Sock it to me!

a.k.a. Friday - Good Friday, in fact.

Anyone who recognises the above sock phrase must be ever so old as I don't believe Rowan and Martin's Laugh In has been on telly since the 70s.  I remember giggling inanely over some of the 'jokes', most of which I would now wonder why I found so amusing.  It was loaded with in-jokes, catch phrases and canned laughter  and was extremely 'American'.  It was the thing to watch and 'sock it to me' has stuck in my memory over the years.

Anyway, I digress.  One sock down and the other about a quarter done.  Although I say it as shouldn't, I'm quite pleased with it really: for a first go it's not bad.  There are mistakes, of course, but I know why and what I did to go wrong and I can see to using five needles rather than four would help tremendously.  A shame they only sell them in fours, isn't it?  Apart from using techniques I already knew and applying them to this context, I learnt a new skill.  The toe is sewn up using something called the Kitchener stitch - a bit complicated until you get the rhythm of it and one of the places where I went wrong, but the thought of undoing it was so daunting that I didn't.  You see, as you stitch along two rows of parallel stitches using a tapestry needle, you cast off one stitch at a time.  I just couldn't face the picking back that would be necessary if I undid it! 

The one I have finished fits really well and I can see that I shall have warm, cosy toes when the weather gets cold again next autumn.  Or even this evening as I woke to another frost this morning: not too hard, I hope, as some trees are already in blossom and plants are growing fast.

The sock!

The heel

The Kitchener stitched toe - it lies beautifully flat

Apart from knitting, I went round to my friend, L for lunch.  L and I taught foundation stage together years ago and she took the other Y1 class with me for two years recently before her retirement.  You may be thinking that there's a lot of retirement at my school and you'd be right.  There's a cluster of us around the same age - in a way a bit of a ticking bomb - although as it's working out we're not all leaving more or less at the same time as some are going earlier and a few brave souls are continuing on beyond.
Anyway, it was round to Ls for lunch, a really good chat and a look at her holiday photos.  She recently had what she calls the holiday of a lifetime and had a wonderful fortnight amidst sun, sea, sand and magnificent buildings. 
I always learn a new recipe from L.  Yesterday she made pitta pizza which was delicious.  She used a wholemeal pitta as the base, spread it with tomato puree and a little grated cheese (I think she said cheddar and red Leicester), then added veg and come strips of cooked bacon and some chunks of feta before warming it up in the oven.  With a salad it was really scrummy.
And then the dessert.  I won't attempt to describe it here but here's the link.  It's a Rosemary Conley recipe and it was absolutely delicious.  I intend to make it as soon as I get the ingredients in.  The nice thing (apart from the low calorie-ness of it) is that it is so flexible - no, not literally!  I can see it made with strawberries or pineapple or . . . and it's so easy!

As for today, the weather is promising so I want to do some garden stuff.  My seed tapes came yesterday so I want to get them in - one row of each anyway - as it says sowing can start in March.  I want to get the rosemary cut back and there's other bits and bobs that need doing too.
And I have a sock to finish!