Iowa City’s Summer of the Arts

Iowa City’s Summer of the Arts

Plastic duck armada is heading for Britain after 15-year global voyage - Times Online

Plastic duck armada is heading for Britain after 15-year global voyage - Times Online

Thank you Emily!

Emily (AKA E to the M) of Say What? kindly swatched the reverse of the stitch pattern for the Cable Twist socks and shared it with me. I found her very-similar-to-mine Cable Twist sock on Ravelry and commented on hers. We both want to make the other sock twist the other way (ahhh...symmetry) and she figured it out today when she had some free time. Less thinking for Chelsea!!

As for my sock pals' pink Koigu Cable Twist socks, I am past the heel and about 2 more inches to go before I start the toe decreases. I will finish the other green one someday. I still have the Sidwinders, but I managed to add couple of stitches to the foot. I should probably figure out if I miscounted when I casted on before I start frogging. I hope that's the case so I can continue. It's such a quick knit that I almost wouldn't mind doing it all over. It would give me a chance to improve my increases and decreases.

I must make brownies tonight. It's cooler and I need to bake. I am also going to try a recipe from The Best 30-Minute Recipes I checked out from the library.

I am not a fan of summer weather in Iowa, except for the thunderstorms. I pretty much hate when it gets over 80 degrees and the humidity drives me crazy. I grew up in a house without air conditioning and I remember spending summers sitting on the couch in front of the fan trying to figure out the best position so the fewest parts of my body were touching anything. I have air conditioning now and I don't think I could stand a summer without it anymore. I feel like such a wimp.

Cooking during the summer can be frustrating unless a grill is handy. I hate turning on the oven, so I am not doing as much baking as I would like. I want to make some brownies as a thank you gift for my uncle, but I don't want to turn the oven on! Luckily it should be cooler tomorrow and I essentially have the night off, so I may make them then. I also would love to make a birthday cake for a friend, but I am not sure that is going to happen. Our kitchen is usually warmer than the rest of the place so spending a lot of time in there is not pleasant.

Hopefully it won't be too warm at tkd tonight. It's supposed to get less humid and slightly cooler this afternoon and hopefully the room we workout in will catch up to the outside by the time class starts.

I made progress on my Sockapalooza sock last night; I turned the heel. I discovered I a mistake in the Sidewinders and ripped back a few rows, so no progress on them. I am ready to start Act II though.

Oh, I never posted this pic of my practice sock.



or this one...



or this one...which was kinda hard to take



I must have been doing laundry at the time.

I was really tired all day yesterday, but when the time came for me to go to bed I was wide awake. That kinda ruined my plans to get up early and go for a run. Since I got to bed about an hour and a half later than I wanted and getting up about 45 minutes earlier would have 2.5 hours less sleep than I am used to, I decided to put off the run for later today or tomorrow morning. I have been so lazy this summer. i didn't get a gym pass because I knew I would be busy, which wouldn't make it worth spending the money and the only workouts I am getting are two hours of tkd a week. I would love to go to the kickboxing class at 4:30 on Wednesdays, but I don't usually leave work until after then.

As for sock progress, I finished Act II of the Sidewinders.



I made pretty much no progress on my pal's socks, so that is probably what I will work on tonight. My goal is to finish the leg and turn the heel.

This weekend wore me out. Friday night we played paddle hockey at tkd. Basically you use the paddles we normally kick and use them to hit a racquet ball between a couple of bags used as the goal posts. I am not sure why but my lower back muscles were incredible sore and tight after a little less than an hour of paddle hockey. On Saturday I could hardly move without it hurting. Driving for almost 5 hours on Saturday didn't help.

Saturday I planned to take my dad and grandpa to lunch for a belated Fathers' Day. Coincidentally, my aunt and uncle were purchasing a new car that happened to be in Ames where my dad and grandpa live. I received a call from my mom at 7:30am on Saturday asking if I was on the road yet because my aunt and uncle were just over an hour drive away from Ames! I had assumed they were going to be there around lunch time since they were driving from Wisconsin. I showered and was on the road 20 minutes later and arrived in Ames shortly after they did. I listened to a HP and the Half Blood Prince on the way so the 2+hour drive both ways wasn't too bad. I met my mom and cousins at Borders in Ames and we wandered around there and Target for about an hour. I took my dad and grandpa to lunch then we went back to my dad's to look at pictures from his trip to China. I re-started the Cable Twist socks while looking at the pictures, but of course, I made a mistake that required frogging most of what I had done.

Saturday night Amanda, Josh, Randal and I watched the UFC fight night and ate beer cheese dip and fruit pizza. I could have fallen asleep before it even started at 8:00. I brought the sock to knit to help me stay awake.

After frogging the Sidewinders a couple times, I finally finished Act I last night and started Act II this morning. At least it looks like it might fit on a foot now.


I am almost done with the cuff on the second attempt at my Sockapalooza socks, but I noticed a mistake a few rows back when I was on the bus this morning.

First Summer Sock

I have been told this will become a sock. I trust Nona and have seen evidence, but I am still a little unsure.



ETA: The yarn was kindly gifted to me by Liz and it's from here. The patter in Sidewinders by Nona .

I started this last night in honor of the start of Summer of Socks. I may restart my sockapalooza sock on larger needles so they may count towards my total!