I started a new sock. Aren’t the colors of the needles and the yarn pretty? The needles are from KnitPicks, and the yarn is hand-dyed 100% merino wool from Claudia Hand Painted Yarns. The colorway is called Cabin Fever and makes me think of autumn leaves.
I completed my fourth and last round of allergy testing this morning, and then Sean and I drove back up to Morro Bay. I finished knitting the second Red Hots sock on the drive back. Traffic wasn’t so bad today, but OMG, I am so sick of being in the car.
Excuse me while I go to sleep for the next ten hours.
I have my fourth and last appointment for allergy testing tomorrow in Oxnard, so Sean and I decided to make the drive down to Ventura this morning. We left Morro Bay at around 11:30 AM. We didn’t reach Ventura until after 4 PM, when normally it takes about two and a half hours to make the 150-mile trip. It was a good thing I had my knitting with me in the car. We hit a lot of traffic on the 101 between Gaviota to Refugio Beach. By the time we got to Santa Barbara, we’d been in the car for about three hours already, and we were both sick of it. Luckily, our favorite independent bookstore was a few exits away, so we took a break from the road and got some food to eat and a couple of new books to read.
Now we’re back at the Ventura homestead, and Sean has fallen asleep on the couch. We’d talked about going out to eat dinner later, but it looks like getting back in the car and driving anywhere is definitely not going to be an option.
I made a lot of progress on the second sock. That’s because I had to sit through several hours of Powerpoint presentations over the last two days, and the only way I could stay awake and actually pay attention was by knitting.
Remember this sock? I posted photos of its progress back in May. Then I got sidetracked by other projects in June.
Now that it’s July (halfway through the year!) and The Pumpkin Socks are done, I wanted to go back to my unfinished projects. So this week’s plan is to complete the second Red Hots sock.
Remember the orange socks that I’d been knitting for my cousin?
These are the same socks that posed with the pumpkin plants in a couple of earlier blog posts, so now I think of these socks as The Pumpkin Socks.
I finished them a few days ago and kept meaning to take better photos so that they could have their own blog entry.
I finally got around to taking those photos today.
They’ve been down to L.A. for a Los Angeles Galaxy game…
…and back to Ventura and then Morro Bay.
For a pair of socks that have yet to be worn, they’ve certainly covered a lot of mileage.
The pumpkin seedlings are really starting to thrive now. And here are the finished socks. It’s still foggy in Morro Bay, but I’m hoping the weekend will clear up so I can take more (and better) photos.
I am now up to the ribbing on the sock. I wanted to take a creative and interesting photo for today’s blog entry, and this is the one I liked best. You can see that my pumpkin seedlings are really thriving.
The fence that Sean built.
Nothing much happened at work today, except for a fight that broke out between two inmates on our yard, right below the guard tower. The officer up in the tower fired off a round to make them stop. I was in the corridor when the yard officers came through the side door and brought in one of the inmates who’d been involved in the fight. He was in handcuffs and I only saw his back as they escorted him through, but his right hand was bloody. I couldn’t tell if it was from his own injuries or the other guy’s, but the blood just didn’t seem real to me. Maybe it was the bright red color, or the way the program in the building continued as usual, with various staff continuing to work in their offices and the correctional officers so matter-of-fact with escorting the inmate down the hall. Then again, I kept walking until I got to my own office and carried on with my own paperwork, as well. Just business as usual inside a prison.
I can’t remember if I mentioned that Sean and I are now back on the half marathon training plan. The schedule called for a 4-mile run today. So after breakfast this morning, we headed out for our run. One and .62 miles into it (according to my Garmin wristwatch), the arches of my feet ached and I was thirsty and tired. I realized that I hadn’t had enough to drink that morning. Also, I’d chosen to wear a new pair of compression socks, and they were hurting rather than helping me. I stopped running, and Sean and I walked the rest of the way home.
Since I had another appointment for allergy testing on Monday morning in Oxnard, today’s schedule also called for me and Sean to drive down to Ventura. After we walked back home, we packed up our stuff and started the 150-mile drive from Morro Bay to Ventura. We stopped at Los Olivos for lunch. I made sure to drink a lot of water and iced tea on the drive down, because I was determined to get my 4 miles in today and stick to the training schedule.
We didn’t get back to Ventura until nearly 5 PM, so we didn’t start our run until after 6 PM. And rather than count this morning’s 1.62 miles, I stuck to 4 miles this evening, which explains why I’m late posting today’s entry and why I am going to be so sore tomorrow.
Look– the heel is turned!
365 Days Handmade 