Chat Back for October 24

Answering questions from comments and email.

Pat said . . .

You sure are staying true to the Cookie KAL

First time ever. I'm not usually a KAL kind of knitter.

As first my dog, then my mother, then my husband all got seriously ill throughout the spring and summer, I enjoyed having something easy but interesting to knit that I didn't have to think about and plan for.

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Shirley asked . . .

Do you plan to knit Cookie socks next month?

Yes, I tentatively plan to knit next months socks. At least one of the selections unless I don't like either of them.

All the socks I really love in the book - the twisted stitch designs and the gorgeous cabling - are left to be chosen. So far they've mostly selected the ones I probably never would have knit without the KAL. Though I have to admit I did enjoy knitting them, all except Wanida.

I wonder how long they're going to keep the KAL group going with the small number of people who are actually finishing their socks. When I looked this morning there were only 30 pictures in the October finished thread.

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Kellie asked . . .

I am wondering about your trout. Is this their spawning time, or are they just lost?

It's their spawning time. Every year the last part of October they struggle up the creek. Some of them die, but most are OK.

It's a pretty constant procession, three or four an hour night and day for a few weeks.

I've been told they come from the Paw Paw river.

The creek is cold and clear with a nice sandy bottom. The trout that come up it are about 30 inches long.


Some readers are telling me the fish are salmon, some are telling me trout. Both are right since trout are members of the salmon family.

From Wikipedia on Trout:

Trout are a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the Salmonidae family. Salmon belong to some of the same genera as trout but, unlike most trout, most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water. Trout are classified as an oily fish.

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It's been raining on and off, but mostly on, for the past three days. Leaves have started to fall.

Braking on a layer of wet leaves in the road can be almost as slippery as ice and snow.