Small Victories

Slowly, our summer improves. Since summer easily extends through September, there is still plenty of time to enjoy weekend afternoons and many evenings on the patio. Last Sunday, we finished off a batch of Limoncello Fizzy Sangria that we had made for a lab member’s moving away party. It was a big success at the party and very refreshing. It also looks good photographed with the sun shining through it:
Limoncello Fizzy Sangria
We got the recipe from 101 Sangrias and Pitcher Drinks by Kim Haasarud. The publisher is Wiley, who I thought published mostly textbooks. Hmmm….

I also finished knitting a crazy sock:
Chouwa Sock #1
The pattern is Chouwa from Knitted Socks East and West by Judy Sumner. Chouwa means harmony, and this sock obviously bypasses that concept, but since I have so few wild socks, I say it’s a keeper. The best part of knitting this sock was that I figured out how to knit stockinette in the round while reading. Using my iPad, and making the text large, I was able to read and knit simultaneously! This made the stockinette portion fly by, and I didn’t have to decide whether I wanted to read or knit.

Now, I can knit many of my more vividly colored variegated sock yarns into simple stockinette socks without becoming bored to tears. That is a victory in my book. I even started a new sock in that very vein:
Cinco de Mayo sock WIP
That yarn is Seacoast Panda (merino/bamboo) in Cinco de Mayo. And it’s stripey!

Kitty #34 would like me to say that reading and knitting is nothing compared to her victory. She made it up onto M’s lap!
Kitty #34's victory
Usually as she walks around she keeps up a constant meowing commentary, but one morning she was quiet, and she took M by surprise (I’m told she was in “super secret kitty, silent, stealth, invisibility mode”–something beyond human comprehension). He let her stay up there, blissed out, for several minutes; he even pet her a bit, being careful not to rub his eyes before washing his hands. Lucky for Kitty #34, he isn’t super allergic to her. She purred, which she informs me was real love-purring, whereas when she sits on my lap, she pity purrs. Hmmm… Pity Purring…like one of my babysitters when I was little would say when she thought we were fibbing about something, “My Great Aunt Fanny.”



8 thoughts on “Small Victories”

  • The Sangria sounds yummy and the picture is so pretty! I love your new socks. The colors in both of them are so pretty. I’m very impressed that you can read and knit at the same time!

  • Smug kitty!

    Yay for knitting and reading! That’s similar to how I taught myself to read and knit, only it was 8 years ago, so I was using large-print books from the library. 🙂

  • Yes, I think the best part of my Nook is that I can knit socks and read. This is one reason I have so many plain vanilla socks…
    YAY Kitty #34! Success!
    (((husg)))

  • So glad to hear your summer is improving and you’re enjoying the season. That sangria . . . Oh, yeah! It’s lovely — and I’ll bet it tastes great, too. Love the socks! Enjoy the rest of the summer!

  • Smug kitty is right! She looks blissed out. Very nice of M to indulge her.

    Pity purring, lol!

    That sangria looks delicious. The sock might not be harmonious but it’s one of the better looking variegated yarn projects I’ve seen. Cute. I love it’s bookish backdrop.

  • If there was a Ravelry for cocktails, I would queue this one!

    How come kitties are always drawn to the one person who is either allergic or indifferent? #34 appears quite content on M’s lap!

    As an aside, I love your curated collection of sock books and now need to add a few of those to my own book stash. I love the Chouwa – we could all use a little more chouwa.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.