Yes, I've been knitting

Before I start: has anyone else had a problem with Blogger recently uploading photos in reverse order? Not that it's the end of the world, but I choose the photos in the order I'm going to write about them, it's an ingrained habit by now, and suddenly they're all reversed and I have to move them. Humph.

Oh well. It's certainly the smallest gripe on my current list!

In knitting news, I started the Happy Feet socks last Tuesday, and sock one is moving right along:


I'm using Charlene Schurch's book, Sensational Knitted Socks, and this is the Little Shell Rib pattern. I like how it's turning out, and I've got the 4-row repeat in my head by now.


I also love the colors and the squishy-ness of this yarn. I think it will, indeed, make my feet happy. (More so than the last pair, which are, really, too big. Warm, soft, and loose. Trying to do better this time.)

My other current project is the OpArt baby blanket from Knitty. I started it Saturday night, and found the beginning mind-bogglingly confusing. How do you cast on just 4 stitches and start knitting in the round?? That boing you heard was my brain snapping.

I kinda sorta got it going, but got confused really easily, messed up here and there, didn't "get it". I tried ripping back part way and going on again, but no, worse. Rip out and consult Ravelry. I'm not the only one who had trouble! In one of the forums, someone pointed to a Cat Bordhi video about knitting on two circs, and that helped immensely. It got me into the rhythm, and by the end of the evening, I had this:


It's not perfect, but I'm not aiming for perfect. How boring would that be?

I've worked on it since, and here it is now:


Growing, growing... Once you get going, the pattern is actually easy as pie. I find the juggling of the circs to be a little cumbersome, but that grows easier as there are more stitches to occupy the needles.

Of course, my needles being new means the cords are all coiled and don't want to straighten and have their own ideas about which way to turn when. Knitting tools, sheesh!

In other knitting news, I of course brought knitting to the hairdresser yesterday. The woman in the chair before me was having her hair colored, so she moved to the side while it was my turn, her hair full of goop, knitting a sweater for her grandson. Knitters everywhere!

I don't want to sound unobservant, but I've been going to the same salon forever, and I noticed something yesterday for the first time. Over the waiting area, there's a clock. Notice anything funny about it?


Yes, it's opposite the mirrored work area. In the mirror, it's a perfectly normal clock face. How funny is that? I can't believe I never noticed it before.