Sunday, October 30, 2005

yukon leaves- the last hurrah!

I had envisioned exiting Socktoberfest on a high note, ala George Costanza, with a fourth and final pair of socks. Unfortunately, my overly ambitious Socktober plans got waylaid by other October plans this past weekend. As a result, I only have leg one of sock one to offer for my final Socktoberfest hurrah. (There is definitely Greek music at the end of that sentence.) The pattern is Yukon Leaves, in KnitPicks dye-your-own merino sock yarn, on size 1 Brittany Birch dpn's. Although initially I didn't dye the yarn out of sheer laziness, I'm actually kind of liking the natural color of the wool for this project. The pattern is just the right blend of mindless and mindful repetition and I really love the quasi-cables that magically appear. I wish I could have gone out with a bang like Laura, but being the George that I am, I am instead stuck in the boardroom with nothing funny to say. Ah, well- time to segue to the infamous tractor story!

Going with the G-rating, there will be no STD's or gonorrhea in this tractor story. And if you're completely lost, take it as a divine sign that you need to watch more Seinfeld! This tractor story involves a little hay, a little ride and a lot of pumpkins at Aloun Farms Annual Pumpkin Patch. Take one hot day (welcome to Hawaii!), add a long drive out to the farm, stir in gale-force winds and dirt, and you've got the recipe for USDA Choice Toddler Meltdown. Not to be confused with Nap-Interrupted-Meltdown and Share-with-What-Sister?-Meltdown, which are distinct, but separate, Grade B varieties. Things started out well enough with an impromptu and off-tune preschool chorus of E-I-E-I-O at the mention of the word, "farm." The hay ride went decently well, too. We even got to pull our pumpkins off the vine this year, as opposed to the Easter Egg Hunt mentality Pumpkin- free-for-all last year, but it was to no avail. Something about stepping foot on the soil to pick our pumpkins (aka the highlight of the trip) sent Bossy into crisis mode, as you can see in the pics. In our usual Wal-Mart crisis-intervention fashion, we grabbed Bossy, hid behind our shades and booked it back to the tractor, all the while menacingly delivering empty threats about the eternal time-out that awaited him once we got home. As we hauled butt and pumpkins back to the tractor, some goodie-goodie know-it-all moms gave us a condescending and disapproving stare, so I shot them all a dirty "I-saw-what-your-crappy-kids- did-at-Wal-Mart -last-week, so-don't-you-be lookin'-at me" look. Go, Hilo girl!

After the Pumpkin Patch Fiasco, we were able to avert further disaster by heading out to Waialae Iki Park. Pre-Halloween festivities awaited us later at home, including pumpkin carving and cupcake decorating. Stinky seems pretty freaked out by the jack-o-lanterns, but she keeps staring at them, laughing and crying, playing some demented game of chicken with herself. I'm praying she doesn't wind up codependent. Bossy, ever the capitalist, seizes every opportunity to terrify Stinky by turning the lights off to let the jack-o-lanterns glow. I'm praying he doesn't wind up a Corleone.

Ante-Knitblogging, I was an attentive, loving mother who baked organic Halloween shortbread cookies from scratch for the progeny to decorate with homemade icing. Post-Knitblogging, I am a neglectful, harried mom trying to squeeze in a few extra minutes of reading and commenting, baking additive and preservative filled cupcakes from a box, slathered with nuclear orange canned frosting. Judging by their smiles, I'm thinking Bossy and Stinky are pretty darned thankful for Knitblogging and high fructose corn syrup right about now!

As Socktoberfest draws to a close, a big thank you to Miss Lolly for being such an outstanding hostess for such a fun KAL!! It's been so inspiring seeing all the fabulous socks and "meeting" all the wonderful knitters out there. And as October draws to a close, it's time for Bossy, Stinky and I to start our hardcore mantra training: What do we say? "Trick-or-treat, thank you, bye." And how do we say it? "Loudly!" Say it again! "Trick-or-treat, thank you, bye." Again! "Trick-or-treat, thank you, bye." Again!...

Alright, that's it for me- you've been great. Good night, everybody! George Costanza has left the house!

15 comments:

Laura said...

I. Love. Your. Blog.

What else can I say? Once again, you deliver.

Awesome sock leg, by the way. Did you mention where that pattern is from?

Lynda said...

Cute kids, cute pumpkins, and beautiful sockage!! AND, I totally get the Seinfeld references....

Alison said...

That sock is going to be gorgeous. I didn't even finish one pair for Socktoberfest. (I got too ambitious with my October projects.) Oh, well. I can totally sympthize with having to pull your kids out of places! I usually giggle when I see parents dragging their kids out, but I'm quick to explain that it's really sympathy laughter because I've been there. (And a little of hysterical "Thank goodness that it's not mine this time, Ha, ha!")

Acornbud said...

Thanks for another charming chapter of the ongoing saga of Stinky and Bossy! Great sock! The natural color really shows the pattern up well.

Karen said...

Loved hearing all about the Halloween exploits. And I loved the Seinfeld references. Yada yada yada, great stories. Your baking sounds wonderful - both the shortbreads and the cupcakes. :)

I like the natural socks too.

Jillio said...

dang, chris! you're hardcore! you're rolling on those socks!

your kids are so darn cute, too :)

i like the episode where seinfeld talks about it's important to have just enough milk to eat with your cereal. i can totally relate to that one. ;D

knittinmom said...

George is gettin' upset! I'm a huge Seinfeld fan. And don't you hate those stupid perfect moms? Like their kids never behave badly in public. They're probably just looking at you because they're so relieved that it's happening to someone else for once (I've been known to do that on occasion...)!

Unknown said...

The socks are great...I love the lighter color.

The pumkins sound like fun, despite the meltdowns. We couldn't find anywhere here that sold pumpkins in a field. We thought it was because Florida is too hot, but if you had them in Hawaii...

Oh well. The produce section of SuperSaver almost had the same ambiance...

The idea of Stinky playing chicken with the pumpkins is too cute.

Have a great Halloween!

Danielle said...

Great socks, and adorable kids! What a great blog to read on a lazy afternoon at work (which should NOT be so lazy!!)

Anonymous said...

Hi there! I'm new to your blog and am adding you to my blogfeed! I LOVE your sock! What pattern is that? And your chillens are adorable as well!

amylovie said...

Ahhh...another Seinfeld fan. Can't get enough of it.

A pox on those goodie-two-shoes moms! Gag.

Amy

Allison said...

Ooh those socks are beautiful so far! The texture looks really pretty in the solid color. And hooray for pumpkins :)

Ragan said...

Wow! Those socks are wonderful! And...I feel your pain on the 2-year old meltdown...got one of those also. We just moved back to the mainland from Pearl City...really miss the trade winds and the ALOHA spirit. :)

Sayward said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

I agree. I really like the natural colour of the yarn with that pattern you're using. I love the pattern too.

Ah, fall in Hawaii. By the sounds of it, it's nonexistent.

luvs2knit said...

I love your cable socks!!! They are awesome!! Your Jack-o-lanterns look great!!