More time to blog now!

Greetings and Dear Cynthia,

I love your office zucchini! I can't say I've ever seen anything like it before! Up here in these parts, people do such crazy things as **cook** with them (I used one in a frittata last week), but I've never seen one dressed up. Very fun!

I'm so glad to hear that your dad's recovery is going quickly and well, and I hope that you are able to get some sleep in the very near future!

Thank you to everybody for your very kind comments regarding my version of the childHood sweater. Now my seven year old wants one, but I'm not ready yet for another project having all of those stripes.

I totally missed you at Stitches! I was thankful to be able to be a part of that knitting frenzy, but it would have been so much more fun to share the experience/community with you! It worked out great for me to take the bus down there, then a hotel shuttle over to the convention center -- rather inexpensive transportation -- and the market was **overwhelming**, as expected. I walked around for about two hours before I decided to purchase anything. I was really trying to avoid impulsive buys on things which look so cute but which realistically I wouldn't knit (the pattern for knitting an entire sock monkey comes immediately to mind)..... I did settle on some sock yarn (didn't even know Regia had a stretch version, but thought I'd try it), and two pounds of Alpaca:I'm thinking ahead for Christmas with the Alpaca, and planning a plain vee-neck raglan pullover for dh. I swatched it right at 6 stitches per inch (which is good, because I determined the amount to purchase based on that gauge), and am letting it soak right now just to be sure it is the same after washing. It is sooo soft. The yarn is a little splitty, but I love it anyway. This project will be rather mindless once I get going on it, so I'll be able to take it everywhere and get the thing knit without dh ever seeing it...

My class was interesting -- more on that in my next post.....

There was plenty of time to knit on the bus. Here are the finished Embossed Leaves (toe up version) socks:Please don't be jealous of my elaborate sock blockers. As I recall, I made a similar pair for you the last time you visited...

Here is a plain sock in which I decided I'd use the Magic Loop technique for the entire project (proof of that in the photo -- sock still "on the needles"). It's actually working out quite well this time -- Magic Loop seems a lot easier to me when the sock is more plain -- and I think I'm really getting the hang of it. A big "thank you" to Debi for your kind tips on this topic! It didn't even occur to me that I could make the heel using 60% of the stitches, and I appreciated your other ideas, too! Your efforts have gone a long way to increasing my comfort level with the technique. I love how easy it makes knitting the toe using the Turkish Cast On, and the rest of the sock works out great, too.

My class is done, and it is nice to be able to devote more energy into knitting and housework (in that order). It went really fast, and of all the classes I've ever had, I'd say that this one ranks near the top in terms of my interest level in it. My next class begins in two weeks, but it won't be nearly as intense since it is spread out over a whole semester (College Chemistry Two).

That's the big news for now. Laundry waits, so I'd better get some real work done around here!

Warm regards,
Laura (YarnThrower)