Thursday, November 29, 2007

Visiting Arizona

I have been in Arizona for a week visiting my folks. It's lovely here, especially compared to Chicago. But it did rain today, that was a sight. And I go home in two days. I have gotten a lot of knitting done since I've been here. Two scarves for gifts, and a pair of socks out of the bamboo yarn I purchased in New York. However, my mom, being helpful, put the socks into the dryer and they felted pretty well. They are much fuzzier now but not very stretchy. So she tried to stretch them out again, but I don't think it did much good. They fit so well and it was their first wash. (sigh) Oh well, I will have to start over again now. I have been knitting a hat for my son out of some angora yarn and then maybe I'll start on some more socks later. Maybe on the plane back.

It's odd how you get lots of comments about what you are doing when knitting, but especially socks. A number of people seemed to think I was wasting my time when I could just buy them. They have no idea how much nicer hand knit socks can be. Can be, if they are made right. And with that pair, I felt like I had finally gotten it right. LOL I wonder if other people catch crap for hand making something that you can buy. I hate the socks you get at the Target or even Kohls. I just don't see a lot of cushy, warm, pretty socks. So I aspire to having a number of pairs of them. So they will just have to get used to me knitting socks. Especially when I am out and couldn't be quilting anyway.

I was laid off about 3 weeks ago from a job I'd been at for 10 years. And the odd thing is that I feel so much better now that I'm not working there. Granted, I am worried about getting a new job and having enough income to make it through. But I have not had a headache since I stopped going into work. So I think that things will work out well, and the nice thing is that I have extra time to make stuff before Christmas. So I will be getting out the spinning wheel and going to town. I will also try to do some quilting. It's about time to get back into it.