Friday, May 29, 2015

Friday Mishmash

I ended up traveling to Uzbekistan last weekend - or the Stonebriar Centre Mall, your choice.  Interestingly enough, the United States Capitol building was there - in Uzbekistan!  See for yourself:
OK, it was made out of Legos, which was pretty cool, actually.  This was part of a traveling Lego Americana roadshow - we also saw the Statue of Liberty, Independence Hall, the Jefferson Memorial and the White House.  Random and fun, all at the same time!

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We went to north Texas last weekend to visit our youngest, and also to deliver a new little rat - poor Andi was left all by herself after both Olli and Louise died a few months ago.  We bought this little one and got to enjoy her for a week before delivering her to her new parent.   I texted pictures to our youngest, joking that this was like an adoption from a foreign country, where you can see your baby but can't have her just yet.  Here's little Dora Bowl - so named because she was quite the explorer right from the start, and she was just so darn adorable that her middle name needed to address that:
Dora, exploring - "hey, these flowers don't smell!"
Dora not caring that a freaking CAT is a foot away from her!  Henry was only mildly interested...he's never cared too much about the pet rats.
Chilling on the car ride to north Texas.
And finally, hanging with her new sister.  I love how relaxed Dora was, right from the start.  Her little paws slay me in this picture.

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I finished another sock!  It's quite garish - let's just say that I'm not sure what I was thinking when I bought this yarn a couple of years ago, but I had it, so I used it:
Yeah...not exactly an appealing color combination.  But I knitted this sock from the toe-up, and I learned some new techniques, including doing a Fish Lips Kiss Heel.  
I knitted twelve rows of ribbing for the cuff, and then started the bind-off, and that's when I started living dangerously.  I knew I'd be cutting it short with the amount of yarn I had remaining, and about a third of the way through, I realized I wasn't going to make it - dang!  So I had to put all those bound-off stitches back on the needles, and then unknit the last row of ribbing, and then, finally, I could bind off the sock.  Lot of work when you're trying to use up every bit of yarn!

I'll cast on the mate to this sock over the weekend - it promises to be equally garish.  After I finish it, I have some beautiful Malabrigo sock yarn that I'm excited to use...I think I'll have earned it after these crazy socks!

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Weather-permitting, I might do a MINI driving event in Houston this weekend!  I hope it happens - it's definitely stepping outside of my comfort zone a bit, but it should be fun.

Have a great weekend!

20 comments:

  1. I like your loud colored socks! We have all been there and wondered if we would have enough yarn to finish our project. Lately my problem is staying focused on just ONE project at a time after all there are so many projects I want to do.
    If you do go to Houston be careful isn't that where all the bad flooding is going on? That whole situation is so sad and awful my heart goes out to all people affected by the flooding.
    Have a great weekend and make time for knitting and a little fitness too!

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    1. Yes, Houston has had bad flooding - on the freeways, no less! We will have to check road conditions (along with the weather) to make sure we can drive there safely. It's been a really rough week here in Texas with rain/flooding (and another front moved through overnight - gah).

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  2. I like the colours of the sock!

    I don't have much with rats but Dora looks cute, glad that Andi found a new sister.

    I'm curious what a Mini event is but I'm sure you'll tell us all about it in next week's mishmash.

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  3. Henry says "Hmmm... rat or lap? Rat mildly interesting, but not enough to leave lap."

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    1. Poor Henry was just happy that the rat wasn't glaring at him like his dumb brother, Kip, LOL!

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  4. Okay, that Lego stuff is super duper impressive! I've never been into Legos but I definitely see the appeal!

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  5. After years of living in a big city I never thought I'd say rats are cute! But they really are :)

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  6. Ha, I love the sock colors and can't wait to see its mate! Have you learned any tricks for using up the end of a skein? I can't seem to figure it out.

    Hope you get to do the MINI event!!!!

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    1. Worldwide knitter's problem, using up an entire skein. There's a point of comfort with having enough yarn to bind off vs dread of not having enough. And then some projects just don't use the entire skein...that's when I will knit striped hats. Plus I have a big collection of yarn bits - not sure what I'll do with them, but they are too pretty to toss!

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  7. I could never let a rat, even a pet rate, sit on my shoulder - gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it! Hope your weather cooperates this weekend!

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    1. You say that, but you are eating onions now, so who knows? You might just like a shoulder rat! ;)

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  8. The US Headquarters for LEGO is in Enfield, Connecticut. There's your Friday trivia!

    I feel so, so awful about that continuing weather in TX. I swear every single time I see/read about it I say a quick prayer for all my TX friends. I hope it moves out soon and sunshine comes your way.

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  9. So good to see Paco! I've been missing him!

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    1. I try to put him on the blog once a week, but I guess the cats were using his spot, LOL!

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  10. Dora is brave!!!! I'd be freaking out about Henry if I was her! The socks look cute. They don't look garish at all to me - just colorful. I need t o learn how to knit. I crochet a lot, but knitting has always seemed so daunting.

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  11. I guess the panhandle is like another state. Brett isn't getting any of that rain that you all are getting in the rest of Texas!

    The MINI event sounds super fun. Hope it works out so you can go (so you can report back to us on all the details :) )

    LOVE love the picture of little Dora with her widdle feetsies sticking out.

    You are going great guns--two pairs of socks in a row!! Can hardly wait to see your Malabrigo socks.

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    1. Shoot, the panhandle is practically in another continent, it's so far away! ;)

      Dora's feetsies ARE cute, aren't they?

      I am itching to cast on the Malabrigo socks, but I will make myself knit the mate to the garish sock first. Hopefully I can knit fast!

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  12. AWWW!!!! The front crossed rat paws? SOOO cute!!!!!

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  13. Paco looks slightly worried about those socks, but I like them.

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