I'm Back!

I really didn't mean to be gone nearly so long!  So here's a quick catch up:

I went with my Mom, brother, my almost-15-year-old niece and her almost-15-year-old friend for a few days in Memphis.  We always camp, but our planned campground had flooding issues, so we ended up at a KOA where the tent sites don't have electricity.  That won't do -- how would we all charge our phones? -- so we rented one of their "kabins."  It slept five and was air-conditioned, which was nice but just seemed weird.  I mean, a/c but no bathroom?  However, the bath- and shower-room was very close by, and the a/c drowned out the sound of the interstate, which was too close.

Here's what it looked like inside -- two sets of bunk beds, one with a double bed as the lower bunk and just enough room for our suitcases, etc.

 

On the front, it had a nice little porch.  Out front, there was a fire pit and a picnic table, and a nice area to set up our camping kitchen, which Mom uses to cook pretty much whatever she would make at home.  However, we also had great barbecue at Corky's and hot fudge pie at Westy's.  And on the way down, we stopped at Lambert's, home of throwed rolls. We've seen their billboards for years and years and finally stopped.  And yes, they really do throw the rolls to you, which doesn't harm their yummy yeastiness at all.

While in Memphis we rode on a trolley,

 

walked down Beale Street,

and spent a half day at the National Civil Rights Museum, which is housed in the Lorraine Motel, where MLK was assassinated.  From the outside, it still looks like a motel.  If you are ever in Memphis, you really need to visit this museum.
 

 

Some of us had a little nap on the way, too.

There's been knitting, too.  More on that in a day or so.

Swatched!

I actually did the Catkin swatch exactly as directed.  The result: my swatch is a teeny bit oversized, but going down a needle size would make it too tight.  I'll just try to knit a bit more tightly.  Except - not while I'm knitting the "catkin" -- the almost-circular section.  I need to strand a bit more loosely there, to prevent the pucker

Colorwise -- I love this!

P.S.  I'm pretty sure I said I was finishing the Hedgerow socks before I began anything else, but then I remembered that I'm going to be traveling next week, and the socks will be perfect travel knitting.  Therefore, I was forced to begin Catkin!

Startitis (again)

Man, do I ever have a case of startitis!  I have been fighting it, though.  Since I last wrote, I finished my Pyromania socks. They're a little on the tall side, but the foot fits great.  Here they are being blocked.

And here's the lace detail from the cuff.

They're knit from Scout's Superwash Merino, in Izvar.  This was the club yarn from December 2010.

I'm on the foot of the second Hedgerow sock, which have been on the needles for well over a year and a half - I began them as conference knitting in October 2009!  I swear I will finish them before I begin anything else.  Here's a reminder of what they look like:

They're knit from Malabrigo Sock in Persia.  They're nice and soft and squishy.  The one that's done fits perfectly.

Despite having a bunch of stuff on the needles (feel free to check out my Ravelry project page if you don't believe me!), I really want to start Curatio, probably in the Dream in Color Starry I showed you in my last post.  (Suddenly, I want to knit everything Kirsten Kapur designs!)

Or Amalia, in this lovely Malabrigo Sock in Alcaucil (not gray, not green -- a little of both).

 

Or, heaven help us all, Catkin (Rav link, because I can't find it elsewhere) in -- are you ready? -- orange and blue madelinetosh tosh sock!

That's the orange you saw last time, Citrus, but the blue is a different, somewhat less intense one, Baltic, that was in my stash. The orange will be the second color -- the top part and the "eyes" at the bottom, as well as the bottom edge.  The large middle section will be blue.  What do you think?  Too Illini? (Never!)

Because I need more shawls on the needles....