high/low

Hey all! I'm sorry to have disappeared for so long. I do have a lot of knitting content to post, but things have been a bit crazy. Somebody is committing fraud on my account (writing large cheques to themselves, I'm not certain how they got the cheques) so its been taking most of my energy to deal with that for the past week.

So, since I have a plethora of photos to post, I thought I'd start with some of my Christmas knitting, now that its been given. I made five felted bags, based on the Sophie pattern, with modifications to each. They are all knit in Patons Classic Merino.


red


cable detail

I increased the size of the red, added the cable up the sides, and had three strands for the handle with a flat section where they meet in the middle (so I could continue the braid on each side).


blue

This is the original size knit with one strand of mohair held with the wool. It didn't shrink as much during felting.


grey w/ eyelets

This bag has an eyelet pattern around the top, which is difficult to see in this photo but looks alright in person.

I made knit flower pins for the blue and grey out of white yarn from the stash. Sadly I forgot to photograph them before I came back to ON.

(Yes, I know there are only three pictures. I'll have to find the other three later.)

thanks

I have to give a shoutout to my Secret Pal Kelly! I just received my last package, and let me tell you, she is fabulous! I will try to post a photo and a proper description on Saturday (when its not pitch black), but given the amount of stuff left to be done before my flight Sunday am (early!), I'm not promising anything.

As well, I wanted to reveal my Secret Pal Mel. I swear, your last package will be on the way soon (although probably not until next week).

Hmmm... I think that's all for now.

standby

Sorry, but I think the blog is pretty much on standby until after Christmas. I leave for home a week today, and I have just realized that I have a lot of stuff to do before I my flight. I've also been preoccupied with a personal situation that I'm not quite ready to discuss here.

Rest assured, I have been knitting. The Ribbed & Fair Isle Vest is taking forever, and I have a whole post worked out in my head in which I complain about the construction and charting, but that will have to wait until I have time to write it all down. I'm also making another pink baby sweater. I know I already have one, but I know a lot of pregnant friends, and I wanted to see if I could improve on the pattern. After that I'll have to make something for a boy, because while I'm all for non-gender specific colours, not everyone would be willing to dress their boy in a bright pink cardigan. I guess those are the main things.

busy!

I'm sure everyone else is feeling it too! Sorry for not posting though. I haven't been home before 9 yet this week.

In knitting news, I've finished the baby sweater. There are also details of the yoke and lace bottom.


baby finished

I think it looks pretty good. I'll now be keeping a feeler out for someone to give it to (I do have some potential receivers, in mind). I'm now working on the Rib/Fair Isle Vest from the Vogue Knitting Fall 2005 issue. I've finished the ribbing for the back and haven't worked on it since Sunday.

So, did I mention that my Secret Pal is absolutely fabulous? Cause she is! She got real Grecian items sent to her for me! Cause I've always wanted to go to Greece! Isn't that amazing? I got postcards, a key chain, lavender soap, and perfume, lotion and body wash in a fragrance called Greek Waters! And it came all the way from Greece!


SP Gift

I don't normally get political here, but Tuesday was the UN day of solidarity with the Palestinian people, and I went to an event put on by CEPAL. I was quite impressed by the program they run in the refugee camps in Lebanon (they send teachers for the summer to provide English instruction and other activities).

Parcels

I love getting packages! First, I ordered this yarn from kpixie with the help of a gift certificate from my great secret pal! I'm thinking of making an Hourglass Sweater with this.


peace fleece

Then, I got this package from my favourite boy in the whole world!


giftee

I actually bought most of the movies from him (he had doubles) but he added surprises to make it that much more fun.

sitting pretty

coffee table art

1. I can't do a post without pictures lately, so when Hello wouldn't cooperate yesterday, I just didn't post (especially since I'd taken pictures especially to post).

2. I lose track of time easily. Whole days fly by without my realizing. This is my excuse for why I didn't stop in to either of the spinning workshops at the Ottawa Valley Weavers' and Spinners' Guild these past two weekends (Hi Daisy!) I'm not good enough to be willing to spin for a full day, but I really should have gone just to see what good spinning looks like.

3. I have been knitting away on the baby sweater, and surprise! Someone I know is pregnant! I'm curious to find out the gender. Maybe I have some kind of sixth sense?


baby sweater with sleeves attached

The pattern is interesting, although I'd make a few changes next time (like joining the sleeves before doing the raglan decreases instead of after)

4. So, I don't like winding yarn by hand. In fact, I sort of hate it, which is why my chair has been out of commission for almost two weeks.


winding by hand

Often in a situation like this, I'd ask Daisy (hi again!) to bring her swift and ball winder to knitting night, but she hasn't been coming and the coffee shop has been really busy the last few times. Anyway, I think I'm ready to spoil myself (although not until after Christmas). Any recommendations for brands/types?

5. I have been swatching. (This is mostly for my information, so if you're not interested, you can stop reading now.) First, there is Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk on size 6. I get 25 stitches and 26 rows to 4". Then, the wool mohair Duet from Rhinebeck on size 7.

Interesting

Has anyone else heard about this? It's a 101/1001 blog, where one must define 101 goals and then try to achieve them in 1001 days. It sounds interesting, and I was trying to decide if I wanted to try it too. The problems are that 1) my goals are often big and undefined and 2) I'm not necessarily ready to talk about them on the internets. I suppose it would be a helpful goal setting tool (since they are easier to achieve if they are more defined rather than less), but I would also want to have control over who could read it. Is there a way to do that?

In knitting news, I've come to a conclusion. Samus is too big.


(And don't I look dorky when I try to take pictures of myself? I never know what to do with my hands)
Or at least its much larger than it was before washing. The length is nice, but it goes halfway around me again widthwise. The arms are good to the elbow, but I can almost fit football pads in the shoulder area. I think its a combination of a large gauge change during washing and my slightly unrealistic expectations about the pattern. I knew that it wouldn't be fitted. But falling off me is a bit much. However, I've just measured it and my sweater is actually smaller than the schematic says it should be. I'm going with my initial impression that it needs a belt and two belt loops along with the zipper, and it should be good.

Sunday pm malaise

It's Sunday afternoon again. Tomorrow will be a little rough. It's been almost like a four day weekend for me, as I had (easy) training on Thursday to transition into the long weekend.

Well, even without a new project, I found something to work on this week.


baby sweater

I'm knitting this from some random nylon yarn from the huge stash of baby yarn and patterns I inherited from my grandmother on 3.25 mm needles (from my secret pal!). I don't have anyone in mind for this, I just needed something to work on. I have finished both sleeves to the point where the join the body for the raglan shaping. Now I'm working on the lace panel around the bottom of the cardigan. I'm having problems because I'm not really a conscientious knitter a lot of the time (see lace detail). I've had to fudge one row to make things line up, and I now need to frog almost two rows to do another fudge. Things aren't lining up because I somehow have two extra stitches.

I have knit a pair of fuzzy feet, which will be felted soon. I need to figure out how they fit once felted so I can make any changes needed to pairs that I will actually give away.

fuzzy feet

I have also been Kool-aid dying my Knitpicks Colour Your Own.

kool aid
The top skein was dyed with 1 package each cherry, strawberry and orange. I used my Deep Dutch skillet and heated the water to warm, and used warm dye solution in a measuring cup with spout and poured over the surface.

The bottom skein is 2 packages strawberry kiwi and 1 package orange. I used a similar dyeing technique except the dye solution was refigerated prior to pouring. The dye didn't disperse as much as compared to a warm solution, leaving more lighter and white areas.

Stash revelation

NY Yarn purchase

I bought this yarn on my trip to NY in early September, and am just showing it off now. From left to right: a Cascade Magnum (colour unkwnown, can't find the ball band right now) from Purl, 12 balls of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk (colours 26009, 26004, & 26002) and a skein of hand dyed kid mohair Expressions from Kaalund Yarns, both from the Yarn Co

I'm trying to decide what to do with the alpaca silk... any ideas?

FOs

So, my secret pal wanted to see what I did with the yarn in my last package. I made a scarf (don't mind the messy hair - actually, that's another wardrobe question I have. I'm growing my hair out, and I'm finding it difficult. Is the current in between style work appropriate? Know that I never style it in any way.)


secret pal yarn in action

Right now its a garter stitch scarf knit on the long edge, knit on a combination of 11s and 15s, with a couple of rows of double wrapped stitches. I think I may redo it to make the fabric looser to show off the ribbony quality of the yarn better. If I make it significantly shorter next time, I will join the short ends to make a drapey shoulder wrap.

Samus


samus done


sleeve detail

In other news, I have finished and blocked Samus! This was actually a quick knit, but the finishing took me ages (well, a couple of weeks, anyway). Now I have to find an appropriately sized zipper and ribbon to do the final finishing. Actually, the sweater ended up being a little bigger than I expected (I guess I could have made the small) so I think it needs two belt loops and a belt too. That might get done before the zipper installation.

Things I learned from this pattern:

1. Applied i-cord is not my favourite edging, although the blocking helped out some of the unevenness. I also should have used fewer rows around the cuff, as it flares out a little from the cable.

2. I would pick up a few fewer stiches around the bottom cable, because there are two bumps at the hip area, which isn't flattering to many.

3. As much as I appreciated the lack of side seams, I hated seaming the sleeves into the arm scyes when the shoulder and underarm seams were already sewn. It's six of one and half a dozen of another, though, so that won't really affect future sweater choices. Maybe next time I can try picking up stitches around the arm scye and knit know from there.

4. The Knitpicks Wool of the Andes is lovely and soft, although not quite next to the skin soft. It did bleed a lot on the first was, but the colour didn't fade.

let down

So, I finished Samus. After working on it for over a month, I finally sat down to work out the seaming and the finishing last night, and gave it a bath this morning. Does anyone else get this sense of let down at the end of a project? I've been at a loss all day as to what to do, since I didn't have another project waiting. I mean, I always have 5 or 6 little projects to work on, but that's not quite the same thing.

So, I've been scouting out new projects. I like the Hourglass sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, and the Jacket as seen on Claudia's blog. I've started looking for a copy of Rowan #27, and some yarn that goes well... But really, I should be using up some of my stash... but really, nothing is grabbing my attention right now.

Random

Apparently I mostly speak general American English, even though I'm not (American, I mean). They had a couple of questions I couldn't answer, so I guess there are some differences between Canadians and Americans

Your Linguistic Profile:

65% General American English

15% Yankee

5% Midwestern

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Dixie

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

sigh (of relief)

I feel much better now. I had a really good day. First training ended early so some of my classmates and I had a really good dinner at par-fyum, a bistro on the Gatineau side of the river. The food was amazing! I've decided that its worthwhile to pay a little more and go out less often to really enjoy the food. My favourite was the creme brulee trio. (I would put the accents in, but I can't figure it out right now...) They were tiny but delicious, in ginger, vanilla and citron. Then, just to avoid work for a little longer, we went for a drive in Gatineau Park. It was my first time heading out there, which reinforced for me that I need access to a car. I don't want one full time, but I've lived here a year and haven't seen any of the surrounding area. I'm thinking about looking into one of those car sharing things. I think virtucar has a drop off spot near my house.

After work, we had knit group. There were about 12 people tonight. I only talked to a few people because I have difficulty hearing in large groups, but I did get to have more in depth discussions with a few people. It was nice just to get out and be around others. I also made some progress on my fuzzy feet! I did the heel and the gusset decreases on the first foot in forest green Patons Classic Merino. It's a good thing these things are a fast knit, as I'm really slow when I'm chatting.

For any Ottawa located knitters/spinners, the Ottawa Valley Weavers and Spinners Guild Annual Exhibition and Sale, "Feel Your Fibre", will take place at the Glebe Community Centre (175 Third Ave.), November 4 (4 to 8 pm), 5 (10 - 4 pm) , and 6th (10 - 4 pm).

morose

This is all a bit 'woe is me,' so if you're not interested, come back another day. I'm currently fighting with the seaming of the sleeves to the armholes of samus, so I expect it to be done soon. And I have socks, scarves, and fuzzy feet in production too.

I'm feeling a bit like I'm disappearing. I moved to Ottawa a year ago, and I just haven't found my groove here yet. I know people at work and at knitting group, but I haven't really found a group of people I'd call friends. I recently realised that I went a whole month without talking to anyone from the group of people I hung out with during training last year (and we all work in the same building now), and not one of them really noticed. And as much as I love hanging out and chatting with the ladies at the knitting group, I don't think they would really notice if I stopped showing up either. And if no one would notice if you were not there, aren't you already partly invisible?

Not that this is anyone's fault but my own (and even that is somewhat arguable). I know that I'm the one new to the area, and that sometimes really building a community takes time. It just makes me a little sad when I realize I've spent (almost) the whole weekend in my apartment because I didn't really have any reason to go out.

Anyway things aren't that bad, as I'm easily able to entertain myself most of the time. And there are things to do when I make the effort to go out. There's another meeting of the knitting group tomorrow, and there will apparently be new purchases to see.

Spoiled!

That's what I am! I picked this up today, while mailing off a package for my secret pal.



And this is what's inside!



(Sorry, I haven't arranged this list in any particular order) 2 24” Clover bamboo circular needles, sizes 3.25 mm and 3.5 mm, David and Goliath (of “boys are smelly” fame) sticker, magnet and key chain, Care Bears stickers (2) and Magic 8 ball, gummy bears (now how’d she get that through customs? When I was at the post office, they questioned me at length about food. Apparently we can’t even send gum to the US!) and 3 balls of Filatura di Crosa Sesamo in colour 15 (an orange-copper-pink mixture, very nice for fall). I have some ideas about what I’ll try with this, but I need to swatch to see what the fabric will be like.

In other knitting news, I have finished the sleeves for Samus! Now all I have left is seaming and knitting the rest of the applied i-cord. I hope I can finish it this weekend to wear next week, although new may win out over finishing.

Surprise!

What could this be?


surprise

Actually, It could be a number of things. A belated birthday present from a friend? Movies I bought off another friend? Sockapal2za socks? Or, a new Secret Pal package? Well, it could be anything, but since it might be a Secret Pal gift, I'm making myself wait until I have my package ready to send to go pick this up. I'm thinking Saturday. Although that's also the only day I can really get to the pickup, so its not really a choice on my part.


samus sleeves

Here is my update on the Samus sleeves. I have progressed since this picture was taken, but its just a whole lot more stockinette, so this is good for now.

Finally, I saw this in the window of a local bedding store. Isn't it cute?


cute

Besides the animals knitting, there are sheep wearing scarves!

daffodil?

Here's a photo of my newest sock. I'm still not sure if I'm going to do a pattern or ribbing, but I like how the turkish cast on worked out. However, I'm not certain the colours look like a daffodil to me. I think the yellow is a little too light.


daffodil sock

I have to admit, since I know the chances of my getting home during daylight hours during the week are slim at best, I stockpiled pictures on the weekend. I'll spread them out over the week, even if they don't show my most recent progress to avoid big gaps. Hopefully its still interesting.

krazy socks

Well, despite not doing much knitting, I have managed to finish my third pair of socks (ever)! They are knit on 3mm needles from Patons Kroy Socks Stripes in Krazy Stripes. I didn't follow a particular pattern, but I used a short row heel.


from the side


from above

The one thing I would change next time would be the toe. I didn't think to do some decreases when I switched from ribbing to stockinette, to I have two corners. Lessons learned.


toes

I have already cast on for a new sock. Since, I've got this cuff down thing figured out, I tried the Turkish cast on for toe up socks. The first couple rows were a little tight, but its going well now. I'm using Knitpicks Sock Garden in Daffodil. And, I knit the cuff cables for Samus on the trip last weekend, so I've been working slowly on knitting up from there.

In other news, I've finally started giving family and friends my blog address. I waited because I wasn't sure it was going to stick this time (I had a blog when I was overseas and then stopped posting when I got busy. I didn't want to mislead them again.) At a couple month of regular posts, I think its time, since many complain that I never tell them what's going on in my life.

slow down

Wow. I was so quick off the mark with the Rhinebeck post, and now I've completely dropped off the map. I've been tired still from my busy weekend, and work has been busy (I just found out that I'm on call this weekend too, so no respite for me). I haven't been doing much knitting either. I knit a bit on my sock at the knitting group last night (It was crazy! There were twenty-odd people there! It was the largest crowd in a while as we joined up with some people from the knitty board). Justine and I spent a lot of time winding our purchases from Rhinebeck on Daisy's swift and ball winder, which she was kind enough to bring. We got a lot of stares with that contraption set up in the middle of the coffee shop (there are pictures available on the yahoo group if you want to see). There was one point where her skein kept tangling and we were both sitting on the floor babysitting it and we were giggling like mad... It was a nice moment.

Other than that, I've been reading a new book! That's pretty new for me, since I haven't read much lately. I'm reading The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, which I picked up from the Bookcrossing meeting that was going on during the last knitting group I went to.

Rhinebeck

Well, the adventure started about 10 am on Friday morning with Justine, her partner, Patrick, Jo and her daughter arriving at my place to pick me up. And, we're off!


my travelling companions (well, this picture was actually taken near the end of the trip, cause I didn't think to take one earlier)

Mapquest had said the drive would be about 6.5 hours. Well, what with the vagaries of travelling with an eight year old, stuffing 5 people in a smallish car and the torrential downpour we were driving through, it was 7 pm before we pulled into the Pleasant Valley Motel. (When we talked talked to a local later, he said it had rained 20 inches in the past week! All of the rivers had left their banks. And the basement of the hotel was flooded, so they had a generator going all night Friday to keep the water from reaching the electrical panel!)

Jo and Justine were largely going to meet up with Sara and Cate, so we found them first near the petting zoo.




We met lots of other people too, including, but not limited to, Wendy, Christine, Melanie , Moth Heaven, Norma, Steph, Alison, Jenn, and Juno. There were so many more that I've forgotten names of or talked to without even introducing myself, but everyone was so nice! Not that I'm surprised, but it made everything so much fun. Say hi in the comments if I've forgotten anyone.

Aminals...


sheep


llama

Then, there was shopping. I tried to take pictures, but my efforts never really showed off the sheer enormity of this event. Let's just say that there were 20 buildings worth of fibre-related goodness, with over 220 vendors!

My stash enhancement:


yarn

Two hanks of alpaca from Staghorn Valley Alpacas and two hanks of Duet from Brooks Farm. The Duet is 55% Mohair and 45% Wool and is incredibly soft!


roving

And the fibre for spinning (since I don't really know the difference between roving, batts or other forms of fibre)... from left to right, Tina's Hand Painted Fibers in Bittersweet and Lemon Sherbet and batt from Grafton Fibers

I think this is good for now...

I'm back!

Guess where I was this weekend?

Autumn colour

autumn colour

Well, as you may have noticed, I've had to skip Wardrobe Wednesdays this week. It will return next week. In the meantime, I'm placating you all with a lovely shot of the fallen leaves.

Now, for a knitting issue. I have finished the body of Samus, and I decided to starton the applied i-cord edging before the sleeves (I had high and misguided hopes to wear the body as a vest to Rhinebeck this weekend). At this point, I've ripped it out once and am on the verge of doing it again becuase the line where I'm applying it to the sweater is so uneven.


samus edging (with cat for scale)


samus edging close

I know its hard to see on the photos, as it really is a little thing, but sometimes there is a ridge where I'm applying the cord to the knitting, and sometimes there isn't. I don't really like the ridge, but I'd accept it either way if it were just consistent. Any suggestions?

In other news, I think my cat is jealous of my knitting. On Sunday, I was knitting away and the cat came over wanting to be petted. I put the knitting aside for a minute to pet her and she climbed onto my lap. This, from a cat that has never sat on my lap willingly in the four years I've owned her! She's affectionate, loves to be petted and sit beside me, but generally dislikes being held. Then this morning, I was trying to photograph the dastardly i-cord and she would not get off the knitting. But as soon as I stop with the photography, she went back to sleep. Weird that.

knitting news

Lest you think I don't actually knit, I thought I'd post some pictures of actual knitting. I've started working on samus in Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in Stream.


samus

I have finished the cable along the bottom and am now working my way up the body for the second or third time. Since I'm not using the yarn called for in the pattern and I decided to add a wee bit of shaping, I've had to rip out once or twice, but I decided it was worth getting it right. Especially if this turns out to be the first thing I make that fits me.

It's knit flat, so its long.


samus again

I have three Denise cords joined together so I can stretch it out to see how it will fit as I go. I'm using a size 10 needle (recommended size is 7 or 8) to get somewhere near the pattern gauge, but also because I like how the fabric drapes at that gauge.

In other news, I finally took pictures of some of my secret pal gift. You see why I loved this card?


card from my secret pal


tattoo on my back

Side note: Yet another annoying thing with this camera. It was suprisingly difficult to get a picture of this tattoo. I know I'm so pale that I glow on occasion, but the camera wouldn't really focus on the tattoo. This is one of the few (of many) shots that was even close to being in focus. I only have a few more days to make a decision...

Wardrobe Wednesdays

I know its already Thursday, but there's not much I can do about that now. I've been thinking about adding this as a regular feature, and Wednesdays make for nice alliterations.

So, now that I'm actually working and not a student, I find that I have a hard time judging what constitutes a work appropriate attire. And, since I had questions about the outfit I wore to work today, I thought I'd put it to blogland. And I think I'll try and do it regularly as I purge my closet of the clothes I no longer need and try to build a nice, compact wardrobe (without looking too conformist - I don't really like wearing suits). So, for background, I work for the Federal Government in Canada. My office is fairly dressy, although we do have casual Fridays. Lots of people wear black suits every day, but lots of people don't as well.

So, what I would like would be for people to comment to let me know if this outfit is fit for work. Sort of like Hot or Not, but not really. So, are these outfits a "workplace wow" or a "workplace woe"?


Option A


Option B


boot closeup

Live from the Skatch

So, I was supposed to be on a plane right now, but when I arrived at the airport, the ticket lady found me a better flight that leaves a little later but gets in earlier. That was just fine with me, so I'm hanging out the Saskatoon airport (as opposed to the Calgary airport a little later on). I thought I'd do a quick post, as I have some interesting pictures from the weekend.

First, in knitting news, I finally finished the first sweater I ever started!


My first sweater

I had been knitting for a while, but had only really made scarves (and maybe a first try at a hat) when my sister asked me to make this for her. She picked out the pattern, and I decided to use some yarn my grandma had given me. It was Eaton's Sayelle, the yellow colour in the picture. Of course, I finished a sleeve and the back and then realized that I wouldn't have enough yarn to finish the front, never mind the second sleeve. So, I frogged the sleeve and finished the front and hood in the yellow. Then, I gave the sweater to my sister for her birthday in May so that she could decide how she wanted it finished. She picked out the gray yarn for the sleeves, and I designed the pocket to tie the two colours together. I actually sewed the pocket on this weekend, and then made sure to get pictures. Yay for the FO!

I actually had a pretty good weekend, despite coming down with the cold that's been circulating through my office. It was my cousin's wedding so almost all of my family was able to come to Saskatoon to celebrate. I flew in on Thursday night, and now it's time to head back. We're not all getting together for Christmas, so it was worth the plane ticket for a short trip.

I bought a digital camera because I've been talking about it for a while, but I'm not sure I'm terribly impressed with it. I will take the time to read the manual when I get home, but I'm finding the picture quality uneven, even under the same circumstances. For example, these two pictures were taken from the same spot in the same (poor) lighting conditions, but one is completely out of focus. I'm finding that I'm having a lot of focus problems. I'll see if I can figure it out, but I'm also glad I've had a chance to test it out before the return period is done.


camera woes


better

Presenting...

Miss Spooky Cat's debut to the world.

Yay digital camera! I promise, there will be a whole photo shoot of FOs when I get home, but right now, I'm struggling to pack and clean up my apartment before I go to work, since my plane leaves tonight! I wasn't feeling great last night, so I ended up sleeping instead of doing the dishes. I'm regretting it now though.

A good (long) weekend to you all.

Bits

Just a quick run through some things I've been meaning to mention.

First, I also got a Knit Pixie gift certificate from my Secret Pal. I'm having so much fun browsing through their catalogue trying to decide how to spend my loot.

In other news, my sock pal, Kat finally got my package!

Finally, I found a ride and a room for Rhinebeck. It would be a crazy trip, but I'm so tempted. Now I have to see if I can get time off work.

Catch up

Alright, so I was having some problems with blogger yesterday. And I didn't have internet at home until yesterday. So I haven't posted much lately. But I promise to do better now.

My secret pal is spoiling me like crazy! I got my first package (a birthday present even!) today. I got Mandara candles with mystical oils that smell faboulous, incense matches and a flower shaped nail file! I also got this great card! It's somewhat ironic, and I will try to post a picture to show why later. Anyway I haven't sorted out the camera yet (see below to find out why).

So, it was my birthday on Tuesday, so it's been a week of excitement. I had several people over for brunch (potluck) to celebrate on Sunday, which was nice and relaxing. Monday night was the knitting guild meeting, which was big and intimidating. I don't know that I'll go regularly; I prefer my smaller knitting group where I get to talk to and know most people. Tuesday night was dinner at Haveli Indian, which I loved! The food was really good, and I had leftovers for lunch the next day. Wednesday was knitting group. So, tonight I had to come down from the high and actually do some laundry. And catch up on emails.

So, the highlight from knitting group was that there is a slim chance that I could go to Rhinebeck! I don't want to say too much, as it is a very slim chance, but I can always hope. If I end up going, that will consume the back pay money I wanted to spend on a digicam, but I think it will be worth it. It will just mean working harder to borrow a camera for pictures, especially with my secret pal sending me such great things!

And finally, a picture of my friend's cat... just to add some visual interest.


Sappho, the many toed cat