On Sunday Mr. Green paid a visit from Lichfield, and, having nothing to say, said nothing and went away. (Samuel Johnson)

I got taken to task yesterday for not updating my blog. I apologize to anyone who might have been looking for updates recently. I will try to do better, but I'm not making any promises.

Millie managed to snag one of my socks out of the laundry basket the other day. Needless to say, I'm not very happy with her. And I think she knows that I'm not happy with her because she's working very hard to be adorable and sweet to me. These were my favorite socks, though, so it's going to take a lot of kissing up to make me forget how bad she's been.

I finished the socks for Round 3 of Sockmadness this past weekend, and I really like the way that they turned out. Becci's upset that I'm sending them to her sister. The socks turned out so pretty, and nice and soft and squishy, that I would have liked to have them for me. I think this is definitely a pattern that will have to be repeated. Except that I'm going to change the toe a little bit on the next pair.

I could have finished the socks much sooner but once I knew that I was out of the competition, I took my time. I think I got a little carried away. Knitting is supposed to be fun and relaxing, and instead I was going crazy trying to speed through the process. I would have liked to have won, or at least gone on a little farther. But I think that I'm going to enjoy being a SM cheerleader, and just knit the socks for the enjoyment of knitting.

And my cheerleading duties began today, with the release of round 4. I didn't get to cast on today, so I'll start work on the new pattern tomorrow. It's going to be a very pretty lace sock, with the opportunity to try dyeing the yarn. I'll have updates, just not a frantic as they have been in the past.

I don't know if anyone noticed, but Becci is experimenting with the way she spells her name. So far we've gone with Becka, Zebecca, and now Becci. Personally, I like 'Becci' the best. It matches her sister and me. (Although by pointing that out, I think I talked her out of using it.) She's really working hard at being a teenager, and that's beginning to scare me. I'm facing challenges with her that I never had with the older two (NOT that the older two were ever a piece of cake to deal with). She has double piercings in her ears now, and is talking about belly rings and nose studs. I've firmly vetoed the lip ring, but she's trying to negotiate a tattoo. She adores makeup, and shoes, nail polish, and all sorts of wonderful girlie things -- provided that you don't point out that they're "girlie." Her cell phone recently died; she says it fell in the water, but I think it was just worn out from being over-used. She goes from being the sweetest, most loving and thoughtful girl to being a pouting, sarcastic devil-child and then back again, all within a single conversation. But she's also the child who talks with me, so I think we're going to be fine.