I went to Adela’s Yarn in Castro Valley looking for some yarn to mix in with the greenish scarf. Right before I left, I remembered, “I want to knit socks,” so I looked at the sock yarn. I had never been there before and it was near work, so I just had to check it out. I ended up leaving with some handpainted Schaeffer Yarn Company “Lola” yarn. It is a light worsted 100% superwash merino wool. I figured some fat yarn would be good for a first pair of socks. I’m not sure $25 wool is a good choice for a first pair of socks, but hey, now I’m determined to make them wearable. And I liked the colors. I thought of going with a blue and green yarn, but this yarn seemed to be more fun. When it was being wound, I thought it had too much brown in it, but now that it’s becoming a sock, I’m discovering the blue stripes it makes! It’s exciting how yarn changes so much from hank to ball to sock. The lady at the store gave me an easy sock pattern. Why don’t more people knit on one 12″ circular?

I signed up for a knitting class at the local adult school that’s once a week for 6 weeks. Now I know I could join a knitting group down the street for free, but somehow I feel self-conscious about asking strangers for help. I want to learn stuff. Now. Without alienating others with all my questions. And the adult school class is cheaper than the local yarn store classes. Strangely enough, I just learned that the adult school knitting instructor is also an instructor at my local yarn store. SCORE! Anyway, I think I’ll need some help turning the heel of the sock (I’ll save that for the first class) and I also want some help making some Jess Hutch dolls. You just can’t get any cuter than that.

One more thing… I’m so excited that the books I ordered arrived today! They weren’t supposed to be here for another week! Maybe I can actually get some reading in before class starts.

Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles

Simple Socks Plain and Fancy

Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter

I finished a chenille hat today. I will never knit with this stuff again. It may not be officially chenille, it’s Lion Suede from, you guessed it, Lion Brand. I thought the ribbing would give it some stretch, but it didn’t. The picture makes it look like it has some give, but it doesn’t. It gave me pains in my hand I’ve never felt before to finish the last several rows on douple points. Oh, and it’s too big. It was really hard to tell up until the very end how big it was and how much it would stretch (at least in my limited experience). Maybe it will fit its recipient’s head better than mine. A hat looks completely different on a person depending on their hair and how they like to wear hats. I’ll chalk this one up to practice. I used Ann Norling’s Head Huggers pattern (multiple sizes, multiple stitches). I think I used knit 3, purl 1.

I used the same pattern for this hat I made for Ron’s grandma:

And that’s me, not Ron’s grandma.

The weather is beautiful and we’re both inside working on our computers! Yesterday we at least went for a walk in the neighborhood. I love our neighborhood.  I need to knit a tea cozy instead of using a towel.

These are some valentines I made for my husband.  I took a calligraphy class at the adult school nearby on Tuesdays.  I’d like to do more with it in the future.  Right now I’m going to switch to more knitting!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I had a reuben for lunch and I knitted with green yarn. The yarn appears a bit camoflage-y to me. I might add another strand of color. I just need to think “variegated.” What do you think?

I don’t think we’ve had visitors for over a year, so it was a blast to have Jodi stay with us for a long weekend. I even taught her to knit!  We visited the SF Farmer’s Market, the SF MOMA, and a Blork BBQ. I love going to the SF Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market because I can have a cup of Blue Bottle Coffee, the absolute best coffee on the planet. I also had some deep-fried asparagus spears. My sister Sharon, who lives in Chicago, actually read about Blue Bottle and told me about them. So I tracked them down and tried out the coffee. Try it, you’ll like it (you can order online).

This is my blog. I’m diving in! I’m probably in over my head here with this WordPress and website stuff, but I’m always up for a challenge.