a new pair of socks

Hi, blogworld. I'm excited to show off the second pair of socks I've knitted for myself.



These are knit in Prism Merino Mia in the Tahoe colorway: US 2.5 needles made them really fly by (the first was knit in a two weeks, the second ... a bit, ahem, longer. Like a-month-and-two-weeks longer.) They're really soft and squishy, and I hope they hold up well with no nylon ... we shall see.

Of course, now that it's 90 degrees out, I have no need for wool socks! But I'm bringing them with me to Ohio for scuttling around my parents' new house. I am finally going to get to stay in their brand-new house, which they moved into in mid-January. I'm headed there this weekend to run a half marathon Saturday morning, which I'm very excited about, and to see them and my grandma (who is visiting from Pittsburgh) and see my mom's play and generally be an only child for just a couple nights.

I'll be taking this sock on the plane with me:



It's STR mediumweight in Cockamamie. Since I took the photo, I've switched to from ribbing to stockinette and it's continued the crazy flashing. I'm just going with it - it's kind of crazy and out there but I'm digging it.

I won't be taking any time off work for a loooong while after this - I planned ahead to see how much I'd accrue by October, and I'm planning on taking off a week so Josh and I can go on vacation. He is pushing for Europe, I am pushing for Portland and Seattle. We shall see how the chips fall ... I love planning vacations!

oh hai.

No, I haven't taken up building completely accurate miniature dollhouse scenes. The above photo is tiltshifted! It's a photo I took last summer while at a Buccos game at PNC Park. I learned about tiltshifting through Flickr, one of the Web sites where I seem to spend all my time online. When I saw the first few tiltshifted pictures, I figured it required some fancy Photoshop skills I don't have. Well, it does, but luckily, there is a Web site out there to do it for me!

Today was a truly glorious spring day. Josh and I took the pup for a walk to the bagel shop, and then I went for a run. Normally I have to be at work by 12:30 p.m. on Saturdays, but today I didn't have to be in till 4:30. It felt like having a day off! So, so nice.

Running has been going very well. Well, except for the part where I'm a clumsy fool. I was out on what was destined to be a 12-mile run Thursday and tripped and fell five miles in, scraping up my knees and hands. I ran/hobbled the mile to the apartment and decided I wouldn't continue. I know I'm prepared for the Capital City Half Marathon in two weeks. I'm a little bummed because I was running the race so my parents + brother could see me in it (well, that's not the only reason but you know what I mean). Except now it's only my dad who can come to the race - my brother has National Guard duty that weekend (totally out of his hands) and my mom has a matinee performance of the play she's in. Such a bummer! Well I'm still psyched for the race, and it looks like my dad can see me at the start, around mile 8 and again at the finish, thanks to the route. I'm a little nervous about running a half marathon on a course I don't really know, but I'm trying to stay positive and tell myself it will be fine.

I have been knitting on Clapotis as much as possible - usually a row or two a day. I'm nearly halfway done with the yarn, and I plan on doing quite a few extra repeats of the straight section to make the scarf much longer. I really love how drapey it is but I'm pretty sure I'm going to block it. Here's a progress pic from a few nights ago:

50 lashes with a wet noodle ...

... for myself. Seriously, I hadn't logged into blogger since forever ago and discovered a handful of comments that needed to be moderated. The e-mails about them must've been deleted when I checked my e-mail after my trip to New York. Whoops. I've been neglectful of this poor little blog lately ... but it's about time for an update.

The trip to New York City was fabulous. We had overcast, spitting rainy weather on our ferry rides to and from Manhattan, which was quite moody. But while we were in the city, we had two lovely sunny days. I even got sunburned one morning! My complete set of pictures can be found here. We had great food everywhere we went (I wish I had been brave enough/competent enough with my camera to take some pictures of it): a huge pastrami sandwich at Katz's Deli (the restaurant made famous by Sally's fake O in "When Harry Met Sally"), yummy pasta in Little Italy, scones from Josh's favorite cafe in Brooklyn Heights, and awesome steaks at Les Halles, Anthony Bourdain's restaurant. Seriously good food at a good price.

And now, about the yarny pursuits in the city ... the first store I went to was Seaport Yarn in the Financial District. This was literally around the corner from our hotel (and no, I didn't plan that!). I knew from reading online that it was on the fifth floor of a building, and I arrived right as the store opened. For some reason, the elevator didn't work, so I relucantly climbed four flights of dingy stairs (the things we do for yarn, huh?). I got there, huffing and puffing, and a English girl who worked at the shop let me in. It was cheerfully packed (but organized) - yarn everywhere, much of it in clear plastic bags. Knowing I was headed to several more yarn stores, I bought only this Noro Silk Garden Sock:



I had heard how pretty Purl was, and it definitely didn't disappoint. They had so ... much ... Koigu. I didn't even look at anything else. However, the store was so, so, tiny (seriously, maybe 15 feet wide), and with several other shoppers, I felt like I should hurry up and get outta there. I ended up with two skeins of this lovely Koigu:



Doesn't it look like a Monet painting? Sigh. I love it. The final store we visited (and god love Josh for seeking out these stores with me! he's the best) was Knitty City on the Upper West Side. (Yeah we really got around that day. Although we took the subway a lot, we must've walked seven or eight miles that day!) I think this might've been my favorite store. It was really roomy, had a 'waiting area' (where Josh sat down and started reading "Crochet for Dummies") and had the best selection of yarn I had seen. They had Madeline Tosh and Malabrigo Sock, neither of which I had seen at a store before. I wanted to get so many things, but I was really mindful of my money all weekend. So I ended up with something I really, really love:



two skeins of Malabrigo Sock in Solis. I have been thinking about this yarn since I bought it, no joke. I can't wait to wind it and cast on. But first, I am trying to finish my Clapotis. I'm nearly done with the first skein, so I'm about halfway there ...

Oh, one more unrelated note: If you're a fiber artist and you're interested in copyright/fair use issues, check out a post by Pam (Flint Knits), who tweaked Elizabeth Zimmermann's February Baby Sweater and came up with the February Lady Sweater. It's a thought-provoking post, and all I will say is this problem wouldn't exist if people just did the right thing. Le sigh.