stash socks & new toys

The stash hybrids are nearing completion. I MAY have enough zebra yarn, if not then I will frog the toes on the first one & finish both with pink 'flamingo' toes, also from the Opal Rainforest! The first sock looks a little strange without blocking but looks OK when worn. It looks abit like one of the archive photos in Folk Socks. perhaps if I coverted the picture to sepia....? The second sock is just beyond the heel turn, so we will see if its time for pink toes or not. Two more balls of sock yarn arrived yesterday (how did that happen I wonder?), one in a self striping grey and the other in pale blue. The idea behind the blue was that I can go for some contrasting ribs, heels & toes with the fairly significant sock yarn stash I have accumulated in the last six months -but which pattern next? I am very tempted by Dipsey Doodles Austrian Lace socks or then again Knitty's Monkey socks. Infact there are a number of tempting projects in the winter edition of Knitty. Hats, Mitts, a buttoning headband..... The next project will travel with me at the weekend so it needs to be fairly simple & easy to pick up and down (its two flights & a couple of hours in Amsterdam Schipol airport whilst KLM fail to load luggage(!) so that's plenty of knitting time). Maybe the blue will be 'baby cable' sock material?


We acquired a new toy this weekend. Both him indoors & I have our VERY BIG BIRTHDAY this year so we agreed to share a new digital SLR camera as our 'significant' pressie. We actually wanted to go to Alaska but that will have to wait a couple of years I fear! I have a Konica Minolota Z2 that's great for lots of things, but not 'action' shots (too hit & miss, as there is a time delay) & indoor lit shots. So we have bought a Nikon D40 & two lenses after much deliberation & have been playing today. No cooker & a new camera hmm.....! Still the bread machine works & a Rayburn engineer has promised to come this week. We shall see! Hopefully the quality of the photos on the blog will improve or at least I will not have to wait for weekend daylight to photo my latest efforts if I want the colour to look something like it should! We are cetainly hoping to get some good action shots of skiing next week. With a non- SLR it was a case of take many & delete most. We have, however, got alot of good pictures, we just had to take loads.

Just another week until half term than goodness! I may be a short half term but alot has to be packed in. One thing I did last week was to demonstrate the ease of 'blogging' & its potential contribution to raising student participation in their learning & therefore raising achievement. I certainly am encouraged by the progress & impact of my Geography blogs so far & it was interesting to share this with others.