i know you’ve missed the socks

but before we go there:
1) if you haven’t done so yet, go to my post from sunday and vote for la tricoteuse lanterne rouge (the last remaining knitter), and get into the moth race prize pool again! we’re taking bets til friday, september 1st, so get over there now!

2) don’t forget that 10% of all knitspot pattern sales—not just moth shawl patterns—made on or before August 31, 2006 will be donated to knitters without borders. see catalog in the sidebar for information about what’s available and how to order.
(of course you can donate to this wonderful cause any time at the yarn harlot’s site!)

you thought i was kidding, when i said we’d be back to sox and tomatoes any day now, didn’t you? the nice thing about finishing a big project, is how productive i am for a few days following. just having a chance to move around more makes me want to clear some items off my list!
hmm. which should we look at first? everywhere i turn i see more sock progress! when do i DO that? i’m not very aware of my sock knitting. i do know that last night i sat and worked on a sock just for the peace and quiet of it

no riotous design thoughts running through my head, instigated by the excitement of knitting lace, no jumping up and down 9 or so times to go look for another stitch book (gotta find JUST the right patttern), no tuning out from the TV show because of the trance i get into when i watch the fancy fabrics come off the needles. none of that, just the steady, rhythmic work around the spiral of the sock. it was nice. and yesterday, i got quite a bit done on the mermaid sox too

i just hope carole isn’t sorry she gave this yarn away!

this morning i woke up and decided i HAD to face the mountain of tiny tomatoes that were piling up in bowls all over the kitchen. this was one of the things i’d been ignoring during the final transformation of yarn-into-moth. i can only tell myself they need to be good and ripe for so long before they become good and overripe. julia gave me a great idea for a different way of using them—drying. this appeals to me because i have been looking for a way to use some tomatoes to make paste, without all the cooking and processsing of paste. so while the coffee perked, i starting cutting and laying them flat

but wait! there’s more!

there’s actually even MORE, but i won’t get all silly on you. anyway, that big panful was turned fairly quickly and easily into this

which then fit nicely into an 8-ounce plastic continer. nifty, eh?? and you should taste them. i mean, they were scrumptious before, but now—yowza. they are like organic, veggie smartees—they get you right there in the corners of your mouth. mmm. and just think how they will enhance chili or curry.

no time to watch yarn dry, however entertaining you and i might find that . . . not that it IS drying—the air here is spontaneously spritzing me as i walk through the rooms—it’s that humid.

i worked about 10 hours today on a new project for the job that promises to be . . . er, challenging. let’s just say that by 7 pm, my head hurt and my eyes felt permanently crossed, not to mention the knot between my shoulder blades. this next few months should be interesting.

i took only one break, really, to get pictures! beth is right—we really DO have to start thinking about the time and when we can get good light for snaps!

the japanese feather stole that i am knitting for a shop sample is advancing nicely.

i am using the very same french alpaca that i used for the moth shawl’s contrasting edge bands. the last time i made it i used schaefer anne. this is quite different and i like it! and i’m really glad to be using stash yarn . . .

the rest of the day i plugged away at a test document and wished i could knit. the brownTrexx kept me company, but it was chaste—not once did i touch, stroke, or fondle it (only because i know better, though)

after work i ran out to the very wet garden (it’s been raining here too, finally) to grab a few things for dinner, and was hit with another Big Truth: rain makes vegetables grow. a LOT.

back in the house i ran for baskets and colanders. the pepper plants were bent over almost to the ground under the weight of the peppers. tomatoes were bursting open on the vine all over the place. and i just picked stuff sunday night! i mean, usually, every two days is perfect timing.

this is just some of the haul—what could fit in the camera at one time. i had planned on starting dinner and retiring to knit. hahahaha! HAHAHAHA!
actually, i did mostly just start dinner, but everything had to be washed and put away too.

i thought a nice, torrid vindaloo would be perfect for such a dreary day . . .

oh! and i almost forgot, but the whole time i was washing produce and getting dinner ready, a big MOTH was beating a rhythem agains the window over the sink. and guess what? it was light brown with dark brown stripes at the end of its wings—hahahaha!