Happy Feet and More

The socks I've decided to re-dub Happy Feet are moving along. Felt like I stalled on them for a while, but last evening got the heel turned and a big chunk of the leg done. The heel is a garter-stitch short-row heel for a very critical design purpose: I didn't feel like purling.

Gratuitous close-up of said heel. I love how the garter stitch makes the holes vanish.

Now to keep K2P2 until I run out of yarn -- then make another to match. Still not sure where these'll end up. They're a little big for my feet which gives them a wider potential for gift giving (it's a wool sock yarn, and this is Tucson, so they're not going to get a lot of wear if they stay here). I've got some ideas, though, of who'd really like them, especially the bright colors.

In finished object news:

Pattern: Skull Charms Reusable Swiffer Cover
Yarn: Peaches 'n Creme #1 (White) and #173 (Spring Meadows) -- probably the equivalent of about 1/2 ball each.
Needle: #7 Brittany Walnut
Mods: Since I was making this one for my Wet Jet, I did three complete pattern repeats rather than the 2.5 called for in the pattern.

You can always use more cleaning supplies, and when I finished the Horseshoe Lace Socks and the Baby Sweater, I was at a small loss for what to do. When in doubt, knit a dishcloth (or, in this case, a Swiffer cover).


Pattern: Well, it started out as the Made With Love Baby Sweater, but it ended up being more my own top-down baby sweater.
Yarn: Peaches 'n Creme #173 (Spring Meadows)
Needle: 24" Addi Turbo #7
Mods: Changes made from the Made With Love pattern: no hearts; seed stitch borders; added a few stitches to make up for gauge difference

This sweater is very cute, and I do hope that the family likes it. It's a little bigger than newborn size, so it should still fit in the fall when it starts getting cool in the Pacific Northwest. I also really like the buttons:

Bibs also have buttons:



Not sure what's next. Thought I might just focus on getting a substantial portion of the Dr. Who Scarf done (Ravelry link); also thought I might swatch for Isabella. We'll see what happens.

Of course, my new consulting gig is keeping me somewhat busy (I don't think it breaks any confidentiality to say I had no idea there were so many web sites where you could book a hotel room in Paris) as I learn the ropes. And the church's web site is proving to be a bit of a challenge (specifically getting a podcast of the weekly services up and running). Alas, it keeps me off the street.

I leave you today with some glimpses of spring in the desert:
[Note to my father: that's a tree behind the rose bush.] The unusual pink rose on one side of our driveway. The colors are beautiful, but the bloosoms are unlike any roses I've seen:
See the one in the lower left of the pic? It's an almost completely flat single layer of petals. I do love the color of these.

This is the rose on the other side of the driveway. That part sticking up at top, I swear it wasn't there last week. This one was a late bloomer (it didn't even have buds when the other one started blooming), but it's making up for that in sheer quantity. Not only is it covered with blooms, but it's also still covered with buds. Color is much deeper than shown here -- a really beautiful rosy burgundy. And the blooms are very robust:

And finally, this "I haven't a clue what it is" tree which grows just outside our front door was covered with honeybees this morning:

Okay, so it's probably not the smartest thing to do in Arizona, getting that close to a honeybee (and I WAS that close, these pics are taken with a very old 2.3 megapixel Olympus -- no fancy lenses or attachments here), but since none of them seemed to get agitated -- and the house hasn't come under attack in the last hour -- I'm guessing these ladies are not africanized.