Darryl, Diane, Donald, David, Dane, Debbie, and The Dude

Hello:

How is there still snow in the Cascades?

Tonight there will be an amazing moon, an Extreme Supermoon, (a full moon at perigee).  Because the moon's orbit around the earth is not a true circle but an ellipse, there are days when it is closer to the earth and days when it is farther. Perigee is the point of the orbit when it is closest to the earth.  Since this perigee is happening on a night when the moon will be full, we will have this giant-looking full moon tonight.  I am watching the sky slowly get cloudier... I hope I have some good photos to post tomorrow.

Stage 2

I did not get my Stage 2 Tour-de-Sock socks, Chicane Socks by Debbie O'Neill, in before the deadline.

I was close to finishing them.  At 1:30 am (they were due by 4:00 am) on the morning/night they were due, I had reached the toes and was ready to start decreasing.  But I decided to go to bed instead of finishing them.

When I was in Jr. High, I had my Confirmation.  This is the last of the 3 Sacraments of Initiation into the Catholic Church (Baptism and Holy Eucharist are the other 2).  If you were not baptized at the local parish, you had to bring proof of baptism in order to be in the Confirmation class.  I had this friend named Debbie.  She was the last of 6 kids.  Their parents had given them names that all began with the letter D:  Darryl, Diane, Donald, David, Dane, and then Debbie, my friend.  When Debbie found her baptism certificate, she also found her birth certificate in the same envelope.  She made a startling discovery.  She had been celebrating her birthday on the WRONG DAY her whole life.  She had always thought her birthday was April 25, but it really was April 26.

HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?  She was so mad at her mom.  Her mom said, in the way of most mothers of lots of kids, "When you have 6 kids, its hard to keep all the birthdays straight."

No doubt, all those years ago, I was just as mad as Debbie was, but now, I understand her mom's situation.  Sometimes you get a date (or time) in your head, and even though it is wrong, that is the one you remember.  For instance, you are at the dentist, and they tell you your next appointment is October 11 at 9:30 am, and you write in your date book, 10.11 9:30 am but somehow in your head you hear/see/remember October 12 at 9:30 am.  As the appointment approaches, you might check the calendar, and see the appointment on October 11, and think to yourself, "I could have sworn that appointment was on October 12."  And when October 11 comes around, you miss the appointment because you KNOW the appointment is really on October 12, because that is how you put the date in your head.

This is what happened to me with Stage 2.  I knew the socks had to be finished by June 20.  We started the stage on June 10, and that nice round number, 20, with the nice round 0, just stuck in my head.  I knit the socks as though I had an extra day.  I worked on other things.  

I went to the movies (twice).  I cleaned house, cooked dinners, chatted with my kids, and made a great lei

for Pookie to wear at his graduation.

I did these things quite casually, because I had ONE MORE DAY TO KNIT.  But, I didn't.  The stage actually ended on June 19.  And, I went to bed at 1:30 am because I was tired on June 19, and I had the whole next day to finish the toes.

At about 1:35 am, I received a text from Skeinherder, "Are you still knitting?"

I texted back that I had gone to bed.  Then I suddenly sat up.  Why was she still knitting?  O!  Were the socks actually due at 4 am this morning?  I wondered.  I almost got back up.  I thought of drinking something with caffeine.  But, I just couldn't.  I had gone to bed because I was knitting in my sleep, and had jerked awake when my son, Himes, had come home, only to realize that while I was sleep-knitting, I had dropped numerous stitches.  I was afraid to continue knitting while so tired.  So, could I actually finish the toes?  Maybe.  But I decided that if I got back up, I would just have to admit that I was certifiably insane,

as well as being really forgetful.

Stage 3
The Stage 3 Socks for Le Tour-de-Sock are called Lebowski, after the movie The Big Lebowski.  The colorwork is a combination of stripes, slipped stitches, and real colorwork.

I am using some yarn that I bought at Acorn Street Shop in the U District (University District) in Seattle on World Wide Knit in Public Day.  The yarn is from New Zealand, and is an interesting mixture of fibers.  It is Naturally Waikiwi from Naturally Hand Knit Yarns. it is 55% New Zealand Merino, 20% Nylon, 15% Alpaca, and 10% Possum (New Zealand possum, not the opossum found in the USA).

My main color, brown,

and my main contrast color, green,

are a little bit close in tone, so the stripes are almost monochrome.  They are never used together in the colorwork, however, and the second contrast color is black,

which stands out from both the brown and the green pretty well.

The motifs are very reminiscent of those in the sweater the character, The Dude, wears in the movie.  You can make a copy of that sweater as there is a pattern on Ravelry for free.

It is an interesting coincidence that there is as festival going on this weekend celebrating the movie, The Big Lebowski, in the Seattle area.  The festival is called:  Dudestock. 

I am not kidding.  I am knitting a pair of socks in honor of the Dude on the very weekend Dudestock is happening.

Karma.

Peace.
f1bercat
Abide.