Ha-HAH! Who says I never finish anything?



Started that Thanksgiving evening and finished it the next day. The nifty pattern is from the new Knitter’s -- a new design by Gerdine Strong for her shaped diamonds. Do you remember her socks? I was somewhat intrigued by them when that pattern came out, and doing this hat revived my interest. As I worked this project, I also thought about some different ways one could tart up these diamonds a little. Since they are worked individually, they are a great intarsia pallet. How about some Kaffe Fassett shading? Anyway, I sent this hat to Lisa for collection for the homeless. (Should get there soon, Lisa!)

A fun item from Stitch’n Bitch Nation: the Henry Rollins Doll



I shouldn’t try to make this because I already spend more time thinking about Henry Rollins than is, strictly speaking, healthy. Maybe someone will start a knit-along and then I won’t be able to resist.

Some gift knitting progress:



A Panera Throw from the Berroco Suede Scarves & More book for my in-laws. (Why is called Panera? It reminds me of sandwiches -- like I need reminding.) The pattern calls for 14 balls and I’ve finished 5. I’M NOT KNITTING FAST ENOUGH. However, by my calculations, the fringe will take 3 balls, so, actually, I’m almost half done with the knitting. But I still have Spanish class. And a haircut Wednesday. And more Christmas shopping….

Happy Thanksgiving! Sorry I’ve been gone so long -- what can I say about stomach flu except, YUCK.

Oh wait, I didn’t spend all my time away lying around feeling sorry for myself. Before that, I went to Springfield, home of our state government, although, curiously, not our Governor. (Don’t worry -- now that I know promoting anarchy is a crime I won’t be making any political statements in my blog.) I had hoped to make it to the Rowan store in Springfield, but when I called she said they closed at 5 -- the same time my class (Intro to Equalization -- can you stand it?) was being dismissed. Phooey! I still don’t have a copy of Vintage Style. What can be done? (Ask Santa, of course.)

Springfield was not an entirely no-knitting-content trip, however. I did pick up Stitch’n Bitch Nation at the mall bookstore. My favorite bit from the text, so far: ”Math is as powerful and magical as any kind of witchcraft.” Of the patterns, this one particularly caught my eye:



I just wish I could figure out a good way to estimate yardage on this stuff



I got it at an estate auction and I have no clue what it is, except that it is old and it is probably partially wool. (I haven’t really mastered the Burn Test. That is, I can burn things up, but I have problems with interpreting my results. The CSI team is not going to be calling me to testify to anything anytime soon.) Also, it is probably pretty much fingering weight. I haven’t swatched it -- just eyeballed it. (Note previous CSI remarks.)

Meanwhile, my winter Knitter’s arrived while I was gone, along with 50 million notes and papers saying, “This is your last issue, omigod, this is the Last One, OMIGOD.” To which I can only say, “Finally.”

I took this quiz when I saw it on Teresa’s blog (I think I have also seen it on others'):

20 Questions to a Better Personality Quiz

My results?

Wackiness: 66/100
Rationality: 76/100
Constructiveness: 62/100
Leadership: 54/100

You are a WRCL--Wacky Rational Constructive Leader. This makes you a Golden God.

You think fast and have a smart mouth, and you are a hoot to your friends and razorwire to your enemies. You hold a grudge like a brass ring. You crackle.

Although you have a leader's personality, you often choose not to lead, as leaders stray too far from their audience. You probably weren't very popular in high school--the joke's on them!

You may be a rock star.

Of the 60986 people who have taken this quiz since tracking began (8/17/2004), 7 % are this type

This information is very interesting but, frankly, it is not helping me get my Gift Knitting done.

Caffeine and Barf-globs DO NOT mix. This morning, I was moving along very nicely on the baby blanket edging while watching Star Trek Voyager Season 3 DVD collection, when my sweet little ball of baby yarn starting urping up this mess



As a cat owner, I am not afraid of Things That Go Yack in the Night, but, as I said, I’d had A LOT of coffee and that is why I cut the yarn instead of patiently untangling it with both ends pinned. Even with one end free I had a heck of a time.

The edging I’m making is very pretty



But for technical coolness, it is hard to beat this



I finished that before we left for Arizona. It is the strap of a purse by Edie Eckman and it is designed so the I-cord edge forms as it is knitted. When I read the instructions, for some reason I thought it wasn’t going to work, but of course it did.

Speaking of this purse, I wasn’t satisfied with the buttons I turned up in my button stash for a closure (I despise that word,) so I bought some different ones at a JoAnne’s Fabrics in Arizona. Now I can’t decide which I like best. What do you think?

Button A



Or Button B



(BTW, I know I said last time I was going to tell you about the Grand Canyon next, but I wanted to talk about knitting today.)

I visited SIX yarns stores in the Phoenix metro area. Phoenix Metro includes Phoenix, Sun City, Glendale, Surprise, Avondale, Scottsdale, and several more places I didn’t visit. I think the best stores were Cotton Fields Quilt and Knit in Avondale (it was the Rowan Stockist) and the Arizona Knit and Needlework Shop in Scottsdale, which is the Don’t Miss shop of the area, in my opinion. Unfortunately, it was So Good, I ended up doing that same thing I do at the Yarn Fair: shut down, spin around and mumble to myself like a robot with more information to process than it has circuitry. “Can not compute…. Can not compute….”

I got some new books



To accompany the Elsbet Lavold book #1 in the center of the photo above, I purchased some gorgeous Silky Wool



And for the Plaid Collection, some, well, Plaid



I love Plaid. It is so soft and cushy. And this batch was 40% off regular price. The shop owner told me it wasn’t selling very well in the warm Southwest, so she had put it and her Yorkshire Tweed Chunky and Chunky Chenille on sale. That photo is the sixth ball of the Plaid I bought, because the first five have already been knitted. I begin to see why so many people like super-bulky projects; having a sweater done in four days is fun. The proof will be in the wearing, though. Am I going to look like a big Plaid ball, and am I going to get too hot?

I acquired some new scarves



That Cascade 220 is a Quatro: two oranges, a coral, and a color that is a bit pink. The blue is a Berroco yarn called Chloe which I have not seen before, so it is probably discontinued. The vari-colored balls are Europa -- can’t remember the brand.

And I bought some new bags



Red Berroco Sensuwool, which they don’t make any more (I got it and the Chloe at the same shop) and Purple Uxbridge Tweed, which is also discontinued, but far more recently.

For felting kicks, Manos



I’m not sure I would have selected that color had I been on my own. My husband admired it and called my attention to its beauty.

Be sure and tune in for our next episode: “The Grand Canyon!”

I’m back! You didn’t even know I snuck off to Arizona did you?

The courtyard of our hotel in Phoenix was full of palm trees



but it was COLD the whole time we were gone. The temp never rose above 80 degrees. I only got to swim one day. There was actually one point where it was warmer here at home in Illinois than it was in Phoenix.

Still had a great time, though. This was my fourth (I think) trip to Phoenix and certainly the longest one (twelve days.) My husband is periodically called upon to go to either Arizona or Texas for work training, and I almost always go along. Since he is in class all day, I have that time to myself and then we go out at night. On this trip I mostly shopped -- bookstores and yarn stores (tune in tomorrow.) We both went to the regular tourist stops like the zoo, and we went to Rawhide, a mock Wild West town where they have shops, a steakhouse, and regularly scheduled showdowns on the street



Fun! Among the shops we visited there was a small candy store full of TRUFFLES.



The small ones cost a dollar a piece so I only bought six.

I forgot to take my camera to the Mystery Castle. That link is pretty good for a description of the Mystery Castle and I found another with more pics -- just skim over the overwrought prose.

We ate PILES of food: Greek, Chinese, Caribbean, Mediterranean. My favorite things were the falafel sandwich, the whipped cinnamon sweet potatoes, and the shrimp baked in olive oil and feta cheese. All representatives from different restaurants, of course.

And now I still have two weeks worth of Spanish homework to do. Class is tomorrow and the afternoon is slipping away. I'm not looking forward to returning to work tomorrow, either.

More later!