Socks du Cirque knitter down

I've got the flu. The fever-and-chills-drag-yourself-out-of-bed-long-enough-to-attend-meetings-and-return-important-phone-calls-then-fall-back-into-bed type of flu.

The I-cannot-bear-to-knit-even-in-the-face-of-a-deadline type of flu.

Great. Just great.
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Waaaahhh.....

Sock Deadline Panic

Oh man, oh man, oh man. Why do I do this to myself? The Cirque du Socks knit along ends at midnight on April 30. That's April 30th, folks, of this year! I have one sock done. The second sock is, well, not done. The toe is finished .... but a toe does not a complete sock make, at least not on a toe up sock :).
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Of course the next three weeks are the busiest of the year at my office, said three weeks including next week, which is all I have to finish the second sock. Sigh.
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I haven't done my tax return yet. I haven't done my husband's tax return yet. (Canadian due April 30)
Sigh.
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I'm off to knit now.
bye

Dorey's Home!!!!!

My doggie is back home for good! We drove to the breeder's house to pick her up yesterday and met the baby, now named Tulip. ~~~~~ Dorey quickly settled into her old routines. She has slept a lot since coming home and seems to appreciate our quiet house.







It was difficult to get Tulip to stay still for a photo op, so she had to be posed. She is as adorable in real life as she looks here. Apparently Tulip is going to a family in Minnesota. Lucky folks!

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In other news. here is this week's knitting output.






On the far left is the beginning of my gift for Mom for Mother's Day. Bed socks using Debbie Bliss cashmerino (hey, it was in my stash with no plans attached, so why not?). Mom will be warned not to wear them other than when sitting in bed reading the newspaper. in the middle is a broken rib sock in Opal. On the right is my Easter sock, another Cirque du Socks inspired effort using Trekking XXL. I think I've permanently switched to toe up construction. I like the fact that when you're done knitting, you're done the sock! :)
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Here is a closeup of the cashmerino bed sock. This is a Sockbug pattern, the "River Rapids" sock. The mock cable looks way more complicated than it is, which makes it a perfect gift item :)

Yarn Focus Challenge

My stash is overflowing with lace weight yarn, sock yarn, Knitpicks palette, three aran sweaters worth of wool, and numerous skeins of fabulous handpainted fibre yumminess. Somebody stop me!
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Just in time, somebody is stopping me. Introducing .... the Yarn Focus Challenge! I signed up the instant I saw it. Basically, you are allowed to purchase yarn on one day per month only. That is called the "free day". If you don't use a month's free day (yeah, right) you can roll it over to the next month. Every participant puts a skein of yarn into the pot. At the end of the contest the hostess draws a winner who receives all of the yarn in the pot. I love how subversive that is - if I don't buy yarn I might win a whole lot of yarn. Hee! Go here to check out the rest of the details.
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The photo shows the part of my stash that hangs on the back of a door. Gotta love those shoe organizers!

I started my Yarn Focus challenge on April 1:

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Dorey is still away on maternity leave. I miss her like crazy!!!! Hopefully she can come home in two weeks.
Look at those big brown eyes! Wouldn't you miss her too?