Lack of a computer has kept me a busy gal.  I completed some socks last night:

Using my favorite Yankee Knitter pattern these socks are Briggs and Little’s Durasport (which we have at the store, but isn’t on the website).  It’s wool and nylon, but only comes in four colors.  My itchy dyeing fingers put an end to that!  I actually dyed two skeins in this "colorway".  The first was "typical" dyeing–putting out the skein (tied in the two yard length it came in) and carefully applying dye.  The second (this one) was put out in a 40 foot skein, then dyed in stripes.  I had estimated that it would take six to eight feet of yarn to knit up into a quarter inch of sock stripe on fingering weight yarn.

I was right, but getting eight feet of one color was a bear.  It worked on the hot fuschia, but the turquoise wasn’t as clear.

Here’s the "typical" sock, that was completed a few months ago.  It’s wet in this picture, having been just taken out of the washer.  It’s got a few months of wear (hence the fuzzy halo), but you can see how the stripes are different.

One more comparison:

Note that the ball of yarn with the pair of socks is the leftovers after two socks were knit.  From weighing them I know I can get another sock out of each ball.  So, in the end I will have knit six socks (three pair) from two skeins of yarn.  Oh, and each skein is $5.95.  The best deal in town.  Just add dye.

Some days you are struck by inspiration.  Or, just struck.  Yesterday, at work, I saw a seemly innocent pile of sheep puppets.  We often have a few around, but the Boss just ordered a 1/2 dozen which had been placed up on a high shelf, looking forlorn.

I had a flashback to the Wallace and Gromit short "A Close Shave", which is mentioned in my "movies that knit" in the left column.  In it, W&G rescue a herd of sheep from the evil mechanical dog, Preston. The getaway sequence has the heroes and the flock on a motorcycle, shifting into different configurations to stay on the moving vehicle.  Here’s a picture of them at a stop, reaching Gromit in prison:

Then they drive away, and at one point are positioned as an upside down pyramid.  I couldn’t quite do that in the window of the shop, so I did this instead:

Note the cartoon bubble above the sheep on the left.

If you’d like to adopt (buy) one of these lovely ladies, give us a call at Unique One,
we’ll ship you one–but it will mess up the pyramid.

In other news: I ordered a new computer at 6:15 am today.  She should be here within two weeks.  Yeah!