Backstory: Around Easter, penny_karma had been grumbling about her inability to locate Cadbury Mini Eggs.  I happened to be in my local Target right after Easter, and found a crap-ton of them on uber-clearance.  So, I hooked her up.  In return, she promised me something very nifty that she had seen at the St. Louis Science Center.  Last Tuesday, that something arrived.  With friends.

The something cool (officially) are the shot glasses.  Yes, they have carabiners on the side.  We thought they’d be a complete hoot for EdFest.  However, she also sent me other goodies – 6 skeins of Moda Dea Eden in “Fig Leaf” (Anyone else find that combo amusing?  Eden… Fig leaf…), a set of Star Trek PEZ dispensers (which Kris has claimed and are now displayed on his desk), a set of yarn-pr0n-themed coasters, and some Sexy Motherpucker lip gloss.  (And we’ll not discuss the non-photographed item, k Sarah?)

Oh, and Sarah?  I have a Plan for the yarn, by the way.  I think you’ll approve.    You rock, woman, you really do.  One of these days, I swear!

ETA: OK, OK.  I should have known better than to mention it.  I was hoping to avoid scary search referrals.    The item not appearing in the photo is a certain feminine product with an “inspirational message” on the wrapper.  I believe PK has ranted about them in the past, but I can’t find the post.  Mine says “Practice your victory speech”.

So current status of the shawl is…

52 of 82 motifs complete. Progress has slowed a bit, obviously. I’m thinking I might take a break from it and start the skirt, just to break the monotony. Plus, carrying around 4 different colors of yarn and changing them all the time is a little cumbersome. And with Trivia Bowl, erm 20? on Sunday, portable = good.

Oh, and you might remember the February Lady sweater. I haven’t worked on it since pre-Olympics, but I also hadn’t posted a recent status picture, so here we are:

One more sleeve to go!

And do you see a little something on there? No? Let’s zoom in.

Buttons! Kickass dragonfly buttons that Carrie brought me from her recent trip to see her brother and sister-in-law.

See – aren’t they cute?

(Obviously, they aren’t actually sewn on just yet) They are TOTALLY perfect, and just what I was looking for.

Speaking of really nifty gifts from people… I lent a couple of my Knit Picks color cards to a friend on the Knittyboards recently so that she could pick some colors for a sweater, and check out what Arsinoe Selene made for me as a thank you:

Aren’t they fabulous? They are TOO cute. And there are exactly two pair in the world – mine and the ones she made for herself.

Betsy conspired with Adam to have him create an Oz-themed colorway, just for me! It’s called “No Place Like Home”, and it’s perfect. Just gorgeous!

This is his new 950mHz merino, and it’s fantastic. Soft, but bouncy, and with just a hint of sheen to it. I have to come up with something REALLY good for this yarn. (The second picture is closer color-wise – better light)

Thank you both so much – Adam for making such a beautiful colorway, and Betsy for being such a fantastic friend and an all-around complete sweetheart. Smooches!!!

We had a little adventure this weekend. There were some pretty major thunderstorms on Saturday in our area, but we had some errands to run, so we braved the raindrops and went to Target. When we were ready to leave, it was pouring, but since it was the kind of rain that wouldn’t last (most likely), we decided to wait it out rather than run through the rain. We stood there for a few minutes, but it wasn’t letting up, so Kris suggested that we grab a cup of coffee from the Starbucks right there inside the entrance. Never one to pass up a Caramel Macchiato (only a tall, and with soymilk – I am trying to be vaguely virtuous), I agreed. So, we get our coffee and sit down at one of the tables, watching for a break in the rain.

After we had been there for a few minutes, one of the store managers came into the area and started asking people to move to the middle of the store, away from the windows. Apparently, there had been a tornado warning issued for the area, and they couldn’t let anyone leave the store until they got the all-clear.

Having grown up in Pittsburgh (not known for being flat and/or tornado-friendly), this was a new experience for me. I’ll admit to being a little weirded out, and worrying about the dogs and cats, who were of course in the house just a couple of miles away. Thankfully, the all-clear came through about twenty minutes later, and we haven’t heard of any actual damage, so I’m assuming that the area dodged the bullet on that one.

Other than that (and Kris and I being hit in succession with a lovely cold), it was a pretty quiet weekend. We celebrated a friend’s birthday Saturday night, and I went to my cousin’s for her daughter’s birthday yesterday (Kris was down with the aforementioned cold).

Oh, and I finished up spinning that DragonFibers roving today and plied it while on the phone with my mom. I’m debating running it through the wheel one more time to add a little more twist before I skein it and set the twist, but I may not. I ended up with a lot of leftovers one one bobbin, so I need to wind that off into a ball to ply it on itself. You’ll see it soon.

And this is my 400th blog post – how the heck did that happen? I’m not doing anything contest-y, but I might just when I hit 500, although that will probably be a while yet.

Something Pink is done! But, I’m a big tease, because you don’t get pictures yet. It’s coming with me to Vegas, and I’ll have pictures of it and whatever new hair Tom does for me on Friday.

Instead, check out the fastest baby sweater EVER.

It’s the Rocketry Sweater – same designer as the Tulip Baby Sweater that has been everywhere of late. I’m making it for friends of ours, whose little one is due this June. It’s in Lion Cotton-Ease in (top to bottom) Terracotta, Maize, Violet, Lime, Taupe, and Lake. The edging will be in the Lime. Technically, it already is in the Lime. Since I took that picture this afternoon, I’ve finished that last stripe, done the edging, and finished the right sleeve. I’ve got one sleeve left to go. I just cast this on LAST NIGHT. It’s awesome!

And I thought it was time for an update on Jeanie. I’ve finished the first (of three) hanks of the SeaSilk. I think it’s going to be a great size.

Next time you hear from me, Vegas, baby!!!

Oh – and thank you for the commiseration/advice on the plumbing. It’s not critical right now, since it’s only affecting the kitchen sink and the washing machine, so we’re going to deal with it more when we get home.

Who is Your Ideal TV Boyfriend?

Created by BuddyTV

I’ve quit watching The Office, because it got just too painful for me. I used to work in the office of a warehouse, and the guy who ran it was WAY too similar to the Michael Scott character. But when I did watch, I’d definitely say there was an appeal to Jim.

The one thing that really amused me about this quiz? There is a question about what you post on your blog. And knitting was one of the options! We’re taking over the world! Woo hoo!

Speaking of knitting, the border is still chugging along on the shawl. The sound booth at the theatre is a little dark for cables, so I didn’t get as far on it as I’d have liked. I did get some done while hanging out with our friends Betsy and J, who were in town this weekend. We also spent a good bit of time playing Rock Band, which is very possibly the BEST game ever.

Yorkie was one of the very first people on the boards to reach out to me, and as such, she has a very special place in my heart. Of course, the fact that she’s completely kick-ass and a lot of fun is a bonus. I love her dearly, and my heart just broke for her. So, I told her over and over that if there was anything I could do, all she had to do was ask.

I got a message from her about 2-1/2 weeks ago, asking if I would mind making a shawl for her, so that she had something to wrap herself in on those days when she needed a hug and some extra comfort. I told her that I would be more than happy to do it. We messaged back and forth, and decided on Tri-Aran-Angle, from the Winter 2003 issue of Knitty, using Knit Picks Andean Silk in “Hollyberry”. (And Yorkie, my love, if you don’t want to see it in progress, this would be a good time to move along.)

The yarn arrived last Monday (the 14th), and I cast on. I’ve been completely monogamous to it (some things are too important to set aside), and as of today, I’m here:

At the bottom corner, you can see the offending cast-on tail that screwed me up Monday night… Once I get that top border finished, I’ll block it and get the corner tassels attached. I am really quite thrilled with how it is coming out. The yarn is really lovely, and it’s showing the cables beautifully. This one is a little off on the color, but fun cable shot!

I’m guessing between the last few episodes of Torchwood season one, my regular knitting meetup tomorrow, and the show tomorrow night, I’ll probably have it done before Friday.

By the way, I sent Tom the links to the posts about his gifts, and he was highly flattered by all of your comments.

He has always been very artistic. He has done some amazing work through the years (Some of it can be seen on his MySpace page), and if I can ever figure out how to get one of his canvases here from Vegas, I want one.

Anyway, I got a call from him shortly before Christmas, letting me know that he had lost track of time and that he wasn’t going to be done with the gifts he was making for Kris and I in time to get them shipped to us. We talked about it, and decided it was going to be simpler for him to just wait until after New Year’s, when the shipping companies would settle down a little. He did email both Kris and I pictures of our gifts on Christmas morning, and this Saturday, the much-awaited box arrived.

He hand-tooled and painted this gorgeous leather bag for me! It’s a perfect size for all of my daily basics (plus a knitting project, of course), and I switched to it the instant I opened the box.

Check out the knitting needles on the front! Clearly, he knows me pretty well.

Under the flap – I need to make a “hand made original” tag for my knitting. I like that idea!

The skull and “One OV” logo also refer to the clothing business that he and an old friend of his have started – they do handpainted leather jackets, and have sold some to a clothing boutique in Las Vegas (Two of which have been sold by the store!). The next time we go visit, Kris is going to do a photo shoot of the stuff they’ve done, and finish building their website.

Just wait until tomorrow – Kris is going to get some shots of his Christmas gift tonight (a GORGEOUS painted leather jacket), plus I will have pics of my completed (and currently drying) Sursa.

Tom, thank you so much – I really, really love this bag, and I can’t WAIT to show it off to everyone!

Other than that, it was a quiet weekend here. Kris and I didn’t do much, which was absolutely lovely. I did finish up Cherie Amour, and am hoping to get some pictures when Kris gets home. I’m very happy with how it came out.

I also started a new project. I picked up a copy of the new book “Son of Stitch ‘n Bitch”, and I decided that Kris needed a scarf to go with his “We Call Them Pirates” hat. So, I’m doing an “Uncle Argyle” scarf for him in black and white. It’s my first attempt at double knitting, and I’m really enjoying it so far. It’s not difficult, but it’s challenging enough to keep things interesting.

Front (or back):

Back (or front):

Incidentally, the scarf pattern was designed by Lindsay of Storm Moon Knits – as in she who dyed that gorgeous sock yarn I got at Stitches East this year!

The Emerald is all assembled and just waiting for his eyes to be embroidered. I’m pretty happy with him. The Sapphire pieces are to the right left, and the Amethyst are to the left right (Sorry – was thinking from the POV of the Emerald dragon…). I am hoping to get them assembled today and tomorrow and get the eyes on all three.

Here we have a very wrinkled, unblocked Chevron Scarf. This has been my stuff-it-in-my-purse knitting for a while now, including while sitting in line for Order of the Phoenix and part of while I was waiting for Deathly Hallows to come out last Friday. It’s made a lot more progress than I had realized. I have another skein of each color, and I’m still debating whether I will use them or not. I’ll see where it is when I finish these two.

Pardon the crappy-ass blurry picture of the Mystery Stole. This is what happens when Kris is busy at work and I feel guilty asking him to take pictures for me. (although last week’s picture was all me!) Well, that combined with the fact that we have houseguests and I didn’t want to wake them up by digging out one of Kris’s tripods. I’m currently ready to start row 263, almost to the end of Chart E. I’m going to do the extra repeat to lengthen it, though, so I’ll be doing that bubble/flower pattern for a while yet.

You may have noticed these in the background of the scarf and stole pictures. What are they? They are my new Monkey Toes sock bags! I ordered them from Momma-Monkey’s Etsy shop (Hey, looks like she’s put up some new stuff. Awesome!), and they came last week. I’m using the one on the left (in the “Fifi” print) for the Chevron scarf, and the set on the right (part of the Menagerie collection, which also included some stitch markers and some gorgeous handspun sock yarn) for my Mystery Stole. The notions bag is perfect for my beads, and crochet hook, and post-its.

The only drawback I can see to these bags? They’re kind of addictive. I totally want another one. Or two. And I might talk to her about making one for the two-at-once sock folk…

*sigh*

Oh, well. I probably won’t see you again before Friday (See about re: houseguests), so have a good one!