It would be good for hitching a ride...

A while back, I got inspired to make some mittens. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that winter was coming, coupled with the loss of a carefully hand-knitted pair from a couple of years ago.

I like to knit. I like to wear things I knit. I hate to lose things I knit.

Once you've spent many, many hours on something, both moving forward and ripping back mistakes, it takes on qualities much greater than the sum of its parts. It is no longer just an item of functional clothing, but the end result of what you hope isn't wasted time. Which it isn't. Unless you lose said knitted item.

The pattern is from Mostly Mittens by Charlene Schurch, a book chock full of lovely, intricate color work mittens. They fit beautifully, and are wonderfully warm.

Pretty, huh? However, those eagle-eyed among you may have picked up on something here. My thumb might be a little cold. As will my left hand. After cruising along happily on this for a quite a while, I somehow lost the knitting mojo. I think it has something to do with the thumb. I like knitting mittens, but the thumb is so tiresome. It's tiny, and fussy, and hurts my hands to knit. And I might be kind of a baby about it, but I can't be absolutely sure.

I tried to make a pair of gloves a while back (which is basically just like knitting a mitten, but with 5 thumbs, and let me tell you, the whining emanating from this knitter was truly embarrassing), and I could only bring myself to finish one. It's a really nice glove, though. I suppose I could slip it under the mitten and wear them as an ensemble. And put my other hand in my pocket. And be a little sad until spring.

Tiny Squares

So a while back, we had gone to New Jersey and taken a hike in the woods. We wore long pants and sleeves, and checked ourselves carefully for ticks on our return. No ticks.

We stayed the weekend in New Jersey, and returned home. The morning after our return, I was in the shower, and noticed what looked like a poppy seed on my right hip bone. Hmmm. I went to brush it off, and it stayed put. Giving it a little tug, it came off. I put it on the ledge in my shower, not thinking too much about it. When I had toweled off, I gave it a peek - still looked like a poppy seed. After placing it on a pice of paper, lo and behold, it started moving. Yuck. Mind you, this is a full 3 days after our hike in the woods...

So I bagged up the little offender, and we gave each other a very careful once over. No ticks.

Next morning, I woke up, and decided to give the spot where the tick had been a look to see if the bite had done anything. The bite was fine, but I was horrified to discover a poppy seed about 2 inches to the right of where the first one had been. And on further inspection, he had a little friend on the other side of my waist as well. Hmmmm.

So we bagged my new little friends, and gave everybody a check. The Professor and Big Trouble remained uninhabited, but Miss Serious also had a little friend, which got its own special bag. We delivered all of the bags to our respective doctors for testing, and tried to figure out what exactly was happening. I decided to vacuum the heck out of the apartment,  and wash everything that was washable. And then we thought of the dog.

The dog had stayed the weekend with friends who have a backyard while we were away. so our first thought was that he had gotten ticks from the yard and brought them home to visit. We took him to the vet, and decided to toss out many of the items that he liked to sleep on, one of which was the sock yarn blanket I had made. To be fair, it did have several squares that had rips in them, because some of the yarn I used wasn't sock yarn and wasn't as strong as the others. Three hundred dollars later, we learned that the dog had no ticks, and I immediately regretted getting rid of the blanket, as well as having given all those dollars to the vet.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I decided to start another one:

I've been working on it for a while, and now it looks like this:

It's nowhere near as big as the one I tossed, but hopefully it will be someday. And of course, tick free.

Like Poofs Through an Hourglass

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and in the morning, as we have often done, we went to an interfaith service sponsored by the Interreligious Council of New Rochelle. It is enlightening to hear people from many different faiths and walks of life all in one place, sharing together. The speaker was an Imam from a local mosque; in his introduction, it was explained that he is not only an Imam, but a speaker at the UN, a liaison with the police department, a consultant around the country, and, of course, his day job, which was a medical director. You know, like you do. His talk was thoughtful, engaging, and funny.

When being presented with such an accomplished person, it would be most appropriate to be impressed and interested in hearing the upcoming talk. Instead, I decide to take this opportunity to feel slothful and unhappy that I am somehow unable to accomplish even a small percentage of the resume being presented to me.

And then I got home and looked at my knitting pile, and decided that he probably isn't spending a lot of his time making these:

Who needs to be a speaker at the UN when you can have lots of little poofs made out of sock yarn? These are for The Beekeeper's Quilt from Tiny Owl Knits. I hope to someday have enough to create a quilt - maybe in time for one of the kids to take to college. Or not.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my wonderful family, who make me smile every day. I am thankful for friends who open their homes to us on this and many other days throughout the year. I am thankful to be able to have a job that fulfills me, and students that are quirky and exhausting and lovable. I am thankful that a group of people from wildly different backgrounds are still able to come together to share their thoughts and beliefs with kind and grateful hearts. And I am thankful that a pile of yarn poofs can make me so happy, even if they aren't truly a replacement for actual accomplishments.

Still Knitting

Now that summer is here and I've packed up my classroom, my brain is free to concentrate on other things besides report cards and grading math homework - things like knitting!  Since we're going to Cape Cod soon, I decided I'd better finish the socks I started with the yarn I bought there last year (thus making the case that I definitely need more yarn when we go back).  Here they are (complete with Big Trouble's foot, which he felt was a crucial part of the photo):

They came together nicely, and passed the itchy test - I had no idea I had such delicate feet until I started knitting socks.  There are so many that have ended up with my Mom because after wearing them for about 5 minutes I want to rip my feet off.

The sock yarn blanket continues to make slow progress - in heat of the summer I am somewhat loathe to drape myself in wool as I work on it, but it's growing:

 I like working on it, because you can get a small square done in under 1/2 an hour - there's definitely something more gratifying about finishing one and cutting off the yarn than just going round and round on something that looks slightly bigger than when you started, but you can't tell for sure how much you've done.  Instant gratification is definitely not over-rated!

Tying Up Loose Ends....

As we will be leaving for Cape Cod tomorrow at the crack of dawn (NOT my most favorite time of the day), I've been packing all the necessaries and sundries for our vacation (you know - snacks, wine...) and trying to make sure everything that needs to get done (i.e. paying the mortgage) gets finished before we drive off into the sunrise. 

We've been going to the Cape for a few years now, and learned a valuable lesson about departure times on our first trip.  We left our home at a decent hour, drove blissfully up the highway towards our lovely destination, and landed smack-dab into some of the stinkiest traffic I have ever experienced (and as I'm from Long Island, that's saying something).  Turns out there are only two skinny little bridges that lead to Cape Cod, and everyone who is renting a cottage (pretty much all of the cars on the road) rent from Saturday to Saturday, thus requiring everyone in the world to proceed over those two little bridges at the exact same time.  We reckoned we learned from our mistake, and vowed to leave really early next year.

What didn't occur to us (and The Professor and I have a FRIGHTENING amount of schooling under our belts....) was that everyone would also be leaving Cape Cod at the exact same time on the following Saturday.  This become horrifyingly apparent as we sat in the traffic going the other direction in our attempt to leave - and this time around I had definitely lost my sense of humor.  At the time, Big Trouble was just a toddler, and Miss Serious was probably 3.  After spending a week in a small cabin trapped with these little people, I was yearning for some quiet time.  Unfortunately, Miss Serious took this opportunity to talk the entire way home.  If there's a way to make lots of traffic and a long drive even more unpleasant, that would be it.  I think when we got home I went in my room and forbid everyone to talk to me for an hour, but that just may have been wishful thinking...

I have taken a little break from the sock yarn blanket, as it has just been too hot to have it draped across my lap, but I did finish the perfect article for a hot July - wool socks - don't hit the beach without them!  They're made with Adirondack Bearfoot Mountain colors, and are wonderfully soft. 

And, because it's not warm enough in here and I thought heating the place up with the oven would be a good idea (totally worth it though), I made some lime squares (just a lemon square recipe, but I had some limes, and thought they would be good - they were REALLY good), and a coffee cake. 

The coffee cake recipe is from Martha Stewart and uses an obscene amount of butter and sugar in the crumbs, but the resulting ratio of crumbs to cake (about 2:1) is truly genius. 

If only I could figure out why my shorts have been feeling snug?  I must be retaining water because of the heat....

Not Dead...

but I have been uncharacteristically quiet.  I've been doing lots of professional development at MY NEW SCHOOL (still awfully exciting!!), and my brain has been unable to focus when I'm home because the heat turned me into a soggy puddle of stupidity.  This last couple of weeks have just about done me in, and I was ready to grab an air conditioner (or three!), but The Professor stayed strong and we are still air conditioner free.  It is rather distressing and disheartening, however, that we're trying so hard to be green by not using a tiny window air conditioner while every day the news greets me with how many days bajillions of gallons of oil have been pouring into the Gulf of Mexico...

Despite the heat, we've been busy and enjoying the summer.  We visited some family in PA and had a lovely time - we hit Longwood Gardens which is just too beautiful for words - this is Big Trouble and me kicking back and enjoying the peaceful gorgeousness of it all.

I've been working on my blanket (even finished another sock), and trying to read all my math books.  I got to see the classroom I'll be in, which was really neat.  It's such a change to work for a wealthy district - when I taught upstate, I had to buy tons of supplies myself, including a rug for my classroom (which a fifth grader promptly vomited on). 

During our writing training this week, a couple of books were mentioned which would be good resources.  I promptly wrote them down in my little notebook to check out from the library, but then the principal asked who wanted them, and will order sets for each of us.  A far cry from me having to give lessons to my fourth graders on how to properly use tissues so as not to waste the small supply we had of them.....

Well, there wasn't wine...

but there were lots of happy third graders.   And tons of food, sprinklers, games, hula-hoops, and t-shirt decorating.  It was a lovely afternoon, and the weather decided to cooperate.  The potato salad got all eaten up, so I guess it was a hit.  The kids got t-shirts with the school name to decorate using fabric markers.  Some kids started having the others sign their t-shirts, and next thing you know, they were all running around collecting everyone's names.  All except Miss Serious.  That girl definitely has her own drummer, and is amazingly confident to follow her own way.  She created a very careful design, and worked diligently to make it as neat and symmetrical as humanly possible, until another child unwittingly wrote his name on her pristine shirt, assuming that she was collecting signatures like everyone else.  She managed to contain the scream of horror that I saw flash across her eyes, and was able to disguise the signature with a stripe (which she matched on the other side, of course).  Crisis averted.

I've been continuing to knit on the sock yarn blanket, although it's really not a great summer project - having a wool blanket covering your lap while working is not exactly geared to 90 degree weather.  I think I might have to go back to socks (and then I'll have more yarn to knit on the blanket......).

The kids have some birthday parties coming up, so I also put together a couple of cards.  I got a cartridge for my Cricut with some really cute designs, so thought I'd try out a few.  It helps that I'm trying to avoid working on teaching stuff - my job is now official, so I have started digging through some math books.  Although it seems far away, it will be the first day of school before I know it, so I need to hit the books.  It's time to play are you smarter than a fifth grader for real....

Not Again!

Wow - long time, no post!  Things have been busy round these parts, what with another science fair project, family gatherings, the start of soccer, and yes - some job interviews!  I had sent out a resume at the last second for a job teaching 5th grade math at a really swanky middle school, and lo and behold, they called!  I've now completed my 2nd interview with them, and I guess it was a success, because they want me to come in to teach a demo lesson.  Sadly, the words "demo lesson" strike fear into my heart, as I've never done one (I've always gotten my teaching jobs in the summer when there are no kids, hence no demos), so we'll see how it goes.  There are some other interviews looming as well - who knew?

I was able to find the time to blog today, because we have once again run slap into "TV Free Week."  Now, I don't like TV Free Week.  We've done it every year since Miss Serious started Kindergarten, and seem to be the only parents around who actually participate.  I figure if we're going to make the kids shut off the TV, it's only fair that we do, too.  And, since the whole point seems to be to illustrate how much time we're actually sitting planted in front of the little box with the pretty pictures, it makes sense that we partake.  Especially since I'm one of those people who is in serious denial, and keep thinking to myself, "What?  I don't watch a lot of TV..."

So - I've read a couple of books, listened to some books on tape (David Sedaris' "Santaland" is really funny - I highly recommend it), but haven't gotten a lot of knitting done.  I've come to the frightening conclusion that I may actually knit just so I have an excuse to watch television...

The blanket does continue to grow, so much so that I'm actually using it as a little throw on the couch while I'm knitting on it (TV-less - what could be sadder?), but I can't get my computer to acknowledge that I've connected my camera, so I've stuck in some already loaded pictures of cards.  It's starting to do odder and odder things - I wonder if it misses TV too?

Spring, Spring, Spring, Spring

I love the advent of spring.  I think I must have a touch of SAD, because the winter always gets me down a bit.  It doesn't help that the cold and I are not friends, and that my circulation is stinky and causes me to lose feeling in my fingers and toes as soon as I go outside in cold weather.  I get so weary of darkness, and every year when spring starts to appear, I feel a definite lift of my spirits.  I love the buds on the tress, the warm sun coming through my windows, and all the flowers shoving their way up through the cold ground.  I even finished some really springy-looking socks, and though they are wool, they're pretty lightweight and good for this weather.

Geek that I am, the main reason I finally finished these socks is because I wanted the leftover sock yarn for my blanket (you can see a big square of it at the top).  I thought I had a lot of leftovers, but the blanket plows through them pretty fast, so I'm going to have to purchase some odd skeins if I want to continue with it, as my rate of sock knitting is not nearly fast enough to get ends to add squares.

I also must admit that I got a chuckle from knitting squares with the sock yarn while wearing the socks, but then, I am easily amused that way....

I Survived!

The week of vast difficulties is now over, and I survived the Pine Wood Derby (Big Trouble's car won twice), multiple requests for cupcakes and desserts, a birthday dinner (at the Hibachi place by request of Miss Serious - always a good time), a Greek Mythology birthday party with 10 small children (it was fun), and my final teaching tests (not fun, but THEY'RE OVER!!!).

The storm we had this weekend was nothing short of spectacular - really strong winds, buckets of rain, and trees down all over the place.   The testing site lost all their heat early on, so it was a real treat sitting in a room for four hours which progressively turned into an ice cube.  We actually did quite well in our home, considering, but the rain blew so hard against the side of our building that water leaked in through the bricks.  This is an ongoing issue, which has supposedly been fixed about elventy times, so sadly we weren't surprised.  But, we didn't lose power, so it's all good.

Now that all the hard stuff is out of the way, I've had time to make these (Miss Serious sent them out to her little friends for her birthday thank you notes):

I was trying out some different things, with varying degrees of success.  And - I've also been working on this (I just can't stop!):

It's now as wide as I plan to make it, so now I just need to complete the nine jillion squares needed to make it the right length.  It's still way too much fun - luckily I'll probably be able to be having this much fun for the next twenty years or so.....

Buried

I have my final teaching tests to take on Saturday, and I will be thrilled when this whole process is over.  Another thing I realized about taking tests meant for 22-year olds - when I was 22, I pretty much had all my time to myself.  So if I needed to study, or practice writing essays, I would just sit down and study. 

I didn't have two little kids running around who kept insisting on being fed and having clean clothes (how dare they?), or a daughter who was turning 9 this week and needed cupcakes for her class and her kids' birthday party this weekend (the theme is Greek mythology - still have to come up with the crafts and goodie bags), a game night at the church who also want dessert, a son who has his Pinewood Derby race for Cub Scouts, and the school science fair.  What happened here?  The rest of the month is pretty much blank, but everything else decided to land on this week.

So, of course, I have decided to knit:

This is the blanket laid out on my bed - and it's almost as wide as I'd like - I think I might add 3 or 4 more squares, and then it's all about the length, baby. 

A very lovely knitting friend gifted me with these:

I believe these are all Socks That Rock, and let me tell you, they really do rock (as does she!).  She even wound them into tiny center pull balls for me, so they are a pleasure to work with as opposed to the snarls of yarn I have been pulling apart from my own stash. 

Now back to the studying (or shhhhh - maybe the knitting - got to try out all those beautiful new colors!).

Somebody Stop Me....

because this is way too addicting.  I am loving the immediate gratification of this thing.  Usually when I knit, I work for about a jillion hours, and when I look at the work, it looks about the same.  A slightly longer sleeve, a slightly longer sock, but nothing dramatic.  I can't tell you how much I like being able to churn out a little square in half an hour!

As yesterday decided to cover itself in snow, I got quite a few of the silly little squares done.  (I figure if everyone else gets a snow day, then I get one too.)  Today it's back to real life - Tobie has his last obedience class this afternoon.  He's smart as a whip, but still has quite the attitude.  When I mention that to any sort of animal professional (vet, trainer, etc.) the answer is always, "Well, he is a terrier..."  I've decided that he's like that really smart, really obnoxious kid in your class that you can't help liking the best.  Happy graduation, Tobie!

Oh The Humanity!

Big Trouble has started exclaiming this recently.  Today it seems especially appropriate, because their school will be closing early because of...............RAIN.  Yes, rain.  Supposedly snow will be coming, but apparently we are all frightened by the droplets of water falling from the sky.  Good times.

On a knitting note, because I don't have anything else to do (you know, like find a job or study for my upcoming yucky teaching tests....) I was cruising the web and found a project that had been done with the ends of sock yarn.  Every time I make socks, I'm always left with a pile of yarn that I can't bear to throw away, but don't really have a use for.  I did make some Barbie clothes for Miss Serious, but I have amassed more over the years, so this seemed to fit the bill.

It's fun to knit, and I must admit I like the instant gratification of being able to finish a square in about half an hour.  Much more appealing than knitting forever on a sweater sleeve which never seems to get longer.  I've realized, however, that I'm going to need to supplement my leftovers, or I would be knitting on this thing for the next 20 years as I finish socks. 

A bit of amusement on this treacherous, rainy day.....

Socks, Socks, Socks, Socks

We go to Cape Cod pretty much every summer (when we ask the kids if they'd like to go someplace different, they are horrified - kids (and me!) don't like change...), and I have them pick out some yarn to remind us of the trip.  A souvenir they can wear, as it were, that isn't a t-shirt. 

This past summer, we found a new place, which was lovely and I hope is still there when we go back.  The kids decided to each get the same yarn, and now have matching socks.  I finished Big Trouble's quite a while ago, and now Miss Serious can sport hers as well.

I also picked up some lovely Cascade sock yarn for myself (hand-painted yarn sucks me in every time, and this is really soft and lovely), which, after my regrettable winding experience of a few days ago, is turning into a really lovely sock.  I guess I'm looking forward to spring, because all the colors I'm knitting with are cheery and bright, even if it's cold and gray and snowy outside.

* It was really cold and gray (and dark) this morning at 5:06 when the sub service called, even though I'm supposedly still not available for work....

Older, but not Wiser....

I spent a large part of yesterday re-doing my resume cover letter.  When I originally wrote it, I was still incredibly (perhaps overly....) optimistic about finding a job, so it was safe, said the same things everyone else's said, and basically was rather vanilla (of course, I am basically safe and rather vanilla, but that's another issue for another day).

As I am still a member of the large pool of unemployed, I decided to revamp.  My cover letter is no longer safe, talks about the bad economy and lack of jobs, and toots my own horn more than the last one did.  I decided it's time for some tooting, because goodness knows the previous letter isn't getting it done.

My new letter also stresses the fact that I have experience and wisdom.  I know this is a euphemism for old, but as I am now on the cusp of 40, I need to put a positive spin on all those gray hairs. 

After putting the finishing touches on the letter, I decided to start a new pair of socks.  I had bought some lovely Cascade sock yarn in Cape Cod, and thought I deserved a little knitting time.  I dug up the skein, which needed to be wound.  In my infinite, almost-40-year-old wisdom, I decided that it would be easier to just wind it up into a ball instead of getting a chair and retrieving my ball winder and swift from the top of my closet.

Now, I've wound a lot of yarn, both by hand and using a ball winder, and I know which is easier.  However, it seemed so logical that it would be better to just sit on the couch and do it old school, completely discounting the fact that every time I do this it takes about eleventy times longer and involves knots and disasters and a general hot mess.  After a ridiculous amount of time (and a little bit of bad language....) I ended up with this, which my dog thinks is a gift for him. 

Do you think I need to change my cover letter again?

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

It has been really cold here the last couple of days (I know this is relative, so some of you who live in scary cold places will think I'm a big pansy....).  The temperature was 20 when I left the house this morning, and sadly I was not dressed at all appropriately.  This is not because I was unaware of the temperature, but rather that I had a job interview and had on the dreaded pantyhose/suit combo.  I am a person who does not handle cold well, so wandering around New York in the freezing weather while wearing the equivalent of NOTHING on my legs is not my idea of a good time. However, I survived, and after a really hot cup of coffee, I have thawed.

I also snagged the mittens I knit for my mother for Christmas when she was here so I could get a picture.  I gave away all the Christmas presents I knitted this year without remembering to photograph a single one, so I was glad to get this picture.  They're from Mostly Mittens by Charlene Schurch; I've made a couple of other things from this book, and her patterns are really nice.  I used Knitpicks Palette for the solid color (I got a sampler of all the colors long ago, and am desperately trying to use some up - it isn't working, however.  I think the yarn might be multiplying in its container, because I swear there's more in there than when I got it....), and I think Louet fingering weight for the variegated.  My mom seems to like bright colors on her hands and feet, so this combination seemed to fit the bill.

Now for another cup of coffee...

2000 what???

I had to write my first couple of checks of the New Year this week, and it's always a struggle.  I'm amazed at how fast the years seem to flip these days.  (And, I'm disturbed to hear myself saying things like that.  Soon it will be "In my day....")  All in all, 2009 was a good year, with ups and downs like any other.

We got a new dog, I got (and finished) a leave replacement job, the kids successfully moved on to their new grades, The Professor hooked up our church with a soup kitchen and has done fabulous work arranging (and hauling) food deliveries, and I think everyone has generally been pretty happy. I even got some knitting done (although I didn't take pictures of all the Christmas knitting I did before I sent it on its way..duhhh). 

It's been an interesting year.  Sadly, this was the year I had planned to re-enter the full-time work force, just about the time that all the schools started laying off teachers, and people put off retirement because their 401K's tanked. As in many things, my timing was impeccable... I know I'm in a better boat than many, because we have been living off one income for many years (while I've been home with the kids), so nobody's losing their house or anything.  It's just that I had always assumed that when I was ready to go back to work, work would be ready for me.  Staying home with the kids was a huge transition for me, as I've worked since I hit high school.  I finally got into the groove with that, but, as kids do, they kept growing and ended up in school!  Ahh, outsourcing. 

Now I find myself having to write essays entitled "Describe a challenge that you had to overcome in your academic or professional career" and taking tests with 22 year olds.  While age has given me (I hope!) wisdom, it's also made me more tired (and way more intolerant, but that's a whole other post...).  Now, off to write 500 words on that challenging experience - do you think they'll accept an essay about potty training?

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful.....

That's right - snow in mid-October. We didn't actually see any here, but a few towns north got a bit last night. As the weather is supposed to continue its downward spiral this weekend, I will sadly be skipping the Sheep and Wool festival in Rhinebeck. It's a really fabulous festival complete with thousands (I'm talking tourbuses thousands) of knitters all bedecked in their knitting finery. I do find it a little creepy that there are quite a few food stands offering various lamb dishes, when the real live article is bleating and looking cute just a few yards away, but that might just be the vegetarian in me talking. However, as the temperature isn't supposed to climb past the mid-thirties, and there is a little picture of rain/snowflakes (yes, snowflakes, which the web designer made to look cute rather than cold and irritating) on the weather site, I'll be giving it a miss. I can do rain, or I can do cold, but I really am not in the mood to do both.

Guess I'll just have to knit at home (where the heat is abundant and lovely - our apartment building seems to think we need a temperature akin to being in the Bahamas) and pretend my children are sheep.

Well It Happened Again

The kids started a new year of school! Even though today is Labor Day, the kids' school district decided to be all mavericky and start last week. I know Labor Day is late, but we have never gone back beforehand. I checked all the area school districts, and we seem to be the only ones. I was happy with it - they were ready to go back, and now they have some wiggle room if there are snow days. Miss Serious, being a 3rd grader, moved to a different school; though she was a bit apprehensive at first, she did announce that "Third grade is going to be the best year ever!" Big Trouble was as cheerful as ever to toddle off to first grade, and everyone already seems to be settled in. The Professor goes back tomorrow, and as I've got a couple of weeks before I go, I'm going to try to do some of the little jobs 'round the house that never seems to get taken care of when everyone's here and asking for meals and snacks around the clock.

I took the quiet time to finish these. They are from the Cascade Sassy Stripes I got in Cape Cod, and Big Trouble is very pleased with them. Now to start a pair for Miss Serious - she has requested anklets, so my lucky day!

These Little Piggies Went to Cape Cod!

The perfect accessory for a 96 degree day - a hand-knit, wool sock. This is from some of the lovely sock yarn I got while vacationing on Cape Cod, and Big Trouble is so pleased with the result that he was willing to pull it onto his hot, sweaty foot to model for me. Now to finish the other one, and he can wear them to the beach!