Trekking socks, catching up

Tide pools near Mendocino, CA

Mr. Hermit Crab

My daughter, whose nickname *was*
Smallness, wearing her size 10 1/2
Trekking socks.

For Jason, the answer is I mark every ten rows with a contrasting strand of leftover sock yarn so I don't have to count the rows over and over again. It also makes it easier when altering a garment to see at which row I need to add or subtract width, or whether I need to decrease the length by ten or twenty rows.

And yes, I've been knitting. I just frogged half the sweater I knit on vacation (the proportions were off -- the recipient's proportions are off, too, but I'd like to make something that softens the effect instead of intensifying it). There's a looming birthday deadline so it won't be perfect but I would like it to be a little less ugly!

I have finally gotten my eyesight to the point where I was able to finish my FLAK swatches before vacation and will soon cast it on for real. DD found some lovely laceweight yarn at the Mendocino Yarn Shop (lovely place), Yarn Place Gentle SY181 in a soft aqua (not a light blue as pictured on the website!). I finally found a copy of Stephanie's first book at a real bookstore and read it aloud to the family in the evenings, making them chortle and exclaim, "You're just like that!"

I have another eye exam this next week so might disappear for a while again. Sorry about that, but blogging and vision are rather dependent.