Happy Birthday America!!!

The mid-week celebration of the 4th is somewhat of a bummer. Both of us have to work early tomorrow morning, so staying up late enough for fireworks isn't as easy as it sounds. It doesn't get dark until nearly 10, and then there is the show, and the traffic getting out. . . . 6 am comes pretty early, and my sweetie has to be at work before then. Poor lamb.

I am still stalled on my dove gray shawl and Pomotomus sock. Not that I think the problems are unsolvable. I sure it is just a matter of looking hard at my stitche patterns, count a few times, and make a relatively simple correction. I just haven't sat down to do it yet. I will. I love the Pomotomus sock, and just the other day my sweetie stroked the shawl and commented on how soft it is. (I have a mental picture involving the shawl and. . . . well, the rest doesn't need to be posted for public consumption. We ARE newlyweds. Suffice to say I just came up with new motivation to work on that shawl.)

For now, my solution to these stalled projects. . . is to start something new, of course. I started on the socks for my mother. I was thinking about doing some rear increases up the leg, to custom fit my mom's ankle and calf. Something fancy, but nooooooo. Mom wants plain boring socks with a cuff that can fold down. I tried to convince her of the magic of hand knit socks made to your dimensions, but I am amking what Mom wants. It is a little frustrating that an artist must defer to the purchaser. But I do want Mom to feel comfortable and wear these socks, so I defer. Maybe the next pair.

As a break from itty bitty sock yarn and needles, I also started this: a toddler's sweater. I realized that a friend of ours has a baby turning one at the end of the month. I haven't knit anything for her since she was born. How time sneaks up on you! So I started a sweater, hoping to get it done in time. I had forgotten how quickly size 10 needles moves along. Look at that! Halfway through the body in one night! Still on my first ball of yarn, too. I have 5 (found in the clearance bin), so I will probably have enough to make a second toddler's sweater in the future.

And lest anyone thinks that my sweetie has been slacking. . . The shed is starting to close in on itself. Back siding, and studs on the top triangle near the roof (I am sure that area has some sort of a name), so that can get siding too. He keeps talking about getting the roof plywood "soon", whenever that is.

I just noticed that no one (read: me) has made the bed yet, and I am just itching to fly along more on that little sweater.

Today, it is all about the patriotic birthday.