Busy Busy Busy

My mom wanted to go visit her sister, so this last Saturday we drove her out for a visit. It was a beautiful day for a trip, and we all enjoyed the little outing. She's having a good time, and that's good!

I've been doing a little secret pal knitting. No details or pictures, just in case she's figured out who I am already.

I did a scarf for my father-in-law. It's ready to be mailed, but I'll try to get pics before it heads out in the mail. I hope he wears it!

I hurt my back over the weekend and stayed home today. It's a good thing too; my stomach has been all upset. I wouldn't have wanted to be stuck at work today. Yuck!

Suddenly very popular

Suddenly, I'm very popular with our two cats. Here they are, sleeping (or almost sleeping) at the foot of the bed.

They are not sleeping now.

They've been all over me tonight. I can't even go to the bathroom by myself. It's as if I've been using catnip lotion!

I'm still working on the shawl, and since I really want and need to finish it, the knitting is going so slowly it's almost torture. To make matters worse, I foolishly chose a dark yarn, so it's difficult to knit unless I'm in really good lighting.

My sweater is lying here next to the bed, mocking me, pleading with me to work on it instead. And I want to, believe me. I'm dying to get it finished and ready for the first chilly day. Well, I'll probably just wait for the first day when I can tolerate wool and not worry about if it's chilly yet or not.

I have that skein of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn dying to be knit up too. I don't think I'll be doing another shawl for a while. They take too much time and attention. Give me a sweater any day, much more worth that much work!

MY new Dell mini

I have one of these on its way (in October).

I've wanted an ultra small notebook for quite some time, so I'm really looking forward to getting this one. I got the base model, which is plenty for what I'll do with it. As an added bonus, I got Ubuntu instead of Windows, which is super!

I promise pics when it arrives, if I can tear myself away from using it long enough, that is.

SP12 Questions and Answers

I do tend to fall behind in answering the Secret Pal questions. Well, this time it's only two weeks, and I can blame my knitting for my failure to blog recently, so that makes it okay. (I think).

I'm working on a shawl for my aunt (my mom's sister), and I just found out they're coming to visit "soon." I'm hoping soon means two weeks or so, that way I can have the shawl ready to give her when she comes. I've been wondering how I'll ship it without it needing to be re-blocked when it arrives, so this should work out great.

I'm sure most of us have a proudest moment when it comes to knitting. A project or technique that you've tackled and completed beautifully. What is your proudest knitting moment??

I think it was when I successfully turned the heel of a sock. I was following the directions in Yarn Harlot's Knitting Rules, and my first couple of tries might have fit an alien. With tentacles. When I finally got it I was so excited. Turning a heel still makes me feel talented, even though I've done dozens of them. Yes, I've even done it in a movie theatre!

And on the flip side? What is the one thing that you can't get right? What is that one project that you've never been able to complete? Or that you did complete but then hid away instantly because it was too embarrassing?

I am plagued by gauge problems. No matter how carefully I check the gauge, it always seems to be off in the final project. I've taken to knitting items that resist gauge issues, like toe up socks and top down sweaters.

What is the best thing you've ever received in the mail/post?

I like just about anything that's yarn, or a surprise, so surprise yarn is a double treat. My husband is great about ordering me yarn – he recently got me one of the lace samplers from KnitPicks. I love getting sock yarn in the mail too; there's just something about sock yarn that I love. My SP12 pal just sent me a fabulous skein of Cherry Tree Hill, and it's taking every bit of my willpower not to wind it into a ball and get started.