Saturday Is For

socks and skies! But first things first. Cody is back from his trip, and he has a tan! I think he grew a foot as well. I almost didn't recognize him.

Now, on to business.

It's time for my weekly Summer of Socks update. I decided that I would do a weekly summary of all my sock knitting activity each Saturday while SOS is going on. Of course, if I finish anything during the week, I'll post about it then, also.

First off, my BBS:

They've gotten a little longer since last week. The leg now measures 10", so I only have 2 1/2" to go before I start the heel. Since they will be my KAL Within A KAL for July, I hope to get some progress on them over then next few weeks. Still, 2 x 2 ribbing in black yarn can get tedious.

The bubble wrap socks:

They are coming along nicely. I've got the first one finished, and am on the gusset decreases of the second sock. These are going really fast.

Finally, the Jaywalker:

Also known as the Fiesta sock--thanks to Sus. I haven't worked too much on it. This is my first official SOS sock. The others I had started previously, but I've seen other knitters who are using previously begun socks for SOS. I don't suppose it matters in my case. I'm a lot slower than many other knitters who are involved. A lot of them have already completed a pair or even two. I haven't finished a sock yet!

Not to sound braggadocious, but I rather like the way this picture turned out. I love that you can see the sunbeams shining down through the higher cloud on the left. Not long after I took this picture, the sky clouded over and it began to rain. It's been overcast since then.

Gratuitous puppy picture:

It seems Rylea would rather eat Katie's food than her own.

Speaking of food, we had a minor tragedy a couple of days ago. B and J's upright freezer went out. That's where I was storing all my snakes' food. Now my little bitty freezer on top of my refrigerator is stuffed with rats and mice. Most of my snakes don't eat but once every two weeks, so it'll be a while before I buy any more frozen pizzas.

Black Belt Knitters--STICKY

Please note that the black belt knitters webring/site is now up and running. If you are involved in the martial arts--any style--and either knit or crochet, you are welcome to join! There is a link in the left sidebar to the ring site.

Also, if you don't have a blog and still want to participate, I will make you a team member of the Black Belt Knitters (and Crocheters, too) blog. Just drop me a comment or an e-mail. You will have to set up an account with Google/Blogger to do this.

If you do have a blog, and still want to be made a team member, you are also welcome to join. Just leave me a comment or an e-mail.

P.S. Invite your friends, too!


NOTE: Please do not comment on this sticky unless it directly concerns the webring or blog. Comments referring to any other post will be removed. Thank you.
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Friday

I finally received my watermelon yarn! Woo Hoo! It is destined to be knit into a pair of leisure socks for a soldier. I'll be casting it on soon, and will keep you updated on its progress.

Stashalong will be starting the July KAL within a KAL on the first. For this month, the goal is to complete gift or charity knitting. I've chosen for mine my Big Black Socks. This is as far as I've gotten. Yes, this is still the first sock, but come Sunday, they will be my priority.

When I got home this afternoon, I gave my feet a treat they haven't had in years--a mini-pedicure. I don't have any nail polish, but my feet surely enjoyed soaking in the warm bath. They think we need to do this more often.

Finally, an attempt at a puppy picture.

I'm afraid this is about the best I can do. She is seldom still, except when she is asleep. She is growing like a weed, and I think she's doubled in weight since I've had her.

I think I waited a little too late in the evening to post this. I'll go to bed now, and hopefully will be more coherent tomorrow.

Goodnight
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Movie Review: 40 Year Old Virgin

I must say I was very disappointed in this movie. I'd read all the hype about how good it was and how funny it was, but it wasn't at all what I expected. I suppose if you think people screaming obscenities is funny, then you'll think this movie is hilarious, because that's what 90% of the movie consisted of. I don't, so I didn't. There was also an excessive amount of nudity. I think every woman in it was shown bare breasted at least once--some many times--and of course, they were not natural breasts. They were enhanced, either surgically or digitally. I know that sometimes nudity can be done in an artistic way, but this was about as opposite of that as you can get.

The story, what little actual story there was, was about a 40 year old man who was still a virgin. Three of his so called friends find this out, and decide they are going to rectify that situation. What they end up doing, however, is introducing him to every sleazy, demeaning, degrading form of sex there is--all filmed in graphic detail. He wisely rejects the advice given and the opportunities presented and finds a nice woman that he can just be himself with. She accepts him for who he is, and they end up getting married.

All in all, this movie was little more than an obscenity laden porn flick. There was very little about it that was actually funny, and a lot about it that was crude and vulgar. The only redeeming part of the movie is that the main characters wait until after they are married to have sex.

I'm sorry I wasted my time with this movie. I give it 3 thumbs down.

Conversation with Dex

Me: How you doing, Dex?

Dex: I'm doing alright, Becky.

Me: Did I already ask you that today?

Dex: Yeah, but you know, it never hurts to ask again.

Me: I'm sorry. Johnny has me part staging today and these people have my brain all scrambled.

Dex: You're part staging?

Me: Yeah. I've been part staging ever since Dian fell out that day. If Johnny keeps putting me over there, I'm going to ask for part stager's pay.

Dex: It sure won't hurt to ask.

Me: It never hurts to ask. The worst they can do is say 'no'."

Dex: We're used to hearing them say 'no' around here, aren't we?

Me: Not me. I'm used to hearing them say 'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I can't believe you asked such a stupid question!!!!!'"

I'm glad I could make Dexter laugh. He needed it.

His momma was murdered last week.
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Tuesday

All day long it has felt like a Wednesday to me. I almost forgot to go to karate.

We had a visitor in class tonight. He was visiting a class to decide if he wanted to join. You know what that means. That means sensei worked the bajeebers out of us. We went through the basics, then some basic drills, then we took a water break. I pointed out to sensei that he'd worked us so hard that even my glasses were sweating. After break, we came back onto the floor and did kata--up through wansu. (I did the rest of my kata after class.) I led the class through kata while sensei was working with the two white belts. After that, we did some simple self defense drills and then some bag work. It was a good, hard workout. If we did that every class, I'd be in great shape, and might even lose a bit of weight.

A quick bit of good news--my soldier sock leg only has to be 12.5 inches, not the 14 I'd originally thought.

They call these day lilies, supposedly because each bloom only lasts one day. They open as the sun comes up, and die as the sun sets. I caught this one just as it was beginning to wilt.

The puppy finally has a name: Rylea--pronounced like Riley. It seems to fit, but until it is written onto her vet record, it still isn't set in stone.

Miscellaneous Stuff

This new puppy is running me ragged! How in the world can any living thing have so much energy???? I wish I started the day with what she has left over. Whew!! But then, it's been 9 years since I've had a puppy in the house. She still doesn't have a name, though Maggie and Emmie are both being considered. Neither seems quite right, though.

Last week when I took her to the vet, he said to her, "You don't know it, but your life just got a whole lot better!" She's driving me nuts, but she's such a sweetie pie.

The skies here have been absolutely fantabulous lately. This was the scene when I walked the puppy this evening.

Unfortunately for you, my camera just doesn't capture the intensity and variety of the colors that were really there.

This yarn works a whole lot better for my Jaywalkers:

The first bubble wrap sock is finished and the second has been cast on. It looks like I might actually finish a pair of socks for a change!

Karate...I've been going to class, though I missed a few due to being sick. There just isn't much to talk about. I did start teaching Sunsu to Josh tonight in Black belt class. We've mostly been working on finding new ways to use our basics. That's our homework for the week. To come up with a practical self defense application from our basics.

I'd better get to thinking...

Dilemma

I'm in a bit of a quandary right now over a certain Yahoo group I'm in. I really believe in what the members of that group are doing, and I was so glad to have found a practical way to show support for our troops. Plus, the soldiers really seem to appreciate the things we do for them. The pictures posted to the website bear that out.

What I am having problems with is the heavy handed moderation of the group. I have never been on any list or message board that is so heavily moderated as this one. The list owner moderates every single message posted to the list. Every single message is read and either approved or deleted/edited by the owner before being sent to the group.

Am I the only one who sees the tremendous irony in this? The very first amendment to the Constitution refers to freedom of speech. It is one of the things our forefathers fought and died to obtain, and one of the things our soldiers of today are fighting to maintain. Yet on that list, we are not allowed that very freedom.

Some of my own posts have never made it to the list. I've had others that were "edited" before being posted to the list. If I were posting rabid, anti-war, anti-troop messages, then yes, I could understand, but I'm not. If I were posting spam, I could understand, but I'm not. Here is an example: someone was talking about "when this is all over let's have a big get together". I responded that it would never be all over.

There will always be evil in the world, and where there is evil, there will always be the need for good men and women to stand up to it. Those men and women will need socks. I plan on knitting socks for soldiers until my eyes can no longer see the yarn and my hands can no longer hold the needles.

What was so wrong with that? I didn't see anything inappropriate about that post. Yet apparently, it did not meet with the list owner's approval because it never made it to the list. I've also had other posts that were edited/altered before they made it to the list. It makes me wonder what other list members are really saying.

Now, I'm not here to trash the group, or the list owner. I'm not in the group to cause trouble or spam the group. I'm a very independent minded person, and an adult besides. I don't believe anyone else should be telling me what I can and cannot say, as long as I'm not being obscene or inflammatory. I also recognize that not everyone has to agree with me, but if I am expressing my opinion in a calm, rational, respectful manner, I should be allowed to say what I want to say. It seems the list owner doesn't believe that. Before y'all start with the hate mails, I realize it is her list and she has the right to run it the way she wants to, and if I don't like it I can just leave.

But there in lies my dilemma. I really support what this group is doing. It is a very practical and heartfelt way of supporting our boys in the field. Anyone can plunk a yellow magnet on his car. It takes little effort to buy a pack of gum or bag of candy and drop it into a donation box. But knitting a pair of socks--14" of k2 p2 ribbing in black yarn, plus 10 to 12 inches of foot in stockinette--there is a lot of your life that goes into those socks. I figured up one time that it takes somewhere between 35 and 40 thousand (yes I said thousand) stitches to make up a pair of big black soldier socks. It truly is a labor of love. The smiling faces of the soldiers in the pictures we receive make me realize I can't just quit.

It's for the soldiers that I do this.

Back to knitting...

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Two For One

After I took today's Saturday Sky picture, I was walking the puppy, and saw this one:

So you get two pictures for the price of one today.

He's Gone

Oh, he's been gone before. He's been gone for longer, too. He spent a month at his grandma's a couple of years ago. A couple of years before that, he spent the entire summer with his aunt and uncle.

But this is different. Somehow, this time it is just different.

This is a youth trip. With the church. A youth trip.

Sigh. Just one more reminder that my baby's not a baby any more.


J says he can do my brakes for me tomorrow. Good. One less thing...

Something Has Happened

In karate. Something has happened to me. I don't know what. It's a good thing, but I don't know how it happened.

Suddenly, my punches have power I didn't know I had. Suddenly, my kicks have become devastating. I don't know what happened, but I hope I can keep it up!

Sensei still intends to try to get the new dojo next month. When he does, he is going to start a tai chi class. I told him I wanted to get in on that one. He said that if I get good enough, I can teach it! I also mentioned to him that I would like to start a women/girls only class once a week. I'm thinking this may be a good way to get more females into our dojo. They may feel less intimidated if it's only females in the class. Of course, the understanding is that once they've been in class a month or so, they will also need to begin attending the regular class for their age and rank.

Sensei is getting together a women's self defense seminar. I don't know when he is going to do it, but I asked him if I be his demonstrator, can I come for free. He said he wouldn't have charged me anyway.

I was telling my friend at work about my new puppy, and how I'd gotten it. I told her that they'd come from the pound and Megan was trying to find homes for them before they were euthanized, and my co-worker just snapped at me, "Why did they get them from the pound??? They shouldn't have done that because somebody dumped a dog out by my house the other day!" Huh? I was a bit confused by that. They shouldn't find these puppies homes because someone dumped a dog somewhere else? What has that got to do with anything? I didn't see how the two events were connected. Anyway, she went on to tell me that if I decided to keep the puppy, I'd have to pay vet bills and they are high. I would need to find out its personality, and uh, oh, it's a female, you'll have to get her spayed, etc, etc, like she thought I didn't know anything about keeping a dog. I finally interrupted her and told her that I wasn't going into this blind. I've had dogs since I was 15. I know what's involved in keeping one.

The flood waters have receded, but evidence of flooding is everywhere. Lots of people had flood damage to their homes, but I didn't.

Cody is leaving to go on the church youth trip to Delaware tomorrow.

The puppy still doesn't have a name. And my car needs a brake job.

That's about it.

Isn't that enough?
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Happy First Day Of

I'll bet y'all thought I was going to say summer. Well, that, too. But along with the first day of summer, comes the first day of Summer Of Socks 2007. My first official sock project of the summer is as follows:

Do you remember this poor sock?

Yes, it is that same poor sock on two circulars that I started back in January. This is as far as it got. And this is only the first sock of the pair. Well, I finally decided to put the poor thing out of its misery and make a full fledged pair of socks out of the yarn. So I frogged the whole thing. Here is evidence of said frogging:

And I cast on a pair of Jaywalkers. I'll have pictures of it later. Speaking of Jaywalkers, I finally frogged the other pair I had started. I decided I just really didn't like the way the yarn was pooling. I'm going to try that yarn with a different pattern. Maybe Monkey socks. Maybe not. I dunno...

Since Summer of Socks started at 5:00 AM today, in the interest of full disclosure, I'm also posting pictures of socks I already had on the needles. Just so you'll know I'm not trying to slip any previously started socks by anyone...

First up--Bubble Wrap socks I started with the Steinbach Wolle I got Saturday. I love this pattern. It is so easy, yet interesting enough that I don't get bored with them.

Next, the Columbine Peaks socks from Socks Soar on Two Circulars, by Cat Bordhi. The yarn is Meilenweit cotton spirit.

Yukon Leaves socks with Austermann Step yarn.

Big Black Soldier Socks--14 inches of k2 p2 ribbing in black yarn. Whew!

Two at once toe up socks on magic loop. I'm kind of using a combined pattern for these. I found a toe pattern, then when I get to the heel, I'll look for a heel pattern I want to do. This is the Knitpicks bare yarn I dyed with Easter egg dye.

Plain stockinette sock started with sockotta cotton blend yarn. I may frog this one and do a more interesting pattern. I'll, of course, continue to knit on these socks, and will post about them as well. They just won't be official SOS socks. Not that I'd have a snowball's chance in Mississippi of winning the most socks contest. There are some uber fast knitters also in this thing.

Finally, a picture of my sock yarn stash. Most of it anyway. The three 50g balls I have two of each, but I didn't put them both into the picture. I also have another sock worth of yarn, but I didn't realize until after I took the picture that I'd left it out. I'm too lazy right now to go take another picture, so you'll just have to reference this older photo.

It is the brown Jawoll jacquard seen in the middle row.

Good News and Better News

You know how you wake up some days and think, "boy I really don't want to go to work today?" (Not you Buck.) Well, today I was thinking just that. I got up and got ready, but when I got to the plant, the security guard was turning everybody back. "No work today," he said. "No production."

Yesterday during the flooding, the water had gotten into the air compressor. That's why they sent us home early. Apparently, the compressor is still messed up. Most of our machines run of pneumatic pressure, so they can't run them until the compressor is fixed. SOOOO, I got a free day off.

Cody is leaving Friday to go on the youth trip with the church. We went into town this afternoon to buy him a new swimsuit, since he's outgrown his old one. On the way, we ran into Joshua (from the dojo) and his girlfriend Megan with a couple of boxes full of puppies, and some kittens. Megan said they were from the animal shelter, and were scheduled to be killed tomorrow, so she was trying to find homes for them.

How could I resist?

She is tiny. They don't know her exact age, but the vet is guessing about 6 to 7 weeks. So counting backwards, I'm going to appoint May 5 as her birthday. We've no notion of her breeding. Megan said she thought they had some kind of hound in them. She's got good sized feet, but not too huge, so I'm guessing she'll end up being about as big as Katie is.

I asked Megan if they'd had their shots yet, and she said no, so we went straight to the vet before going home. The last two puppies I've brought home had died of parvo, and I want this one to have the best chance she can. I told Dr. A how we'd gotten her--a lady in the Wal-mart parking lot, I said--and he replied, "My guess is that would be Megan." Yep. He said that she used to work for them, and she is a good kid. He also said that she is going to veterinary school, and she will do well if she can keep from taking all the animals home with her. Yep, that's Megan all right!

Katie checked out the new puppy, and has declared her part of the family. She's shown no sign of jealousy, but then Katie should be used to this by now. She's outlasted three (now four) puppies, and about 5 kittens.

She doesn't have a name yet, but I'm open to suggestions.

The Crik Done Riz

The creek--the gentle, meandering trickle that normally looks like this:

after a night and a day of thunderstorms and heavy rains, now looks like this:

The longtime residents of this area say they have never seen that creek that high. I was standing on the bridge when I took those pictures, and normally you have to look down some 20 feet to even see the water. Today it was nearly up to the bridge level.

The water was so deep in some places

that Cody was able to swim in it.

By the way, that is the neighbor's yard, not the creek. I didn't let him within 100 yards of that thing.

The plant had to close two hours before the end of our shift, because the flooding had gotten so bad that the water had gotten into the high-pressure air compressor. Several of us were standing on the back dock watching the water rise, when I asked the plant manager if he was going to bring in boats to evacuate us. I was joking, but later I found out that one of my co-workers who is a member of the volunteer fire department had to leave. He said that all the rescue workers from this area were being called up. So far, I don't know of any deaths due to the flooding.

This is my back yard. Cody took this picture through the window.

Later, when I got home, I took this one:

And this is my neighbor's yard.

Lake Riverdale has returned!