Goodies

It's hard to find a transition from my last post, so I'm not trying, but Blogger is in a picture mood, so beware, bandwidth sucker ahead.

First of all, my Secret Pal struck again.

She sent me a skein of the softest chocolate brown alpaca from UK Alpaca (amazing, they take online orders), two skeins of Melody "Jive" and lovely bag handles. Also, a pretty carved bangle, a white chocolate treat and a card that made me snort with laughter (but which I couldn't manage to get in a picture). And this:

Now, in a dessert, the combination of chocolate, coffee and lime would be ghastly (not to mention the hemp oil), but in shower gel, they are amazing. I'm trying to make it last a bit, but the name cracks me up every morning. Thanks pal!

Speaking of thanks pal ...

My One Skein Pal is really taking the one skein thing to its limits, sending me this gorgeous Finnish wool in a 100 g skein. The green is a little lighter in person, but my kitchen wasn't when I took the picture. It's great stuff - no frills, but soft and sturdy, if you know what I mean.

I make beaded jewellery, which means that I also produce stitch markers for everyone I know (whether they knit or knot), but my own knitting gets marked with scrap yarn. My pal seemed to know this, because she sent me two beautiful green ones. For the Germans visiting this blog, the card says "Na, du alte Socke". Hee.

But wait, the goodie stampede doesn't stop here. Meet the new love of my life.

I sort of knew that there would be a gift of Denise Interchangeables in my future, so I read all reviews I could find. The raves are right, these needles are great, easy to use and just a pleasure all around. At first I thought it would be weird knitting with plastic. I have one pair of plastic straights (8 mm), and I hate them. I'm an INOX girl with a secret passion for bamboo. I was surprised how nice it was to knit with the Denises. I actually like the fact that the smaller sizes are a little flexible, which I thought would annoy me. And the cord extensions are pure genius.

The Denises were accompanied by this ...

Handmaiden Sea Silk in Ivory. What can I say, there is really nothing like it. There were two skeins of it, but the astute observer will have noted that there is also a pair of needle tips and a cord missing from the Denise set. I'm already playing.

My delight about these things in the middle of plenty of sad stuff going on in my life feels shallow to me sometimes. Even the softest alpaca or greenest green or even Sea Silk won't make anything better or help anyone. But then I keep thinking about the story told by the Yarnharlot in her latest book, the one about sending the makings of kilthose to a non-knitting male friend in a crisis. Yarn and sticks or hooks do possess healing qualities, and even the material joys inherent in them are connected to a passion that has nothing to do with expensive yarn.
Not counting loved ones, fiber art is one of the two great passions in my life, and sitting down to knit or crochet, the act of making something with my hands and soft fiber creates little pockets of happy when I need them most.

You didn't think that was it with the pictures, did you?

Here's a progress report on the red Garnstudio cardigan.

Stylish lighting by IKEA :o).

I really like the Lang Twin, even though it splits (cotton just does, I guess) and the balls unravel annoyingly. But it creates a nice fabric. I knit the two fronts at the same time, now following with the sleeves. The 2 on 2 socks taught me that I mind untangling yarn much less than knitting two of the same thing - especially if it's mostly rib and stockinette. After the sleeves, I'll have to pick up stitches all around the bottom and front of the cardigan to knit the edging. Did I mention that I love the Denise cord extensions?

A word can replace a thousand pictures

No pictures on Blogger since the weekend. At least none for me, it would appear. Sad thing that, because I've got progress pics and lovely secret pal stuff to show off.

This is one of those days where chatting about knitting is not the first thing on my mind anyway. I'm mad.
My mom was taken to the hospital on Friday, with cramps and dangerously low pulse and blood pressure. It turns out that she was severly dehydrated, a condition her brain tumors didn't take too well. The doctors sort of blamed my dad for this, saying that Mom needs to DRINK MORE in this weather. Well, we know this. But how do you make a person drink two liters of water every day, when she is too weak to even lift her head most of the day? In the hospital, they gave her a water IV. We can't do that. When my dad came to escort her home in the ambulance today, he asked again what he is supposed to do from now on. The answer: she needs to drink more. Get her to drink more. Am I so totally biased to be the only one who thinks that this is not an adequate response? Upon seeing my mother all weak and sluggish and confused most of the time (her brain is seriously going now), all the doctors can think of is putting the blame and responsibility on my father's shoulders. Because, you know, he really doesn't have to carry enough as it is.
This is only one incident. There are more. Many, many more. I've never dealt with someone who needed palliative care before. And I can tell you now, once a person is no longer in a condition where anything can be cured, they and their caregivers are shit out of luck where medical experts are concerned. All the information and help we are getting these days are from hospice service. My mom's doctor, the one who has gone through nine years of fighting cancer with her, the one who has invited her to lead a new self-help group, because he was so impressed with her attitude and personality, doesn't give a damn anymore. He goes on vacation, gives her case over to another doctor, finds out that this substitute will go on vacation three days after him, and leaves it at that. My dad found out about this when he went to the office to get a prescription and a signature for a new care application (Mom's care has to be intensified and we need a nurse for that). And my parents live in a small town, it's not like Mom's oncologist has a thousand dramatic cases at once and loses sight of them all. But that's all right, I hope he is enjoying his substitute-free vacation. Mom can certainly wait three weeks for her pain medication. Crying out in pain might even elevate blood pressure, so it's all good.

Sorry about this less than cheerful post, but I'm overdue with an update and this is all I got right now. I don't even want to knit. What I want is hit someone, preferably someone wearing a white lab coat.

ETA: Yes, I know that there are plenty of fantastic doctors out there, who will do everything for their patients. And good for them. We just don't have one of those available, so the knowledge that it does get better than this isn't really helping.

Industry

I've been quite busy lately. For some strange reason, the more I work the more other stuff I'm getting done, too. So this post is going to be quite picture-intensive.

I finished the 2 on 2 socks.

Still in love with the technique, I got out some leftover Regia Bamboo for another pair, but I haven't cast on yet. since I didn't have two circular needles, I took a hint from Elizabeth Zimmermann and used one 2.5 and one 3 mm needle. Worked like a charm.

Next up: the infamous crochet hoodie. Sometimes, when you've fallen out of love with a project, it takes a little bit of rededication. It turns out that I like the crochet hoodie much better if I don't have to turn it into a hoodie after all - and if I can combine the really nice crochet stitch with a knitted edge. So I played around a bit (sorry, no pics), found that I liked the results, finished the second sleeve and put the pieces down to block.

Excuse the crappy artificial light /flash picture. It looks as if there is only one front, but they are blocking on top of each other. The yarn is a cotton ribbon in a nice faded denim blue. And that's what I'll be going with - a denim jacket style collar, a simple knitted edge and buttons instead of a zipper.

I think my greatest problem with the cardigan was that I used a hook that was the wrong size for the rather bulky stitch, but the yarn gave a bit with blocking, and the edging will loosen everything up a bit and give it more drape.
Improvise with your mistakes is what I'm saying. :o)

I've been winding my lovely cranberry Lorna all week.

And I have come to the conclusion that I really need a swift and ball winder, as soon as my funds allow it. The dining chairs are a rather flawed system.

(Another crappy artificial light picture btw.)

I'm really excited that I get to knit with this beautiful yarn, and I'm still looking for the right pattern. It should be a rectangular stole, because I think that I'll be busy enough with the thin yarn and lace pattern and don't need any shaping issues on top of it.

As a "reward" for my efforts with the crochet hoodie (yeah, I know, it should be reward enough in itself), I cast on for this ...

The yarn (Lang Twin) has a tendency to split, but it still knits up fairly quickly. The eyelet pattern is ridiculously simple, but I think it has a nice effect. I'll try to update on this project.

Oh, yeah. Meet Lilly.

This is Lilly, the Amazingly Purple Armadillo. Lilly would like me to tell y'all that she is NOT nor has she ever been an ANT EATER. Thank you.
I'm quite fond of her, because -as James put it - "Lilly is a dilly of a 'dilla."

The addiction to crocheted toys is still going strong. Lilly will be joined by another friend soon. As you can see, she's pleased about it ...

Sweating and Small Stuff

Well, we are having about 350% humidity here, so I haven't done much on my eternal WIPs (the crochet hoodie and Chocolate Covered Cherry), because it's just too hot and sticky.
Socks, however, are perfectly acceptable summer knitting.

I'm still very pleased with the 2 on 2 technique. It's a bit slower and more tangly than knitting with dpns, but it's only my first pair, and for me the fact that I'm actually making two socks at once tops all disadvantages. The colours of this sock yarn (Regia Cotton India) are a bit drab I think, but they can't all be Baudelaire (which I'm dying to make, but I don't have suitably lush sock yarn and funds are low at the moment.)

Since there is not much going on here, I'm going to post a few pics of some small stuff I made recently.

My Mini Travelling Kit: a PDA cozy that will fit my PDA with its bigger-than-usual battery and a cup cozy for my train latte that always comes in thin cardboard cups and is very hot. Double-stranded eyelash yarn (Schoeller and Stahl, I think) and a green cotton blend. Why does the PDA cozy have a teapot button? Because I like it.

After putting up pictures of scarily disjointed body parts a few weeks back, I forgot to post a picture of the finished project:
My Amineko, made from assorted leftovers of microfiber. I really enjoyed crocheting that little fellow, and I think he'll be getting some friends soon. I guess bunnies and puppies are a given with that model. What I'd really want would be an armadillo though ...

Even though it's supposed to get cooler over the next few days, my finishing endeavours are in serious danger right now. I got a gift today ...

A lovely skein of Lorna's Laces, Helen's Lace in Cranberry. Just for me. I shall knit lace.

Did I do that?

Well, now that I see it all blocked and finished and "on person", I have to say I like it better than I thought. It sort of looks like the original, doesn't it? :o)

Here's the Elann version:

And a another look at mine ...

I'm quite pleased (though still not crazy about garter stitch lace). I made tons of mistakes, but hey, it's mine - and I'm not perfect either :o).

Specs:
Pattern: Garden Path Shawl from Elann
Yarn: 9 balls "Alpaka Sport" (100 m/50 g)
Measurements: 80" x 36"
Inspiration: World Cup Knitting

It's blocking

World Cup Knitting Challenge accomplished.

The Gardenpath Shawl, aka The thing that sucked the joy out of the last week of my life, is blocking in the hall. I usually block big pieces on my bed, but I wasn't sure how long the alpaca will take to dry. Unfortunately, there is not enough room to take a full picture.

It's huge. I ended up not liking it very much, although, as I've said before, I learned a lot and feel ready to tackle a more complicated lace project. I also learned that I don't like garter stitch-based projects. First of all, I miss purling! And the finished stitch pattern looks too "busy" for my taste. But this is the first shawl I ever knit, so I love it for that, and it's big and warm, so I expect to wear it a lot this fall.

I've got some other things to show, but they'll have to wait until after work.

Fifteen rows

I'm fifteen rows away from finishing my World Cup shawl. Excuse the picture, I know it looks as if I just threw that thing on the floor, but it's a bit bulky to say the least. I kept thinking I'd get longer circs for it, but it never happened. However, the days of not having the right circs on hand might be numbered. Odd behaviour and weird questions from a friend and a whisper in the breeze ... Denise. Hee.

Anyway, it was touch and go for the WC shawl for a while there. Last Friday night, I abandoned the shawl on my bed at my parents' house for the hair-raising end of the Germany: Argentina game. My parents have a cat. He's smart, because he wasn't seen anywhere near the house until I left on Saturday. Apparently he likes alpaca. Or hates my shawl. He tore into one of the panels and ripped it out to the second to last batch of "roses". (I tried to get a detail shot of the traces - see bulkiness above - but I'll get one in about fifteen rows.) And me without lifelines - foolishly, I didn't think to put lifelines in, because, y'know, this isn't REAL lace. Neither do I have even the slightest clue how to repair things that involve multiple yarnovers and three kinds of double decreases. I did my best to pick up the stitches of a knit row below the damage, but the angles of the four panels kept throwing me off. In the end, I didn't do a very good job, but the upside is that I learned a lot about lace and shawl construction (while plotting felinicide). I'm going to live with my mistakes, and I'm still really proud of this thing, because real or not real, it is my first lace project.

I have taken drastic steps to combat my Second Sock Syndrome.

Nothing like figuring out two toe-ups on two circs to make you feel really clever. This is what I did during processing times on a raaather tedious collating job. Please note that I made the decision not to bother with stripe alignment. To be honest, I'm not too obsessed about it. As long as my socks are fraternal twins, I'm satisfied.
I'm going to miss dpns, because I like knitting the traditional way - I like straight needles for the same reason - but this is sure going to take care of my SSS.

This I gotta blog

You know, here's why I'm an incurable optimist: I'm right.

This is so not my week. Working on hopelessly late stuff, scrounging for appropriate clothes in the closet of Ms. "Olive green is the new black" (I guess it won't surprise anyone that the tragedy that shall remain unblogged involves a funeral?), getting organized (ha!), listening to my dad as he barked his bronchitis in my ear, and I wasn't there, watching helplessly as people I love went through hell (they are not back yet). Not my week.

But sometimes, when you are really stressed out, miserable and ear-achey, Fate decides that you need a heaping load of good stuff to perk you up a little.

First of all, people sent love. In person and in cyberspace, I was offered shoulders to cry on all week long, room and board if I needed a vacation from it all, and chocolate. I mean, what's a good crisis without chocolate? All that felt really good, and I'm deeply grateful. This is a trying time for me, but I'm finding that sorrow does not just make me vulnerable, but also wide open for all sorts of hope and kindness. I truly appreciate that.

Apparently, Fate wanted to reinforce the message with a little fiber therapy. Thus, it dispatched the postman to my door today.

First we have ...

... one skein of Japanese goodness. Silk Garden in #84, about 237 gorgeous shades of red. I have been toying with the idea of trying Silk Garden for a while now (unbeknownst to my Secret Pal), but so far there was no chance of meeting it in person. Pal to the rescue. I love it, and Secret Pal, you are right about everything you said in your letter. The blend! The colour! The yardage! The character! I think she sort of likes this yarn ;o). And so will I. I already swatched a little bit, and so far so lovely.

Speaking of the pals, the postman also bore a big package from England.
Apart from the fact that I always want to frame her wrapping paper, here's some real chicken soup for the knitter's soul:
An entire shawl. Handknit. For me.

This shawl is just so right for many reasons. It's soft and warm, for one thing :o). My pal says she thinks it's a bit short, but it works really well for me, because the boucle fabric is stretchy and doesn't slide off my shoulders, when I sit at the computer, but I don't have to worry about spilling coffee on the parts that would be draped over my arms with longer shawls. And those shades of pink? Love them! I really need to look for those shades more, what with all my muted greens and blues and purples. And did I mention that it was handknit? For me?

And ...

... three skeins of handpainted cotton in greens and rust? maroon? brick? Whatever, it looks like the view from my window in October. And I love that view :o). Gaaawwwwgeous. And ... gulp ... it looks like laceweight to me. That means, I guess, that I can't get away with knitting DK lace anymore. I shall rise to the challenge ... well, I'll have a go at it anyway.

Thank you soooo much, Secret Pal - and other Secret Pal!

If you're here for the World Cup Knitting, let me update while I'm here.

For a variety of reasons, I'm not very far along (row 65 of 140-something). Me? Not a natural lace knitter, not even polite garter stitch lace. But I'm getting there, and it's addictive in the "Just a few more, I have to see how it turns out" way. In case you're wondering about the colour, which looks very much like my Pal Shawl on here ... it's not. It's "dark dusty rose" alpaca, because I'm all with the dark and dusty. Not so much with this alpaca. It splits.

And I have to do just that now!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled blog entries ...

This is the week where I'm at home, so I should update like mad. However, I might not be able to do that right now.
Something very sudden and sad has happened to people I care about a lot, so that's where my energy will be going. I know, everybody hates a blog teaser - "Something hugely interesting is happening in my life, but I'll only talk about it in oblique references" - but I know for a fact that the people in question would not appreciate to be blogged about right now. I also didn't want to leave the blog unattended for too long without an explanation of sorts.

So, see y'all. Have some fiber in your life!

Woman is fickle

Didn't I say yesterday that I wanted Germany to win the World Cup?
Well, I do, but there is a contender for that place in my heart now. Last night, I read about THE ultimate underdog: Trinidad and Tobago. The smallest country ever to take part in a Cup. Heck, Berlin, where they will play ... Sweden? ... today, has three times more inhabitants than T&T has citizens. And they tried to make it to the Cup 11 times. That's 44 years. I don't really think they have a chance to get to the end, but I sure hope they'll make it out of their group games! Go T&T!!!

Speaking of things I said yesterday, the Lang-Covered Cherry being my favourite project and all? You'd think I would be happily working on it during work breaks and the opening match.(4:2!! I don't care what German newspapers write today - critical things, I can tell you that without looking - "we" won!) You'd be wrong.

Lunch break:

Corrections chapter 7 (of the novel with the bloodsucking fiends):

See where this is going? That's right.

Chapters 9-12:

Yes. I am the last person on earth to make an Amineko. Don't ask me why I felt suddenly moved to do it, but I'm already finding it just as addictive as everybody says. Visions of (sugarplums) colourful animals dance in my head. Oh, the cuteness of it all!
I'll be stuffing it with cotton wool and dried beans despite the dire warnings of weevils and roaches, because it's what I have at home. The next one - and there is going to be a next one - will get properly stuffed :o). I also remember my Monchichi. Back when I was a kid they were stuffed with rice, and no creature infestation ever befell mine. I'll take the chance.

Oh dear. Now I want a Monchichi. The one in the giraffe suit. I collect giraffes. I could rationalize this. It's not a toy, it's a collectible item. I really need to stop surfing while I'm ahead.

I did not busy myself with the creation of cute Japanese toys during the opening match, however. There is a limit to the excitement I can stand, so I ...

... sort of cast on a sock. Regia, naturally. Cotton India this time, in "Jaipur". Pretty. And totally without lace or ribs or checkerboard pattern or anything that requires the least bit of thought. Sock nirvana, if you will.

I also had a first look (read: panic attack) at the Gardenpath pattern. Oh heeeell, what have I gotten myself into? I - see above - am Sock Nirvana Girl. I make mistakes with 6x6 checkered sock patterns. And I want to knit an alpaca lace shawl?

Well, the alpaca will certainly be soft on my hands when I frog. There is that.

Kick it like Schweinsteiger

With my belongings strewn in two households 100 km apart, I'm having a little difficulty updating my projects. Still ...

This is Chocolate Covered Cherry from BGK. I'm still on the hood, and the little ruffle on the side is the beginning of a sleeve. The yarn is Lang New Angora. It's a little lighter in person. Unbelievably soft.

This is my favourite project right now. The lace has a really easy repeat, and I'm knitting with 7 mm needles, two sizes above recommended needle size for the yarn. The stitches are still small and even, but it makes the fabric much lighter.

The pattern says to bind off the stitches in the back between the shoulders, but I just put them on a holder, because I had to pick them all up for the hood anyway. Well, in my second attempt I did. I don't know what it was with me and that hood. I'm really looking forward to finishing this cardigan. Because that means there can be more New Angora in my future :o).

Today is the kick-off date for the Knitting World Cup. Oh yeah, I think they are also playing football somewhere in these parts.
The project I picked is this:
It's the Gardenpath Shawl from Elann.com. Personally, I think I'm mad. I'll be lucky if I can finish one repeat by the end of the Cup.
I will also begin the challenge with a severe penalty, because the yarn won't be with me befor Tuesday. Yes, I planned this well. But whatever, just call me the Swiss football team, I'm not in this to win.

For his WC pool at work, Andy has today's game down for 4:1 to Germany. I'm not quite that optimistic, but I do think Germany can win this, although it is reported that the Costa Ricans are responsible for our weather upswing. Today I used my sunglasses for something other than hiding my puffy eyes from crying over the bad weather. The Costa Rican football team claims credit for this. They say that sunshine travels with them. Hey, whatever works.

My tip for the final? Brazil - Germany again. Please bear in mind that I know not of football. Honestly? I want Germany to win. Very much. This country needs a positive experience.

The good, the bad and the fantastic

The good news is that I sort of have pictures again.
I managed to get the camera to work, only the quality of the pictures is rather variegated ;o). Ah well, it will tide me over until I can buy a new one ... about 2010, I reckon.

Here's the bad news, well, for me anyway.
Blueberry Bomb turned out to be just that. I made it from the Cherry Bomb pattern in BGK with Rowan Summer Tweed in Blueberry. It knit up well, I got the right measurements, it blocked like a charm, it fits - and I look horrible in it. All weird and droopy and lumpy. I tried everything I could think of, different outfits, a bit of steaming, different attitudes ... no go. The top is lovely, but I suppose it's just not into me.
So ...
Much frogging ensued, before I lost my nerve. See what I mean about the bad pictures? I mean apart from my bad (annoyed about having to take a picture of an about to be frogged item) image composition?
Yeah, well, it gets worse.





This? I'm making it up as I go along, using the blueberry and some mohair/wool. A vest? A cardigan? We will see how far the yarn goes. It does look completely different in person.



I know I'm owing tons of pictures of socks and other FOs. I'm getting there.

Now ...
It's been one of those days. Boring but difficult work, a raaaather unpleasant phone conversation with my editor AND my bank manager. Lots of chores.
But: MAIL!!!!
My Secret Pal strikes again! And hurray for both the British and the German postal services, because it didn't take long at all.
Let's peek inside, shall we?


A letter and lots of gift-wrapped packages. Love the paper.
Yeah, I know YOU can't really see it very well. It's lovely, trust me.







When we were kids, my cousin would have called this a seriously good haul. Well, if he were a girl. And into fiber stuff. You know what I mean.
First of all, there is a cute little note pad with a sheep. As I always say, even notes from unpleasant phone calls are not so bad if a sheep is looking at you.
Then there is chocolate. KitKat Chunky Peanut Butter :O). Two and a half of them!!!! Oh alright, there were three. This is a long entry.

Yes, that great hat is just as soft as it looks. Umm, it's a lot less bumpy in person, those are due to my mad photography skilz. Frankly, looking outside I'm not so sure I won't need it before next winter.
I love the colour, it fits my big head perfectly, and I don't really want to take it off. Also, as my Secret Pal already knows, it's the first handmade gift I received since I was a kid and my grandma was knitting doll clothes for me. :OD


A close up of the stationery. Just because it's pretty.
The letter says that the long red box with Pooh, Tigger and Piglet on it is a toothbrush box for travelling to my parents, but ...









... it is OBVIOUSLY a case for my dpns. :o) It will still go on my trips with me, so all is well.





And then there is this deliciousness. A supersoft Patons cotton blend in "Herb". Exactly my colour. And a whopping seven balls of it, too. Don't you love a pal who keeps in mind that you are a big chick and might need a little more yarn?
Now I'm in full frontal "new yarn mode". Must browse knitting books. Must find pattern.



Thank you so much, Secret Pal, I'm delighted with everything, and I do feel so spoiled!!

Love you, Scary Pal 8

This morning (this gloomy Saturday morning) I amused myself with a bit of internet window shopping. Somehow I decided to check out the BUST Magazine homepage. I saw this:

The BUST Boobtique: "She had not yet decided whether to use her power for good...or for evil" Journal

and thought that the caption was pretty much made for me and that I would love to have it.

I swear to you, I had never seen this product line or referred to it in any way. I just loved it at first sight.

Now, here's what the mailwoman brought a few hours later.

Is that scary or what?
SP8, thank you so much for the card! Not only did it absolutely brighten my day and I love it, it also showed me that I must be rather transparent.

Oh, and your last email arrived, too. Only our server thought it would be a good idea to spit out that week's emails in increments of two a day for the next week. This as a dire warning for anyone using my "non-anonymous" email address. It doesn't happen often, but happen it does.

People, do not get excited about the picture. I took it with an ancient webcam (after I couldn't find this particular card anywhere online) and I'm not going through that again for anything except to show y'all the coolness that is my Secret Pal. However, my dad tells me that my camera-less days are numbered, because he sorta fixed it to the point where I can sorta use it until I can buy a new one. We shall see.

Am I the only person who frogs perfectly good FOs, just because I think they would look better if I did something different with them? I did that with the BGK Blueberry Bomb top, because I put a ball of my green and blue Wolletempel yarn on top of it while it was blocking (I was absentminded and the top was dry). On passing the arrangement a while later, I decided that this would be a great colour combination and the border I had done was much too frilly for the summer tweed anyway. Frogging ensued. I was right, it does look much better now. I do this all the time. Also frogged, while I was at it: Waterlily. After reading the great booty post by Crazy Aunt Purl , I came to the conclusion that a) Waterlily's main problem is its upper part and b) even if I starved myself (and believe me, I have done this before), my boobs are just not going anywhere. And they shouldn't have to.

In an amazing fit of willpower, I finished the sleeve of the blue crochet hoodie this week. Now all that's left is the, y'know, hoodie. I don't know why I can't seem to finish this thing. I love the stitch and the yarn and the book the project came from, but still ... Well, I'm not taking it with me to my parents, so maybe next week.

Speaking of which, now comes the fun part: What DO I take with me to my parents? Can't take the Chocolate-Covered Cherry, because it's too big and fidgety at this point. Also because I would finish it during the week and I can't block it at my parents' house, which would drive me nuts :o). Trust me, springing new activities on my dad is not a good idea. He might build a new table if I ask him where I could put my stuff to block. Last week I asked him for an old blanket to put on the floor for my exercises. Immediate hysteria, an hourlong search and plans for buying a new blanket (where? when would he leave? what sort of blanket do I need?), because dear God there wasn't one! I'm not being disparaging, it's a fact. My dad is hanging on by one ply of a thread. But I digress.

Other than the Chocolate-Covered Cherry I don't have anything exciting on the needles right now, except plain vanilla Regia Bamboo socks (still). And socks don't really count. Sooo ... What's next? I'll have to think about that. Not that I'm lacking a "To Knit" list, mind you, I'm just not sure what I'm in the mood for. I'll keep y'all posted (with pictures, I hope).