Bottomless Bloddy Marry's

That's what I had for lunch, which explains why I misspelled Bloody Mary. Well, I really had a Cubano sandwich for lunch, with three bloody Mary's. Don't judge, the friend I met for lunch to give her gift to had four and I'm sure she feels more grounded than I do. My liver is out of practice.

She fell in love with this yarn when it was still at the singles stage on my wheel when she was over at our place to meet the prospective new family of a Dooley, our foster Great Dane we had before Christmas.

So, since I had no plans for this wonderful BFL, I decided to use it to make her something since I ended up with almost 600 yards of deep purple and blue yarn.

She always wears neck scarves, and I started to the h*** t**** scarf.

Quite simply, I hated it. It's right there on the top of that pile of hand spun yarns. I have done a large project similar to it before, but the pattern... Well, I'm not going to trash talk a pattern writer beyond stating the fact that you can't repeat a 12 row repeat in 44 rows and wonder why you have to make a jog at the end of the 44th row. The pattern repeat should be divisible by the 12 of the original pattern, no? Like, perhaps 48?

Anyway, I found Arroyo. It's a beautiful little pattern. A very nice simple lace from a fairly new designer. I would suggest it as an addition to your pattern library for fun quick knits that make a beautiful finished product.

I know, I can already hear you asking what I changed, because you all know me so well, and I can't follow a pattern anymore than I can a recipe. Whether for brownies, Anadama Bread, Mole Chicken Wraps, or Bloody Mary's. Hey, we decided earlier not to judge.

So, to start, I changed the cast on. If we're worried about yardage, use a simple wonderfully loose Cable cast on, no? It still has lots of stretch for a lace blocking if done right. I did it right. And then, believe it or not, just to end the pattern I did an applied I-Cord Cast off. It gave me a wonderful thick edge for cast off, with a rounded touch to make it nicer on the skin should it fall on bare neck with the body of the stitches facing outwards. And that, I swear was the only changes I used. I even went with her original needle size(8.0 US) to allow for the beautiful open stitch work. I think it even shows off the color of my yarn beautifully. Maybe that's just me though. All in all, it was a win-win for me, the yarn, and the pattern/writer. Don't you think?

As for that, I stupidly jumped into a group to make a pair of socks per month for the year of 2014. What was I thinking? I don't mind making socks at all, but I don't LOVE making socks. Already my hands are saying, "WTF?" as I torture them with this incredibly rough but durable sock yarn from Paton's.

I know, you doubt me when I use the word torture, but look.

See that red around my index finger? Don't discuss my cuticle care. I do not get MAN-cure's. Stop judging. Right next to my finger nail as I pull my yarn tension to the correct tautness, damn it's sore. The other day I thought I was getting a blister here.

A blister never developed there, but instead here on my right hand. Yeah, a BLISTER from KNITTING. Don't judge. However, those of you who have gotten knitted items from me, thank your lucky stars. I don't do this for anybody.

Enough whining. I am actually amazed. My hands are actually pretty damn tough after years of abusing them with yard work, building, demolishing, climbing, biking, cooking, and cleaning. I swear this yarn had to find the one spot it could to make a blister. When it couldn't form one next to my finger nail it went to the inside aspect of the other hand to find a spot.

As for the socks for The Guy. They're almost done.

A couple more inches of foot length and I will start the toe.

Thank God, because the yarn for the toe that matches the heel here, is quite a bit softer and nicer to my poor fingers. Okay, I wasn't quite done whining. And you weren't done judging, so we're even.

Now, let's get onto the real reason I'm blogging today. Well, we discussed it in a a round-a-bout way earlier with the Bloody Mary's. I'm relaxed enough to blog. I have been wrapped a little tight the last couple weekends. I admit it. Why? Well, we sold the house for one thing. Yep, that's right. We sold the house to move. But move where? Who the heck knows. We still don't. Yesterday we got word finally that it appears we're back looking towards Michigan again. Since I last talked about it, we were bounced to Fairbanks, then to Anchorage, and this last week to Brunswick, Georgia. All this bouncing has literally done us in. Without a plan we cannot even start looking at places, planning on what to keep, look at vet options, or myself to start looking for a job. I told The Guy the other night that I don't even care. I can move to the deep south, I just need a place to start planning around and I can make anything work for a few years.

So, my hopes still aren't horribly high. I didn't even realize that I was getting excited with the thought of Anchorage regardless of the costs until it was taken away as an option. Until we actually get a green light and a signed letter, I am not getting worked up for anything.

So, that's where it all stands right now. I'm relaxed enough with a good dose of spicy tomatoey vodka deliciousness to admit it. I really wish I were this relaxed...

But alas, I'm not. I had to snap this photo the other morning. Every time I walked in the room his tail would start wagging across his belly in hopes of getting a belly rub. After the picture, he got a belly rub before I left for work.

Have a good weekend everyone. I'm going to go bake some cookies I think. I should knit, but my fingers hurt. Yes, that was a whine, so feel free to judge before moving on to the next site.

Q.