Domestic Bliss

As promised, Phillip tackled the Very Tall Hallway painting project this weekend:

Happy Father's Day Honey!  Now get back up there...

He did a great job, and now the project we have been dreading for six years is finally done.  While he worked on that, I finished these:

Fraternal Dogwoods!  I'm channeling my inner Lucy Neatby (she never wears matching socks.  Or shoes, for that matter).  I love how they look in this yarn.
 

And notice anything else in these pictures?  Yep, I'm doing the floors.  It's gonna take all summer, but what you see me standing on here is nothing less than a papier-mache floor.  It's really fun to do, and super easy.  It just takes a long time to apply and dry the 5 coats of varnish required.  And keeping children, Scotties, and husbands out of wet varnish is its own special form of exercise.  I'm doing one small area at a time so we can (allegedly) walk around the wet spot.  I'll keep you posted. 

This week I'm altering a friend's wedding gown, delivering a top-secret Lantern Moon project, papering the floor, and with any luck, banging out the final version of the Queen Bee edits.  I had to camp out online to hit it at the precise second it came available, but I actually scored a "Featured Pattern" ad on Ravelry.  Watch for it to appear on July 16!  The pattern will be available no later than that date.

Same thing we do every day:  Try to take over the world.  Without stepping in the varnish.

Oh Yeah, And I'm Still Knitting

This has been one of those weeks where it probably seems like I've abandoned the prime directive (i.e.; play with string).  Fear not, Gentle Readers!  I just can't talk about the main project because it has to stay under wraps until TNNA.  I'm allowed to give you a sneak peak though:

I found this cable in a Japanese stitch dictionary.  It's so sexy because it isn't really a cable at all:  Its yarnovers and decreases make it look like one, but it's technically a lace panel.  Awesome party trick, no?  And it doesn't hurt that the yarn I'm using is super-delicious.

There's also this!

I'm knitting along with the Dogwood knitters over on Ravelry (it's not too late to join us!)  These are my fraternal dogwoods, made from Barking Dogs Yarns "Opposites Attract".  How fun is that?  Socks that match, but don't.  I'm working 2 at a time on 2 sets of DPNs.  Which I realize is not really 2 at a time, officially, but still kinda feels like it to me.  One is ready to bind off, and the other is a couple of repeats behind it.  And yes, as you can see, I still have to follow the pattern, even though I wrote it.

The kids finished school this week (including Phillip; Kid In Chief), and are now officially in my bubble.  Phillip has ambitious plans to paint the upstairs hallway, which includes the highest point in our house (scary pictures to follow).  I'm hauling ass on three project deadlines, Black Sheep Gathering is only a week away, and I'm fighting the urge to tear all the nasty old floorcovering out of my house.  Yeah.  I know.  I've been possessed by a Big Fat Idea with regard to flooring, and I'm betting things get weird before that passes.  Stay Tuned as Hilarity Ensues.

Everybody Can Relax; I've Invented the Wheel

And now for a confession:  I'm a late arrival to the sock knitting party. 

For the longest time, the world of socks was a complete mystery to me.  I was focused on knitting that covers other body parts, and it seemed to me that there were SO many designers making socks exclusively (and brilliantly) that the world didn't need me to get interested in them.

Which is, of course, exactly when somebody asked me to design socks.  No grocery-needing knitwear designer can afford to limit the body parts they cover with yarn, so of course I agreed, and started cracking books.  The learning curve was steep, but not insurmountable.  I'm proud of the socks I've designed, and I've enjoyed sock-knitting as a palate cleansing activity that fits nicely in between larger projects. 

But last week, something weird happened.  I figured out how to make socks from the toe up.

I know.  It's like reporting the huge news flash that water is wet.  I have made the groundbreaking discovery that the Earth is Round.  I'm screaming with glee from the rooftops that socks can be made in the completely opposite direction from what I've done before, while the knitters below smile indulgently, and keep on walking.  Everybody else already knows this, but I am so excited to have finally figured it out.

And I made these!

Of course, when you try to take pictures of your own feet wearing new socks (toe-up or otherwise), the dog will think you have lost your mind and come over to offer an opinion:

I tried to explain it to him: "But they're TOE-UP!" I said.  Bailey remained unmoved.

Some people's pets are just too hard to impress.

"Dogwood" toe-up socks, with proper gussets and heel flaps.  Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight, in a Rare Gems colorway.  Click HERE for the pattern, to share my newfound joy.