Stress Reaction

I have blog block. Totally! The holidays were really good (especially for the kids, which is as it should be) and the New Year has come in fast and furious. There as been so much going on, and I have lots to tell you and so many thoughts and ideas floating around in my head that I got blocked. I didn't know where to start. Finally I got to the point that I had to just start typing, hoping that the result would be coherent and somewhat entertaining.

We are almost 100% a Mac family now. I still have my hp desktop, mainly because I love the monitor, but I imagine that eventually that will go as well and we will be all wireless, all the time. Kind of fun, and the kids and their friends think it's really cool.

I did break a three year tradition and knit one Christmas present this year. Normally I don't knit Christmas presents because Christmas is crazy enough without making me resent my knitting. Also, there are only a select group of people that I know outside the cyber world that appreciate the time and effort that goes into a knitted gift. Terrisa is one of those exceptions. She will truly appreciate these socks.

I am very pleased with how these socks came out. The yarn is lovely, of course, and the pattern itself is quick and entertaining. I plan on knitting them again, mainly because I found the pattern to be extremely challenging. There is a lot of room for interpretation and modifications and you will have to be comfortable with that in order to make them fit well. If you are in the mood for a challenge, then I would give it a try. I love the lace work, and the wrap around faux cable is just too cool.

Finally, I want to thank each and every one of you who joined me in celebrating the two year blogiversary here Chez Stress Reaction. I'm looking forward to year three and beyond. I have lots of new and exciting ideas for the blog, so please stick around for the fun. Marti is the grand prize winner (picked by random number generator). Congrats Katie, Mandella and Marti. Thanks for playing!

Coming up next: The socks and I visit Chihuly on my birthday!

I turned forty-seven a week ago Saturday. It sounds old, but oddly enough it doesn't feel old. In fact, it feels younger than forty-six. I've spent the last 3 or 4 years lamenting my weight and my stress level and my lack of free time, but with the recent changes in my employment, the most stressful thing about my job now is remembering to set the alarm clock. I have a lot more free time as well. Life is good. And forty-seven isn't old. My parents are both still living and have just entered retirement. My kids are getting more independent. This is going to be my year.

Whether as a result of my new found optimism, or as testament to my new outlook, this year started off with a fabulous birthday weekend. While I don't generally hale my birthday with the same celebratory zeal as Cara, this year was the exception. My husband, ever the consummate gift giver, gave me three sets of Crystal Palace Bamboo needles for sock knitting as well as a gift card to my not-so-LYS. My daughter gifted me with the cutest tea set and tea-light holder in my favorite breast cancer awareness theme.

My good blogging friend, the sublime Amanda (who undoubtedly tired of seeing Hand Maiden Silk Cashmere listed as my dream yarn on every single sock swap questionnaire), gifted me with two skeins of Hand Maiden Silk Cashmere in the perfect color: Rose Garden. Thank you Amanda. It's just perfect!

But the gift that rocked the best this year was from my good friend non-knitting Terrisa. She gave me the gift of time, her time specifically. As two working mothers, we are lucky if we get together for brunch once a month at the local Panera Bread. This year she took me to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art for a lovely brunch with crystal and linen, Mimosa's and an actual waiter who pulled out my chair and everything.

Then we toured the museum. It was the perfect time of day. An early Sunday afternoon meant there were very few people in the museum (as opposed to the museum café, which was packed) so we got to browse to our hearts content. The highlight of our local museum is the Chihuly exhibit. Words cannot express the beauty of the flowing lines of the blown glass, the depth of the lovely colors. It was magical.

I love my dad. Whenever he calls, the first thing he asks is about my weather. When it rains or snows here, he calls and requests that I send it, or not send it as the case may be, to him. Or he brags about his warm temps when we're freezing. No matter what our respective weather might be like, he always has the better end of the deal. I'm not sure where this meteorological obsession springs from. He wasn't raised on a farm or anything.

Anyway, when I found myself about to open this post with a weather report, I was reminded once again that I am my father's daughter. But in my defense: It's cold around here! Like Margene's kind of cold. Last week we experienced the second artic blast of the year, which resulted in the schools being closed for a full week. There wasn't that much snow, but there was several inches of ice, which hung around for a while due to the below freezing temps.

I was inspired, while huddled in my warm home, to knit up a pair of the Fetching mitts from the Summer 2006 issue of Knitty. I've been seeing these all over the blogosphere, and since I just happened to have some Cashmerino Aran in my stash, I grabbed my dpn's and cast-on.

I used size 5 needles instead of the called for size 6 because I wanted the fabric to be dense and squooshy. The Cashmerino is velvety and very, very warm. In fact, I was really quite surprised at how warm these tiny garments keep not just my hands, but also my entire person. Now that we are back up to a balmy 39 degrees, I can dash from my house to my car and from my car to my office in just a sweater, a scarf and my toasty mitts. I believe I feel a heat wave coming on!

Alternately titled: A Few of My Favorite Things.

Lolly always links to such fun stuff. It was one of her links that showed me how to post pictures of my finished items to the pattern book it came from on Amazon. And now she has a link to this fun page on her Flickr account. (Though through sheer generosity of spirit, I'm giving it to you here. Heh.)

I just love these! Simplicity of design would say that this is overkill. One or at most two should be enough. But I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that I tried this with almost every picture in my Flickr account and pared it down to these particular favorites. (And be warned that facial features as well as fingers and hands come out looking a little...well...disturbing)!

Some Chihuly Glass.

Some of my finished projects.

One of my favorite subjects to photograph, or look at, or grow, or....

In my humble opinion, the florals are the best. The patterns of nature. Unadorned.

Sadly, it would appear that my sock knitting Mojo has up and r.u.n.n.o.f.t.*

I can't find it anywhere, and this is particularly frustrating since Bloomin' Feet is coming up, not to mention the prime knitted sock wearing weather we are experiencing here in the Southwest. I thought I left it with the last finished project (the nontraditional Christmas socks), but apparently that is not the case.

Since I did not immediately notice its absence, I have cast-on for two pair of socks in the last week. It was only when things felt a bit off that I realized that I was knitting without the essential ingredient that is Mojo.

It was when I started the pattern section of the first pair that I began to have an inkling that something might be amiss. The yarn is pretty, and I love the pattern, but I am quite ambivalent about the bold striping.

So I put that sock aside to ponder and cast-on for what I thought would be a sure thing. Fabulous pattern knit over and over again by sock knitters everywhere, gorgeous yarn which contains just about all of my favorite colors. I thought I had reached sock knitting Nirvana.

Unfortunately, the called for cast-on is less than stretchy, and these socks will only fit me if my legs are shaped like dowels, which they are not. They gradually get larger as they go up, like most people's.

If you see my Mojo, would you please send it home? Thanks.

*Gold star if you can name this movie reverence (one of my faves)!