Help meeeeee....

I really worked hard on cleaning on and around my desk, and things are starting to shape up in the Hellhole. In fact, this afternoon, I actually paid bills on my desk! Yes, it's amazing! After all this time trying to write checks with the checkbook balanced on my knee and bills and envelopes fluttering to the floor around me, it was a real pleasure to have writing space. Not that it was a pleasure to actually pay the bills, but I do want to continue taking hot showers.

And, as I was bustling around putting books on shelves, and sorting random project materials into boxes, I got this great idea. Hey, why don't I gather up all of the sock yarn I have so I'll be ready to go for the sock contest! You know what's coming, don't you? I found sock yarn I don't remember buying. I found duplicate balls of sock yarn. Not only do I not remember buying the first ball, but have no clue about when and why I bought the second. And I must have started something with it, because the center (commonly referred to around here as "the guts") of the ball had been pulled out, apparently knitted, and then ripped out. I have no idea.

I did remember some of the balls I found. Like the Opal that knits up into the most incredibly ugly sock I've ever seen. How do I know this? Because I actually started a sock, put it aside for a while, picked it up again about six months later, knitted a few inches, then discovered that not only was it butt-ugly, but my tension had changed drastically over those six months. I ripped it out, and I'm really not sure if I have the courage to start it again. If I had any backbone about me (it should be obvious by now that I don't) I would knit it first and get it over with. But I doubt I'll be able to fight off the siren song of the Panda Wool and Panda Silk.

So here's the Sock Pile:

That's 21 pairs of socks' worth of yarn there (22 if I knit up the duplicate ball.) The Noro at the top will probably end up as two pairs as well, because I'm going to use them together to make narrower stripes. The ugly Opal is at the bottom right, next to the luscious "Last Purchase" yellow Panda Silk. I hope the ugly doesn't rub off.

Do I really think I can knit 21 (or 23) pairs of socks between June 21 and September 1? I'm going to give it a shot. I should come up with some sort of special reward if I manage to do it. Trust me, I have no problem rewarding myself for any tiny little goal reached!

A funny thing happened as I was paying for a skein of sock yarn on Saturday (whoops--ummm...it was a grand opening for the shop and I got there the last 10 minutes it was open and I didn't want to leave without buying something because that might have hurt the owners' feelings and there was this really pretty On Line yarn that I'd never seen before and, well, never mind...) Anyway, I started chatting with another lady at the checkout (hey, she was buying wayyyy more than my one measly ball of sock yarn) and we ended up exchanging Ravelry names. Not our actual names, you understand. In fact, I had no idea what her name was until I pulled up her page on Ravelry. How weird is that? I feel like I'm in some strange parallel universe when it comes to knitting.

I would be writing this on my very own brand-new computer this evening if only I had stayed home from work today. They tried to deliver it at 10:45 this morning--half an hour after I'd left for work. Rats. Stupid job.

BTW, the chocolate and the cream of mushroom soup did not end up in the same dish the other night. She made a yummy crock pot chicken thing. The chocolate items have not been made into anything yet. I'd better go see if I can bug her into correcting that situation.