Anyone still there?

My break was a bit longer than intended. I developed a minor case of crud last week while Dr. Pig was attending his conference in Tokyo and I am still a bit tired. I also picked last week to give up coffee.

Ultimately, I'm a fairly lazy person. The reason I never drank coffee before I was married was because in the mornings I was too lazy to make it. I didn't even have a coffee maker. Or, rather, this is my coffee maker.

A Drip-O-Lator.

My father took this to Korea during the war. It makes fabulous coffee, but only two mugs at a time.


You boil the water, put the coffee in the little filter contraption, put the top back on and pour the boiling water into the top. You can leave it over a low burner if you want to keep the coffee warm, but I hate doing that as the coffee always tastes burned to me.


Dr. Pig's coffee maker is a Bunn and it's one of those dealies that keeps the water hot for the next pot, so I can never get the water/coffee ratio exactly right, the way he can.

So, I just went without. I'm sure the withdrawal added to the crud, because, even though I only drank about one small cup of coffee a day, I felt like hell. At that point, I decided that anything that could make me feel that bad, needed to go. I'm turning into my mother, but my body is slowly starting to adapt and I've substituted a cup of green tea in the mornings.

I didn't even knit last week. I don't know why, but I've been feeling very burnt out lately. I've had a very busy fall and I have realized that I am somewhat overcommitted and it's making me mentally too tired to concentrate on knitting.

Well, that and the fact that I don't seem to want to knit anything but lace. And I have baby things to knit.

So, given that it's Socktoberfest, I pulled out one of the many incomplete pairs of socks in my knitting basket and set to.
Oak Ribbed Socks
Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Regia 4-ply something or other (can't find the ball bands) in Party
Size 1 Crystal Palace bamboo needles


I adore this pattern. The completed sock fits wonderfully and the ribbing adds some interest. The color variagation is fun and the grays are a great contrast to the reds and pinks. I've been knitting on these suckers for the last three days, so today I start the toe decreases and then kitchener!

Next up - the perfect color for Socktoberfest. My long-unfinished Log Cabin Socks from Handknit Holidays. I started these last January and someone commented that had expected Log Cabinning and not cabling! It's going to be several months before it gets cold enough to use these, but after the State Fair is over, the weather will start to cool down. It was gorgeous and cool and fall-like last week, but then the Fair started. And now it's in the 90s again. Happens every year.

I'll leave you with a picture of a toy that Dr Pig bought Bean in Japan.

Hello Kitty Kaiten-Sushi!

It's hysterically funny. You press a switch and the little plates of sushi rotate on a conveyor belt.


Bean has spent hours "cooking" sushi for us. She takes orders and then rushes off stating, "Now, I must make the food swirly and turly!" (I have no idea what turly is but she was quite adamant that it is not the same as twirly. She's giving Samuel Johnson a run for his money.)