Saturday, March 03, 2012

Will it be lion or lamb? Hmm..................

 This was the view on my road on March 1st so I'm thinking....................lion, right? Could go either way but I'm definitely leaning towards 'in like a lion'. If only the universe had made it a little easier to choose!  ;^)
(Here's to a lamb-like end-of-March!)

So definitely no walking outside for a bit until the snow melts (which it is doing today, matter of fact) but I had plenty of mail goodies to keep me company inside.

Lovely dishclothy and stitch marker gift goodness from Dee. LOVE IT! And the colors are perfect for me - purple AND lime. THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :)
I really do love a good cotton cloth to use around the house* but hate knitting with cotton (it makes my elbows weep in anger) so I never knit them very often and this makes me sad.

*the more you use them, the better they get until that day when, oops, they completely unravel from the middle or something because you've used it so much. lol

And then there was this.
ARGH! I got sucked into joining QPB.... again

We've doing this dance for yearsssssssss. Literally. Over a decade now! (For real.) They go 'Psst. I'll let you have all these books for $1 each  if you just promise to love me enough to buy one more over the next year' and I get ALL TWITCHY AND DO IT. And I buy the one extra book, immediately cancel the membership, they woo me for a couple more years and keep adding stuff to the deals to catch my attention (this also came with a Star Trek-y book light and an overnight bag) until, one day, OMG I'M DOING IT AGAIN. Repeat until one of is dead. Honestly, I don't know why they keep wooing me because I'm not good for any other purchases - surely this is not a good business model? It is what it is at this point, I guess. Plus, as much as I love my Kindle(s), I do still love an 'old fashioned' paper book. Books in general make me happy. 

I was particularly pleased to get the Grimm's one. I had one of those when I was kid and it was quite fascinating and...........odd. Almost creepy and very un-Disney-like. I watch that show Once Upon a Time and it renewed my interest in them, to the point where I just wish listed one on Amazon recently. I'm not sure it's good 'reading' material to just sit and read all in a go but I know I'll enjoy going through it here and there. I don't remember them verbatim from childhood but I remember snippets, like, someone stomping their foot through a floor and that being his downfall? (Rumpelstiltskin?) I should probably finish one (or all) of the 4-5 books I've already started though first, eh? lol

Well here's something that hasn't happened to me in a while! Mr. Man and his 'make the leg longer, longerrrrrrrrrrrrrr, longerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr' made me run out of yarn on these when doing the toe*. BAH! (I swear he'd be happy if I made a pair of socks long enough to pull right up to his flipping EARS! lol)

Oh well. A quick dive into my leftover bits came up with this heathered gray that blends in so well you probably wouldn't have noticed I had run out of yarn if I hadn't said anything!

*The yarn was generous enough for a normal sized pair of socks so the fault is all mine - on that count. I have to say though, this Paton's Kroy line is a total bust and I won't be using it again. It knits up nice and thick, cushy and wears well. Good price on it. etc. So what's the problem? ABSOLUTELY NO RESPECT FOR THE CONCEPT OF DYE LOT. This is the second time I've used it for socks, using matching dye lots for the two skeins, and both pairs of socks ended up wildly different. One clearly has more vibrant colors than the other and they match only in that 'kinda sorta if you blink' way. Last year with a pair for my mother and now these - same thing. Not cool. Dye lots are there FOR A REASON and the coloring is off WAY too much for a commercial yarn to be anywhere NEAR acceptable. Grrr!

Anyhoo. I think next I might tackle one of the Cookie A patterns that just came in with my red sock club yarn. I'm kinda askeered of them though. *gulp*
They come with five charts to work through. For ONE pair of socks. 0_o
I blurred this a little so you can't really read them but you don't need to read them to see the page after page after page of charts for the design. Wish me luck! Heheheh.

Off to catch up on blog reading! Have a great weekend, y'all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

21 comments:

Vickie said...

We have pretty white snow from yesterday right now too. It is melting. :) Never would have known you had run out of the yarn. :) http://astitchersstory.blogspot.com/

Margaret said...

Oh, I'm glad we didn't get snow. :D Bleagh! Love the socks -- definitely wouldn't have noticed the yarn added on the bottom. Good luck with those charts -- that's a lotta charts!

Beth said...

Snow is SO pretty!

Patty C. said...

Your photo is beautiful -fresh snow is always so gorgeous! Enjoy your books :)

Maggie said...

Never would have guessed there was a different yarn in those sock - they look really comfy.

I've seen photos of the dish cloths that Dee knits and they always look fabulous, lucky you for getting one to use :-)

The snow looks very pretty, we haven't really had any to speak of this year so thanks for sharing the lovely photo!

Catherine said...

Lovely snow picture! I am content with the little amount of snow we have had this season and am more than ready for spring!
Love the socks ~ I don't knit, so I think anyone who can do those is amazing!

Anonymous said...

It is in like a dragon here --- hot, hot, hot! But that is supposed to change to more seasonal temperatures tomorrow.

I'm glad you like the dishcloth and the marker.

As for your DH's socks? I LOVE that color. They are handsome!

Jackie's Stitches said...

THe picture of your road is just beautiful! I love snow on trees (not that I ever get to see it).

I didn't notice anything out of place at all in Mr. Man's socks. They're really nice!

Leslie said...

Those socks look pretty awesome to me. Still no snow in Baltimore ...I have.given up hope for snow this year. Gorgeous photo.

Anonymous said...

We're expecting snow tonight and I have that same Grimm's book. I bought it for my kids. I know exactly how you feel about being "wooed" into these torturous book clubs...lol They know how much we like to read and they pull on the right strings.

Sylvia said...

We hardly had any snow here this winter - it was a bummer. We did, though, have three weeks of excruciating cold due to a Siberian cold front. It was bad. So, I am ready for spring.

Great book selection you got there. I am 3/4 done with 11/22/63 and have enjoyed it so far. I cannot imagine what is going to happen in the last 1/4 of the book... it makes me nervous!! LOL.

Love the color of the socks, even though they may not match.

Julie said...

Your snowy scene LOOKS lovely, got me wondering what's at the end of the road.
Super socks, you would never know the toes were different wool.
God luck with the new socks, way beyond my sock knitting skills.

Carol said...

I hate to admit this, but I've actually missed having more snow around this year--it has been so gray and boring looking. That snow scene of yours is lovely, Melanie!

Ha ha! I actually got addicted to those book clubs years ago--too hard to resist! I hope you enjoy The Tiger's Wife more than I did :(

Great blending in making the socks longer, too! I would never notice any difference...Good luck with your newest sock project--I know it will be spectacular :)

Minerva said...

You would never know that you ran out of yarn! The colors are nice.
All of those books look intriguing. I'm sure you'll enjoy them. And yes, those Grimm brothers were a little creepy with their imagination.

Pumpkin said...

I'm hoping the same thing happens here. We had real snow for the first time but it's pretty much gone now.

I think the socks look fabulous! I wouldn't have known about the toes but you pointed it out. Honestly, they blend in perfectly!

valerie said...

What a gorgeous photo!!

I love Once Upon a Time but can't handle Grimm. It's so dark and always scares me. I'm a scaredy cat.

Your socks are totally gorg and I would never have noticed the dyelot issue if you hadn't noticed it! Can't wait to see your new sock start!

geeky Heather said...

LOL!! Tell Mr. Man you'll knit him some really freaking long socks if he'll wear a kilt to show 'em off. ;) Doesn't the dye lot thing make you want to throw them across the room?? I did that in Germany when it became clear the socks I was knitting were really two different colors. GAH! Threw. Them. Away! Then found the one-and-only yarn shop in the teeny-tiny town we were in. =)

Go go go with the Cookie A socks! You can doooo eeeeet!

Siobhán said...

Seeing that first picture has me singing, "Country roads take me home..." even though I know you don't live in WV! We are having rain and hail and my recycling bin has just blown over. Joy. :P

LOVE all the knitty goodness! Wonderful gift from Dee, and the socks look great.

Do you watch the show Grimm? It is lame sometimes, and the special effects are awkward, but I really like it. My husband rolls his eyes. We're waiting on Once Upon A Time to come to TV here. My daughters & I watched the first episode on the computer and loved it. I forget the old fairy tales, too--love the stack of books! There's just something about a stack of unread books that is just, I don't know, almost decadent.

Vinniey said...

Beautiful snow picture! Lovely gifts from Dee. Beautiful color of your socks. I didn't know there are two different colors because the blending is so well done. :)

Dani - tkdchick said...

Dee is such a sweetie, I have one of her lovely dishcloths too! Love it and knitted dish cloths... just don't knit!

I'm quite bad, I don't read as many books as I should considering my profession!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful snowpic!!
And I love them socks :)