Yesterday was a difficult day.

(As an aside: something I've noticed time and again: there is an inverse relationship between how demanding a person is and whether or not they thank you for your help).

I was running around so much I thought I was going to meet myself in the hall.

And then I had to go and pick up food for a picnic. It took me 25 minutes to drive the approximately 5 miles to the local mart of Wal. (There is a great deal of road construction in my town and all of the traffic lights are badly messed up. The way they are set, there is NO WAY that traffic [under reasonable conditions] can get through town without hitting at least 3/4 of the lights when they are red)

When I finally got home, I had about an hour before I had to go out again.

So when I got home, I decided to wind off some of the yarn I had dug out of my stash.



Winding yarn is a good "displacement activity" when distressed. (I didn't mention it but it also seems that the local Mart of Wal has replaced its Muzak with a soundtrack of crying/screaming babies).

I keep my umbrella swift in my bedroom, hooked on a low bookcase. It's always ready when I want it.

In this picture I'm winding off a hank of "Chai Spice" Schaefer Anne sockyarn. I wound up some of the sockyarn I had had in the stash and also some recently purchased yarn.



This is printed on the inside of the Claudia Handpaints labels. When I was younger and more cynical, I would have rolled my eyes at this kind of thing. But now I'm older and tireder and I'm willing to accept the sentiment for what it is, even if I know it's not directed at me, specifically and individually.



The yarn, all wound off. Left to right:
Cherry Tree Hill supersock in "Monet" (that was from deep, deep in the stash). I think it's going to have to become just plain socks; it's an extremely busy variegated and I think it would fight just about any pattern I tried it with.

Claudia Handpaints, "Earth Dot" (I love that name). Those are the two smaller balls. I think I'm going to design a pair of socks with a big cable running down the front - maybe an open cable, like a Saxon braid - for this. I think I'm going to keep the back part ribbed a la some of the Nancy Bush patterns, and that will also make them fit more snugly.

Fleece Artist Sea Wool, "Nova Scotia" (the very dark cake of yarn; it's a blue and green blend). This yarn has fiber derived from algae in it! I wanted to try it. This was my most recent purchase. This is a slightly heavier yarn, almost a sportweight. I think I'm just going to use the free pattern that came on the label (It's called "Bordello Socks" and it looks a good bit like the Jaywalker pattern).

The Anne "chai spice," which I think is going to become a pair of socks with some kind of small overall lace pattern, is right next to it. I'm picturing something like a simple eyelet pattern or some kind of small design - not one of those giant, 24-row patterns that looks like a leaf or something when you're finished, just some kind of little "ditsy" design. Maybe cloverleaf. Maybe that "snowflake lace."

On top of the Anne are two skeins of Lorna's Laces in a sort of apricot color. I am going to use this for the Waving Lace socks from the new Interweave sock book.

At the far right is a skein of Anne in "Edith Piaf" (I love chanson and I had to have the yarn because it was named after Piaf. Again, the whole "sympathetic magic" thing). I think I'm going to use this for the Merino Lace socks out of the new Interweave sock book. I thought of designing my own lace pattern but I kind of like that one and I think it will look good with the yarn.

Oh, and as for a written-up pattern for the Bacteriophage socks: I wasn't really planning on doing one but since Jennifer expressed an interest I'll try to cobble something together this weekend. I think I mostly remember what I did; the only really unusual parts are the band of bacteriophages and the striped heel and toe.