bad dreams and dirty needles

last night i had the worst dream... i can't sleep tonight because it's still on my mind.

the kids left Friday afternoon to spend the weekend at my parents' house. Friday night i awoke quite shaken after a vivid dream that Jake had been kidnapped. in my dream he went shopping with my mom and Juliet, they were in some clothing department or another. and it was busy. my mom and Juliet looked away from him to check out something on the rack and that was it. he was gone.

i tried to tell John about it, but just the thought of one of the kids going missing made him upset and he said he didn't want to hear anymore of it.

i can't wait to pick them up tomorrow (erg... later today really).

i turned to my knitting to help keep my mind off the terrible dream. Sharon and i joined Red Bird Knits monthly sock club, so i started yet another sock. the yarn is a lovely 100% wool, but it's got a sheen to it like i haven't seen in other 100% wools. it's called Wensleydale wool - i got colour 626 - a lovely soft pink. the pattern is beeeyoooteeeful!

but i'm a dork. i'm doing the pattern toe-up, so i cast on and increased up to the number of stitches i figured i'd need (because i couldn't leave well enough alone, i altered the pattern just a little by adding a repeat of the cable to keep it symmetrical along the top of the foot). well, i was wrong. in my crazy post bad dream can't-stop-thinking-about-awful-things-happening-to-the-kids state of mind, i counted wrong.

but before ripping back to fix the problem i noticed that the lovely soft pinkness of the wool i'd knit up wasn't as lovely as the wool still on the ball. hrmm. it was looking rather... i dunno... dirty.

weird. i mean, i wash my hands, a lot. and i do the dishes by hand, without rubber gloves. a lot.

after some thought i figured it must be the dpns. seriously. they are a pair of my trusty size US 1's and get used. a lot. and when they're not in use by me, i catch the kids playing with them. lol.

so i just ripped back the entire toe and washed the needles. and when the socks are complete i'll just have to give them a gentle wash and hope the needle-induced dirt doesn't stain ;)

and that, my friends, is how this weekend has been for me. bad dreams and dirty needles.