oh, what an exciting weekend I had! actually, it wasn't all that exciting. I didn't do anything out of the ordinary. it was nice to have a nice "normal" weekend, with nowhere to go, no one to see... just me dragging isa around with me as I ran errands and shopped for things we probably don't really need and lazing around the house when we got tired of running around.

friday night, I was watching dirty jobs, as usual, after isa was in bed. it's always entertaining, but this week's was especially great because our very own mike rowe went to an alpaca farm! here! in northern california! I was not aware there was an alpaca farm here in northern california (I'm sure there are tons), but aside from actually going myself, the best way to see an alpaca farm is through the dirty jobs lens. mike even spun alpaca fiber! I was way geeking out. also, pre-shearing alpacas are super cute. post-shearing, they are really ridiculous looking. poor guys. their necks are so skinny. like ostrich necks. haha. did you know they didn't have any upper teeth? just lower ones. I feel so edumacated.

so, we've all seen those knit bags they're selling at target now. but now they're also selling slippers! look at these things. $5.99! seriously, people. the knitting. it's everywhere. which is a good thing. because that means these guys are going to fit right in.
that's right! in the midst of my non-activity packed weekend, I managed to finish the crooked cable socks for my future sis-in-law. the second sock went off with no incident, until I got to the tubular bind-off, which probably shouldn't be done while watching the emmys. I realized that I must have bound the second or third stitch off the wrong way (after I'd done about 15 stitches) because it was coming out all wrong and off-set. taking out a tubular bind off is very very un-fun. my head is still throbbing.
pattern: crooked cable socks, by sockbug
yarn: knitpicks essential sock yarn in the pumpkin colorway, roughly 3/4 skein per sock
needles: knitpicks 32" us1 circulars
finished: august 27, 2006
notes: I pretty much just used the chart for this pattern. I didn't even really read the rest of it, but I think it was for cuff-down, but I did it toe-up magic loop, using a magic cast-on, sherman heel and a tubular bind-off. the instep was 2.5 repeats and the leg was 2. I did five rows of k1p1 ribbing for the cuff. the pattern was so easy to memorize, yet looks so "fancy" (as my brother called them). the yarn was nice and soft, but I had a lot of splittiness issues. I feel like it might have been made worse by the extra pointiness of the needles, actually. this was also the first time I cabled without a cable needle and the extra pointiness was great for that.

my very second pair of socks! also, I finally got to use my poorman's sock blockers. whee!