Strung Along

The saga continues for the Frozen Margarita sock.  I was merrily adding lime slices on the leg when I realized that, although they are not large features, the limes are taller than I thought, and that adding three to the leg was going to make the leg much longer than I wanted.  Since these socks have that cute lacey beaded thing at the top, I wanted them to be on the shorter side.  So - new decision - each leg will have only two lime slices: one in the front that is off center, and one in the back that is centered.  I'll still aim for chirality for the second sock.

I took this picture yesterday as I was about to string all those beads for the lacy cuff (which is why the yarn is a different color):

Some observations (after acknowledging that at first glance this picture might appear somewhat felonious!):  

Even when using the lovely dark felt otherwise reserved for chain maille wrangling, the beads had a tendency to jump off and disappear into the carpet; there are usually plenty of beads in these kits, but if I'm 5 or 6 short I will crawling around on the floor looking the the strays!

I don't string a lot of beads, but when I do I use the small plastic loop tool you can sort of see in the above photo.  In a pinch, waxed dental floss will work almost as well (with smaller amounts of beads).

I really like adding beads as you go (using a steel crochet hook and looping them onto the knit stitch), but seed beads are not conducive to that approach.

Later today I will be attempting the lacy cuff - which is knit on following a provisional crochet cast-on.  We all know how I am with those - I will need to research what I'm doing wrong with that technique before embarking on the knitting.

In other news - I don't usually take pictures of my food, but I wish I'd taken a picture of the small spread I created for the book club gathering I hosted yesterday (perhaps I'll re-create it for Neuro when she visits?).  There was wine, beer, cheesy spinach artichoke dip (with about 8 pounds of cheese), a charcuterie plate, and crackers and carrots for scooping.  After returning from the store I realized I didn't have any fun mustard for dipping, but fortunately I had ingredients on hand for making my own.  It is delicious and spicy!  I doubled the recipe, but could have kept it singled.  In case you'd like to try it for yourself, it is significantly less expensive than buying premium mustard and you can also make it fresh as you need it:

Combine:

1T plus 2t mustard powder (yes, like the kind in the small yellow metal container)

1T apple cider vinegar

Let sit for 10 minutes (while the mustard does its chemical reaction work).  Then add:

2T honey

dash of kosher salt

Stir, and be amazed at the yellow powder transformation.  (Reduce honey to 1T if you'd like it less sweet and more spicy!  Or start there and add more to your taste.)

In case you're also wondering, the book we were discussing (although the book is often more of a pretense than the primary discussion topic) was 100 Poems for 100 Voices.  I'm still making my way through the book, but although I have no way of knowing his feelings of cultural rejection, the poet does a good job in conveying them to the reader without excluding the reader.

Our next book is Becoming, by Michelle Obama.  It's about time I read that one!

The deer made a surprise brief appearance early yesterday morning, just after sunrise.  They were leisurely grazing in the grass behind the goat pasture, and hardly batted an ear when Oogyhubby drove down the driveway (although he was some distance away).  There are still birds everywhere.