knitting update et al

First off in knitting news, I finished 4 pattern repeats on Sock #2 and three repeats on Sock #1. As I was about to start the 4th repeat of S#1, I realized that all the decreases should have been SSK, not K2tog (for you non-knitters, that changes the slant of the decrease). So, instead of the graceful swooping curves of the dragonscale pattern, I was getting some plain diagonal lines instead. Meant to frog 36 rows; miscalculated & frogged 38 plus part of the heel. Couldn't get the stitch count right so ended up ripping out the entire heel as well. Still, it will be worth it to have the sock look right. And fortunately I only had to do this to one of them, since the second one is a mirror image of the first and therefore K2tog was the correct decrease for that one.

Secondly, the shawl is finished! It's still blocking, and I need to weave in the ends, however all the actual knitting is done. The paperback in the photo has no significance other than to give a little perspective to the shot. I liked how it looked with the scalloped edges, so I pulled the pinned points out a little extra and left the curved portions alone. From neckline to pinned point is 20"; as predicted, shorter than I would like but still long enough to wear.


Yesterday was a fairly quiet day. Went to archery, naturally, and afterward we took the Prius in for new tires & an alignment, both of which were badly needed. Then we came home & relaxed for a while. Around 3:00 or so Ralph showered and then said to me, "Let's go somewhere nice for dinner." So I, too, showered & we put on some decent-looking clothes. I asked him if he had a place in mind and he said, "The Stinking Rose." An excellent choice, really. Took a leisurely drive to the restaurant, stopping at a yard sale & taking some surface streets rather than the freeway in order to sight-see a bit. Anyway, we had barely had time to order an appetizer when Ralph excused himself to use the restroom, and next thing I knew some other people were sitting at our table. It took me a second to realize it was Sis and The Boy! Totally unexpected and a terrific surprise for me. We all had a lovely dinner & wonderful conversation. (For those among the Teeming Millions who are unfamiliar with The Stinking Rose, it's a specialty restaurant whose motto is "We flavor our garlic with food.") We started with garlic sauteed in olive oil & served with garlic rolls; Ralph had the garlic meatloaf and the rest of us had the 40-clove garlic chicken. Both entrees came with garlic mashed potatoes. For dessert, we skipped the garlic ice cream in favor of chocolate truffle mousse cake except for The Boy, who had fruit-topped cheesecake instead. Needless to say we were STUFFED by the end of it.

Not sure what we are going to do today other than picking up the Prius from the tire place. One of Ralph's archery buddies gave us a pair of tickets to the Renaissance Faire. Ralph kind of wants to go today because there is going to be a chain mail instructor, but on the other hand we've been away from the house & out in the sun for the past three days and we do have housework to do (including laundry if we expect to have work clothes for the week) and we really should spend a little time with the dogs. Plus it's glorious to be in our quiet, private house without guests. Guess we'll play it by ear.