The sock that broke the camel's back....

Actually, I'm blaming the laundry, although I'm completely aware of the absurdity of claiming I have a laundry related injury. I'm fine with the absurd. After all, it was when I was loading the washing machine last weekend that I felt an unusual sensation in my left forearm. It felt just like a rubberband had snapped me, inside my arm, under the skin. This was accompanied by a loud 'pop' sound, from the middle of my arm, where there are no logical sources for such a noise. It really sounded like a knuckle cracking, but I don't have jointed forearms.

The snapping sensation and pop were followed by pain. Not, gut wrenching, teethgrinding pain, but an ever present aching that is sometimes accompanied by a sharp pain, just so I take it seriously. This pain lasted for several days, it that has prevented me from knitting. at all. This pain wasn't helped when I, in a fit of grace, fell up the stairs to our kitchen and caught myself with my hands out in front of me, slapping loudly on the kitchen floor. Some days are like that.

It's possible that the real source of this 'injury' was this.

A new sock for DH, I started it on his birthday. I loved this colorway and thought it was perfect for him. I started knitting Friday evening and Sunday morning it was done. I just love this yarn, it's Austerman Step , I couldn't stop knitting with it. It's very soft, but not in the merino/koigu/cherrytreehillsupersock kind of way. It's woolier. It has some of the tooth I associate with wool outer wear, without being scratchy. It feels like wool should. Someone who has a better fiber vocabulary feel free to tell me what I'm trying to describe. I'm sure it's partly the type of wool, but could also be from the aloe and jojoba oils spun in. Whatever it is, it caused me to abandon all reasonable limits of knitting and knit myself into a laundry injury.

So, with no knitting this week I had time for other pusuits.

• I helped DH install a new medicine cabinet in our bathroom. Also picked out new tile, paint and linens for the bathroom.
• Read threee books. ( three and a half, technically)
• Went to see DH play with the Temptations.
• Did some gambling with my SIL.
• Saw Sharon Creech speak and got books signed.

Well, after five days with no knitting, I'm feeling much better. My arm feels pretty normal. I've been really good about avoiding anything that might stress my arm, like knitting. This was made especially difficult by the arrival of two packages of goodies, one from Webs and one from knitpicks.

I'm thinking today is the day to ease back into some knitting, maybe do some swatching with the wonderful angora yarn I bought, or try out my new knitpicks needles I keep hearing so much about, maybe knit a couple rows on Rogue.

Whatever I decide to pickup today, no matter how loud it calls to me... I'm avoiding this.

Progress and purchases

Here's the progress on Icarus.

That's three and 1/2 repeats of the pattern, I think. I'm glad I picked a fairly simple project for my first lace, because I've already messed it up once. In a horrifying feat of daring I didn't know I was capable of, I dropped 7 stitches down about 14 rows and reknit them. Twice. The first time I didn't take into account that every other row is a purl row.

I got it right the second time and am now paying a little closer attention. I'm still enjoying Icarus and can't wait until it's done... but it's getting bigger and bigger... rows take forever. Pretty soon I'll be on to the next chart and some more interesting patterning.

Since I'm enjoying this lace project so much I decided to buy some more lace yarn for the next one.... I really like the colorways of Schaefer's Andrea so I bought this...

It's the Louisa May Alcott colorway, it's beautifully colored silk. Here it is wound into a ball, which, with some monstering by Scout, almost ended up in two separate balls or a 1000 yd. knot. She is such a stinker.

Along with Andrea came this....

That's Cherry Tree Hill's supersock in clover.... these lovely yarns came with several other pairs worth of sock yarn. I believe I'm reaching SABLE status, at least with the sock yarn. It's hard to say, when I'm knitting socks I can go through some serious sock yarn.

When I'm not knitting, I've been watching MezClave at various places around town. Great latin jazz, so much fun. Other than that, not much going on.. too hot to do much of anything except knit, work, visit with friends and enjoy great music. Not a bad way to spend the steaming end of summer.