I'm Melting!

I haven't been doing much of anything lately except trying to stay cool...and that's not been an easy thing to do. For the past, well, I don't know how long, it's been hot. Hot as in the air conditioner hasn't quit in weeks. Hot as in the dog won't even go outside. In other words, hot in the biblical hellish sense.

It's getting to the point where it's almost laughable it's so hot. And dry. It's too hot to mow the lawn, but that's ok because we haven't had any rain to make the yard grow. However, there are some fools in the neighborhood with lovely green lawns. You've got to be kidding! They're going to have to mortgage their house to pay the water bill. Plus, why would anyone water their lawn just so they can mow it when it's 100 stinkin' degrees at 7:00pm?? I kid you not, tonight it was 100 STINKIN' degrees at 7.

This doesn't mean I haven't been playing with yarn and fiber. I dyed another batch of yarn, this time in a pink/terra cotta/chestnut brown combination. It looks good. I learned a few more things, but I feel I'm getting better a better feel for the whole process. One word: Patience.

I cast on a Jaywalker sock (there's a link in a July post I think) in some of my hand-dyed purple, blue and teal. I'm using my new Knitpicks DPNs. Oh. Oh. Oh. Totally dreamy. This yarn is knitting up so much better than I anticipated. It's striping really well with no puddling (so far). Let's discuss the kitchener cast on. What a bitch! First of all, you have to cast on all at once. Do not put your work down to answer a "hey, mom!" summons. Start over. Do not drop a stitch in the first row. It's totally impossible to pick up a dropped stitch. Start over. Then I crossed my stitches at the join like a total idiot. Start over. (Hint, use bamboo DPNs, or something slow, for the kitchener cast on, then switch to the fast needles.) I can't tell you how many attempts I made, but the final result is quite nice. However, I'm starting to stress over the second sock. Will it look as good?

No photos to post because it's...just...too...dang...hot.