New job woes

I was going to show a picture of my eye, but it looks so red, swollen and ugly that I chose not to. My eyelids are covered with eczema and so are my lips, which are really inconvenient places: I cannot apply my usual coal tar gunk for fear of getting it in my eyes or ingesting it. The last time I had a bad eczema flare it was a job related issue involving the powder in my lab gloves. This time I am not sure of what the cause is, but I do believe it is job related, since this is my third winter in California and never before did I get eczema on my face.

Until I see a doctor, all I can do is apply cold compresses. When I am not doing that, I am working on the socks to be swapped. Thanks to ravelry I have seen the pattern of my choice from many angles and I believe it will look great with this self striping yarn. The only thing I don't like is the garter stitch toe, and I figure my sock swap recipient would not like it either, so I began instead with a figure eight toe.


This color scheme fills me with awe. I would have never chosen these colors to go together, and yet they look great.

Old socks, new socks...

I did not want to begin my sock swap without finishing the pair I had on the needles. I originally wanted them longer, but never found the time to figure out how to adapt the increases to the pattern. Finally, I decided that it was time to  move on, so I made the cuff and finished them.

I used a short row heel...


And here's my attempt to show a close up of the pattern.


Now I can start knitting a new pair. This is the yarn I chose:


I already found a pattern I like a lot, except for the toe. Of course, I could make a regular toe. I am going to think things over before casting on, because I also have to adapt the pattern to my gauge.

Sock swap

...and Happy New... February? Oh well, such is life. You get a job and all of a sudden you don't have time for other important thigs. But because I am joining Swapetines once more, I WILL finish a pair of socks and blog about their progress, honest.

Rest assured that I am very happy in my new job, even if the hours are crazy and I feel really tired when I come back home. It's still a nice feeling.