Non-knitters, beware...knitting post

Yeah, so I AM still knitting. Slowly, but I am knitting. Exhibit One: The Purple Socks. In the first picture, you can see a very ordinary pair of socks. I'm not a fast knitter, so it takes me awhile to get through projects. I also knit slower during the summer because I do most of my knitting in front of TV and I don't watch much TV during the summer. So there. Anyway. I made these with a standard sock pattern, the Yarn Harlot's generic pattern from her book "Knitting Rules". It really clarified some things about sock knitting for me, like exactly how to determine the proportions of a heel and all that. I mean, yeah, there are a crapload of patterns out there, but sometimes I just want to knit a damn sock, okay? (This post is getting much to surly...sorry, I'll tone it down). So anyway. These were knit on size twos, the leg was all done on two circs and the heel and foot on dpns. Just because I'm like that. The yarn is Wildfoote Luxury Sock Yarn from Brown Sheep. It was really quite nice to work with.
Now to the strange part. See exhibit two:
Yeah, see, I have this problem. I'm an extremely uptight person, which makes me a tight knitter. So I'm trying to break myself of this habit. In the future, all bad habits will be broken at the outset of a new project, not in the middle of one. I had major problems with gage in my socks, as you can see by the enormous difference in the leg-lengths here. I count rows on my socks, and the legs have exactly the same number of rows. Next time I'll measure instead. I just thought that counting would be more reliable. Oh, I'm such a novice knitter. Oh well, no one but me will ever know, but it still bothers me. I can always make the excuse "Hey, this was only my second pair!" or tell non-knitters "Hey, I don't see you knitting your own damn socks".
Again with the surly.
And then there are these lovely things:

I had really been itching to try the Crystal Palace Bamboo/ wool yarn, so I picked up two skeins and made two pairs of baby booties. They were both the same pattern: Christine's Baby Booties . Knit on size one needles. This is color #7377, Red Cinnamon. The other colorway was "violets" and I don't know the number (read: I'm too lazy to go get the ball band)...it was a lovely purple, green and blue blend. Oh, and I used Chia goo needles for these (I think that is the name..they aren't in front of me)..and they are the best DPNs....I love them. These booties knit up very very quickly, even for me. I finished them in a day or two...so for an ordinary knitter, I'm saying they would be done in about an hour. Here's a side view. Aren't they cute?
I'm currently working on the French Market Bag from Knitty...I've had the pattern for awhile, and I've just never started it. The good thing about it is that I can knit in good ol' Pattons Classic Wool...a great yarn for a knitter on a budget like me. Thanks, JoAnns!
I also have a pair of socks on the needles again, and I'm carrying them everywhere. But I don't wait in many lines, nor am I in the picking kids up phase yet, so they get little done on them. I did work on them at the doctor's office the other day. And I'll be traveling with them to Mackinac next weekend. I'm also picking away at a blanket for a friend's baby who is now about four months old...so I need to pick up speed on that. Yeah, I know. I hate blankets too.

We're stripping wallpaper this weekend. I hate stripping wallpaper and painting, but our downstairs bathroom is really getting to be too much for me, so away we go. At least it's a small room.