The sock goes to Canaan Valley

where we discovered that WV is a very well kept secret. They have just about every sport you could want to do, so long as it doesn't involve an ocean or steady wind!

Our first day we went hiking at Blackwater Falls State Park. We found these falls first and thought they were the falls the park was named for:

but we found out from fellow hikers that these, in fact, were the renowned falls:

Just a tad bit bigger.

The next day, we went to Seneca caverns, where we met this little guy: aren't bats the best little rodents? Much better than squirrels...they just don't have as good a PR agent, obviously!

After the caverns, we went and hiked to the top of Seneca Rocks. It looks like this from below: an d this is what it looks like from the top: We came back Monday, thus avoiding all weekend traffic and I got about 2/3rds of the brother's second sock done. You think I'd be thrilled, thinking I'm almost done, but no. As you my recall from Tuesday 10/30's post , I had initially done a red and green 2x2 ribbing on his sock cuff...but when I tried to put that puppy on over my foot, there was just NO way...so I ripped the cuff and put in a simple red 2x2 cuff...but that meant binding off at the top of the cuff...something I'd never done before. I knew I needed elasticity, so I opened all my books and found one that said to use the typical bind-off, just looser. Lying sack of s*&t that it is...I can pull the sock on over my heel now, but all circulation to the foot will be lost within a few minutes of wearing the damn thing...so, I have to rip it back again and try this method of casting off that I just found at an old y2knit site

This is an easy and fairly elastic bind off that is useful where you need extra elasticity. It is easy to do and remember, but it will cause the edge to flare a bit so shouldn’t be used where a very smooth edge is needed.

Right Side

This example is done in 1x1 rib with a knit stitch beginning the row. It can be done in any pattern.
K1, *bring yarn forward, return stitch to left ndl; p2tog [new stitch and next stitch on left ndl which is a purl st]; put yarn to back, return stitch to left ndl; k2tog; rep from * across row.

Wrong Side

The looseness of the stitches here will determine the elasticity and the look of the finished edge. You may prefer the wrong side, in which case bind off on a wrong-side row.

So, that's tonight's task. Maybe by week's end, I'll have both socks done and posted and can start on my Sister-in-law's socks...which means I can't post pics for a while since she's one of my two readers!

Retreat

Well, it's been a while since I posted anything. I've been working furiously on turning my basement into a media room. It still needs a few touches here and there, so I'm not willing to take a picture of it yet, but it's also at that stage where it's good enough to just ignore the little touches needing done, so it could be a while.

In the meantime, enjoy my ramblings on the retreat. I was signed up for the weekend retreat, but was completely oblivious to the fact that there was such a thing as a Thursday extension. I went up Thursday evening with the plan of going to Webs Friday morning. Which I did. And spent way too much money. On this:

It's Fiesta's Ballet line. the picture doesn't do it justice, but it's 50% alpaca and 40% tencel and the colorway is just what I've been looking for. I've been wanting a black sweater with variations on the black, but still, overall, black. This worked out perfect. And had I limited myself to that, we'd be fine. But nooooooooo.....

While browsing for patterns, I found this one, and I've always liked this style neckline on me, so I picked up the pattern. But of course, now I need the yarn...and the pattern called for this: Fiesta Rayon Boucle in Safari colorway

I also bought some seasilk sock yarn for the SigO. So, I left Webs with my wallet more than $200 lighter.

But back to the retreat. As I said, I was oblivious to the fact that there was a Thursday extension, so I just went to the hotel a night early with the idea of spending the night. I expected to see some other knitters, but didn't know there was an organized event. So, when the ladies at the front told me dinner was being served in the dining room, I traipsed on in, expecting a regular restaurant, and totally ended up crashing the Thursday extension party. Sorry guys. They made me very welcome though. Thanks Clara. After I got back from Webs on Friday afternoon, the rest of the crowd was trickling in. We did show and tell and had some great laughs, but for me the fun didn't really start until I hooked up with Anya at lunch on Saturday. I really enjoyed her company. We went on a quick tour of downtown Lenox and had fun wine tasting, then we went for a walk in Kennedy park with Leslie and Debbie. The glare in the knitting room was pretty intense, so it was hard to get good pictures, but here's my best shot:

this is Anya and Leslie. Another great tidbit:Anya successfully managed to teach me how to knit continental! Woo Hoo!
this is Debbie and her Mom, Nancy. Debbie is one lucky pup...she has all sorts of knitting from her Mom.

One thing I'm leaving out. Anya and I, on our trip downtown, also visited Colorful Stitches. At first, I didn't really see anything that knocked me over. Then I found this:

which is SO completely my colors...so, I emptied my wallet again to get enough to make a pullover. I planned on starting this Sunday morning at the retreat's "New Beginnings", which is where you start a project just for yourself, but after Anya taught me how to knit continental, I wanted to practice that for a while so my tension is good. So, I'm knitting a scarf for now, but I can't wait to get started on this project.

Finally, on my way out, I did manage to get some good pictures of something other than yarn or knitters. This is Seven Hills Inn, where we had the retreat: This is the view from right outside my door.

And this is Tanglewood.