I think someone is pulling up the driveway...

Pattern: the ever infamous Monkey Socks by Cookie A from knitty.com

Yarn: Zen Strings Serendipity in Hopi.

Needles: Addi Turbos 40"circ in size2

Cast on: Feb 28 Bind off: March 16

I so love these socks. My only regret is that I do not {yet} own a 40" size1 addi turbo circ. I use the STR mediumweight on the size2's, but for this Serendipity lightweight, the size1's would have been perfect. Plus, now that I am getting more experience, I find that my knitting is getting looser. I guess my fingers realized that I do not have to death clutch the knitting; it is not going to fall off on its own. As you can see from the color choice I made, I love bright colors. Muted colors bore me. I have been trying to force myself to work on the Seven Deadly S(p)ins socks. I just finished the ribbing and am moving into the actual pattern, and it is starting to get interesting. The socks seems exceptionally loose.

So as the title of the blog post states, "I think someone is pulling up the driveway..." But they are not. It is 9 degrees F below zero. The equinox is today, we are now on the teetering edge of spring. There is always a hope for warmer weather here in the Interior. It was light enough to see everything around you at 9:15 last night. Dark by 9:30p. The gaining light is heaven-sent. Civil twilight begins at 6:56 AM, ends at 9:01 PM Nautical twilight begins at 5:56 AM, ends at 10:03 PM Astronomical twilight begins at 4:45 AM, ends at 11:15 PM. Basically, Civil twilight: "Suns gone". Nautical twilight: "It's dark". Astronomical twilight: "Wow, star. The Northern Lights are gorgeous tonight." But getting back to the blog title, at this temperature, I can hear, clear-as-day 1/2 mile away. I can hear the neighbor down the road, across the street telling his wife that he is picking up a pack of smokes while getting into his car. I hear the trucks turning onto Goldsteam road and keep thinking that someone is pulling up into property. Not so annoying for me, but because of this, the dogs are driving me crazy! Barking at every turning car, alerting me to trespassers and in their minds: potential attackers needing to be warned that this is their dog territory. Not needing to be said, but being said anyway, "The damned dogs are driving me crazy!" I have been jumping up and down every five minutes to verify there is no one come up and knocking on the door, or just trespassing on private property. I have at least one trespasser every day this week. Living at a Historic Place is difficult at times. Always people ignoring the signs and coming out anyway. Ahhh!

Pattern: Log Cabin Socks by Anne Woodbury from handknit Holiday

Yarn: Lamb's Pride worsted in khaki

Needles: Brittany size5 dpn.

Cast on: March5 Bind off: March9

These were a "oh shit, Trisha's birthday is next week" and I could spend some of my sock yarn money, or.... I could knit some socks. Guess which won? Needless to say, I grabbed one of the discarded skeins of the Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted that didn't make the cut for color choice for the Central Park Hoodie I have been dreaming about jumping into. The color is very muted and the socks will be very warm. The size5's ultimately were too small. The Lamb's Pride is slightly thicker than the Dream in Color Classy I first knit up the Log Cabin pattern with. That, and the Lamb's Pride tighten in the wash instead of loosened up. Feeling guilty (come on, how do you feel guilty for giving handknit socks? whatever...) about giving 100% worsted weight wool to someone in March, I also threw in my Jan/Feb STR Rockin Sock Club Serendipities in Dragon Dance, so that my dearest sister can have a pair of summer socks as well as some winter one's. Oh, those and a check for $50. I had to seal the bag before I started throwing in more. It is all guilt driven for living so far away from all of my family. Michigan is so far away from Alaska. So painfully, painfully far away and I miss them all dearly. But socks help mask the pain. And I had to call to see if she would say anything. She loved them. I feel relief.