A couple pictures for tonight. And a couple typical knitblogger disclaimers with the picture*.

First: "It's hard to photograph your own feet."



This is the first of what will eventually be two Embossed Leaves socks. Made to pattern (although, if I were doing it again, I'd just use the plain old long-tail cast on instead of the fussy tubular cast-on specified. Mine looks cruddy, anyway.). They're made of KnitPick's "Essential" sockyarn, and may I say I seriously hope this yarn softens up once the socks are washed and blocked. In the "raw," the yarn feels kind of coarse and scratchy. I'm actually kind of disappointed in it, all the other KnitPicks yarns I've used have been a lot nicer.

Second disclaimer: "Early in-progress shots are lame"


So here's the Hourglass pullover thus far (speaking of KnitPicks yarn). KnitPicks Andean Silk in "Sangria." Very, very nice yarn - feels good to knit with, lovely color. I just hope the finished sweater isn't too hot for this climate. (I'm making the 45" size; I have 14 balls of the yarn - I've read that the pattern seems to underestimate and by my calculation I'd need about 12.5 balls for the pattern as written, so hopefully I'm safe.)

(*This post courtesy of the fact that the "Mythbusters" rerun on tonight is the lame "Let's have our viewers test the myths" episode. Note to invited viewers: trying to do a schtick like Jamie or Adam does, does. not. work.)

Also, thanks to Charlotte's e-mail, I tried the Mart of Wal again (the church meeting was shorter than expected; I have NEVER seen a budget approved so easily). They've considerably upgraded their sporting-goods section from the time, several years ago, when I tried (and failed) to find a yoga mat**. (They carry them now. And also exercise balls. And pedometers. Couldn't find a heart-rate meter, which I would also like, but whatever). So now I own a little pedometer that will even talk to me if I want it to. (Although I'm not sure I'd want it to. It knows how much I weigh. I hope it's not programmed to say stuff like "speed it up, tubby!"). (The weight thing is supposedly so it can compute calories burned. I'm not sure I trust the calorie-burning algorithm used; I think there's enough variability in metabolisms that weight times distance times some magick constant probably won't give an accurate measure. But whatever.)

(**I wound up using one of those foam camping pads that's designed for going under your sleeping bag. It worked okay but I felt like a Total Yoga Loser in that class - that was when I was taking the class - because I didn't have a real mat, let alone a spiffy two-color blended mat like a couple of the people. And yeah, a real yoga mat does work better, it's not so slippy.)

(I will say: I now know when the scary people in town shop at mart of wal. Don't think I'll be making any late-evening runs again, unless it's a true emergency.)

I do want one of those balls, but I want the kind you can sit on and use in place of a desk chair, and it wasn't immediately obvious if the inflatable exercise balls that were sold there were the kind you could sit on. (One of my friends has the sit-on kinds; I used one at the last book club meeting at her house and found it actually more comfortable - and less prone to make my back hurt - than an upholstered chair).