It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like....

Antarctica!!! Snow Snow Snow! We got another boatload of the stuff yesterday and we're running out of places to put it. We got stuck in the dooryard coming home yesterday because out whole neighborhood was unplowed and 7 inches of snow had fallen. What made it worse is that a wee bit of sleet fell first so there was nothing to get traction on under all that snow. But we persevered and managed to get it all cleaned up in record time and tucked into a huge crock-pot full of roast beast, potatoes, carrots, and pearl onions for our trouble. Man I love my crock-pot. There's nothing like coming in from the cold and finding dinner all done for you! Mr. Bee limits his portions because next-day-roast-beast- hash is his favoritest!

After supper we wrapped all of the presents. Some have to be sent off by UPS, some have to be hand-delivered and some will sit until after the first of the year when we go North for Christmas II in Marshfield. Mr. Bee and I cranked up the Barenaked Ladies Christmas CD and argued pleasantly about whether there is a need to wrap shirt boxes that already have a colorful holiday top or not. There were minimal mishaps with the sharp paper-cutting scissors and tape. All in all no bloodshed so it was a success.

I've been knitting but it's been a lot of stuff I can't post about until after the holidays. I am making a pair of purple and lilac mittens to go with my new winter coat though.Can't remember the name of the pattern but it's from Knitty. Hopefully they will be done in time to wear to Maine. We leave on Tuesday so it'll be close....as usual with my projects.

A friend has asked me to make two pairs of socks for her and her daughter after the Holidays. The yarn she picked out is from Hobby Lobby. Cameo Yarn Bee Super Bulky. It nice and soft and fuzzy acrylic. It'll make nice house socks , but I've never knit socks from that thick a yarn. I don't even know where to begin to find out what size needles and how many stitches I need to start. It's 3.5 oz and 142 yards. The yarn sleeve says to use size 13 needles, but I suspect that that is for a lacy scarf. HELP! Any ideas on how many to cast on and on what size. I normally cast on 64 on size twos and use regular wool sock yarn. If there's anyone out there with advice I'd surely appreciate it! I do hates me some Wicked Maths.

Aside from attacking the snow shovel in much the same manner he does the vacuum, Bentley has been behaving himself. His new buddy, Dale Harriet gave him an honest-to-goodness piggy ear to try and help him distinguish the taste of real pork from polyester piggy slippers.He snarked down the ear in record time and proclaimed it the food of the doggie Gods, but isn't a discriminating connoisseur and still covets the slippers. He tries to get in the closet every time the door opens and eyes Hank and Lefty with a glint in his eye and drool on his jowls. I think it's doggie extortion; a gimme the real thing and the slippers live sorta thing. Time will tell.

Off to knit more mittens...

Comments

Kitty Mommy said…
If you decide on a needle size and swatch for the socks, look here. There are several sock-u-lators (toe-up, top-down, different heels) near the bottom of the list that take gage and size info and do the Wicked Maths for you.
DPUTiger said…
I'm on Ravelry and can do a search for chunky socks if you'd like ... I love BNL. They're my favorite. We actually listened to Barenaked for the Holidays while trimming our tree earlier tonight.
Elizabeth said…
It sounds like you shouldn't use smaller than a 9 on that mega-fat yarn. And that will involve a bit of leverage to form those stitches. If you get the gauge to 4 st/inch, probably about 36 st for a cast on?

I bet Lion brand has a free pattern for super-thick socks.

You aren't making my Manly Mitts from Knitty, are you? Post a pic!
dale-harriet said…
YES! Elizabeth has it - there are some socks called "Knitted Cottage Socks" from Lion Brand; if you don't have the pattern let me know, I do and can get it to you. I'm jealous about your trip to Maine, will you tell me about it when you get home? Also -very glad to hear that Monsieur le Bentley enjoyed his sow's ear, that was a much better use than nailing it up at the shop, don't you think?
knitnzu said…
So do you have a favorite crock pot book? I've got one but don't use it as often as I'd like, partly because I don't have any good recipes and haven't gotten good at winging it yet. Lopi has a chunky sock pattern, but not sure if it's out on the net.

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