Not such an appetizing title for a blog post - sorry!!
Let's start with the appealing stuff. Thanksgiving was great! I hope you all had wonderful holidays and tasty food as well. Damon (Fletcher's brother) and his wife Peggy arrived at our house around 2 p.m. Thursday. By 3:30 we were on our way to Colin & Mailing's. Mailing's parents, her uncle and her grandmother also were there. We had some drinks and appetizers and then sat down to a delicious meal. Mailing's grandmother speaks absolutely no English. So, whenever she would taste something I had brought (chutney, pies, carrots & parsnips roasted with maple syrup), she would slap my arm and give me a thumbs up sign. Too funny. Here's a picture of Colin and me with her before dinner:
We got home late, but stayed up talking for a little while. Friday was a gorgeous day. Damon, Peggy, Fletch and I had tickets for an 11 a.m. tour of the Esherick Museum. What a treat! I've been there at least 5 or 6 times, but each time I go I find something new or something I hadn't remembered from a previous visit. I didn't take any pictures, but the web site (Wharton Esherick Museum) has some really pretty pictures of the studio. The furniture he built is gorgeous and copper sinks in the bathroom and kitchen - love them!
Friday night Colin and Mailing came over. Damon and Fletch grilled oysters and I made shrimp BBQ. I'm thinking something a little lighter after Thanksgiving might have been better, but everyone seemed to like it all. The beer and wine were both flowing.
We went out to breakfast on Saturday and then Damon and Peggy got on the road around 10:30. They wanted Sunday to relax at home before getting back into the work week.
Now for the barfy yarn part: remember the socks I was/am making with the Scottish blue tartan wool? I picked them up again after finishing the Close to You shawl. Finally the leg was just about knee high length and I was getting ready to start the heel flap when all of a sudden the yarn broke. The yarn came in pull from center skeins, so I had not bothered to wind it into balls. I picked up the remainder of the yarn and started to wind...and it broke again...and again...and again. I was so freakin' frustrated. I had two more skeins in my bag so I started to wind them...same thing. Here is what one skein looked like:
The messy parts were just too knotted to even wind. This happened Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving. I put everything away (in time out) for the weekend. Discovered another 3 skeins in the chest where I store my stash, so I figured I have enough to make two socks. I started knitting on the first one again yesterday. The heel flap and heel are finished. I've picked up stitches around the gusset and am starting to do the decreasing now.
But honestly, I'm wondering if these will even wear well. I have no idea why the yarn keeps breaking. It is 100% wool - no nylon in it. I also don't know how old the yarn is (this is the yarn my friend Carol got at a yard sale several years ago). I'm going to finish this first sock and then give it a rest - I have a couple of things I've decided to knit for Christmas, so I need to get on that pronto.
And now I need to get back to work -- busy, busy after a few days away. I'll be trying to catch up on blog reading over the next day or so. Looking forward to reading/hearing about everyone's Thanksgivings.
