SpringPlum

I am still on track for my one-gift-a-month goal which must mean that I finished Branching Out.

Bed-Time Bear was kind enough to lend his modeling services:

But here is a close-up of the actual stitch work:

I used KnitPicks Shadow in the Grape Jelly colorway.  I cast-on using the lace cast-on because I like the loops that droop along the bottom edge, I knit the pattern mostly as-is, only adding one stitch to either side on the garter stitch border (so I cast on 27 stitches instead of 25), and then I cast-off using the knitted loop bind-off to match the droopy loops of the cast-on edge.

I’ve still got my knee-highs on the needles.

The sock is relieved to have a heel because now it can actually be called a sock (or at least a socklet) in case of severe knitter attention loss.  Said knitter is now considering a new project and that scares the sock, but the knitter has not forgotten its intriguing pattern or bright jewel-like tones.  The knitter just likes to have 2 projects going at all times and has now gone 20 hours with only the sock.  (What Persephone Scarf?)

I’m moving my knitting related blogging away from Livejournal to here.  I will still keep that blog up and running to that I may keep in touch with my old college buddies, but as only a couple were at all interested in the fiber arts I decided to go ahead and create a dedicated knitting blog.  Many thanks to Matt who helped my export the past few months over from LJ; it wasn’t easy.  I knew apostrophes gave grammar students fits–apparently they also give xml files fits as well.

In the work world:  I had to tell a girl on Friday that she shouldn’t eat glitter to impress a boy.  For those who don’t know, I teach 10th and 11th graders.

In knitting:  I do here by avow that I will finish my Branching Out scarf this week to keep on track.  The track in question is my goal of completing one Christmas gift a month so that the holiday doesn’t hit me like a ton of bricks this year.

Matt is my hero. For Valentine’s Day, I got a dozen roses and this-

a ball winder! , no more hour long, tangly, tedious wool winding sessions =:>) Now, I can neatly wind a ball of yarn in just a couple of minutes. So I have been. Lots of it. Nothing takes the edge of my Jeep being in the shop–that’s right, my brand-new Jeep >:( –like winding sock yarn. Also, here is the progress on the Eyelet Links sock which felt very pretty today.

Two days ago, Dave and Linnea’s dachsund Keeva passed away while being prepped for a blockage removal surgery at the veterinarian’s office. She was born on St. Patrick’s Day, 2007, and died on St. Valentine’s Day, 2008.

No dog has ever been more loved than Keeva.

The day started off pretty good. The kids are doing a practice run-through of the TAKS tests this week. Because I don’t work for Dallas ISD, I’m not supposed to have anything to do with the tests, so I got to sit around and wait for either the kids to get finished or things to get so busy that the school needs me to do something anyway. Luckily, I had my handy-dandy knitting bag with me that contained my brand new sock-in-progress. Bored? Not me. I got paid to knit through 1st to the end of 4th yesterday and 1st to the end of 5th today. Life is nice indeed. This is what I’ve got so far.

Pardon the crappy quality–taken with my camera phone. Almost makes up for getting 3 inches down the sock, realizing there was a typo in the pattern (thanks a million Vogue), and having to rip back the entire thing Monday night. There were tears. But the day did not end so well. Dave and Nea’s dog Keeva is very sick. She and I had to take her to the emergency animal hospital where Keeva is still staying. Keeva was in shock and severely dehydrated; her body temp was so low that it didn’t register on the digital thermometer. The vet still isn’t sure from what. May have been an allergic reaction. So she’s staying overnight for observation and a fluid I.V. Poor puppy.

Today during 7th period, I overheard my students talking about how much they and their friends were purchased for. “Did you hear, Jose was bought for $100?!?” “No way! Servando only cost $60.” And so on. This is indeed a curious conversation to overhear, so I investigated. The high school I teach at decided it would be a good idea to hold a Valentine’s Day Dance (not weird, lots of high schools do that). Thomas Jefferson HS went a step further with a date auction. Where they sold people as (love) slaves. During Black History Month.