Coming Soon to the West Coast ...

the Sockapalooza 4 socks! Ta-da! I finished them this past week, and they have been on the blockers for a couple of days. (I block socks that are gifts for people - the few I've made for me go right onto my feet!)

I'm really pleased with the way these turned out. They still remind me of lemons and limes, and the colors are actually much richer knitted up than they were in the ball. I really hope my sock pal likes them, and that they fit her. I did my best to make them according to the measurements she submitted with her Sockapalooza 4 questionnaire. She had a baby boy a few months back, and from the pictures on her blog, he is adorable. So I have something to put in the box for him as well. (Though it isn't knitted. That would just be pushing my luck.) Anyway, here are the specifics of The Lemon Lime Socks:

Pattern: Classic Socks for the Family, from Yankee Knitter

Size: Women's size, for a 9-inch foot

Yarn: 100% wool superwash, hand-dyed by a former swap pal, Sarah

Needles: Pony Pearl, size 2

(And speaking of Sarah, she just recently had a baby boy, too - take a look at her blog, and see how cute he is!)

I was telling a knitting friend that it recently occurred to me that I would be getting a pair of socks in the mail as well, from my unknown swap pal. So I can look forward to a package in the mail, which is, as you probably know, one of my favorite things to have happen ...

On another note, I thought you might like to see a couple of things I ordered through the mail at different times in the past couple of months, using my Yarn Store Money.

The stick pin just below is my most recent acquisition. It is a sterling silver ball of yarn on a rosewood stick. The picture does not really do it justice, but trust me, it's beautiful. The other pin to the right, is a sterling silver kitty shawl pin. It's really delicate, and so well made that it doesn't catch on the yarn at all.

Now, someday when I actually finish a shawl, I'll have a choice of pins to wear with it!

Both are from Designs by Romi, in California. Romi (Rosemary) does beautiful work, and has a lot of things to choose from at her site. You may want to look now, and order something, since there is free shipping until August 1st. But even if you have to pay for shipping, I can say that it's worth it. She is great to deal with, and the items arrive quickly, and are packaged beautifully.

And so, what knitting now, you may ask? Well, I need to work on the Baby Kimono, for the last class this coming Thursday. As it turns out, no one in the class could make it this past Thursday, so it was rescheduled for this week. Which worked for me, since I was having trouble with my right thumb, which is apparently afflicted with trigger finger. It's not as bad today, as I saw the doctor on Friday, and he gave me the second of a series of two cortisone shots. (Which incidentally REALLY HURT!) I figure if I can work on the kimono a little bit at a time, I should be OK by Thursday.

Once I have that completed, I'm going to start something else. At this point, I'm still deciding what it will be. But I'm making sure to do my "homework" before I get involved with anything new ...

Speaking of last classes (yes I was, two paragraphs above), tomorrow night is my last yoga class. You may recall that in my last report, I sucked, but was making a smidge of progress. Well, I still suck, but have made a smidge more progress, meaning I have moved up to an overall rating of a bit of progress (smidge + smidge = bit). The last two classes have been especially nice, since I've been the only one who showed up - so I've gotten two private lessons from the instructor. I am really going to try and keep up with it, and have even investigated places nearby that have yoga classes, figuring maybe I could take a class once a week to be sure I'm doing things correctly. I may not be too good at it, or have a considerable amount more of flexibility or balance right now, but I like it, and I think it has improved my posture quite a bit.

So namaste to all of you, and have a good week!