We bought a truckload of stuff to equip the new camper for our first Weekend Jaunt (starts tomorrow) and put it all away last night. We'd decided what all the cabinets were going to be and where we would put everything when my husband suddenly got a distressed look on his face and said, "But where are we going to have your knitting cabinet?" Then he looked relieved, "Oh -- it can be in the bedroom."

He is just the BEST guy.

I assumed I'd get MILES of knitting done while in Bloomington, but I'd have to say I only got a half a mile. Before I left, though, I did something big here at home: balled up all four hanks of red Cotton Fleece so I can begin the Indian Floral Vest soon. Woo Hoo!

The Fall Family Circle Easy Knitting has been out a while and the Fall Vogue Knitting International just hit the stands. I purchased them this past week and here's my opinion of both: Ho Hum. Dare I ask what Knitter's has in store for us?

So, I had this idea that Bloomington would be all city-fied. Bless my soul! The first thing I saw as I drove into town was a Tractor Supply store: the second thing I saw was a big livestock auction barn. That makes it not a city, just Big Town. WE don't have a sale barn or a Tractor Supply within fifty miles of here, but we do have a Rural King store.

New Interweave Knits came Friday! I was curious to see if there would be any obvious changes right away. There are not. I admit when it came time to renew my subscription last month I paid for only one year because the Big Job was about to change hands. Bit of trivia: new Editor Pam Allen designed the Indian Floral Vest (which I swear I'm starting next.)

Here’s what I’m recording as things in this magazine I might like to make in the Near Future:

Indonesian Diamonds, a pretty cardy with a bit of colorwork. I think I’d like a more intense color scheme than the golden brown and eggplant, though.

Chinese Sweater, a minimalist pullover with a stylized motif across the chest. Again, a change in colors: I think this would look kinda cool and SciFi in black and pewter instead of the dark red and coral.

Short-Row Striped Pullover, sporty raglan with short row shaping from Dale yarn in a green and gold colorway. Am I in heaven?

Something to consider in the Far Future: the Geisha Cape. This is the sort of project that overwhelms me with its gorgeousness but I don’t know what I would do with the actual garment.

We picked up our camper Friday also. Spent over four hours driving to the dealer, installing the towing apparatus, hearing the guided tour, driving back and parking it in our yard. Then we spent the evening lying on the pullout couch bed listening to the Cubs game on our fancy stereo. The point is this: I COMPLETELY FORGOT STARGATE WAS ON! I missed the whole thing -- didn't remember till the next day. Aaaaaaaaargh!

I'm leaving this afternoon to go to exciting Bloomington, Illinois. Did you know Bloomington-Normal contains the only street in the U.S. that has a college at each end? I didn't either till I was searching through all my travel crap trying to find a decent map of Bloomington. How THRILLING.

The city is also the home of the Illinois Property Assessment Institute, which is why I'm going there -- more work training. Seminars this time, so No Homework, and then my educational requirements for the year will be complete and I'll get my bonus and have money for YARN. Hooray!

Back soon.

Closing in on the armhole shaping for the back of the Bliss Ruffley Cardy. Haven't gotten as much done lately as I would have liked -- there was a TON of work on my desk when I returned from vacation and I've been tired in the evenings. I manage a couple rows before I get too sleepy and that's all. Today I did three rows on my lunch break.

My husband and I bought a nice new CAMPER. You know what that means: Knitting In The Woods. I've heard that in England, and Australia, and other places where people speak English English instead of the American kind, a camper in called a "caravan." I find that to be a very romantic word. It could just be me, though. After all, the Gypsywoman’s blood is my blood, too.

Speaking of Gypsies, although I am a devoted Buffy fan, I haven’t seen much of the show Angel. Can anyone tell me how his soul was restored during the last season? I’ve gotten the impression they didn’t use the Gypsy curse again. That would certainly effect his and Buffy’s future relationship. (I’m convinced that the coming season of Angel is going to be full of guest appearances by the dislocated Scoobies.)

I am just besotted with my stash. I've been sorting and rearranging and admiring it today and, I may be prejudiced, but I think it is the Best Stash Ever. Perhaps I shouldn’t admit this, but I have enough stuff here to keep me busy for at least three years. And that is not counting two years worth of socks. And all these miscellaneous bits that could be hats and scarves and totes. Two favorites: my Noro Silk Garden and Dale Sisik. They are both mohair blends and SO SOFT.

Working my way up the back of the Bliss Ruffley Cardy. Decided to compensate for row gauge problem at the waist shaping in this project with the same change I made in the Corset Pullover: I did one fewer set of decreases and increases. It was necessary on the CP because my waist was thicker than standard and, since it still is, the same trick should work on this cardy, too.

I like this Korfu yarn a lot. I was afraid a full-size piece out of sport weight yarn would feel endless to knit, but it’s going by fairly quickly. The cotton blend yarn feels nice to work and it looks really pretty made up. I checked Elann to see if they have any left and they do -- CHARTRUESE!

I didn't get to go to Threadbear's Third Thursday tonight because IAM SICK ON MY VACATION. Do I feel sorry for myself? Yes. Yes, I do. But I have a red and white mitten quilt and the entire 6-hour BBC production of Pride and Prejudice on DVD so I'll probably survive.

Blogger won't let me update my template for Works In Progress. Here's the new news: Almost to neck shaping of left front Clock Vest and first sleeve done of Bliss Ruffley Cardy.

Left arm hurts today. I fell upon it last night in the front yard while playing badminton with 7-year-old niece Tabi. I'm not hypercompetitive -- just clumsy.

However, I started a new project last night during the Home Run Derby and went on with it today: Debbie Bliss’ ruffled ribbed cardigan with three-quarter sleeves from the Spring/Summer Vogue. The magazine sample was done in blush pink Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino (naturally.) I’m doing mine in sky blue Austermann Korfu (elann purchase), which is a 60/40-cotton/wool blend. As usual, my row gauge is off so I’ve had to adjust the sleeve increases, and will have to adjust the waist shaping when I get to the body pieces.

One of the fun things about being on a stay-at-home vacation is Perry Mason is on TV FOUR TIMES A DAY. Unfortunately it is inevitable that I find myself singing Ozzy Osbourne’s Perry Mason song while I knit. (“It’s Pe-e-erry Ma-a-son....over and over again.”

Corset Pullover is DONE!

Some notes:

These metal D-rings are Very Heavy. Too heavy, in fact. I was worried about this when I shopped for them, knowing how light and loose this knitted piece was, but what I bought was all there was available. I really wonder if plastic D-rings exist.

When I started this, I remarked here that the designer specifically wrote in a garter stitch selvedge on all pieces. I had always been happy seaming my stockinette selvedges, but I have to say the garter really made the sleeves go in easier. I'm glad I went ahead and tried it -- a garter selvedge is what I am going to use from now on.

According to the ball band symbols Schaffhauser Eviva is machine washable. Since I didn't block (what can I say? I'm bad to the bone) I'm going to wash it this afternoon and lay it out flat to dry so my stitches will settle down. If I shut the door and turn on the ceiling fan, it shouldn't take long. This will, of course, make the cat mad because this is the bed she likes to sleep on, and she's already in a bad mood. She and I watched The Ghost and the Darkness Saturday night and she didn't care for the ending. I think she was rooting for the lions.

Didn't get the back of the Clock Vest done last night like I'd hoped, because I decided to take some exercise in the form of lawn mowing. (It's amazing what a person will do if she wants an ice cream sandwich bad enough.) I did get past the increase/decrease sequences that cause the triangular upward spread of broken rib, so I'm almost finished. For the back, I'm going to go ahead and finish all the pattern as written, then rip out at the end when I see how much extra length my gauge problem is giving me.

While I was mowing, I saw dozens of Wooly Worms. They are all bright cinnamon brown which, according to folklore, means a mild winter. It's also possible they aren't fully mature and haven't turned black yet. Who knows with Wooly Worms?

Very cool Twilight Zone-esque episode of Stargate SG:1 last night. Of course, I figured out that the people were sacrificing themselves because there weren't enough resources because I've seen Logan's Run. Still, you can't beat two cautionary tales at once: environmental disaster is on our horizon and beware of letting the computer take over your whole life -- you can be rebooted at any time and not even know it.

Hand-washing day! Camisoles and tanks and four skeins of Barn Red Cotton Fleece. The yarn took a nice soapy bath followed by a vinegar bath and I can report the first sink of water turned quite pink. According to the ballband, this cotton/wool is drycleanable so that is how I am going to maintain it as a Finished Object, primarily because of the all the embroidery on the fronts.

Here’s something I do that is Not Good (aside from all the other not good things I do.) When I make a hank on my swift I don’t bind it up as well as I should and it gets all tangled in the wash. I know this from hard experience and yet I never learn my lesson. WHY, oh why, can’t I ever learn my lesson?

Bonne Marie is doing an interesting thing. She made the back of a tank and, fearing that it was too small, is making the front the next size larger. From the standpoint of female geometry, this actually makes a lot of sense. I’ve always wondered why so many sewing patterns for skirts use the same piece for the back and front when even the smallest woman is bigger from side to side around the rear than she is around the belly.

Crap day at work today. I endured so many poisonous people just this morning it's a wonder my skin didn't raise up all over boils. But now I am home with my knitting and my sweetie-pie husband and the Cubs are on TV and I feel fine again.

Once I got the shoulders and the sides seamed yesterday, I tried on the Corset Pullover. I AM SO HAPPY with the way this is turning out. The whole time I’ve been working on it, I’ve been afraid it would look awful on me. It’s just not a subtle design -- it would be so easy to come off silly. However, I love it. I tried it on sans sleeves and it actually makes a good tank. I’m toying with idea of leaving it that way for a while and then sewing the sleeves in once autumn starts to come around. (It is 90 degrees and above almost constantly here now.)

Decided to haul my ass out of denial and just prewash the Cotton Fleece for the Indian Floral Vest. I made nice hanks out of it with my yarn swift and will ball it back up when it dries. Given past experience with bleeding blue, I was also a little concerned with the blue and white for the Sashiko Jacket. When I wrote to Nordic Fiber Arts, she replied that she was not aware of any problems with runny Rauma.

I have remarked here before that my cat is not one for climbing all over the knitting. Having observed her ways for over a year now, I have concluded that she simply prefers to recline on smooth surfaces. If the bed is made up with the fuzzy blanket, she won’t sit on it; if it is made up with the quilt she will. She has no interest in all the knitted pieces constantly lying around, but this morning I spread some cotton batik fabric out on the floor and, by the time I grabbed the measuring tape and turned back, she was stretched out in the middle of it. Her favorite place to sleep is the bed in the Room of Cast-Off Furniture, which has a bare mattress. So, Lana, I guess “respectful” was the wrong word. “Disdainful” is probably a better one.

Work progressing on the Same Old Projects. Finishing the Corset Pullover at the astonishing rate of one stitch per hour and the back of the Clock Vest is evolving beautifully. Got the second Dresser Scarf Sock started while I was in Kansas City, but didn't get much done.

Alas, even after my Crochet Rendezvous, I am suffering from Startitis. Rather than allow frustrated desire for a new project to make me hostile and bitter, I decided to go ahead with something small. This morning I chose the Cuddly Bears cardigan from the Patons/Leisure Arts book Forever Favorites for 3-year-old niece Sharyn. I have WoolEase in my stash is the right amounts of the right colors and it occurred to me that the teddy bears would be good colorwork practice pre-Indian Floral Vest.

My backordered kit for the Norsk Strikkedesign Princess-line Sweater arrived last week. More beautiful Rauma. The colors weren’t quite what I expected. In the photos, one of the detail colors looks pink. In the materials list it is described as red-brown. It is indeed quite brown. I personally wouldn’t have thought of olive, turquoise, brown and red-brown on a black-and-blue sweater, but I have faith.