Socks socks socks... and chocolate

You ever have those days where you really want something chocolatey, but just can't figure out exactly what you're craving? Candy? Cookie? Brownie? Ice cream? High quality dark chocolate bar? Nope, nothing is calling out as the exact right item. That's how people end up drinking mexican hot chocolate and eating dark chocolate covered dried plums. Oddly, it seems to be satisfying the craving. Hooray!

Ok, I'm not really talking about chocolate, I just wanted to set the stage for my real post. SOCKS! Last month I dyed a sock blank with my SIL. In case you're asking what the hell a sock blank is--I used a knitting machine to knit up yarn into a big chunk of fabric, then we dyed it, then I unraveled it and used the yarn to knit a pair of socks. Ridiculous? Just wait till you see the final product! Dyeing the yarn this way allows for color gradations that wouldn't be possible if dyeing the yarn in a skein. And for some magical reason using this yarn and pattern makes the sock knitting go twice as fast as normal. I had these done in about a week! Holy speed knitting batman! Here's the awesome socks I knit for my mom's birthday present. Dang, I sure hope she doesn't see this post before her party. And best of all there's enough dyed yarn left for a pair of knee socks for me!

Second sock-related item: I've been trying hard to keep up with the laundry and not doing a very good job at that. But how can I be totally to blame when the Sock Monster is hard at work disrupting my sock matching? Sure, I can accept having one or two mismatched socks in the middle of a laundry day, but this is just ridiculous: I know in this photo they look like matched pairs, well maybe not the knee socks, but in reality they are all different sock patterns. I really don't know where all the sockmates are, I hope they turn up in the next load, or things are going to start looking silly. Because handknit rainbow stripe socks aren't silly at all.

Insert: frustrated muppet noise

You know that noise the Muppets - Kermit in particular - make when they're frustrated. They press their lips together, pull their mouth back into their neck a bit, grimace, and go hrrmmppff. You know they're irritated, but it's ok because hey, they're muppets! Yeah, that's kind of how I feel right now. Nothing's "wrong", things just don't feel quite right. I feel like I don't have time to do everything I need to, yet I also have free time that I'm not sure what to do with. Ok, ok, before you say that sounds like an easy answer and maybe some bad planning on my part, can I try to come to my own defense? The 30 min. I have free before I need to get ready for bed is not when I want to start tackling my to-do list. Often the things I need to do aren't compatible with an almost-4-month-old puppy who's starting to lick the baseboard moulding. Ah well, I better go see what's she's into before I head upstairs for bed.

Jewelry - nom nom nom

So the Pub has these fabulous onion rings. The kind that even people who don't like rings will devour. Reminds me of this restaurant my parents used to take us to as little kids. I feel like we went there somewhat often, but all I remember are 3 things: Dipping lemon wedges in sugar packets when we were getting fussy because the food was late (How cool Mom was for teaching us that!). Peeling the bubbly cheese off the outside of bowls of french onion soup. And the onion rings. I didn't like the onion itself so would break the ring and pull out the wriggly onion and put it on Mom's plate, then eat the savory crispy batter. The Pub's rings are like that, but I'm happy I enjoy the onion part now as well. In fact I always root around in the basket for the endcaps that have a high onion ratio. Juicy, sweet, crunchy, soft inside - so fantastic. One night the onions they used were particularly large, and turned into Oniony Bangles. I wore them a few minutes, then the silly got a hold of me and it came time to eat them. Cell phone photography in a dark bar - Brilliant!

I can give myself a black eye

I picked up a dark hot pink eyeshadow at MAC when I visited my mom last week (hey, I had a merchandise credit!). I thought with the blue, green, and purple shadows I already owned my color wheel was unbalanced. And this pink is serious enough to counterbalance all the cool shades. So I tried a couple different looks, one with pink on the lid blending to blue on the browbone. Yeah, that one didn't work so well. The blended region was purplish, and the overall effect was of a healing black eye. But flipping the colors so the blue is on the lid and undereye blending to pink then purple did work. I also went a bit further with the eyeliner than normal, thanks to my SIL's encouragement. And I really like it, I hope I can do it on command for my next dance performance (next month!).

Still not happy w/ the photography--it always looks better in person. Like you can't really tell how bright the colors truly are, or how neat it looks that the inner corner of the eye is filled in blue. And I dusted blue sparklies over my cheekbone & temple which add a lot of fun to it. Ah well, learning process all around.

A dash of cosmic unfairness

I would really like an iphone or a blackberry. I have no true need for one, and can't justify the added monthly expense for something not really necessary. But it would be nice to have internet access, and my calendar handy. My husband hates blackberrys & iphones. He mocks them and people who use them, and often teases me about my desires for one. So imagine my chagrin yesterday when he comes home from work with a brand new 3G blackberry paid for by his company. He's really dismayed and doesn't want it at all - it was stuffed in his lunchbox when he got home. I thought it was really cool, and wish it was mine. But I still can't justify getting one myself. Dang!

What on earth is going on here?

So what the hell is going on? My husband called my phone while I was at the gym this morning but didn't leave a message. He was already gone when I got home, but left this upended laundry basket next to the laundry room. I'm trying to figure out why he brought it down from the bedroom? Did the puppy have anything to do with it? Why is it upside down? And why in the hall instead of on top of the washer, where I put it after uprighting it. Did he drop it down the stairs, or purposely place it like this? Is it some machiavellian scheme? Am I way overthinking it?

25 things - cheating post

Ok, I'm finally back online. I've come to terms that it is ok to crate the puppy while I'm home to get a bit of time free from chasing her around worrying if she's about to pee. We started puppy obedience classes and the teacher said that the dog should be crated any time you're not able to keep an eye on her. Even an hour free from that makes such a difference. Alas, I haven't had the time to corral my thoughts into any interesting blog posts. So I'm going to cheat and steal the 25 Things meme that's going around Facebook. You had to post 25 things about yourself, I went for the completely random and useless route:

1. My hair was straight until chemo made it curly.
2. I love thick Belgian ales - tripels and such.
3. I'm a dog person - no cats, no kids
4. If I get to the gym at 6am I consider that late
5. I used to dye my forelock blue, and am seriously considering doing it again.
6. I love the Harry Potter & Little House on the Prairie book series
7. I love trail running with my dog.
8. I knit at stoplights
9. My favorite constellation is the Pleiades
10. I can only sing in tune if I impersonate a cartoon character (Cartman & Homestar are great)
11. I love my family so much it sometimes makes me cry
12. Metallica is the best concert I've ever been to
13. Leeks are my favorite above-ground vegetable
14. Sweet potatoes are my favorite underground vegetable
15. I have a pair of socks I knit with wool from a sheep I helped shear instead of going to my graduation ceremony from graduate school
16. I can cross and uncross my eyes individually
17. I enjoy camping without any modern equipment, even a tent.
18. I would love to visit Colorado
19. A major goal in my life is to have a perpetually tidy house, but it seems contrary to the lifestyle I enjoy living.
20. I obsessively can (put up) food during the summertime. Especially unusual things like pickled fruits.
21. I rarely eat food at the correct temperature - cold beef stew & room temp water work great for me.
22. I was less than 30 feet from Obama during his speech at the Roanoke rally.
23. I usually remember things the first time I hear them
24. My only irrational fear is of falling
25. My toenails are nearly always blue.