Blogging and a Giveaway

I found an interesting website while blog surfing today. Y'all should visit http://www.5dollardinners.com to check out the lunchbag giveaway.

I'm annoyed with my blogrolling site at the moment. They are "retooling" their service and I can't make any changes on my blogroll right now. So I've got out-of-date and abandoned blog links in my sidebar and that bothers me. Even more troublesome is the thought of trying to rebuild the whole darn thing with another service such as bloglines. I don't want to spend hours working on this. And I have to admit, I'm not so much of a techno-geek. I don't understand RSS and all that stuff. I sometimes wonder if I've reached that point where my brain is saturated? Gotta dump some old knowledge before I can store something new. Or is it the thyroid deficient brain fog working here? 

Lots of quilting bloggers are making Block of the Months, or working on Mystery Quilts. I admire the dedication to group projects, but I've learned from past experience I don't have that same drive. I've got two or three not-finished mystery quilts in boxes somewhere. I quit working on one when I ran out of background fabric (that wouldn't stop me now) and another when I got behind on the cutting of bazillions of pieces for mini-9 patches. So I'm pretty much of a quilt-along failure!

We watched a movie today (we don't watch videos very often). It was one that my son recommended and my sister actually had it in her collection so we borrowed it. I don't know if I recommend it... I felt so sad after watching it.  "Into The Wild" was about a boy who took off on his own journey after finishing college. I can't tell you more without giving away the story, but its based on a true story and a real family. The photography was beautiful and the characters were charismatic. It was a very well-made film, so I'd give it 3 stars out of 4, based on my personal reaction.

I also nearly drove our dog Goofy crazy today, because I've been cooking. The smell of food just makes him insane! He would not settle down today - he paced and barked and did that thing where he lays his head on my lap and whines and looks at me, like he's saying "it smells so GOOD in here, pleeeeeze give me something to eat, PLEEEEEZE momma!"  LOL  It just cracks me up when he does that. I made brownies, then fixed homemade burritos and guacamole. (sorry, I didn't take pictures of it... Joe sucked it down pretty quick)

Knitting Update: the yarn in my Basket Check Socks is something I purchased several years ago from an indie dyer who sold her yarns on Ebay. The seller's ID was Lotusblossom and I think the yarn was called Twinkletoes. I am pretty sure she's not as active dyeing and selling on Ebay at the current time, so I'm glad I stashed her yarns back when I did (before I even learned to knit socks). I don't know what she even called the color I'm using now, and I'm pretty sure its not superwash so I'm going to have to handwash these socks.

To create the Eye of Partridge heel - (as written by Charlene Schurch)

rows 1 & 3 (wrong side of heel) k2 (knit 2 stitches), p to end of row (purl remainder of stitches on heel flap)
row 2 - (right side of heel) p2 (purl 2 stitches), then k1 (knit 1 stitch), slip 1 purlwise, (repeat k1, sl1) to the last 2 stitches, k2 (knit the last 2 stitches)
row 4 - (right side of heel) p2 (purl 2 stitches), then sl1 purlwise, k1 (knit 1 stitch),(repeat sl1, k1) to the last 2 stitches, k2 (knit the last 2 stitches)

you are knitting/purling the first 2 stitches of each row to create a little garter stitch edge on the edges of the heel flap, and on the right side of the heel flap you alternate rows of k1, sl 1 and sl 1, k1. You always purl across the back side after knitting the first 2 stitches. 

Your heel flap is usually half as many stitches as your cast-on, so for a 64-stitch sock, your heel flap will be 32 stitches. You want the heel flap to be basically square, so you would knit 32 rows for a 32-stitch heel flap. Likewise, a 72-stitch sock will have a 36-stitch heel flap and 36 rows. Therefore, the EOP heel will be worked in 8 repeats of the 4-row stitch pattern for a 32-stitch heel flap, or 9 repeats for a 36-stitch heel flap. After working the heel flap, you work the heel turn. Starting on the wrong side (row 1), slip 1, then purl 17 stitches (for a 64 stitch sock) or 19 stitches (for a 72 stitch sock) (the formula is 1/4th the number of total stitches + 1), then p2 together, p1, and turn. On the right side (row 2), slip 1, knit 5 stitches, ssk, k1, turn. There will be a small gap between the working stitches that form the heel stitches and the unworked stitches. On the wrong side again (row 3) slip 1, then purl to within 1 stitch from gap, p2 together, p1, and turn. On the right side (row 4) slip 1, then knit to within 1 stitch from gap, ssk, k1, and turn. Continue rows 3 & 4 until all stitches have been worked, ending on row 4. Now you're ready to pick up the stitches on the garter edge of the heel flap!  

I hope I've made that clear - if not, I am sure there are good instructions somewhere on hthe interwebs! :)

Now, back to knitting my sock...

Comments

[Robin]

thanks for the lesson -I will try it

[Susan Fields]

You are quite the busy lady. Love those yellow socks...........

[Rian]

I loved that movie Into the Wild.