Wound up tighter than a $2 watch . . .

one of my mother's phrases for when I was excited about some coming event. It's still appropriate. I feel like I could jump out of my skin. What has brought on this "condition"?

It's about two weeks and five days until my sister-in-law arrives from Texas, and we're off to our annual Quilt Guild Retreat. The theme this year is "Run for the Border", and we are covering border and binding techniques. I haven't made a solid decision about any projects that I intend to work on, but have been anticipating the laughter and joy of being with my friends. I'm only teaching a basic class on calculating and constructing continuous bias binding, so I'll have the better part of three days just to sew on my own projects. Of course, the time goes much more swiftly than any ordinary days . . . especially those at work!

On my sock knitting front, I'm finishing the leg of the second sock for my 18th pair in the 52-pair plunge. Yesterday, I prepared some "wrappers" for three pairs which I donated to the Barn Dance and Auction for the Prophetstown State Park. One of my dear friends from Card Club is on the board. Last year, I was dumbfounded when four-sets of quilted coasters brought in over $50. I'm anxious to see what the socks will bring. I gave a green pair of Embossed Leaves, a pair of Jaywalkers in a red-white-blue denim colorway, and a pair of variegated browns in a garter-rib pattern. To jazz up the labels revealing size, fiber content, and care instructions, I imported a couple pictures of the Farmstead and Barn from the park website.

A very talented contemporary sock designer is Cookie A. Her pattern called, "Monkey" is enormously popular among current sock knitters, to the point that there have been some sock swaps dedicated to that pattern only. In fact, there is a sign-up for the third round, and I've decided to play. It won't be any extra effort, since the pair I knit for my swap partner will still count toward my 52 pairs, and I've wanted to start another pair anyway. A criteria for playing in this round is to answer a questionairre, and next topic is those questions, and my answers!


Monkey Sock Swap THREE Questionnaire

The basics:Do you consider yourself a beginning sock knitter, an intermediate, or have you been doing this so long you could probably knit a pair in your sleep?
Intermediate – need to add some toe-ups to my techniques. When I first was knitting, about 45 years ago, I made a pair of knee socks for one of the guys I grew up with. In his college colors, they had his school up one side, and his greek affiliation up the other . . . and he wore size 15 shoes. Kind of burned out my interest in socks for all the intervening years!
The measurements:
Shoe Size: 8 1/2 (US)
Foot circumference: 10 inches
Foot length: 9 inches
Yarn Preferences:What colors do you love? Yellows, pinks, reds.
Do you prefer solids or variegated?
In Monkeys, I like the solids because it shows the pattern more clearly, but I love racing to the next color change in my knitting..
Do you prefer wool, cotton or acrylic yarn? Superwash wool, any natural fiber, really
What colors would you never wear? Never met a color I didn’t like!
What are your favorite brands of yarn? Opal; Lana Grossa; Regia, Trekking, Austermann Step
Are there any new brands you would like to try? SWTC Maizie! Louet, Cider Moon, anything!
Cookie A. Patterns: Which of her patterns have you already knit? Just Monkeys, so far
Which pattern(s) would you like to knit and don’t already own? Twisted Flower, Flicker, Gothic Spire . . . they all look wonderful, so surprise me!
Other pertinent information:Would you be willing to have an international Monkey Pal or do you prefer one in the US? Surprise me
Do you have any allergies? Not that relate to my knitting!
Will your knitting be exposed to smoke or animals? No
Are you on Ravelry yet? If you don’t mind having new friends, what is your Ravelry name?
Plan to join the wait list!

Plan to "plow" the studio this weekend, and start a stack in the "staging area" for supplies and items to go with me to Camp. It's a little different for me in some ways, because I keep spare items for my dear sister-in-law, who flies in from Texas for the event. So, I have two sewing machines, two sets of bedding . . . just like Noah, only different!