Bear With Me, Here --(Love Thursday)

I have things to say today but first I have to ask a knitting question so all of you non-knitters out there? Can you bear with me for a minute or two? Here, I'll give you something funny to look at:
THAT is a stepping stone from the walkway the girls and I made a few years ago. I had done a sort of subtle txture on this one stone and naturally, Scout, being Scout, ran right over and stepped right in the wet cement.

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I am knitting a pair of socks for a friend whose birthday is on Tuesday. I think I can finish a pair by then, even though I'm a slow knitter, because we're going out of town and there won't be a huge amount for me to do. I didn't want to just knit a stockinette sock so I asked for an easy stitch pattern from my sock knitting board. One member suggested THIS pattern, which I love --so easy. So I frogged back the sock--even though I'd almost knitted the whole leg part in stockinette and time is of the essence but there is no excuse for ugly knitting when you can do better --and started knitting the new pattern. My question is: Does this pattern look stupid with the ribbing? The pattern is pretty subtle but it's ribbing, too, and now it sort of looks off-kilter to me when combined with my 2KX2P ribbing. Does it just look like I got off on my ribbing and the new pattern is really just a big mistake? I need help before I go any further, what with having no taste and all.

Because then, a reader sent me a link to THIS pattern, and I think it might look better.

I'm wracked with indecision. What do you think?

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There now, see, that wasn't too painful, huh?

Want to know what I've been doing today? Oh, SURE you do--go on! I know when you're kidding me!

(You ARE kidding, right?)

THIS is what I'm doing:


I'm making stepping stones.

See, the girls and I made this whole walkway of stepping stones a few years ago
and I am taking some of them with us to New York when we move.

(In March. Which is very. Very. Soon.)

(AEIIIII!!!)

(Sorry.)

Ignore the leaf blower sitting on the walk-way but I was taking the picture from our upper deck and it would have been a lot of effort to walk down, put the blower away and go BACK up to take the photo the light was fading so I had to go with what I had.

Anyway, I am making stepping stones so that I can replace the ones we are taking with us. Like this one:



And because I'm taking THAT one, I have to take THIS one, made by Ana in the same vein:
We had lost the "p" stamp when she made this one so she just used a toothpick and wrote the "p's." (Note how I am NOT making a joke about how we found plenty of PEE when we got Scout. Yuk, Yuk...Yuck.)

Obviously, I am taking these two:


And I love these two that Jane made --one for each of our cats.

I love how she made the Edward one have a lion's mane, just like the real Edward.

And how she put the tips on Thomas's ears--just like he really has! They are kind of hard to see in this picture--but they are there. Just these little pointy tufts.
(Jane's very clever, don't you think? She amazes me because for such a little Hurricane, she's very observant. And these were done when she was FIVE so I think that's pretty good.)

And yes, for those of you keeping score at home, we're taking the one that Scout made, too. In fact, if we can figure out how to get his carsick self up to New York, it appears that even HE is moving with us.