Fewer Irons, A Bigger Fire

Hello on this cloudy Saturday!  I hope this finds you safe and well; we're good here.

I can't believe I haven't posted anything in so long!  It's been busy here, but it's all good.  Let me start with the yarn.

At long last, today I'm prepared to start knitting my very first Afterthought Heel:

It's been awhile already, but this is one of the socks made from my first tube on the sock knitting machine!  The toe looks a bit more neon in this pic than in real life - it's actually a closer match to the yellow in the sock.  Anyway - I hand-knit the cuffs (just K1P1 rib) and toes (the usual semi-squared version I like), and have cut in for the heel.  

Ack - cut you say?  Yes.  Thanks to kirbywirby's YouTube video, I'm off and rolling without a care in the world.  Essentially this version of a heel looks a lot like a semi-squared toe!  I'm not quite sure about the dimensions yet, but I'll use the old try-it-on-as-you-go approach for this first pair.

There are 2.5 more yarn tubes waiting in the wings, so it's a good thing I'm starting to figure this second phase out.  (One tube is still on the machine, halfway done!)

I understand from the internets this is how the Shakers made their socks.  That's going to be my story, and I'm going to stick with it :)

I'm still pecking away at the NNWA, making slow but steady progress on that!

A couple of things happened last week.  Early in the week, Oogyhubby and I both scored COVID vaccination appointments - evidently the vaccine fountain and local pharmacies opened up and away we go!  We both got our first dose without any drama.  Second dose is in mid-April!  I'm sticking with mask-wearing and hand-washing, but at least I'll be part of the herd immunity numerator!

Later that same day I accepted an offer for a full-time position!  Imagine that!  I start in a little more than a week!  It's not my dream job, but it will be interesting work with some great people, and the pay is very nice.  So I'll be wrapping up two of my freelance jobs, and then figuring out how to manage my workload with Cornell, my practicum (at least for another few weeks!), and possibly an internship (although I haven't heard anything yet, with my luck I'll be accepted, LOL!).  

In wildlife news - many of the birds have remained.  Every morning I hear the cheerful RWBs and I just have to smile.  For a few days I also a couple of bluebirds!  This morning the deer were watching me and Benson out on the lawn - as if to say, hurry up, you're on our salad bar!!