skittermagoo!

Two weeks?!

My god it's been a long time since I posted! Wow. And I don't even have a good excuse like being at Rhinebeck or anything.

I was going to do a filler post with that "needs" meme that is going around, but it seems that there is a semifamous person out there in the world whose actual name is Chris Needs, so when I tried to google it, all it came up with were references to him/her. So that was a bust.

So anyway, I have pictures and stuff from a week ago that I was too lazy to post, so I'm going to just write it up as if it were today -- it's an October Time Warp Entry, if you will.

So today the coolest thing happened at work! Sometimes I am presented with a rare opportunity, and often I don't take it and then I regret it later. This was not one of those cases!

I was on another part of campus doing an errand when I happened to look out the window at a bit of landscaping (they do a good job at this where I work) . . . and I noticed that the shrubs looked like they were fluttering. My first thought was that I needed my eyes checked (or that maybe I should cut down on the Zyrtec), but then I realized that it was real!

The Monarchs have arrived!!

Yep, Dallas happens to be smack dab in the middle of the Monarch butterfly migration path, and every few years we get what one might call a bumper crop. There used to be bigger swarms (ugh, maybe that's not such a pleasant word for something that involves butterflies), but in the past few years the numbers of Monarchs has been kind of meager. I saw a Monarch in my backyard the other day, but none since.

ANYway, I kind of went back and forth over whether to go back to the lab and get my camera, or to wait (I had an experiment running, and reasoned that I could wait until tomorrow). But then I realized about the whole missed opportunity/regret thing and decided that the science could wait, and that I should seize the moment.

There were hundreds, maybe thousands of butterflies flitting around the flowery shrubs -- everywhere you looked you got an eyeful of Monarch! I took about 60 shots, but most of them turned out bad -- the butterflies move pretty fast, and even if you ask them to hold still, they usually pretend they didn't hear you.

Here are a couple that are in focus(ish) . . .

And just because I think they are really cool, another picture.

One of the coolest things about this is that when I went back up to get my camera, I gathered three of my coworkers to come out with me, but didn't tell them why. So when they saw the butterflies, all three of them went, "gasp" all at the same time! Hee!

And possibly the best part about it? I really did capture something special -- the next day when I walked outside, the Monarchs were gone.

Until next year.

Where's my cold front?

It was 92 degrees (F) today in Dallas.

We're supposed to get a cold front tonight.

Tomorrow the predicted high will be 62 degrees (F).

I can't wait!

(not that I have any handknit sweaters to wear or anything.)

Lizards!

Yesterday we had An Event chez Skittermagoo, one that involved a lizard.

I was sitting on the sofa contemplating making a grocery list when I realized that it was kinda dark in the room. So around I went, opening curtains in the living room, when I noticed a brown lizard on one of the window screens.

Now, this isn't an unusual circumstance, oh no. I love the lizards that hang out on our house, hopefully eating the mosquitoes that I loathe so much.

So I call Abby over, thinking that she might like to look at a lizard. Cats sometimes do. And she did. A lot. Big fun in the world of the housecat!

Then I noticed that Mr. Lizard (who I will call Eddie. Get it? Eddie Lizzard?) was not on the outside of the screen, as I originally thought, but instead was caught in between the screen and the window. Oh. And he's kind of a big guy (as far as our house lizards go), so how is he going to get out? And how did he get in? (Did he wander in as a small lizard and grow until he wouldn't fit out?) At this point Abby is pretty excited, and wants to Get that lizard SO BAD. So I can't open the window from the inside without her Getting him. And I don't want that to happen. Partially because he eats bugs, but mostly because I don't really want a lizard on the inside my house.

Hmmm.

So I went outside to see if I could set him free from the screen side. Because I'm really sort of worried that he got in there ages ago and has no way out at his size. And then I realized that I should be blogging this, and went back inside for my camera. Hey, it wasn't like Eddie was going anywhere, right.

Okay. Got the camera. Back outside, with poor Eddie trapped inside the screen between me and Abby (who still desperately wants to Get him). The screen is really secure. Which, don't get me wrong, is a very good thing -- secure screens on the windows of the house are great. But in this case, not so good -- I can't figure out a way to free the little brown guy. Who is now starting to look a little green (Jeez Louise, I hope he's not about to vomit or something. Do lizards vomit?).

Here's what he looked like in "trapped mode".

can you see him, all huddled into the edge of the window screen?

So finally through some fiddling and bending (hey, it's my house, I can bend the window screens if I want to!), I managed to make a gap large enough for Eddie to slip through. And then spent the next 5 minutes trying to coax him towards the gap.

Finally, he went free, and at this point was bright green! I apparently have a Color Changing Eddie at my house. (update: upon further research, Eddie seems to be a green anole)

I tried to get a good shot of him scurrying up the chimney, but he moved really fast, so all I got was a crappy far-away shot -- I hope you can see him!

Fast! Green!

Poor Abby is still pacing in front of the windows looking for lizards. I hope that the next one is outside the window screen!

Sock thoughts

So, yesterday I finished my first pair of toe-up, both-socks-at-once socks . . .

block me, please for wool's sake, block me!

And I think I really like them! They were knit from Knitpicks Sock Garden, in the Daffodil colorway. I picked that colorway when I ordered because Daffodils are one of my favorite flowers! I may have to plant some in my yard, even though I don't think they grow well here. Just for the record, the cuffs are k3p2 rib, which is an idea I stole from my knitgrrrl NanC.

The instructions I was following (pretty loosely, as I'm a loose and brave knitter, apparently) were from the Queen Kahuna sock book.

Anyway, along the way I got several queries about how I liked knitting socks from the toe up, and what I thought about doing both at once, my opinions on the two circs as opposed to two circs, what about that short row heel, etc, etc. So I thought I'd make a blog entry out of it! (good lord, we know I need some blog fodder lately anyway! Can we say Infrequent Entries, y'all?).

So, being the sciencey-type I am, I thought I would take a sort of reductionist approach to the whole gimish.

As with everything on this blog, this is all my own opinionated opinion, and should not reflect poorly on any other knitter's choice of knitting protocol or preference. Do what works for you, and take my crap with a big grain of salt. Question Everything.

Toe-Up vs. Cuff-Down

At risk of sounding like a diplomat, I like both methods. The toe-up is cool because you can really try it on as you go (and decide how long the cuffs are at the end of the trip), and it's kinda neat watching the sock grow upwards. That said, it was kind of difficult for me to gauge where to start the heel, at least the first time around. I blame part of that on the instructions I was following (they were wrong), but part of it really needs to be blamed on my lack of common sense*. Also, the bind-off method I used was a bit, ahem, binding when pulling the sock on over my heel. Doable, but not very stretchy. But on the whole, I think I like the toe-up better. This may be based mainly on the fact that I like my socks on the "short cuff" side, so the foot part is the longest part of the sock.

The Heel, or "To flap or to short-row"

Hmmmm. Again, I'm on the fence just a little bit. The heel flap/heel/pick-up gusset thing feels familiar to me, so it's comfortable. But the short-row heel is cool. Some of you may remember my previous difficulty with the short-row heel, but this time was good. I love the way this particular heel looked the same on both sides, and had no holes at all. The instructions were easy to follow, I do think that the heel turned out a bit pointy (the pattern says to short-row down to 1" worth of stitches), and in the future I will probably modify that to make a less pointy heel by reducing the short-rows down to 1.5" or 2". (Notice the use of "I will". Telling.). But all in all, I love this heel. Advantage short-row. Though I do love the flap/heel/gusset thing, and picking up gusset stitches is so much fun.

Multiplicity, or knitting two socks at once

The pros to this, in my mind are thus: a)When you are done, you are Done. Both socks are finished and there is no "Second Sock Syndrome". b) Both socks are exactly alike, without that pesky counting rows thing that all my knitting friends ridicule me about. Cons: a) Slow. Even though you're knitting both socks at once, and the net time spent is probably the same, it seems soooo sloooow. (half a bonus point to the fact that you get to turn both heels at roughly the same time, which is big fun). b) Not as portable as one measley sock. You gotta tote around both socks plus both yarn balls, which doesn't seem like much, but if you are knitting in an enclosed space or in a doctors office waiting room, it can get cumbersome.

Double vision, or "one circ or two"

For the same reason as "b" above (in cons), one circ is preferable to two if portability is your game. But other than that, no big whoop to use two rather than one. Unless you are on a budget, in which case you might want to save the cost of the second needle for yarn instead of, say, second sets of needles. Especially if like me, you really like Addi Turbos.

And just to make sure that I post again soon? A teaser. Next time there will be talk of lizards or wine. Or maybe both.

*Instead of blindly following directions that say "start the short row heel at this point", it's best to measure your gauge, decide how many rows your heel will be (half of total stitches minus final number of stitches on the heel), and figure out how many inches (or centimeters) that is. Subtract that from the measurement of your foot length, and ta-da! You know how many inches (or centimeters) of foot to knit before starting the heel. I know, total Greek, but drink a glass of wine and then reread it, and it might make sense. Or not.