Knitting Obsession

Long time no see

Hi! Wow, it has been a long time since I've blogged. I've been concentrating on my health (joined a gym and got a personal trainer and nutritionist) and that has taken up what little time is left over from the time suck of Ravelry. I'm a Helper there, along with a bunch of other wonderful women,  to help take the burden off the lone coder who is developing the site. The site is growing by leaps and bounds every day and it's amazing to watch. The organization of my stash alone has been great. The site developers are planning an Open House in January, since the site won't be out of beta for a while. It will be a chance for some of you to see what I've been yakking about for months (hi Mom!).

Needles-wise, I am slogging through Christmas knitting, and have one more gift to complete. It shouldn't be a problem, and I'll post those projects after Christmas. As soon as I finish Christmas stuff, I can get back to Jeanie from the most recent Knitty, which is entrancing. I'm using this gorgeous stuff:

which is Dream in Color Smooshy Sock in Black Parade, and I lurve it. I love the depth of this colorway. It is a little challenging to knit at night though! I need brighter light bulbs, I think.

My other WIP that is on hold till Christmas knitting is over is my first Clapotis, which I started to stave off my longing for Jeanie.

Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb in Gold Hill. Mmmmmm soft.

The kitties are doing well....and here is Tootsie, snoring on the scraps from one of my Christmas gifts.

She is so loud....wakes me up sometimes. Chloe has arthritis, so she is on a multivitamin with glucosamine. She is not very enthusiastic about her chewable tablets. I have to hide them in her food and bribe her with Greenies, and she still eats her way around the pieces. She is as active as ever, so she can't be in too much pain.

I did make it to Rhinebeck, and it was amazing. I drove up with two good friends from Ravelry, (bunnysquirrel and booksherpa) and we had a blast.

It was beautiful, and we met Casey and Jess from Ravelry, a whole lot of other Ravelers, and the party was so much fun. Bob guarded our car, along with bunnysquirrel Jess's animals.

We were sorry to come home.

I'm gonna try hard to blog more...a friend suggested following WIP Wednesday and Yarn Pr0n Fridays and I may try that. I also have been spinning on Katarina off and on (more off while trying to get through the Xmas stuff) and want to blog that too, as I am spinning stuff that looks less like garbage and more like string.

I am so far behind on my blogs that Google Reader refuses to count above 1000. I am a little (a lot) ashamed about it and need to remember to do the thing where you can save up a bunch of posts to read off line while I am in PA for Christmas. That will help me catch up though I won't be able to comment. But know that I am thinking of all of my friends and hoping you are having a safe and blessed holiday season.

Free yarn! Yahoo!

Gosh, I have a lot of yarn. (Somewhere, my mom is nodding vigorously). I have yarn that I am never, never going to use again because I just don't like it. I would love to just give it away, so here it is.  First come, first served. I would like to mail this out by USPS on Friday so pls. let me know by then as I have someone who will take whatever is left over if it isn't claimed by then. This is a lovely assortment of acrylic, baby yarn, and fun fur so it might be good for charity projects, etc. too. Also, as regular readers know, my yarn is not only free but it comes FREE with cat hair! The cats have free access to my stash room. They generally stay out, but I can pretty well guarantee that there will be some fur or hair on some of this yarn.
Check it out:

1 mostly full and 1 full Caron Simply Soft in autumn red; 1 mostly full and 1 full Caron Simply Soft Tweed in autumn red. TAKEN

3 partial skeins (no labels) of Lion Brand Chenille Thick and Quick in burgandy; 1 partial skein (no label) of Lion Brand Chenille Thick and Quick in bright red.

These are all mostly full. From left to right: Caron Wintuk in Fisherman; Wintuk in Navy; Wintuk in Christmas Red; Red Heart TLC in natural; and Wintuk in Deep Periwinkle.

2 mostly full Bernat Softee Baby in Pale Blue  TAKEN. 1 Bernat Baby Coordinates in soft blue.

The most horrible yarn I have ever knit with, but you may well love it. Sirdar Snowflake Chunky Magic, 2 and 1/2 skeins in mocha.  TAKEN, God bless you. You are a better knitter than I.

3 Bernat Softee Baby in white (1 with no label), 1 partial in pink marl (no label), and 2 in mint. TAKEN.

on the top left, several mini balls of Bernat Boa in purple, no label. Bottom left, 1 and some Bernat Boa in black. Top right, 1 and some Lion Brand Fun Fur in peacock. Bottom right, 1 and some Red Heart Kisses in creamy.

Lion Brand Chenille Sensations, 1 skein in antique white and 4 in midnight blue. TAKEN

Left to right, mostly full Red Heart Essentials TLC in dark thyme, partial Techno Lunga in a matching shade; partial Chenille Thick and Quick in champagne; Red Heart super saver in dark plum; and most of a Pound of Love in a cream white. Ignore the red eyelash in the middle; it's not enough to do anything with.
If you want any of it, drop me a comment or email. I would appreciate a few bucks for shipping if you can, but no biggie.
Yesterday, my father shaved his head in support of my cousin Anne who is battling breast cancer. Isn't that sweet? He looks very cute with his buzz cut.

Contest winners!

Thank you all for entering! I really appreciate all of the creativity and energy you put into this. It was a lot of fun reading all the answers. First of, lots of people want to know the answer. It is not nearly as creative as some of your answers. When I was growing up, I started reading Betty Neels books. Betty Neels was a prolific author who wrote >150 books in her lifetime. They were almost all the same, with the basic storyline of a down-on-her-luck girl who was invariably mousy and unassuming, and who was usually a nurse. The hero was almost always a large, older, and yes, placid Dutchman who was a doctor and slowly, over the course of the book, swept the girl off her feet. The most passionate they ever got was a kiss on the lips...scandalous!  The stories always ended up in Holland and Betty Neels was famous for her descriptive passages which were so detailed that people actually can take trips to Holland and Friesland and follow the same roads that the characters did to see the houses she describes. I have almost all of the books, mostly originals from the 1960's through the 90's, and I always thought I would like to meet one of those placid Dutchman. Instead, I met a placid Slovak, who is just right.
The short answer, then, is that the URL is from my love of Betty Neels books. However, I kind of wish it was from Becka's extremely creative entry, which is detailed enough to rival any Betty Neels book:

You attended college @ FIT in NY,NY and your college roommate, Ann (Anneken as her Dutch parents called her) lived in Lake Placid. Sadly, your family was jetsetting in Milan during the Christmas break of your freshman year. Your roommate's family kindly invited you to join them for the break and their holiday festivities. You & your roommate arrived after traveling about 500 miles by car, she looked stunning (as always, even when she awoke!) you looked as if you had been traveling for 500 miles without a break, having left school after the last class on the last day before the break (in other words, your makeup was no more and your were wearing a baseball cap because your hair was a mess, yet you were still the cutest girl around!). Well, you entered her lovely home and were greeted by the best looking young man you had ever seen, her older brother, Andrew (called Andries by his Dutch parents) and your eyes locked and you had that moment, the one you have always remembered...when you fell in love at 1st site. So, you lovingly call your husband, Andries Brill, "The Placid Dutchman" which reminds you both of the way you met and fell in love.
I mean, come on! Is that straight out of a romance or what? Becka, you win the most creative answer prize!
Becka, coincidently, was also my 100th commenter. She agreed that it would be great to spread the love around, and so I am actually giving a prize to my 99th commenter, who was Denise. Please check out her blog; her writing is amazing!
Then I went to the random number generator to come up with the 3rd prize, which goes to Trek! She is also having a contest, so go along and check it out! Congratulations to all of you! I plan on having a good time picking out prizes at Maryland Sheep and Wool this weekend.

This is why I need your help.

First off, don't forget the contest! I will close this contest at 12:00 noon EST on May 3rd, and announce winners that night (if B and I can stop drinking the birthday Prosecco long enough to read the entries and figure out which one is most creative).
This is just some of my gorgeous handpainted sock yarn. This is why I needed ideas for fast sock patterns! I've taken some of your advice...am trying a garter rib sock now per Amanda Cathleen, and Becka noted that I should still make things pretty and consider a simple lace or slip stitch pattern. I've found two simple patterns for each (all of these are from Sensational Knitted Socks or More Sensational Knitted Socks, BTW. I love Charlene Schurch). I've tried Wendy's toe up pattern which was very easy and quick; however, I'm not a fan of the short row heel. I am going to try Judy Gibson's recipe for toe up socks with a gusset soon, and I understand that Wendy may be posting a pattern soon with same type of heel. And of course, there is the basic stockinette sock recipe much like Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's. I have made this before with some success, but I can't remember if it was fast or not.
Enough chatter...here's the yarn!

This is from a new online yarn shop, Woolgirl. Left to right: Yarn Pirate in "Shiver Me Timbers." Zen String Lotus Toes in "Argyle." Union Center Knit's Whatnot Sock in "Daisy." Zen String Serendipity in "Woolgirl." Plus a new tape measure with a fun lizard theme.
Woolgirl is a fantastic place. Terrific customer service and she ships very quickly. Plus, look at all the goody extras!

Chocolate, stitch markers (the sheep one is on my Butterfly in Bam Boo from Knitscene), a sample of Soak, Hello Kitty stickers, gift tags...I think this shop will be around for a while if Jennifer Jett keeps taking care of people like this!
Next up, some lurvely Cider Moon.

Glacier in "Go Go." Glacier in "Jackie O" (25% of retail goes to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research and awareness).

Flurry in "Apple Crisp." Glacier in "Birch Bark." These yarns are amazingly soft and the colors sing. Plus, look at the very generous samples of other colorways:

These are Glacier in "Banana Cabana,""Pistachio," and "Pandora Rose" and Flurry in "Casual Friday" and "Peas and Carrots."

From left to right, we have Crash Into Ewe in "Pop Life," Froebe Fibers in "Watermelon Bombe," C*Eye*Ber Fiber Softee Sock in "Kettle on the Ocean," and Pureknits Ideal Sock in "Pop."

Shibui Knits Sock Fluids from Pureknits. Colors from left to right are orchid and spectrum. Talk about vibrant colors! These leap out and grab you.
All of this gorgeous yarn is all well and good, and then something like this happens.

I almost started crying when I saw this. It's my own fault. I've been wearing my handknitted socks everywhere, as well I should, but the shoes I wear to work slide on the heel (purposefully). These jaywalkers are made of 100% merino (SweetGeorgia handpainted merino in River) and I, of course, did not reinforce the heel in any way. I never had. When I darn these, I'll probably put some reinforcement in the darn and never wear them with those shoes again. I think I need to be more careful about remembering whether the socks had nylon or tencel in them. My mother has my grandmother's darning egg, and said I could have it to darn my socks. Thankfully I keep my remainders for just this reason.
Something to cheer me up...I received my April BMFA Rockin' Sock Club shipment and I'm fighting my way through the cast on now. Another toe up pattern, but this time with a gusset.
Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather (if you are here in the Baltimore area, that is). Here's hoping this weather holds through next weekend and the MD S&W festival!

Creativity NOW

Gah! I hate when I can't think of a title for my posts. Then I remember that I'm not really writing this blog for any big spectacular reason, and it really doesn't matter what the title is, as long as it all makes sense to me (and hopefully, a little bit, to readers).
How was your Valentine's Day? Mine was eventful. B. had returned from Belgium after a looooong 2 week business trip and since it was our first Valentine's Day, I decided to make a big fancy dinner. Nothing like setting yourself up for hijinks and possible fire damage! It all turned out pretty delicious, but I don't think I will be doing that again for a while. It was a leetle nerve wracking. After dinner, as we relaxed with the rest of the wine and "American Idol," he showed me what he brought back from Belgium for me. And now you get to see it!

I collect fans...I have for a very long time and I'm not sure of the origin. I suspect it was Aunt Barbara (hi!) but I'm not 100% positive. I do know that people bring them for me from places they visit such as Spain and Korea and lots of the USA, and now I have a lovely example of Belgian lace. This fan is really beautiful....

and I am looking forward to finding a place to display it. Also, this little lace gem...can you figure out what it is from the first picture? I sure couldn't. It's NOT a doily.

You tie the little laces in a certain way (one which I may not have figured out yet, but who cares?) and....

Still not sure?

So clever! B. says that Belgian people use these for bread and such, but I chose to display a little white chocolate cat. You can't tell, but he's sticking his tongue out. Reminds me of Bill the Cat (when he's playing rawk n' roll with his tongue out).  He went along with this mouthwatering display:

The white chocolate cats are filled with hazelnut....so good. The little bunny is SOLID and from a place called Planet Chocolate. The link is to the French location (I think maybe the flagship) and not Brussels but it sounds like Brussels was just as delish as the French one looks. B. tells me this place has chocolate fountains. I'm THERE! Also, there is a box of truffles. Heavenly!
One more lace goodie...this one is really cute.

It's a little wine bottle apron!

He picked up a little tux one for himself...no pictures of that yet. Mine came with little wine glass coasters in the pocket

and I think it's adorable. I think the lace in all of these linen pieces is bobbin lace. I have a bobbin lace kit that was given to me some Christmases ago which I am now tempted to take out and play with.
All of this and the good company was more than enough to mitigate the stress caused by some earlier kitchen disasters. Mom, look away now...

This 13x9 PYREX dish EXPLODED in my face. Thankfully I was not cut to pieces, but my nerves were certainly shot to pieces. Thankfully, it was all uphill from there and I was laughing about it (albeit a little hysterically as I picked glass shards up from ACROSS THE ROOM) in a little while. Must keep a close eye on the kitty paws for a little bit. You would not believe the breadth of this explosion.
Lest this entry not have anything about yarn or knitting in it, perish the thought, here is a little bit of heaven in an itty bitty swatch:

It's killing me. I roll it up around my index finger and carry it around with me. It's about two inches of 80% merino/20% cashmere sock yarn that Yahaira is thinking about carrying at PureKnits. She sent me a wee little skein with my last order and I knitted it up instantaneously on size 0 needles. Look at those color changes! The stitch definition! And the softness! Well, the softness you can't SEE so much but believe me! It's there! I'm not sure how well these would hold up, so I would definitely add some reinforcement to the heel and toe. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for this.
On tap for this weekend...I'm told the Belgian Beer Festival. It's all Belgium all the time round these parts!

Excuse me while I wipe this unsightly drool off my chin

Hurray! I got some Vesper sock yarn. I always seem to miss the shop updates, and I think I barely managed to get this yarn...it may have been the almost last two skeins because when I refreshed the page after ordering everything was sold out. This was about 50 minutes after the store had been updated. Wow! Julia's a rock star. I got two colorways I have been drooling over for a long time-Crew and Sweetwater. Aren't they pretty? I think they may become Jaywalkers. The pattern is so well suited to self-striping yarns, and after an initial "getting to know you" phase, I decided that I really enjoy making them. When I started the River Jaywalkers, I initially made the larger size in the original pattern, thinking I needed that extra 10%, but when I tried on the cuff and leg before starting the heel, they were way too loose. So I ripped that sock and cast on again for the smaller size, and finished the first sock last week. It fits perfectly, just needing a little tug to get over the heel. I'll show pictures next week after I finish the second sock.
Some more yarn arrived in the mail:

Yarn Pirate in inferno from Yahaira at PureKnits. This will likely become socks, although I have been pondering gloves for the last couple of weeks for some reason. I think maybe because the yarn is so fine...I've been conning some patterns on the internet and will have to think more about that. I am in a true sock phase right now, though, especially with Project Spectrum 2.0 spurring me along, and I have numerous pairs of socks planned.
Also, from Webs:

Big sale on Nature Wool...in a beautiful silvery gray. This may become a Rogue. The Cashsoft 4 ply...well, that will likely become socks. Shocking! Maybe Hedera since this is the yarn called for in the pattern.
Notice how I have a lot of big plans. It will be interesting to see how many of them, if any, come to fruition.
Many thanks to Tonia who recognized the Heilo sweater I posted last time as the Dale 125th anniversary sweater. I asked my LYS to order the book for me and it should be coming in the next couple of weeks. Something about that sweater really appeals to me, and it may be a nice introduction to colorwork.  I highly doubt I will be able to knit it. 
I have noticed quite a jump in my visitor stats in the last couple of days...I am a new member of the Knitting Blogs webring. Welcome visitors!

Knit From Your Stash 2008 baybee!!

Well, I didn't even give it a good shot. I can't lie. But I had a feeling I wasn't ready for Knit From Your Stash. I only really started building my stash last year. Maybe next year I'll give it a shot. But I really do have fun buying yarn and as long as I stick to my yarn budget...no harm, no foul. However, this past Sunday did not involve any yarn budget. I got my tax refund back and some of that was earmarked for "play" while the rest is to go to savings and my new contacts (I have "special" eyes. They require "special" contact lenses that cost a "special" arm and a leg. And maybe an ear for good measure). One of my local yarn stores, All About Yarn, was having a Big Football game sale. 25% off EVERYTHING in the store. My stars and garters!
On my way to Columbia, I stopped by the apartment office. I had a package waiting for me.

I was only going to buy one but I couldn't separate them. There's no fighting love. And look how beautiful they are together!
This only made me more excited to get to All About Yarn

where I gave a good home to some Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Sierra (drool) and two bags of Cascade 220. The color on the left is a little washed out, but pretty true. It's a nice camel color. Don't ask me why I can't photograph purple. The color on the right is a deep, royal, true purple with very little blue. Certainly not navy blue like it looks like.  These are destined to become a Perfect Sweater (from Mason-Dixon knitting) and possibly Rogue. Although I do have a full bag coming of Araucania Nature Wool in silvery gray from Webs (half off the local price here!). That might make a great Rogue.
I also picked up some notions and patterns.

Another package of Knit Klips to go with the one I got at Christmas...to help with seaming Kerry. A tape measure with a kitty cat complete with tail. A set of Colonial Rosewood Size 0 DPNs. And some Dale of Norway patterns...I saw this Heilo sweater on the Yarnzilla website and now I am dying to find out what the pattern is. I emailed the site with no answer so far. Do any of you know which pattern this is? It's not in either of my new books.
Full disclosure: I also have coming some Yarn Pirate (on sale!) from Pureknits and I FINALLY, finally got in on a Knitterly Things shop update and have a couple of skeins of Vesper coming my way.
Whew! Talk about falling off the wagon.

The Sea Monkey has my money

I'm back from California! I had such a good time. I think I have "Finding Nemo" memorized now, and I spent a lot of quality time with my extremely gorgeous and smart nephew, all of 22 months old and just a terrific kid. Along with the family time, I got a lot of knitting done, and there MAY have been some yarn acquisitions. Shocker!
First, unbearable cuteness. I taught my sister-in-law how to knit when I was out there this past summer. She has a great eye and picked out some Jamieson's Shetland Heather to make a hat for my nephew, who shall be known for the purposes of this blog as CBE. (Cutest Boy Ever). She had made great progress and on this trip I taught her...dun dun DUN...double points. Progress shot!

Hello, CBE! I miss you already. Once the hat was finished and the ends were woven in, we decided that it was a little short so I picked up and knitted on about an inch more of the blue, and here is the final result:

I have a better shot of the hat but I had to use this one as CBE is reading to us as well. I cannot express the way I feel about this child in words!!! For a very first completed knitting project (there is a garter stitch scarf on needles too, have no fear) I think my sister-in-law MoCBE (Mother of...you get the idea) did a great job. We went to Monarch after an aquarium trip and she acquired more great wool with good projects in mind and I...I may have gotten some schtuff...

You may recall that my "rule" is to only get stuff I can't get here in Baltimore. I have never seen Celestial Merino Dream (from Lucy Neatby) and I saw it over the summer in Monarch and have wanted to look at it again since. This is colorway sugar maple. This will be some yummy socks. The other item is a suede bag bottom and pattern from Somerset Designs (the round purse pattern) and some Jamieson Shetland Heather to make up the bag.

Then, after the aquarium which was after Thanksgiving, we held Christmas for the California folk. By the way, you will have to trust me when I tell you that this

is a great white in captivity at the Monterey  Bay Aquarium (can't use a flash in there...it bothers the shark...tell that to the 5 or 6 people who were flashing him anyway. People!!). So rare to have them do well. This was an immature male and the tank he was in was full of tuna and sun fish bigger than he. It was really intense to see this shark up close. They are one of the few animals that really scare me because they are so predatory and their eyes are so black...but they are just doing what they do.

ANYway, back to the yarn. My intelligent and beautiful baby bearing sister-in-law (and brother) gave me this for Christmas:

That would be 5 balls of Crystal Palace Kid Merino (oouhhh!) and a hank of Koigu KPPPM (ahhhh!) and three needle felted kitties that look like my kitties. Yay! Hurray! I was very excited. I have plans for a lot of this already. Please excuse Brynn's head on the left there. She was psyched about the yarn as well. (Kid mohair smell good!)

Oh, and I made a little progress on Kerry:

I'm lying. I made a lot of progress on Kerry. Almost 12 inches done...3 more to go and I can divide for the back.  This is the only project I worked on despite bringing 4 other things with me (3 socks and a red scarf). When I left, you may recall that I had just finished the garter ridge above the honeycombs. Now I am well into the cables and moss stitch. It's a lot of fun and I love, love, love this wool.

How was your Thanksgiving? I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable day!

Ketchup

This is going to be a long picture intensive catch-up post...I have snuck into the hospital to use the wi-fi so I can catch up on a few things. Please let me know if these pictures are too big. When is my cable going to be fixed?!? It's a little crazy.
So, way back on October 20th, I went with about 19 of my friends to Boston for the Head of the Charles regatta...it was really a blast. Aside from the fact that our 9:45 pm flight didn't actually leave until 11:45 due to high winds in Boston, that is...we ended up getting to our hotel around 2 am after a lethal and nauseating cab ride from the airport. I did get a lot done on Kerry while we were waiting at BWI. The hotel was right on the banks of the Cambridge...really a great location for the race and we could see the racers getting ready early in the morning of the 21st.

Again, here I am sneaking into Saturday Sky...look how beautiful it is here!

We spent the day checking out the races and then went out in Cambridge for a while to celebrate...our men who went up to race placed very well, and we had to paint the town red. On the way to painting the town red, we came across Wolcott and Company, shockingly!! (I didn't research yarn stores in Boston, really! I'm not kidding here!).

My rule for yarn souvenirs is that I can't buy anything that I could buy in Baltimore easily (not counting web purchases, because really, you have to feel the yarn). Isn't is a pretty store?
That's my pretty friend, Kristen. My purchases...well, I guess it's a pretty safe bet that I could get Manos here but I have really never seen it. So, Manos and some Twisted Sisters yarn that I will use for socks, plus a new Chibi, which I don't think you can see in this picture. It's blue...how come I never find the pink one?
On Sunday, we went back to the races to cheer on another one of the BRC's members in his race. He's in this pile up somewhere!
Another fun day....my travel buddy and I had decided a few weeks ago that we would stay over Sunday night and see the sights on Monday. Well, Monday dawned a little rainy and gloomy and we were feeling a little homesick, so we arranged an earlier flight to get back to Balto. But we did have some time to kill...so we wandered around a bit...and came across Windsor Button.

I have tolerant friends. I flagrantly disobeyed my yarn souvenir rules and bought stuff that I know for a fact I can get in Baltimore. Some Misti Alpaca laceweight to go along with the yarn that Kristin sent me for my lace shawl to be, and some Regia Silk, and the felted clog pattern from Fiber Trends. Bad Suzanne!
But, I did buy something at Windsor Button that I really couldn't find here...some buttons that are perfect for Kerry.

They are a little bright right now but will tarnish down nicely. We returned to Baltimore, and what should I find waiting for me but my first package for The Knitter's sock club.
Yay! Yarn and a pattern I would have never picked for myself, which is the way these things should be. Next ketchup post.....Stitches East, which I went to only yesterday, but I need to take advantage of this internet access!

In which she whimpers about Rhinebeck...

Yes, I am obviously a wee bit jealous of all of you that are going to Rhinebeck...I take solace in the fact that I live 15 minutes away from MDS&W when it comes around (usually right around my bday too) but I still would like to see Rhinebeck sometime. I actually was going to go to it this year, but the Head of the Charles regatta is this weekend in Boston so I will be there! I will console myself for missing NY by going to Wolcott and Co. and Mind's Eye Yarns as they are both in Cambridge near where I will be staying and watching the races. Brynn doesn't really care what I do, but she is sad that she won't have a lap to sleep on.... otherwise life is good for the girlies.
Would you like to see some progress pics? Of course you would! I mentioned a little while ago that I was a little sick of one of the scarves I was working on for the Red Scarf project...I think it was a combination of not liking the needles I was using and boredom with the stocking stitch. So....

say bye-bye to that scarf...and I cast on for a new one with the same yarn but in a twin rib pattern. I have made quite a bit of progress on the Soy Wool Stripes scarf with Stephanie's pattern from Oct. 12, which she assures me will block out to look like hers.

I also am making progress on Kerry...I decided that I needed to limit myself to one set of repeats at a time as all of the honeycombs sure do hurt the hand. I have, I think, 2 more repeats of honeycombs before I can go to the set up for the cables. Looking forward to that!
And my Trekking sock is coming along. I really like the yarn a lot...it is keeping my interest with the variegations...and at least I feel like I am participating a little bit in Socktoberfest!
Those of you trekking to NY...have a terrific time! Don't buy too much! I'll be back Monday evening and hopefully will have a nice post Tuesday or so about Boston.