The usefulness of sock blockers

I love sock blockers. It turns out that, when you've finished one sock and are still knitting away on the second, a time when the first sock is generally not useful in any way, it can be useful! It can hang around decoratively on a sock blocker while awaiting its finished mate.
I am still loving these socks. I'll be honest and say that I wasn't so fond of the ribbing (a twisted stitch rib that I had to watch my hands to do), but having finished with that, it's been smooth sailing. I was also worried about doing the toe as called for in the pattern, in no small part because it doesn't give me the opportunity to kitchener closed the end (and we all know where I stand on the kitchener issue). But I decided to stop being a great big baby and to just suck it up and follow the pattern (gasp). I'm glad I did. Look:
It's like the leaves just continue right on down the toe.

The heel has garter stitch at the edges, which I quite liked, and may adopt in other socks, depending on how it wears.

The lace pattern is one of those that just calls for you to do the next row, to finish one more repeat. And since my feet really only need 6 1/2 repeats on this one (instead of the 7 1/2 called for in the pattern), the first one went fast, and the second one promised to go just as fast. This is a very good thing, as I'm about to embark on something new and exciting (the yarn is listed as having shipped, yay!), which I'll tell you all about in due course, but for which I'm attempting to clear the decks.

My weekend, while not long (I don't teach a Monday/Wednesday schedule this semester, which I think is half the reason why I'm so cranky and discombobulated, and the girls had school, so I worked), was quite nice. On Sunday, one of my dear friends had her annual Diwali party (the Indian -- as in sub-continent of -- festival of lights), which is always a blast. All the kids either dance or play music in a small piece at the beginning of the evening (that's what all the practicing has been about), and everyone brings Indian food that they've cooked (it turns out I know a lot of people who cook really well -- go me!), and then we all dance around in the living room. The best bit, because I admit it, I'm a bit geeky, is that my friend kindly loans me a sari for these occasions, and I get to dress up. I tell you, there is nothing more lovely than wrapping oneself in a gorgeous piece of fabric that inherently fits the shape of your body because it's wrapped around that body, with no seams to fight. I am also consistently charmed by the ways that so many cultures have found to utilize a nine-yard piece of fabric straight off the loom without doing anything so wasteful as cutting it (think kilt, toga, etc etc). It appeals to the part of me that feels the weight of generations of fabric-makers behind me when I knit. I forgot my camera (can you believe?!), but if something comes from one of my friends that's shareable, I'll post it.

Meanwhile, I'm getting ready to head north this weekend for an endangered languages workshop. It's at my favorite place on earth, the Marin headlands, so that's definitely something to look forward to. Alas, the beach is closed because of the oil spill, so no hanging out on the beach, but at least the bluffs are open for hiking. The family is going up with me, and we'll visit with Rick's grandmom, which is always a good thing. I spent six hours (!!) at Toyota yesterday getting the car checked and getting new tires (the old ones were balding -- a bad sign), so we're good to go.

Stay tuned for a package post tomorrow.