I’m a fickle girl.
With the rare exception of web design, I have never been one to pick a project and see it to the end without starting something new in the meantime. I’m fickle like that. This character flaw tendency of mine applies to all aspects of my life, for the most part – knitting, reading, cleaning, whatever. (I’m not sure why web design is different, but I start on a project, and before I know it, I’ve spent 10 hours in front of the computer hacking away at it.) I’m highly distractable, I’ve got a low attention span, I’m easily attracted to new things, and I lack any sort of self-control. I’m ashamed at how many projects I’ve got currently on the needles, and I’m sad to announce that I’ll be adding another one later tonight.

So here’s the story. My friends Hans and Laura – the ones who were wed earlier this month – are out of town, visiting Hans’s grandparents, who were unable to attend the wedding. While they’re gone, I’m looking after their two cats, Miki and Bailey. However, it’s about a 25-minute drive to their house, and my car has taken to over-heating if I drive it for too long, so I have to hang out at their place for a bit while the engine cools off enough for me to be able to drive home safely.

Miki and Bailey chowing down

So, I brought some knitting stuff with me. I should be working on my second Sgt. DayGlo Sock, or the second Merino Lace Sock. Or my feather-and-fan scarf. Or my V-neck sweater. Or anything else I’ve currently got going already. But no, I’ve given into the temptation to play with some of my new yarn that I dyed up the other day.

Mixed Berries sock yarn, dyed 3/28/07

I had some dye left over from a batch I cooked up on Wednesday, and since I was running short on time, I just put a new skein in a tupperware container and poured all the dye over it, smooshing it up a bit afterwards to make sure all the strands were saturated. I wasn’t expecting much, but what I ended up with is beautiful, and I’ve fallen in love. The photo above and the right-most one below were taken during the daytime, and the other two (the cakes) were taken at night. It’s not an easy colorway to photograph – the colors look so different under different light sources.

Many more views of this luscious sock yarn

And so tonight, inspired by this gorgeous new yarn, I decided I was going to design a new pair of socks. I actually do this a lot – I open up one of my stitch dictionaries and just browse until I find a pattern or two I like, and then design a pair of socks around it on the fly. I don’t usually record it, though, short of chicken scratches on a sheet of scrap paper I keep in my knitting bag. This time, I wanted to create something to share with the rest of the world. I took my books and a pad of paper with me, and I flipped through the pages until I found the perfect stitch patterns for this sock. It’s gonna be great, people. I promise. I’m so excited about this. (Sgt. DayGlo and Merino Lace are a bit pissed at me right now, but they’ll live.)

Eye Candy Friday.
So, in keeping with my “I can’t stay on-topic with anything” theme for this entry, I’m switching gears 180° (I can’t even stay on-track with a metaphor!) and posting some eye candy. And a story. Because I can.

Dr. Brown’s Soda

Back when I was in high school (and when I was home from college), I would occasionally hang out at my mom’s store over the summer and on weekends. Sometimes I was working (that was back when I was in charge of the store’s webpage), sometimes I was the gopher for lunch, and sometimes I was just hanging out. This was the time in my life where things were just starting to get good between my mom and me – we’d had a pretty rocky (though always loving) relationship in my earlier years (two hard-headed women in one house is always a tough situation, especially when one is an obnoxious teenager). Those lazy afternoons hanging out at the store are some of my fondest memories of that period of my life.

There was a gas station next door (which was, incidentally, owned by the parents of one of my friends), and I’d frequently wander over there to pick up sodas for me and mom. For the purpose of this story, I’d like to say it was always Dr. Brown’s soda (because, you know, that’s what the picture is, and all…), but truth be told, it was Stuart’s (and they didn’t have any Stuart’s at the grocery store that I could photograph today). But nonetheless, Dr. Brown’s cream soda is one of my and mom’s favorite sodas, and seeing it today at the store reminded me of those times we’d sit in the store, knit, chat, and just generally enjoy each other’s company. Fast-forward several years, and here we are again, knitting, chatting, and enjoying each other’s company, albeit in a virtual sense. So, here’s to you, Mom: have a Dr. Brown’s and know that your daughter loves you. :)