Looking for a Mate

Not for me. I'm perfectly happy with the mate I have and look forward to celebrating our 24th anniversary next month. I'm talking about my socks:

One Brigit for May Sockdown

and one Cranberry Biscotti. This pair is for my sister but I love them so much I am going to make a pair for myself.

I've also finished the first of my toe-up Noro socks for my sister-in-law but at this stage it's not photo-worthy. You'll have to settle for this shot, taken a couple of weeks ago:

I'll take a picture of the pair when they've been blocked. I'm still not crazy about knitting socks from the toe up but as they say, every cloud has a silver lining. In this case it was learning a new and improved way to do a short row heel from On Your Toes Socks.

Since I have deadlines for two of the above pairs they will need mates soon. I'm anxious to get them finished because I have about three more pairs I'm itching to cast on (like these from the new Knitty).

But woman can not live on socks alone; she also needs sweaters and shawls and scarves to feed her soul. And so I have been working on Norah Gaughan's Cabled Coat from Vogue Knitting Fall 2007. I knit the back and godet last fall but since then this project has been hibernating. Even though I'm not convinced that spring has yet arrived (let alone that summer is imminent) I have revived it from the dark and cozy interior of the knitting trunk. Here is a photo of the first front, if you can believe it (I'm sure it will look much better once it is blocked). I can't wait to start sewing everything together and see the magic take place.

Besides putting up the railing we have also been doing a lot of work on the outside of the house, including washing the siding and replacing the light fixtures, mailbox, and house numbers. When (if) the weather improves I will be giving the trim and doors a new coat of paint. Meanwhile, I have reimmersed myself in my other passion, genealogy, after a long absence and am enjoying it immensely. Between that and listening to Voyager on my iPod I feel like a time-traveller, having spent many an hour this week in 18th-century Scotland. Now, if only I could flash forward into next week and find my socks a few mates...