I realized I never took a picture of the first aran-braid sock I finished:



I've turned the heel on the second one, but somehow can't get motivated to pick up the gusset stitches and continue.

And this is the "gentleman's simple winter sock" (as far as it is at this point; I've just begun the stockinet part) from Vintage Knitted Socks:


It's made of the Austermann "Step" yarn - I like the "earthy" colors to it.

I went to the big new Lowe's here in town for the first time yesterday afternoon. (I needed to get some sand and containers for stratifying seed). As much as I've talked smack about some of the big-box stores (*cough*wal-mart*cough*), I rather like Lowe's. I think there are two very diametrically opposed reasons why I like it:

1. It's a DIY paradise. You walk up and down the aisles and see all this POSSIBILITY - it's all about making new stuff, or making existing stuff better. Or beautifying your world. Or making it more functional. I spent a little time in the garden section contemplating the pansies, and whether I wanted to haul my hose out of storage and buy some flowers and then be tied to watering again (during a season when I shouldn't have to). I decided against it; if we start getting rain again I might get some early early flowers to put out in a few weeks. I did buy a little "windowsill garden" of aromatic herbs, just because I need something new and growing. I also got kind of stuck at the section dealing with wall-shelves; eventually I want to put some shelves up in my bedroom as I have a few things (some "critters" I've made over the years, my two Gene dolls, a few souvenir-type items) that I'd really like to get off the top of my dresser and on to shelves of their own.

I also like that I'm strong enough to lift a 50 pound bag of sand, and that when the cashier asks me if I need someone's help getting it into my car, I can decide whether to say, "no, thanks, I can manage" (if no one's about and it looks like there'd be a wait for help) or "Yeah, sure, that'd be great" (if there's a burly vested guy hanging around looking like he needs to be purposeful.)

2. It's a very manly store. Okay, I have to say it: I like men, even men I don't know. I like being around men, I enjoy their company, even if they're not talking to me or even paying attention to me. It makes me happy to see the men roaming the aisles, absorbed in choosing the right kind of fastener for something they want to hang up on the wall, or looking at the lighting options or considering the tools.

I was never exactly "boy crazy" but I do have an appreciation of the masculine gender.

Even though I realize, of the men looking at the lighting options, perhaps 60% are picking out lights for the house they will share with a wife or girlfriend, 30% are "in the industry" and doing it for a house that they're being paid to work on, slightly less than 10% are picking out lighting for a house they will share with their male life-companion, and there would be a vanishingly small number of single straight men with a nice house who might potentially be interested in me...but it's not really about THAT. It's about, maybe, being in the "other culture" for a little while - most of my shopping time is spent in quilt shops and fancy-soap stores and other female-dominated places, and it's nice to remember that there's a whole DIY group that doesn't involve needles and fiber.

Also, the design of the store - high, high ceilings with shelves almost up to the top - makes me feel small and vulnerable and dainty and a bit insignificant. And I don't often feel small and vulnerable, like I could walk up to one of the fellows there and say, "Excuse me, sir - you seem to be someone who knows the merits of different fasteners. What would you recommend for hanging shelves on a plaster wall when you can't find the studs?" Except I don't, I tend to muddle through the projects on my own, consulting "Do it Herself!" or some other cheery book designed to convince the single woman that yes, indeed, she can rewire that lamp, without calling some professional who will either be astronomically costly or who will not show up to help when he says he will...or I don't do the DIY at all, I look longingly at the shelves and new ceiling fans and kitchen lighting and think how nice it would be, but I'd really have to hire someone to do it for me if it involved plumbing or gas or electricity or even use of dangerous tools, and it's a real nightmare in this town to find someone to come and work for you who's reliable but doesn't cost the moon. (And even if they do cost the moon, some of them aren't very reliable. I have a friend who - no joke - has had kitchen renovations underway for over a year. Every time she calls the contractor to ask if he'll be out, he puts her off).