Yummers!

It's a dilemma. My cold is on its way out, but I'm still sneezing and coughing and have a residual headache. Should I go to yoga class this morning or not? The yoga will help me feel better, but I'm terrified of having a sneezing or coughing fit in the middle of savasana, which certainly won't serve the other students well. I've missed so many yoga classes this session, either because I was waiting for deliveries while Tom was on his long runs or because we were out of town. I'll miss next week's class as well, because it's the Hunt Country Yarns Pajama Party weekend.

I'm thinking I'll skip class and try to practice on my own. If I go to class, I'd have to disturb the cat on my lap. Because the weather has been so hot, she hasn't wanted much lap time. The weather is still too hot for October, but at least the mornings are chilly and she actively searches out a quiet lap. She's enjoying her morning nap as I blog.

So without further ado, I offer for you viewing pleasure my Stitches acquisitions. First up, lovely merino wool in autumnal colors (Spice and Squash)...Mission Falls 1824:



I'm thinking that this yarn would make a nice hat or small scarf. It's very soft. It was also a give-away at Stitches

Next up, Sterling Silk and Silver by Kraemer Yarns:



If you look closely, you can see flecks of real sterling silk. The silver is antibacterial, which makes it a perfect application for socks. I purchased this yarn from Susan and Jill at Y2Knit. It's destined to become the Sterling Lace Shawl. Y2Knit now has the yarn in black as well, which would make a stunning shawl for those holiday parties.

By far the yummiest yarn I acquired is this:



This is Geisha, 100% dupion bombyx silk, by Just Our Yarn. It's gorgeous and is destined to become the Counterpoised Shawl. Diane Smith is one of the women behind JOY. I met her at Stitches last year and spent an inordinate amount of time at her booth trying out (and eventually purchasing) a drop spindle. I was introduced to her a second time by my optometrist. She's local to my area and will be doing a trunk show in January for the Blue Ridge Spinners and Weavers Guild. Knitter's Review wrote up a review of their yarn Caravan here.

The first yarn purchase of the day was this sock yarn:



The yarn is from Araucania. The blues just drew me in. I'm somewhat partial to blue anyway and hesitated only briefly before making the leap. They recommend that you knit alternating skeins to get an even color distribution but alas, the vendor had only one skein of that color.

And finally, another door prize:



Yep, more sock yarn. It's the Regia Design Line with the colorways designed by Kaffe Fasset. It really is pretty, isn't it? And a word of warning...before you purchase a lot of yarn from that link, those prices are in pounds, not dollars! (I used that link because they had the best description.)

So there you have it. While I spent more than I intended, I don't think I did too badly. All of the purchases have projects attached to them, except the sock yarn, but I'm thinking that something out of Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks would be quite appropriate.

I'm still undecided on the scary doctor appointment knitting. Joan recommended the Fenna Shawl, which certainly does look like it would be a wonderful soothing knit. Unfortunately, I don't have the book and am unlikely acquire a copy in time. So, it's back to the drawing board for me.

Happy knitting!

Stitches East Recap

Wow...it's been a long time since I've posted. There's been a lot going on, with the highlight being Stitches East. Once again, it was excellent!

I missed the opening session; I just couldn't get my act together to leave early enough in the morning to get to Baltimore by 10:00. So rather than stress out about it, I took my time packing and arrived too late for the opening session but in plenty of time for lunch (and to do the homework for the first class). I barged up to the registration booth, totally ignoring the group of women who were standing nearby. I didn't occur to me that they might be standing in line. When it dawned on me that I might have cut in line, I turned around, apologized, and motioned for one of the women to go before me. She declined, then introduced herself as Fiona Ellis. Quite the auspicious beginning!

All of my classes were excellent, especially Pattern Customization with Gwen Bortner and Color for Knitters with Laura Bryant. If you can get to a Stitches convention, try to get into these classes. They will definitely change the way you think about knitting and definitely change the way you think about color.

There was some minor stash enhancement, both purchased and through door prizes, but I'll post pictures later. I won a very nice backpack at the Friday night fashion show. It's the Bella Sorella bag and was offered by Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farm. Complete with cell phone and water bottle pockets on the outside, it has numerous pockets on the inside, as well as a "hidden" zippered pocket on the back to store valuables. The straps are curved and well-padded and fit comfortably, even when the pack is filled with yarn, books, and needles. This bag might very well replace the KnitPicks KIPer bags. My only complaint is that the fabric is a bit floppy, but I can live with that.

I finished the Clapotis shawl, wore it on Saturday, and received several compliments on it. I love the way it drapes and hugs my body. I've decided I don't like the mohair content so much; too much shedding. That just means I've got to knit another one! Such a hardship...

The other thing that I picked up at Stitches, although I wasn't aware of it at the time, was a very nasty cold. Yesterday was spent battling a fever and trying not to cough up too much of my lungs. The fever is gone today, but I'm wiped out (hence, no photos).

All in all, my Stitches experience this year was good, even if a bit surreal. How can a knitting convention be surreal (other than getting high on fiber fumes)? Simply juxtapose it with scheduling a scary doctor appointment. As you might remember, I've periodically complained about being exhausted and being in a funk. This is, I think, related to the nodule on my thyroid that developed four years ago, after a bout of De Quervain's thyroiditis. During the last year or so, the nodule has doubled in size. The biopsy results at the beginning of the month were inconclusive, prompting the endocrinologist to refer me to Johns Hopkins for a second opinion, or as the confirmation letter states, a "surgical consultation."

Yikes.

That, coupled with the fact that they will be doing additional blood work and another ultrasound (to check the lymph nodes in my neck), leads my version of Hysterical Mind to jump straight to the conclusion that I've got a dread disease and they'll be removing my thyroid faster than you can say "Jack's a doughnut." In reality, a very small percentage of this type of nodule ends up being malignant. The appointment is next Friday and it should be interesting, to say the least. We're going up to Baltimore the night before, to stay with our friends James and Gina, which will make this whole process quite a bit more pleasant.

And of course, all scary things are made less scary by some good knitting. The suggestion line is open: What would you take to knit at a scary doctor appointment?

It's Saturday!

This will be a quick post, in between loads of laundry and packing for the Steamtown Marathon. It's been a busy week, full of interesting happenings, with the possibility of more interesting things happening in the future. I'll have more information next week.

The drive up to Pennsylvania will provide several hours of uninterrupted knitting and that should be ample time to finish Clapotis. The decrease rows are moving right along! There's enough length now to try it on and I wrapped it around me yesterday. Oh my! It's luscious and oh so warm! The combination of stockinette and drop stitch make a fabric that conforms to the body and it's like being hugged. I can't wait for the weather to get warm enough to wear it!

Well, the dryer just stopped, so that's a signal for me to wrap up and finish travel preparations (including deciding what other knitting projects to take).

Have a great weekend and happy knitting!

No Time to Blog

Or so it seems. Much has happened since I last posted an entry. Life at work has been fairly busy, and my father had back surgery (he seems to be recovering well, thank you), which necessitated a trip home last weekend. We've been watching the new Ken Burns documentary, The War, which is very good, but very long.

And the Yarn Harlot came to town. See?



She's not there. That's the crowd, which from the back looked small-ish. But there were over 175 of us there (at least that's how many were in line for the book signing). I stayed with the knitters, way in the back, despite having arrived 75 minutes before the talk started. I didn't get a chance to see how the non-knitting customers were handling the invasion of the knitters. Finally, Stephanie appeared:



She talked for almost two hours and was funny in a very understated way. The room was howling with laughter for the most part. But Stephanie talked about serious things, too. Like how knitting as a business is underestimated by banks (witness the problem that Blue Moon Fiber Arts had with their original bank thinking that the Rockin' Sock Club was a fraud because how could 2000 people want to buy sock yarn? Or the problem that another yarn shop had getting a mortage for a warehouse for its expanding business because the bank, despite at 50% down payment and a strong business plan and year-over-year growth, thought that the business was "implausible.") She also talked about the generosity of knitters, as demonstrated by the amount of money that we've raised for Doctors without Borders.

After talking for so long, Stephanie then signed books. And signed them, and signed them, and signed them. My friend and I were numbers 107 and 109 in the line (thanks to Anne's alertness, she discovered there was a line in which to get numbers; I never saw it, so intent was I on obtaining and retaining our seats). So I knit on Clapotis while waiting and eventually met a couple of other knitters (yes, I'm shy, even when surrounded by my own kind), Nicole and Lee. I managed to complete several repeats on Clapotis and finally, after waiting until about 10:30 or so, our numbers were called. Oh boy! We get to join the line. The line moved relatively quickly and soon I was standing before the Yarn Harlot herself. We chatted, but I think all that the only sounds that I managed to get out of my mouth were "Ergh", "Ahhh", and several other unintelligble articulations (I was beyond feeling exhausted at that point, having been up since 5:30 a.m. and not having had dinner). Stephanie, to her credit, was witty, articulate, gracious, and poised, as you can see:



As I was getting ready to leave, another group of 25 or 50 knitters appeared and Stephanie collapsed on the table, exclaiming "More?!" Poor Stephanie. Such are the wages of fame. Fortunately, the traffic going home was not so bad and I got home a little after midnight.

Knitting News
Clapotis is moving right along. I've finished knitting straight and have just started knitting the decrease rows. It looks like I'm set to have another finished object by the end of the year. I'm still loving the yarn and the pattern. My only regret is that the Duet seems to shed, making this shawl not very practical to wear with black. Oh well...I guess I'll be brushing mohair off my suits and coats.

Stitches East
Stitches East is only two short weeks away. Once again, I've signed up for a full slate of classes, from Thursday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. These are the classes I'm taking:

• Pattern Customization


• Design with Unpatterns


• Color for Knitters


• Norwegian Purl


• Increases and Decreases

I thought I had signed up for a class on short rows, but either it filled up before they got to me or else I bumped it for a class I thought was more important. The class that I feel is most important to me is Color for Knitters. Color scares me and I'm hoping that this one-day workshop will give me the confidence that I need to use color creatively and intelligently. And maybe then I'll take the plunge into dyeing.

October is shaping up to be a busy month. Tom is running the Steamtown Marathon next weekend, the following weekend is Stitches East, then I'm home for a weekend. Hunt Country Yarns has its annual Pajama Party the weekend before Halloween, and I'll be going. And I'll be missing two fiber festivals in Virginia. October should be designated Fiber Month.

That's it for now. Time to go do some housework before the day is all used up.

Happy knitting!

Still Lazy After All These Years

When it comes right down to it, I'm lazy. Just ask my parents. And even though I'm now an adult, I'm still lazy! My life would be so much more organized if I'd just complete the tasks that I started. For example, there's a huge mound of clean laundry in the basement, waiting to be folded. Instead of folding it as it comes out of the dryer, I dump it on the table to be folded later, which eventually gets done. But in the meantime, my morning routine includes scurrying to the basement and routing through the laundry to find the clothes that I need for the day. But the mountain continues to grow.

So yesterday was a somewhat lazy day. I managed to get my butt out the door for the club run. There are typically slower runners at each run. Imagine my chagrin when I discovered that I was the slowest runner. I felt like turning around and slinking home because I had no one to play with. It turned out alright, though. Diane and Christy hung back with me, then we met Tierney coming back from the long run, so I turned around and walked back with her. We headed to the Leesburg Restaurant for breakfast, as rumor had it that's where the long runners went. The Leesburg Restaurant is probably the oldest restaurant in town and serves typical diner fare. It still has the original bar, stools, and booths from the 1930s, and fortunately none of the more recent owners have decided to renovate the interior. It still has all of the Art Deco touches that it had when it opened, although they are looking their age.

The food is pretty good; I ordered Eastern Shore Eggs, which was a split English muffin with each half topped with spinach, a crab cake, and a poached egg, and lightly sauced with Hollandaise and a sprinkling of Old Bay. It was quite tasty, although the crab cakes were very gloppy. They were fine with eggs on top, but I would not have wanted to eat them by themselves or in a sandwich.

So far, so good. A morning run, breakfast, then back to the house for chores. Except that Tom took a rather long nap, which gave me an excuse for futzing around on the computer. I did manage to pick up a book at the library and do a grocery shopping. But the laundry didn't get washed and the existing laundry wasn't folded.
Oh well...

P-la, you mentioned you were looking for a butternut squash recipe. My mother wanted to pass this along to you. She clipped it from a GE Profile ad in a magazine.

Marinated Butternut Squash

2 butternut squash, halved, seeded, and cut into 1-inch slices
1/4 Cup red wine vinegar
1/2 of a medium red onion, sliced paper thin
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
1 clove garlic, sliced paper thin
1/4 Cup fresh mint leaves
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees (Fahrenheit). Season squash with salt and pepper and drizzle with EVOO. Place on a rimmed cookie sheet. Bake in oven until tender, about 18-20 minutes.

Stir together 4 Tablespoons EVOO, the vinegar, onion, chili flakes, oregano, garlic and season with salt and pepper. When squash is done, remove from oven and pour the marinade over the squash. Cool for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with the mint and serve. Serves 8.

The recipe can be made earlier in the day and should not be refrigerated.

Mom said that she halves the recipe, since it's only her and Dad and the occasional son who might show up for dinner.

Puff the Magic...Cat?
Emma went on walkabout yesterday (supervised, of course) and met the neighbor's cat through the fence. She wasn't too pleased.



Have a great week!

Finally!

It rained. It actually rained twice this week, some on Tuesday and then again last night. We've been in somewhat of a drought this summer (again) and parts of the county have instituted mandatory water restrictions. I just read this morning that Loudoun County has been given disaster designation because of the crop losses.

Now the weather is finally cooler and hopefully we'll have a wet fall to bring the water table and reservoirs back up to normal levels. The leaves are beginning to turn, although that could be as much from stress as from the weather change. But still, you can tell that Fall is on the way, just by the way the light has changed.

The onset of autumnal weather makes me want to knit even more, if that's possible. I have visions of creating gorgeous, warm Norwegian sweaters and hats and mittens galore. And don't forget about warm, woolen socks, either.

I'm delusional about my knitting output.

A hat or two, maybe a pair of mittens, and one or two pairs of socks might be doable. A Norwegian sweater? Who am I kidding?! I can't seem to finish any type of sweater, be it adult, child, or infant-sized. But still the dream lives on.

Boxy Goodness
Despite the ennui that has pervaded my life this week, there were a couple of bright spots. On Tuesday, I got the first shipment from the Y2Knit ECOnnection club. On Wednesday, another installment of exotic fibers from the Wooly Wonka Fibers exotic fiber club arrived (Pygora goat...soft!)

And yesterday, at long last, Elizabeth Zimmerman's book Knitting Around made an appearance on the front porch. Tom opened the package before I got home and was dismayed to see that it was another knitting book. He doesn't understand why I need yet another knitting book. I tried to explain to him about how EZ was just an amazing knitter and an amazing woman. I shoved a picture of her in his face and exclaimed "Isn't she just the most beautiful woman in the world?" At that point, he looked at me and said "I think you've had a little too much to drink." (I had had a couple of sips of my Friday cocktail.) Oh, well. He waxes poetic about beer and rock climbs; I wax poetic about yarn and EZ. We're both a little crazy, I think.

Knitting Progress
The Clapotis continues to grow and the knitting has not yet lost its charm. I've finished about half of the straight repeats.




I haven't made any progress on the Monkey socks, given that I'm all wrapped up in Clapotis. But the Yarn Harlot is coming to a bookstore near me next Thursday, so it will once again see the light of day.

Living Lightly
I took the ecological footprint quiz againto see what I needed to do to live under the U.S. average (which is 24 acres per person). It turns out that I need to eat vegan, live in a green design residence, drive a hybrid, carpool, walk or bike everywhere, not fly anywhere, and eat 100% local, unpackaged and unprocessed food. That reduced my footprint to 5 acres, which is still more than 4.5 biologically available acres per person that is available now. I'd need 1.1 planets. I found that to be a bit discouraging, although we do have plans to buy a hybrid and our final home will be smaller and most likely be a green design. The next big thing I could do is reduce the number of miles I drive to work, which is going to be very difficult to do. Public transportation is non-existent for intercounty travel and I don't know anyone at work who lives in town.

But small steps are better than no steps. We can reduce the amount of meat we eat (see this article for an interesting discussion about meat consumption and greenhouse gases). We can walk to places in town more frequently than we do. We can replace more light bulbs with fluorescents (although the mercury in them has me a bit worried). Fortunately, we have a pretty good farmers market, so we can get relatively local fruit and vegetables during the summer, as well as beef, pork, and lamb. Here's my haul from this morning:



Eggs, garlic, tomatoes, eggplant, apples, celeriac, parsley, and salsa from Chef Eloy. He had one container of XXXtra Hot Salsa, which should be yummy. We usually get the Xtra Hot, which sometimes isn't hot enough. The pumpkins are beginning to come in too.

We're having friends over for dinner tonight and will be serving:

• Shrimp Bisque


• Rockfish Roasted with White Wine, Tomatoes, and Black Olives on Toasted Couscous


• Grilled Eggplant


• Grapefruit Tart wth Chocolate-Pecan Crust

The main course and dessert are from the Inn at Little Washington Cookbook. The recipes in this book are outstanding and are not that difficult to make, although some of them can be time consuming, especially if there's reduction involved.

Well, I've got to go...time to do some cleaning and cooking!

Bon appetit!

Bleh

I've been feeling distinctly bleh and blah these past few days. I lack energy (although I can manage to knock off a couple of rows on the Clapotis each day), motivation, and a general joie de vivre. As a result, I want to hibernate and I'm particularly good at crawling inside my head and contemplating Very Important Issues. The conversation in my head goes something like this.

Me: Look at the mountains and how the mist is wafting down them. It's so pretty and peaceful.

Me: Uh oh...are those survey stakes in that field over there?

Me: Yes, those are definitely survey stakes. They're probably going to putting in a housing development where ordinary people can't afford to buy the houses.

Me: And you know what that means. After the houses come, they're going to be putting in strips malls and town centers and totally destroying the habitat. Where will all the animals and birds go? They'll lose their homes and feeding grounds.

Me: You know they'll put in a golf course, too. All those pesticides and such to keep the greens green are going to leach into the ground water and contaminate the wells. We'll see a rise in cancer and birth defects...

And so it continues. I can really work myself into a state thinking about Very Important Issues. However, I think that we live pretty lightly. We compost, buy local when we can, recycle religiously, and don't go shopping for the sake of going shopping. So imagine my surprise when I took this quiz to calculate my ecological footprint and discovered that my ecological footprint is larger than the average in the U.S.

Take the quiz; you'll be surprised at the results.

On the bright side, my favorite NSLYS (not so local yarn shop) started the ECOnnection, designed to introduce people to eco-friendly and sustainable products in the yarn industry. The first package came today and it contained a small ball of O-Wool Balance, a blend of 50% organic wool and 50% organic cotton. It feels very nice--soft but with body. It will be interesting to see how it knits up.

All for now...it's bedtime!

Lazy Weekend

Yesterday was a day of unsurpassed slothdom. After finishing yesterday's post, I went to the farmers market and stocked up on vegetables for the week. Tom came home from a long run shortly thereafter and we spent the rest of afternoon watching television (cooking shows only, mind you) while I knit. I think the last time I spent a whole afternoon watching TV was back in the late 80s, when I watched all of Brideshead Revisted. A friend was having a small, casual dinner party last night, which meant no cooking dinner. We didn't get home until after 11:00 (which is also pretty much unprecedented, given that we're usually in bed by 9:30 or 10:00 at the latest).

Today is almost more of the same. After a club run at Morven Park and the usual coffee klatch afterwards, Tom is now watching Children of Men. I'll be writing up notes for a knitting class I'm teaching tonight (the women will knit; the men will watch football). Because it's a football night, Tammy is having a potluck dinner, which means no cooking tonight either.

There are things I should do today. Like laundry, so we've got clean underwear for the week. Or grocery shopping, so we'll have things to cook. But I'm not going to. Emma is napping and I do believe she is sending out sleep waves.

I might just go take me a nap.

Lean Horse Recap

Warning! Long, detailed (potentially boring), and somewhat picture-heavy post ahead!

Last weekend (and the week) turned out to have less blogging time than I thought. A couple of runs and two days of housecleaning, plus friends visiting from Baltimore (hence the housecleaning) conspired against me. It was a great weekend, despite the housecleaning.

Here's a South Dakota recap. We arrived in Rapid City (after a lengthy delay in Chicago), picked up the car, then headed out to Custer State Park to find our campsite. It took longer than we thought, because of the twisty roads on the Needles Highway. The views, however, were worth it:



We finally arrived at Sylvan Lake Campground and found our site (#13). After we set up the tent, Tom inflated the air mattresses (no more sleeping on tiny backkpacking sleeping pads!). I put the first mattress in the tent and quickly realized that we had made a major logistical error. We didn't check to see if both mattresses would fit inside the tent (they didn't). After trying various things to try to get both mattresses in the tent and close the tent door, we gave up in defeat and headed into Custer to try to find a place for dinner. We met up with Mike and had dinner at the Sage Creek Grille, which had excellent food and service. Then we bagged the camping idea (at least for the first night) and checked in at the Rock Crest Lodge. The rooms were funky but clean and relatively comfortable. It was definitely more comfortable than sleeping in a tent with the door open and all manner of bugs and critters coming to visit!

The next morning, after eating a huge breakfast at the Cattleman Steakhouse and Fish Market, we headed back up to Custer State Park to do some hiking and to further think about our little camping dilemma. Our first stop was the Eye of the Needle formation:



There were rocks there, so we just had to play. What's this?



Hmmm...it's my husband in climbing mode!



We also hiked the Cathedral Spires Trail, which made us realize that the elevation in South Dakota is much higher than it is in Virginia. The hike was beautiful and we saw a mule deer which didn't seem to be at all phased by hikers. After the hike, we had lunch at the Sylvan Lake Lodge, which was a bit of a disappointment. We headed back to the campground and debated once again whether we should stay or go. Given that there was a very good chance of rain in the evening, we decided to pack it up. This was a big disappointment because the air was so fresh and scented with pine and the wind moving through the branches was soothing. Oh, well...that's what we get for not testing our equipment before leaving. Farewell, sweet site...we hardly knew ye.



Thursday dawned cool and rainy. The rest of our running friends arrived Wednesday and we met them for breakfast, except that it was a non-breakfast. Mini-muffins and overcooked hard-boiled eggs. Phil and Marcia headed off to see the Crazy Horse Memorial, Mike headed out to look for some land, and we opted to hike part of the Mickelson Trail. The scenery leaving Custer wasn't so pretty, but about a mile out of town, the vistas changed dramatically. Imagine having this in (or as) your backyard:



Or these fine critters for neighbors:



We hiked five miles south, a little ways past The Mountain trailhead, to get a view of the Crazy Horse Memorial:



Then, because it was cold and windy (and Tom was wearing shorts and a t-shirts), we headed back. The Sage Creek Grille serves up a lunch that is just as good a dinner and alas, I overate. This was not a wise thing to do, because our evening activity was the much-vaunted Chuckwagon, complete with cowboy hats and bandanas!

The Chuckwagon starts at Bluebell Lodge. After getting our cowboys hats and bandanas, they herded loaded us into the wagons and off we went into the hills.



We went by way of the Wildlife Route, so we saw prairie dogs, flocks of wild turkeys,



buffalo,



as well as pronghorn antelope and deer. We were entertained in grand style, singing all sorts of old-timey songs, with each person having the chance to accompany the performer with tambourine or coconuts. Even though it was a bit campy, it was a lot of fun. The food was good and even though my steak was closer to medium well than medium rare, it was surprisingly tender. After dinner, to get our blood moving and warm up our bodies (it was cold!), the organizers herded us all outside to particpate in a circle dance. Yet another chance for me to embarrass myself...

Mike and Phil saw that this would be an opportunity for blackmail pictures so they quickly exited the circle and whipped out their cameras. Tom wasn't so quick, so they've got pictures of him doing the Hokey Pokey and the Chicken Dance. I must admit that it was a lot of fun being silly. I should do it more often.

The drive back to Custer that evening was exciting. There are lots of deer in South Dakota and like the deer back east, they like to randomly dash across the road. One randomly dashed into our car, breaking the passenger side view mirror and putting two small dents in the side. We don't know what happened to the deer. A few minutes later, Mike narrowly missed colliding with a deer. After my run-in with a deer last summer, in which my car was almost totaled (the deer definitely was totaled), I'm very wary about driving at night in deer territory. It's almost to the point where I want to say "Sorry, can't go out at night. The deer are out."

On Friday we packed up and headed down to Hot Springs, picked up the race packet, and attended the race briefing. We made a run to the grocery store to get some last minute race items. I made a bee-line to the vegetable section and pounced on a bag of carrots and a bag of sugar snaps, I was definitely craving veggies after almost a week of eating nothing but meat and potatoes. Later that evening we attended the pre-race dinner at the Flatiron and pigged out dined on buffalo burgers, spaghetti, lasagna, soup, and cookies. A good time was had by all,



including our intrepid crew:



Then it was off to bed, since the race started at some ungodly early hour.

Race day dawned dark, chilly, and foggy. Fortunately, the start (and finish) line was right next door to our hotel. After roll-call, the runners lined up



and off they went!



Throughout the day they ran, and ran, and ran some more. They ran through prairie:



They ran on the Mickelson Trail:



They ran into the wee hours:



And into the dawn:



Of the five Loudoun Road Runners who ran, three finished. There was a 50K finisher (7:25:00):



A 50-mile finisher (10:46:00):



And a 100-mile finisher (25:02:00):



The winner of the 50-mile race completed the run in under 7 hours and the winner of the 100-mile run finished in 17 hours and change. Congratulations to all the runners!

The rest of Sunday was sort of anti-climactic. To spice things up a bit, we visited Wind Cave and took the Fairgrounds Cave tour. Wind Cave is known for the prevalence of boxwork formations. The cave is beautiful and if you ever visit the Black Hills region of South Dakota, you should put Wind Cave on your must-see list.

So, there you have it. I hope the wait (and the reading) was worth it. We had a great time in South Dakota. I'd like to go back and do more exploring. But next time, I'll be sure to bring some vegetables.

Patience, My Friends

Well, the Lean Horse trip report is taking a lot longer to craft than I thought, mostly because I'm long-winded. So, to distract you from the current lack of content, here is a picture of the Monkey sock:



I'm not knitting on that any more, having fallen totally in love with Clapotis:



I love the Brooks Farm Duet. It's a little fuzzy and the drop stitches don't drop as easily as I'd like. The mohair fuzz flies off and tickles my nose, but this shawl is going to be so warm and cozy! It's going to be perfect for the chilly office.

That's all for now. I'll wrap up the trip report this weekend (I promise!)

Happy Friday!

Quick Update

This post will be quick, dashed off before I get ready for work. The trip was great--there was a variety of weather (ranging from distinctly autumnal to broiling hot), lots of interesting things to do, plenty of knitting (I love Clapotis and Monkey!), and a great ultra marathon. I even met a knitter in the wild!

Ultra
Tom finished the 50-mile distance in 10:46:00, 16 minutes off his JFK 50 time. He was disappointed (he wanted to beat his JFK time) but the first and last 16 miles were very hilly. Add to that an elevation significantly above the 400 feet here and the heat. I think he did really well. Marcia completed her first 50K race in 7:25:00. Out of the running club's three 100-mile contenders, only Diane finished, completing the distance in 25:02:00. Phil decided to drop just after mile 50; Mike made it to about mile 60, but decided to drop because of extreme nausea.

After Tom finished, he swore that he'd never, ever run 100 miles. However, he's now looking for his next 50-mile and 100K race and is starting to contemplate running the 100-mile. I think the 100-milers inspired him.

Knitting
Lots of knitting was accomplished. I finished four repeats on the Monkey socks before deciding that I might not be able to get them on my feet. I started the second sock on larger needles, so we'll see how that goes. However, I don't like the way the colors are arranging themselves. On the smaller needles, the colors striped nicely. On the larger needles, the colors are pooling, so one half the sock will be one color and the other half another color.

Clapotis is a great knit. Easy enough to memorize, but with enough stuff going on to keep it interesting. I finished the increase rows and one repeat of the straight rows. The Brooks Farm Duet is a dream to knit...so soft and smooth. I'm using Addi Turbos, but the yarn would work well on bamboo; it's slippery enough to easily slide off the needles.

South Dakota
South Dakota is gorgeous. I was very impressed with how friendly everyone was. Even teenagers on skateboards (known around here for being churlish and rude) said "hi" as they careened past. We need to make another trip and explore more. Depending on what winters are like, this state might be high on the list for our next move. The only drawback is the lack of yarn shops (but that could an opportunity for my own shop) and the lack of vegetables, at least served in restaurants. The restaurants we went to were heavy on beef and potatoes. By the time Friday rolled around, I was craving fresh vegetables.

Okay, I'm running out of time. Once again, not as quick a post as I intended. Full details and pictures to follow this weekend.

Happy knitting!

Behold!

Another finished object, hot off the needles!


Specs:
Yarn: Plymouth Sockotta Sock Yarn, color 6
Pattern: Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Sock
Needles: 2.0mm DPNs
Gauge: 10 spi

Sockotta is a nice yarn with which to knit, even in hot and humid weather, despite its cotton content. This was my first time using Wendy's toe-up pattern, which I found to be clearly written and easy to follow. The socks fit fairly well, although it's clear that I need to play around a little bit with sizing. I think slightly fewer stitches would improve the fit (I sort of winged the stitch count, based on Wendy's gauge of 8 spi versus my 10 spi)(actually doing the math would be nice...duh). I also need to tweak the heel width and length. I ended up with these little ears which suggests that the heel is either too wide or the foot too long. I used EZ's sewn-cast off which creates a nice stretchy cuff. Unfortunately, I neglected to see her admonition of "not advisable for ribbing." Oh, well...we'll just have see how it holds up in the wearing. All in all, this pair of socks was an easy comforting knit, with the short row toe and heel providing a touch of challenge.

And speaking of short row toes and heels, there are at least two methods: the wrap method and the YO method. I've tried both and I found that the wrap method was easier for me to master. The YO method produced less than stellar results, often leaving huge gaps in the side of the heel. I highly recommend test driving both methods (using worsted-weight yarn) before attempting either on a sock. For the wrap method, here are a few tips that will improve your odds of creating a nice toe or heel:

• Sit in a place where there are no distractions when you first attempt either method; you will need to pay close attention to the counting


• Wrap loosely to better see the wraps when picking them up later


• Do slip-wrap-slip-turn instead of slip-wrap-turn-slip to lessen the chance that you knit or purl the stitch you just wrapped

After you get the hang of it, it's easier than you would have ever thought. Now, go forth bravely and knit using short rows!

South Dakota, Here We Come!
In just a few short days, we head out to South Dakota and a vague sort of panic is setting in. I can't decide on a sock project. After actually reading the patterns for what I thought were the top contenders, I scratched them all because they all incorporated cables as a design element. I suspect that those patterns are best reserved for the privacy of my own home and quick access to the Internet in case I break yet another 2.0mm needle (the Brittanys are getting a little bendy and it's just a matter of time).

So what to do? I'm considering doing what any self-respecting knitter would do and probably will sort of design my own. Of course, that means I'm under considerable pressure to find a stitch pattern I like for the yarn I've chosen, of which Tofutsies is a top contender:



I'm leaning towards the pink. Opinions? Does anyone have a favorite pattern for Tofutsies yarn?

The other project, by unanimous vote, is the Clapotis shawl, by Kate Gilbert. I think one of the reasons I want to knit this is because it feels so French and if I feel French, then (using my questionable twisted logic) I'll grow a couple of inches, lose several pounds, sport high cheekbones, and have lovely thick, shiny, swingy hair. Right?

Today's activities will involve cleaning, laundry, and frantic swatching to make sure that I take the correct tools for my projects. There aren't many yarn shops where we're going to be and I think I'd be hard-pressed to convince Tom to make an emergency side trip to a yarn shop 50 to 100 miles away!

I provide full details when I return. In the meantime, have a great week and happy knitting!

Almost All Local

I can't say that I consciously planned it that way, but the majority of my Julia dinner on Sunday was almost all local. Here's the menu:

Canapes with a mushroom fondue au Gruyere
Poulet Poele a l'Estragon (casserole-roasted chicken with tarragon)
Concombres au Beurre (baked cucumbers)
Gratin Dauphinois (scalloped potatoes)
Salade Verte (green salad)
Clafouti aux Myrtilles (blueberry "flan")

The chicken, tarragon, cucumbers, blueberries, and salad tomatoes were local. Unfortunately, the potatoes, milk, cheese, flour, bread, and mushrooms were not. But still, the main ingredients were local. Every little bit helps!

I started cooking around 12:30 on Sunday, about 30 minutes behind schedule. I prepared the "order of battle" (a phrase the Julia is fond of using and one that I find amusing), working backwards from serving time (7:30) to determine when the various dishes needed to be in the ovens and working back from that, when I could start prepping them. Despite a late start, everything went as planned. I even had time to clean up as I went (anyone who has watched me cook a multi-dish meal knows that the kitchen tends to look like a war zone when I'm done). In fact, the meal was ready a little early, which was surprising. The last minute preparation for the chicken (carving and sauce preparation) did leave the kitchen looking like it had exploded, but that's okay.

And how was the food? Well, given that I tend towards flavorful ethnic cuisines (Indian, Thai, Mexican), I thought the dishes were a bit on the bland side. However, the canapes and cucumbers met with rave reviews. The chicken was a bit dry, despite being baked in a casserole. Since it was a free-range chicken, it was more lean than the grocery store variety and I think I overcooked it (the meat had drawn away from the leg bones). The sauce wasn't as thick as I would have liked it to be, but it was very good. And the clafouti was excellent. It's not like a Mexican flan, which is essentially an egg custard. The clafouti is more like a pancake batter that bakes into a thick cake which lacks the crumb of a traditional cake.

To continue on with the Julia theme, I made Potage Parmentier for dinner last night. That would be potato and leek soup. It was tasty, but much thinner than I was expecting; we tend to make our soups thick. It's very easy to make...just take water, sliced leeks, chopped potatoes, and salt, and simmer them until everything is tender. Pass through a food mill or mash with a fork, add a little bit of cream or butter and serve.

So, that's my Julia experience. Time-consuming, tasty, and possibly worth the time. I'm going to have to work on refining my execution of the recipes.

Knitting Progress
The Simple Stockinette sock is coming right along and I've got about an inch and a half before starting the cuff. See?



I predict I'll have another FO by week's end. Yippee! Of course, that leaves me with a little bit of a problem. What do I knit next? I need your help, especially since this project is going to be a travel project (we're headed to South Dakota next week for the Lean Horse Ultramarathon). Therefore, the project must be relatively simple, but engaging, and portable. Your choices are:

• Clapotis, using Brooks Farm Duet:



• The latest Rockin' Sock Club offering, using Firebird:



• The Flip-Flop dress from the Summer issue of Knitters, using this:



• The Shingle Creek Trail socks (from Wooly Wonka Fibers in this:

Come to think of it, maybe I should take two projects, a sock for the plane and something else for other knitting. Heaven forbid that I get bored knitting just one project!

I'll post the results of your votes this weekend.

Scorchin'

The heat this week has been unbelievable. The temperature on the deck (in the shade, mind you) on Wednesday was 102F (38C). Bleh. And, of course, the office was frigid. Even though 71F doesn't sound cold, it is, especially when sitting under the A/C vents and dressed for hot summer weather. There was even a man in the office wearing a light fall jacket! You know that something's wrong when a man wears an outdoor jacket indoors in the summertime. Fortunately, the weather has cooled somewhat this weekend, but the temperatures are expected to climb by mid-week. Bleh.

Not much has been happening on the knitting front. I managed to get a fair amount knitted on the simple stockinette sock while at the doctor's today. I thought I had a 1:30 appointment, but the confirmation call said 11:30, and that's when I showed up. Guess what? My appointment really was at 11:00. The receptionist was having a rather confusing day on Friday. However, the doctor saw me as soon as he was able. Nonetheless, I got a good 90 minutes of knitting in. I'm hoping to have another FO soon.

I came home on Friday to a package in the mail. It was the Bee Shawl kit from Wooly Wonka Fibers (click on New Products). The yarn is gorgeous and the pattern...well, the pattern is intimidating. It does look like it's well-written, though. I'm afraid that I'm going to stash this one for a while, although it was very tempting to wind the skein into a ball and knit a gauge swatch. I resisted the urge and resolved to continue to doggedly knit the simple stockinette stitch sock.

The 25th anniversary of Vogue Knitting also showed up recently and I'm finally getting around to reading it. This magazine isn't my favorite; I find it hard to read (dare I say the print is too small?) and there are a ton of advertisements, which makes it difficult to navigate. Plus, I find that I'll probably knit none of the patterns, ever. There are some good articles and I do learn. Plus, if I want to get into the knitting industry eventually, I need to be aware of what's going on. VK is probably one of the best magazines for that (but I digress). Anyway, this issue is full of pithy comment from folks like Kaffe Fasset, Alice Starmore, and Meg Swanson (the old guard). I particularly liked their discussion of how most hand knitting designers are given short shrift by yarn companies, as well as the effects of copyright violations on designers. The magazine also interviews Debbie Stoller, the Yarn Harlot, Shannon Okey, and Vickie Howell (the new guard).

I had some very insightful and profound comments on both articles, but alas, they have slipped through the sieve that is my brain. Of course, cooking dinner and enjoying a glass or two of wine didn't help matters. Sigh...

Julie/Julia
I'm somewhat obsessed with the Julie/Julia project. I found the original blog and have been reading it religiously. My copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking now resides on the kitchen counter, open to recipes that particularly intrigue me. My first Julia recipe was cassoulet, a couple of years ago. You know that it's going to be involved when Julia has notes on "the order of battle." It turned out well, although I could have fed an army with it.

And tomorrow night, I'll make my second Julia dinner. We'll have a simple roast chicken with tarragon, baked cucumbers, gratin au dauphinois, a simple green salad, and a blueberry clafoutis for dessert. I'll make some little mushroom canapes as hors d'oeuvres. Of course, I've never made any of these recipes before. And we're having a couple of friends over for dinner. I read once that you should never make something for dinner guests that you haven't made before. I always break that rule. No one has gone hungry (or died) yet!

Well, I was going to say something pithy here about the Julie/Julia Project and creativity and cooking and originality and knitting, but sieve brain strikes again. I really need to start jotting these random thoughts down when they occur.

I probably won't post tomorrow, too much cleaning and cooking to be done. I'm about halfway through Harry Potter (I resorted to borrowing a copy from a friend), so my regular blog reading will resume as well. Actually, I've been reading your blogs; I just haven't left comments because I'm feeling a definite lack of profundity. Ah well...

Happy knitting and...

Bon appetit!

Accomplishments

One doesn't often associate vacation with getting a lot of things accomplished, unless it's sightseeing or eating. However, the Simonds Family Beach Week offered the perfect venue for getting things done. Without further ado, here's what I did on my summer vacation:

• Swatched for the stealth project (completed on the drive down)
  
  
• Finished the Blue Danube socks (except for weaving in the ends)



• Almost completed the other half of the Too-Many-Choices top



• Helped my mother-in-law with her knitting


• Read three books, none of which was the final Harry Potter book (Tom is taking a very long time to read it)


• Sat on the beach and managed to get a tan despite wearing SPF 30 and sitting underneath an umbrella the entire time


• Practiced yoga a couple of times


• Did a little bit of stealth spinning and still produced crappy yarn


• Ate and drank way too much


• Turned the heel on the second stockinette sock

All in all, it was a good vacation. The family group was smaller this year. The three nephews weren't there and one sister-in-law had to leave early to go to back to work. The youngest niece brought her boyfriend, which was a trip. He's a nice enough young man. Watching them together brought back memories of what it was like to be sixteen and in "love."

One of the books I read was Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously. It was written by a woman who was approaching her 30th birthday and decided to cook all 524 recipes (except variations) in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 365 days. I was so inspired that I pulled out my copy to leaf through as my bedtime reading last night, trying to find something to make for dinner tonight. (Although after stepping on the scale this morning, I quickly nixed that idea. I did more damage than I thought.) While I don't want to cook all of the recipes in the book in one year (brains, sweetbreads, kidneys...no thank you!), I would like to use the book more than I have.

Knitting Progress
While I can claim success on the Blue Danube socks and relative success with the simple stockinette stitch socks, the other knitting is not going well at all.

The swatch? I didn't get gauge and I don't have the next needle size up.

The Too-Many-Choices top? Even though it looks good, it's an unmitigated disaster. I realized (even though I read the instructions several times) that I started the neck shaping in the wrong place, which could account for the fact that the v-neck was way longer than the round neck. However, what makes it a disaster is that when I knit the second half of the top, I spaced the button holes based on the measurements of the first (wrong) half. Yup, it gets ripped back to the first buttonhole. Sigh.

After I realized the error of my ways, I decided to see if the v-neck on the first half would work out as written. I ripped back to 3.5 inches about the armhole bind-off and started decreasing. The pattern instructs you to decrease until there are 11 16 stitches left (that was another mistake), then knit following the stitch pattern until you are 6.5" about the armhole bind-off. At that point, you can start the should shaping. I was more than 6.5 inches above the bind-off after I completed the decreases (and my row gauge is pretty close). So it's back to the Basket of Unfinished Objects drawing board again. Here's a picture of the stitch detail to distract you from the pain of having to frog almost an entire half of a sweater:



And here's the stitch detail from the Blue Danube socks:



I don't think I'll get much knitting in today. I discovered an infestation of Indian meal moths in the corner cabinet in the kitchen. The suspected source of infestation is the bird seed. Fortunately, the moths don't eat fabric or wool so the stash is safe. However, getting rid of insects was not my idea of how to spend the afternoon.

Happy knitting!

PS: If I don't visit your blog, it's because I suspect that you are reading or have read the final Harry Potter book and that you will talk about the ending. I don't want to know.

Bear Meets Cat

As promised, I present to you a guest blogger, albeit a day late. That's better than being a dollar short, eh? So without further ado, I turn the blog over to Keith (who is, alas, neither blogger nor knitter).

This occurred... in our front yard.

I had spotted the bear in our back yard and went to get the camera. By the time I got back to the rear deck, he was nowhere to be seen. Thinking maybe he had wandered out front, I opened the front door and found him on the front porch.

He did not care for this up close and personal meeting and scooted off the porch. Then he discovered one of our two cats (NoName), who had been sitting on the swing but, seeing the bear, had opted to attempt invisiblity under the swing.

Young Mr. Bear decided to see who was under there, and rather hesitantly tried putting his paw under the swing.





By then, both Barbara and I were on the front porch, and all of this seemed too much for Mr. Bear who decided to beat a hasty retreat.



Keith lives about an hour west of where I live and lives on a mountain. It's not unusual for all manner of wildlife to be found on his property. Last year (or maybe year before last), they would occasionally see a mother bear with two cubs wander through. Keith thinks that this bear is one of cubs. Rumor has it that a bobcat has also been spotted on the mountain. Fortunately, Keith and Barbara (and their cats) have not had an up-close and personal meeting with it.

It's Beachin', Baby!
Today's the day we head down to the beach. The house sitters are all lined up and the supply of cat food has been replenished. All that's left to do is to pack and leave. Tom is out on a 20+ mile run and I've got yoga class in a couple of hours. We'll be getting a late start, in the hopes that we'll miss most of the traffic.

One of the more important tasks is to decide what and how many projects to take. Definitely a sock or two, an unfinished project, maybe a new project, and some spinning. Do you think I'm overpacking?

Happy knitting!

Tag! I'm It!

Fat Chick Crafts tagged me a couple of weeks ago with the Five Thing meme. So, without further ado, here goes.

INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so:

1. BitterSweet


2. Ren Knits


3. left-handed knitting in a world of right-handers


4. Fat Chick Crafts


5. The Knitting Libran

Next, select five people to tag:

1. Anybody who wants to be tagged


2. Anybody who wants to be tagged


3. Anybody who wants to be tagged


4. Anybody who wants to be tagged


5. Anybody who wants to be tagged

(Sorry, I'm not good at tagging)

What were you doing ten years ago?
Let's see. Ten years ago I was a newlywed (one and half years), was in my ninth year at a company that was great (but couldn't move into management no matter how hard I tried), and owned three houses (mine, his, and ours; I don't recommend it). We had had our beloved Jezebel for four months; she was the cat that turned around Tom's opinions of cats. I was driving a old Nissan Sentra station wagon.

What were you doing one year ago?
I was getting used to a new job and learning how to work within the consulting industry. We celebrated our 10th anniversary in Costa Rica in February. We probably did some other stuff that I can't remember. Go check the blog archives!

Five snacks you enjoy:

1. Chocolate


2. Fruit


3. Cupcakes


4. Popcorn


5. Potato chips

Five songs that you know all the lyrics to:
That's hard. If I had to recite them (trust me, you don't want me to sing them!) cold, I'd have to say there aren't any. However, let me put on a CD and I could probably sing along with any songs of these artists:

1. Simon and Garfunkel


2. Steeleye Span


3. Loreena McKennit


4. Blackeye Peas


5. Richard Thompson

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

1. Invest


2. Take care of my parents


3. Help the remaining nieces and nephews get through college


4. Travel


5. Do good works

Five bad habits:

1. Continuing to eat after I'm full


2. Not exercising as much as I should


3. Letting Tom do all the home repairs, bill paying, and yard work


4. Being disorganized


5. Being a packrat

Five things you like doing:

1. Yoga


2. Knitting and spinning


3. Cooking


4. Running


5. Camping and hiking

Five things you would never wear again:

1. Makeup on a daily basis


2. Spike heels


3. Clothes from the 70s (shudder)


4. Polyester


5. A bikini

Five favorite toys:

1. Laptop


2. Yarn and needles


3. Spinning wheel


4. Kitchen gadgets


5. My bicycle (if I ever ride again)

So there you have it. Five things to distract you from the lack of knitting photos. I have made progress on the Blue Danube sock and am currently knitting the heel gussets. However, at least one stitch liberated itself from the needles and the gusset stitch count doesn't match. So I have to figure out what happened and hopefully I won't need to rip back to far.

Tomorrow (if all goes well), there will be a special guest blogger.

Now it's off to play with Ravelry! Ciao!

Oddities

Sometimes you're just going with the flow, minding your own business, when you start noticing how odd life can really be. As I was driving to work sitting in traffic one day this week, I glanced in the rear-view mirror and was startled to see the woman in the car behind me flossing her teeth! Then there was the message left on our answering machine this week:

Hey, I hope I've got the right number. I'm trying to reach Father Tom Simonds. Tom, if this is the right number, it's W---- calling. I didn't know whether your cell phone was working today or not. I just wanted to touch base with you about getting together and doing some shooting tonight. Give me a call whenever you can. If this is the right number, I hope you guys are well. Talk to you later.

My husband thought it was pretty funny that someone was asking a priest to go shooting. It certainly isn't something you'd expect from a man of the cloth.

But the most fascinating thing that I observed one evening was a banana and what appeared to be a bowl of cereal, balanced on the bumper of an SUV. I was entranced by it, particularly since the car was traveling at highway speeds. I followed the vehicle in town; the breakfast items even stayed put through turns.

What's the strangest thing you've noticed?

This weekend promises to be busy and will probably afford little time for knitting. I have to do the usual house chores today, along with some cooking. We've got the running club progressive run dinner this evening and we're one of the stops. I have no idea what we're going make. I'm opting for a chilled soup of melon and cucumber with crispy prosciutto. Tom thinks that's too fancy. I think it's delicious and could care less about fancy. I also want to make a spice cake for the main event afterwards.

Tomorrow we're going up to see my mother-in-law. She's having the garage painted and wants Tom to pressure wash it beforehand. There's a yarn shop in her city, Woolwinders, and I'm hoping to get a chance to visit it. However, it would be poor form to leave Tom to do the pressure washing and immerse myself in wonderful yearn yarn (why do I always type "yearn" for "yarn?"). I don't need more yarn. In the evening we're going to Wolf Trap to see Lucinda Williams, preceded by a picnic on the lawn (which means we have to make something). The last time we went to Wolf Trap was to see the original Nosferatu, with live orchestra. That was before we got married so I'd say that it was about 13 years ago. Far too long!

Knitting and Spinning Progress
I continue to make zero progress on the Rambouillet. I have been making progress on the Blue Danube socks, although there's a fair amount of ripping going on. Apparently, I can't count to either three or five. I lost one of the DPNs, and am forced to knit with four needles. I much prefer five. And since it's been more than a year since I completed the first sock, I'm getting a way different gauge. The first sock leg is looser than what I'm currently knitting. I was hoping these socks would be suitable for a gift, but now I'm not so sure. Maybe the first sock will shrink up some after a nice bath. The yarn is a merino/silk blend, and perhaps the silk is causing it to not bounce back after numerous tryings-on.

In one week, however, there will be plenty of time for knitting and possibly some spindling. We'll be heading down to the Outer Banks for the annual Simonds family beach week. The trip is about six hours and then a whole week of sitting on the beach, with plenty of knitting time in the mornings and evenings. I need to figure out what projects to take. Maybe I'll take a new project, an old project (perhaps the Too-Many-Choices Top, since it's a gift for one of my sisters-in-law), and a sock project. I'll also take the drop spindle and the Batt from Hell and try to perfect my drop spinning.

Happy knitting!