smoosh, nuzzle, and sniff, in that order

Before we even get to this past Sunday's knitting and the weekend gaming, let me tell you that I worked some overtime for the first time in this new job. Well, is it still new after seven and half months? Anyway, I did. Last Thursday I stayed over. Friday I went in early and stayed over. Then I came in on Saturday.
The coding was behind due to some 'puter server snafus and my cohort's hand surgery, and well . . . that left the new kid to be up to snuff, as it were. I'm proud to say, that I didn't drop the ball. However, despite all my plans for afterwards on that Saturday evening, I just came home and napped for an hour -- I had officially coded my brains out by that point, and really just needed to hit my mental 'reset' button. An hour did that, and it was then on to gaming and knitting for the remainder of the weekend.
And, that overtime will go a long way towards my joint goals of saving up towards some new counter tops in the craft room and the long-pined-for spinning wheel. So some pride, satisfaction, and money were a pretty healthy way to start the beautiful weekend, don't ya think? Me too. I'm glad I was able to do it.

Now that I think of it, I'll save the gaming stuff for another post. I gotta lot of thoughts in that box.


This past Sunday, we were all ooohing and aaaahhing over Brooke's hat made of a baby camel blend, and over Raeus' silk alpaca yarn in her duster-to-be. We all did the same thing: smooshed the yarn ball in our hands, ya know, kinda rolling it around between our fingers and thumb. Then we rubbed it on our cheeks, and kinda leaned into it. I've heard tell of some women actually sniffing new yarn too, though I haven't witnessed that. I've sniffed freshly spun and washed wool, but that was my own and in private.

When we were laughing at our similar responses to the soft fibers, Pam and I had the same thought at the same time; don't we women respond to new babies like this? We grasp their fingers or toes (I'm a toe kinda mom) and gently roll them around, and then we nuzzle the child. And some of us have been known to sniff a baby too, right there in public, and declare how heavenly it is.
Funny.

We had no longer finished voicing that, when in comes Nicole with her son's first outing amongst us Fertile Turtles! It was like we wished them right into the room, 'cause Kristine was just minutes behind her, bringing her son in too for his first knitting group!

If the other folks in the bookstore that morning thought were were loud before . . . . and these wee boys had the grace to sleep right through our squeals.





Kori is still digging the socks, and Aggie brought her go-to mindless project the scarf. Don't we all keep a portable, un-mess-up-able thing on the needles at any given time? Barbara has a toy rabbit in the works, while Carol worked on a gold, silky wool Leaf Vest.
Brooke is now onto clue #4 out of the 7 for her KAL Evenstar Mystery, and Pam continues onward with the afghan panels. Raeus had brought in her finished collar to show and worked on that duster while with us. Brany joined us and knitted on a scarf.
In the above photo, check out Pat's two sweaters, the one she's wearing and the pink self-striped cardigan - her handmade wardrobe astounds me.
Nicole has returned to her beloved crochet hooks to make owls, and Kristine stunned us with tales of casting on her current project while she was in labor last week!
Um, yeah, she won.

My own knitting? I gotta confess, that I hate doing socks 2-at-a-time. I love it and I hate it. It's very logical, and I understand that it's more effecient than it feels. And there's the rub; the process feels awfully annoying. I've done it and am plenty capable of doing it again. In fact, that's what I currently have going. They're progressing so slowly because I don't enjoy the method - it feels like a chore, and I'm resenting that feeling intruding into my knitting.
My very favorite way, for the actually doing of it, is to knit 'em using those little 8 or 9-inch circular needles. Oh! The pure bliss of that process would make a sock knitter out of anyone! You can bet your sweet bippy that when I get this pair finished, my next pair will be on them little circs. And I hear tell that my favorite LYS now carries the Addi 8-inchers (quiver!).