came along. I guess I should have made Ethan one too, but I had given up on knitting by the time he was born. (Picture of the boys at left from down at Grand Lake last summer. Just so you can see how cute they are.)

I brought the blanket home with me because it was unraveling in some places and my sister wanted me to repair it. I fixed up the unravalled stitches and took the opportunity to repair all the stitches I had dropped during the knitting process. Or at least I camouflaged them.

Cats and Crafts

Welcome to my craft closet. This closet used to be a huge mess with tons of miscellaneous junk all over until one Sunday I got inspired and spent 5 hours cleaning it out. I threw lots of stuff away and found lots of other stuff to donate. All in all it was an exhausting project, but so worth it in the end.

The little orange guy is Oliver, our 7-year old orange tabby. He's happy in this picture because he's usually not allowed in the closet. I made an exception this time because I thought he looked so cute there.

Cascading Leaves....Eventually

This is the start of a pair of socks I am making for my mom with Gems Pearl merino yarn. I'm going to attempt the Cascading Leaves pattern, which should be interesting. I've never tried anything this fancy before, so we'll see how it turns out. If anyone has any good tips on how to make sure you're staying on the right line of the pattern, please let me know. I have the feeling it's going to be a challenge.

St. Patrick's Day Socks

The plan for this yarn is a pair of St. Patrick's Day socks because I don't own anything else green, and I'm tried of getting pinched. The yarn is Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino in a really wonderful soft green, which I got at Fringe, a lovely, cozy little yarn shop in downtown Tulsa. This picture doesn't really do it justice.