Well, you'd think that with all this down time I'd finish some of my knitting projects. And indeed, I have. Er, I've finished the socks I made from the blue yarn I got in New York:



The right one is a bit puckery on top because I decided to fly without a net and do my own version of picking up the heel stitches . . . didn't work out perfectly, but oh, well. I learned something about constructing socks.

And I learned even more from doing this one:





If you look closely at the left side you'll see that the needles are perpendicular to the body of the sock - because on the left side, I turned the heel. This sock was started (without a pattern) from the toe instead of from the cuff, as most sock patterns dictate; I had no idea how to turn the heel if you're going in this direction. Luckily, in the nick of time the kind folks at Amazon (who are really getting quite familiar with the sorts of books I'd enjoy) recommended Sensational Knitted Socks to me. I got the book, and learned one method (short rows) for turning the heel. I also learned lots and lots and LOTS about how to knit socks. As I still have much sock yarn left over from New York, I'm happy about this.

I'm surprised that I'm still knitting; usually I give it up for the summer because it's too stinking hot. But sock yarn is light and doesn't make my fingers and hands sweat, so I can still work with it. And it's such a pleasure sitting on the deck knitting, especially in the evenings as the light wanes. I think I'm enjoying the deck as much as I used to enjoy the sunroom . . .

Speaking of the sunroom, we are up to our ears in negotiations with our buyers, who seem to want us to do everything except pay the mortgage (and they probably would have asked for that, if they'd thought of it). There's another showing tomorrow, so we went down today and spruced up the yard and washed the floors. The place looks really nice, we think. (I'm hoping that the people will see it tomorrow, knowing there's an offer . . . and think, "Wow! What a cool house! We better write a competing offer RIGHT NOW!" Of course, probably nobody thinks like that except me . . . which would explain a lot, really - like why we're in the new house - but I don't want to go there . . . ) Let's just hope we get that better offer so we don't take such a total bath on this deal . . . but we're not willing to brook too much uncertainty, because the market is so screwy (and really, at the moment, we cannot afford even one more mortgage payment on that house . . . ) So cross your fingers for us, because it's not over till it's over.

Ah, well. One way or another, it'll work out.

Emil has just teed up the evening entertainment (a flick called Uncovered, a mystery about an art dealer, apparently), so I'm going to go get my tea (the kettle's about to boil) and curl up with my hubby and my knitting and watch the movie. More news as it develops.