FO: Socks!

FO is knitter-speak for "Finished Object." That's a funny term, but it's the next logical step from something being a UFO (unfinished object).

Don't some internet/forum abbreviations make you giggle? UFO does that to me.

Anyway, I finished my first real knitting project. I've already made a couple of hats, and have a couple of scarves on needles. But this is my first thing that took a bunch of yarn and is more complex than a rectangle. SOCKS!

Car Guy occasionally complains of cold feet. Usually after shoveling the driveway or while watching TV in the evening. He doesn't like slippers, so I thought that a pair of wool socks would be a good slipper substitute. I did some pattern research on Ravelry, and decided that I'd make some tube socks for my first sock project. For a couple of reasons: I wouldn't have to find a specific pattern scaled for the bulky yarn I planned to use, and I wouldn't have to learn a heel technique on fuzzy yarn that makes stitches hard to see.

Unfortunately, my plan worked too well. Car Guy can't wear them for more than 15 minutes at a time because his feet get too hot in them.

I was almost done on Friday, and I wanted to have something lined up for my next project, so I found a pattern to make for me, and headed to a local yarn shop. *sigh* I wish I could have adopted all the great yarns there.

But since I was trying to keep to a budget, I got a cotton/acrylic blend to make myself a top. It's a beautiful purple color, and the yarn has some texture to it. It's a little bumpy. And it's knitting up like a textured polo shirt. Because I decided to knit the top in the round instead of in panels to be seamed together, I picked up a long circular needle at the LYS - an Addi Turbo! My stitches are just flying off that thing! It's a totally different experience than knitting on the aluminum needles that came in my Learn to Knit kit, or the bamboo and resin needles I've picked up in the meantime. I'm getting a little kinking of the cable as I knit, though. So I think that I'll try a brand with swivel connections the next time I buy a circular needle.

Intentional Wreckitude!

Car Guy's birfday, um... birthday cake.

Commence Birthday Feasting

Car Guy's birthday is next week, and this year he remembered to sign up for birthday freebies. Last year, he changed his email address, and the old address is where all the offers were sent. Oops! But last week, he remembered that if he wanted any free goodness, he'd better sign up right away. The offers started arriving yesterday.

So where will we be dining in the next week or so?

• Bellacino's Pizza and Grinders
  
• Red Robin
  
• Qdoba
  
• Buddy's Pizza
  
• Coldstone Creamery
  
• Baskin Robbins
  
• Fuddrucker's
  
• TGI Friday's
  
• Noodles and Company

I'm also found evidence on the web that Ihop and Caribou Coffee offer birthday freebies, too, but we don't tend to frequent those places. So we didn't bother to sign up.

I also ordered Car Guy's cake from the Costco bakery. Hopefully, they can do what I requested on the order sheet and don't correct the spelling. That's right. I ordered an intentional Cake Wreck. Pictures will be posted after I pick it up.

This Week

So, Car Guy has been home from work this week, part of an unpaid shutdown to cut costs. Well, it's throwing off my schedule! I wanted to get some things made and posted on my Etsy shop, and feel like he resents the time I spend beading. I did manage to get a few things made, but they're not finished (I'm working on earrings to match the necklaces that are done), and then I have to haul out the lights, etc. to take pictures.

We did get out to the mall to get Car Guy some clothes for work. He's so fussy about the colors of his dress shirts: no white, no stripes, no pastels, no French Blue. No colors that other people at work wear regularly. Unfortunately, he also prefers black pants. That's good, because they're a neutral and he doesn't have to think about matching things. But when he pairs a really dark shirt with black pants, he looks like a shadow walking around. Not approachable. I did (finally) convince him a few months back that the Oyster/Putty colored casual pants work better with the really dark shirts. And the pair he has is looking a little worn. So we had to pick up another pair.

Luckily Car Guy had a gift card that I earned from taking some online surveys, so the total damage wasn't as bad as it could have been. We walked out of the department store with 4 dress shirts (1 with a matching tie), 1 pair of casual pants and 1 pair of jeans. At least he won't be running around naked. (Ouch, my eyes!) Now if I could only convince him that there are fashionable cardigan sweaters out there for men. Then he wouldn't have to wear his outdated mid-90s sportcoat at work to stay warm.

What things does your significant other do that drive you nuts - even if they're not hugely important in the grand scheme of things?

Ramblings from Hockeytown

Hi, everybody!

(psst... Now you're supposed to respond with, "Hi, Dr. Nick!")

It's been a while, but there hasn't been much happening with me. Same ol', same ol'. When you don't leave your house most days, it's hard to find interesting things going on without just pointing to other web sources.

Car Guy has been helping a buddy with his collector car. Thin Man (the buddy) bought a mid-60s Lincoln convertible and has been fixing it up. He got it back last weekend from the body and paint guy. It looks nice, but we found a few flaws that should have been spotted before the clear coat went on. But once again, Car Guy will be over at Thin Man's house for the evening, and I'll be by myself at home.

Have you ever noticed how poorly written some spam email is? I keep seeing one subject show up in my junk folder, and it makes me giggle. It says, "Upgrade your [member]." (Yes, I'm using a romance-novel wording, so I don't show up on a search for the p-word.) Upgrade? Really? So to keep with the computer theme, are they going to tell me how to turn a software problem into premium hardware?