A Midsummer Night's Snacks

As I recollect, reality began to unravel when someone in MY SnB mentioned they'd never tried Pocky. I don't really care for Pocky, but friends don't let friends not know Pocky! The little biscuits are the perfect snack for knitters – about the size of a sock dpn, crunchy, with a convenient handle and a ginormous range of flavors.


Or view here.
Then again, if the video is any indication, reality may have unraveled some time ago. However that may be, the remedy seemed obvious, a tasting of a few flavors. Here's what we sampled last week. Men's and Brazilian were particular favorites.



And here's some additional flavors for tonight's Summer of Socks midnight meet-up. Be there or be square!


And because sweet Pocky evolved from savory Pretz, there will be a couple of flavors of Pretz on hand, for historical interest.


To some that may seem like quite enough snack food. But one of the joys of multiculturalism is overlapping celebrations = more snacks! June 21 is not merely the June solstice, not merely the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere, not merely the start of the Summer of Socks – it's also Strangely Orange Snack Appreciation Day. Uh, right, that spells SOSAD. I'll leave it to someone else to bring the strangely orange snacks, if they feel so moved.

As for knitting, poor Sitcom Chic never did get finished in time to go to the conference last weekend – it will debut next week. Perhaps that's just as well. There was sufficient drama there to keep me from knitting in public on WWKIP Day – it got hot enough that I didn't need a sweater! Sigh. At least I got to fist-bump mostly everyone in the room (ow, white guys, please, less velocity on impact!).

Darcy is having a contest on her blog – go congratulate her on her 200th post and check out her yummy prizes.

Contre le Montre

We're in the midst of a heatwave roundabout Exit 151. The township has a new alert system that emails residents during emergencies, including dangerous weather – extreme heat kills more people than all other kinds of weather put together. Last night's alert: widespread power outages, take precautions!



Uh, I knew that already – it was dark and hot, rather like the above wip. Not to mention I can't read email during a power failure. It would seem the emergency system has a key vulnerability.

Knitters, of course, knit on, even through multiple blackouts. The result is the new Sitcom Chic by Bonne Marie Burns, at the vast expanse o' stockinette stage. I want to wear it at an over-air-conditioned conference this weekend. Will it be finished in time? To be continued....

Meanwhile, proof positive the heat has f-f-felted my poor wooly brain: I've signed up for the Tour de France Knit-along, in the Maillot Vert or Green Jersey classification. That means I intend to start and finish my project, Shetsoie shawl by Odile Buatois-Brand, during the TdF (July 5-27). I'll be knitting contre le montre, against the clock!

Which is not to say I'm against clocks in the anti sense or even in the S-twist sense... although after resetting the clocks in the house five times (so far), I am wondering why we have quite so many.

A Sock in Time

In response to questions on the last post, yes, I darned the sock. Promptly. A handknit gift is too precious to let go without at least an attempt at a repair! Here's the mended sock on foot with the darning egg I inherited from DH's grandmother.



Although I just noticed it, the hole was big enough to require woven darning, plus a patch of duplicate stitching, aka Swiss darning. (Why do sock terms have nationalities, at least in English?) The mended area feels very different to my fingers, but not to my foot.

These reminders of impermanence – sock and egg – and all the perky Summer of Socks chatter on Ravelry ("I'm making ABCDE... XYZ socks!" "I made my own kits!" "I'm finishing all my current projects!"ad naus) gave me so much sock agita that I finished two socks that had been languishing, Scar and Fawkes. Gah. Interior monologue, with attempted perkiness: They're a pair equivalent! No, not really. Ah well, at least I have two sets of dpns free for the June 21 start of SoS.



Today's New York Times has an excellent article on the trauma of dealing with garden pests, "Peter Rabbit Must Die." I praise its verisimilitude and fault it only for mentioning Disney stars but neglecting the Warner Bros. masterpiece, What's Opera, Doc?, familiarly known as Kill the Wabbit. I've been known to sing a chorus or two, to the tune of The Ride of the Valkyries, not the heavy metal version. (Photo credit: Bunbun created by Michelle and copied from Lolcats.)

Allison at Simply Socks Yarn Company is having a third anniversary contest. Go give her good wishes and some market research for a chance to win yummy prizes.

Darn

The other evening I was idly looking at my vegetable garden and suddenly thought, "That's not how it looked this morning." Some things were nibbled to the ground...



... others were sans leaders (the growing tips). My digicam wanted to focus on the stake rather than the plant, but you get the idea – something is missing.



If that weren't calamity enough, there was a fire in a building that houses the Malabrigo offices and mill, see their website and blog. Fortunately, no one was injured, property damage is limited, and insurance covers both inventory loss and business interruption.

I also wore a hole in one of my much-appreciated Sockapalooza 4 socks.



Gah. It's time for some flower pix! Here's a view of the Presby Iris Gardens. Bloom was uneven this year – judging from the condition of the plants, I'd guess the next really good year will be 2010.



When DH and I moved roundabout Exit 151, the garden was unfenced. Over the years there was occasional trouble with marauding deer and with destructive vandals, so the garden was eventually fenced. But this spring a thief with a connoisseur's eye dug up several valuable varieties. The garden director insists no true gardener would do such a thing – and probably not a merchant either, the perp is likely an unprincipled collector. To which I say what I always say, May müths eat their stash!

Today is the dark of the moon and also the statewide Primary Election Day in New Jersey. Y'all know the routine – polls are open from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Better and Better

A while back Melissa asked for proof of sock knitting. It would seem some of her friends (dare I write it?) doubted the power of sock. I responded with an even dozen projects knit in the last year and she turned them into a collage of Sock Fame.


Top: Sockapalooza 4 pal socks, Meadowlands, Trekking 126 socks, Sockapalooza 4 angel socks.
Middle: Embossed Leaves, Country Christmas socks, Birch Leaf, Sherbet Queen of the Jungle Stripe.
Bottom: mini-Monkey socks, Annetrelac, Ruffles & Bubbles, Tiit's Socks.

I am inordinately happy with my collage. It made me realize that, for me, sock knitting delivers the highest ratio of happiness and utility to time, money, and effort expended. It is good.

There was also a prize draw – I won three skeins of marled handspun goodness! I heart marled handspun.



Thank you, Melissa! Sock Fame, a cosmic realization, and yarny goodness – what could be better?

Well, perhaps nothing in the knitblogging universe, but in a parallel dimension, the IRS decided my church denomination didn't break any rules after all, so it remains a tax-exempt organization. It's a complete vindication. Tralala.