I worked a long day today (darn boss, I need to have words with her!), and got home later than I wanted to. BJ Bass has a rehearsal on Monday night and needs to be out of the house by 6:00 or so. When I get home at 5:30 it makes for a hectic dinner time. The little boys who live next door had a fire going in a hibachi on the driveway, and were roasting hot dogs, and I almost sent Bass over there for dinner. He said soup would be fine, so Ma Campbell came to the rescue.

Day two of the Celtic Sock Saga. This must be the most ripped out sock in the history of sock making. I love the yarn, I love the pattern, but the combination has been giving me fits. The pattern calls for 72 stitches and #2 needles. I traditionally knit socks on 0’s and 1’s. Because this yarn is stretchy, I tried it on 2’s. Nope, too big, just as I thought. So I ripped it out and cast on again on 1’s. I got through the first repeat of the pattern, tried it on. Nope, too tight. So I ripped it back to the end of the ribbing section and reknit the cabled section on 1 1/2’s. Pretty good.

Now about the cables. I love cables, of any size, shape and character. I taught myself to cable without a needle some time ago, and it is my preferred style. Not with this cable, however. It combines knits and purls, with the purl stitches being put back on the left needle in the middle of the cable operation. Not easy to do without a cable needle. I eyed the stump of broken ebony double point all day, and finally grabbed an emory board and smoothed the jagged edge into a semblance of a tip. It’s not lovely, but it works perfectly for three little stitches. And the needle is small enough that it can be skewered at the edge of the sock and not get in my way, and not fall out. Onward!