This squirrel was lounging in the tree outside my work window. She (he?) looks like a lady of leisure, doesn’t she? She (he?) wasn’t much in evidence all winter, but now that spring has nominally arrived, she has been rooting around in her old nest and stirring things up. I’m fairly certain this is the squirrel that nearly attacked me the other day when I came between it and an old acorn lying on the ground.

I think she looks a little plump. I’m wondering if there will be little squirrels in the nest soon? That will be fun to watch. Last spring I sat in a different location, so I haven’t gotten to spy much on the squirrels. I have watched birds nest, though.

The sun came out today for 10 minutes – a rare occurrence in springtime Portland – and I managed to get a decent picture of the sockapaloooza socks. This is still not quite the right color, but I think it’s probably as close as I’m going to come. Digital cameras do not seem to deal well with purple. At least the cables show.

I’m a little further along than this now, having just started the gusset increases. I had to stop and test swatch the heel. The 60-year-old Beehive instructions aren’t like any other heel I’ve ever worked. And, since I’m working everything upside down and backwards, I had to swatch it twice before I came up with something that’s a reasonable facsimile of what’s in the picture. Now that I’ve worked it once, though, I like it and I think I might work the same heel on Tangle’s birthday pattern.

I searched through Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush because that book has a ton of different heels and toes in it. But none of the heels that Nancy Bush shows resembles the heel in the Beehive instructions. So I am henceforth dubbing it the “Beehive Heel.” It’s really a cool technique that uses decreases (or, in my case, increases) instead of short rows. Strange, but very round and nice looking. I think it will be comfortable to wear. I can’t wait to get one finished on the Sockapaloooza socks so I can try it on.

Isn’t it hard to type when your keyboard has a big, fluffy kitty tail draped across it? Kidd is taking a nap on my desk and insists that is the place his tail must be. Although I’m trying to avoid it, I don’t have a lot of sympathy if I accidentally pull a few hairs that happen to be lying on my keys. I have encouraged a different tail placement, but Kidd disagrees vehemently.