Toys and an Early Snow

My weekend got off to rocky start with a Friday that I'd rather forget which is why there was no post. Blame insurance adjusters, the unhelpful woman at the collision shop, a bad lunch and a busy day at work that kept me a little late. Sadly, Friday was also my birthday. The saving grace was a smily baby and a ton of lovely birthday messages. Moving on.

Better that we should celebrate Miss M's 4 month birthday. She's the one who got the great report at her check up on Thursday and she got a toy to celebrate. Yay for toys!


I tried to get a good (not blurry) picture of Miss M enjoying her new toy but she was having too much fun. She has suddenly realized that all the stuff we put in front of her can go IN THE MOUTH and OMG is that the best thing ever! Not only does her saucer have new stuff to shove in her mouth.... she can see us when she's standing up in it and spin herself around to follow our movement. Is there anything better than that?

It's good that we had a lot inside to keep us entertained because it snowed by us on Saturday. Such a crazy thing! DQ had the Homecoming dance that night and, like many girls, had to revise her outfit to include a winter coat to cover her pretty dress.


On the positive side, the early snow offered great photo opportunities. You don't often see snow on the fall leaves. They were really pretty.

So much more to say about the weekend and I even have pictures of some of it.

Thursday Randomness

No Gingerbread House update today. It seems that Stinkette has reached a creative fork in the road and she's considering what direction to take her creation in. She's got plenty of candy that she had initially planned to install but now she's enjoying the simplicity of the design. Decisions, decisions!

I don't think that I ever mentioned it but I got a Nook for Hanukkah. I really like it and I look forward to using it more but not right now because ironically, the holds I placed at our library long ago are starting to come in. Yesterday I finally got my hands on The Last Man on the Mountain: The Death of an American Adventurer on K2 by Jennifer Jordan. Can't wait to read it.

My knitty mojo seems to finally be returning after a hiatus that started around Halloween. I finished a shawlette last week and a pair of socks ought to be complete by the end of the weekend. Once again this will be a knitting blog with actual knitting content. Imagine that!

Snow is in the forecast a few times over the next week or so. I am so excited because I love snow but it worries me a little bit too.

I am really looking forward to a low key holiday season full of long weekends. For the first time in a really long time we've scheduled some family time for our little quartet and I think that we're all very excited about it.

Mossy Headed

Why are old mossy rocks so fascinating? Or is it just me?



It's 2 days since the election and I'm still hearing about nastiness on election day that makes me sad for all of us. A friend of mine was handing out ballot information at a local polling place this year as she has in the past and says that this year people from the other party were heckling her and saying really awful things. When did that become OK? I wish I could say that was the only such occurrence but I know someone who voted on the other end of the county that encountered the same behavior. What is wrong with people?

I've finally started a wee bit of gift knitting for this year and volunteered for 2 test knits which could make for a very quiet blog. Except that the sock knitting continues apace. It may sound very ambitious but really, it's just this knitter's way of tuning out all the noise and avoiding stuff she'd rather not deal with right now. Like the last sleeve of Que Sera.

What's on your mind right now. Good stuff I hope!

Randomness

Did you see this article yesterday on CNN? I was all about how researchers in Scotland and Spain have found that adding wool to bricks makes them stronger and more crack-resistant. How do ya like that? We always knew wool was great.

In case it isn't obvious, I'm feeling a little random today. Maybe it's because I've been tired all week. Maybe it's because I've got so many balls in the air. I really can't say.

Anyway, here's a picture that has me feeling happy and amazed. This was taken on Monday and it's proof that my girl really did wear a pink ribbon in her hair. Not only that - she told me that if we got more ribbons in other colors she could see herself wearing them more often. Considering that until recently she was all about super-short hair cuts and basketball shorts, this is shocking. Preferably, Stinkette would like plaid ribbons because that's her new thing. Her back to school wardrobe this year is a sea of plaid in shades of purple, green, and blue with the occasional argyle thrown in for good measure. My baby is becoming preppy!



Speaking of Stinkerbelle, we'll be watching her play softball again this weekend. Did you know that softball games are great for knitting? At the tournament last weekend I managed to polish off the first clue for the TTL Mystery Sock for 2010. I did go with the plum Pagewood Farm yarn and I love it so far. If you'd like to see how the socks look so far you can check my flickr page here. Now I'm ready for the second clue to drop later tonight. Bring it!

Random Time of Year

I am filled with a deep and abiding hatred of all things Metro today. That outrageously mismanaged system combined with oppressive heat and clueless tourists has made for many miserable commutes this week.

I am still trying to stay positive. See, pretty flowers! That's a happy thing.



I am also feeling really random. It's that time of the summer.

Last night DQ went to see Eclipse again. It was her 3rd time. Surely she'll get tired of it soon. Right?

Well, I hope that she's had her fill because she and Stinkette leave for camp shortly and they won't be seeing any movies while they're there. We already shipped 3 large boxes filled with clothes, linens and other essential stuff to camp.

Any bets on how long it'll take for them to start sending me notes requesting stuff they forgot at home? last year I think the first one was sent out hours after I dropped them off. I wish I was kidding.

Tomorrow after work we'll hit the road. We are taking a brief detour on our way to camp. I'll tell you where when I return. I really love road trips with my girls. We laugh and explore and enjoy our time together all while seeing somewhere new. Brilliant!

Good thing we're not detouring to the beach. Stinkette has swimmers ear and can't go in the pool (or I expect, the ocean) until monday at the earliest. She's in a bit of pain right now but it's getting better. By the time I drop her off at camp she should be in pretty good shape.

Spring Randomness

What is it about this time of year that makes us all feel so random? It seems to be everywhere.

* I'm still watching my yard for blooming things. This is what my peonies looked like a few days ago. They look like they're ready to pop but still nothing. I love how juicy they look.



* All the floral observation has taken a toll. I got to work yesterday and realized that I had yellow pollen all over the front of my grey sweater. It was really noticeable so I went to the bathroom to wash it off and hid in my office in my soggy sweater for the next hour.

* I am trying really hard not to write long rants about the tourists who have once again descended upon our fair city. They are all over the freakin' place and especially in the Metro. Why do they all want to be on Metro during rush hour? Not only do they take up all the seats - they park their strollers and gigantic suitcases in the middle of everything so that it's difficult to get in or out. Not that I dislike tourists or anything.

* At least the Nuclear Summit is over. Talk about commuter nightmares! I was very last to work the other day because I got caught by 3 motorcades - including the president. That one closes down intersections for about 20 minutes at a minimum.

* Oh, and can someone please tell me what's up with this? It looks like little floppy dog ears on the helmet but that can't be it. Can it?

Random Wednesday

On Monday morning I splashed my coffee all over the sleeve of my sweater and jacket on my way to work. How can that be anything but an ominous sign that the week will suck?

Despite the fact that my knitting mojo is still flowing and, in fact, I have 2 projects that are likely to cross the finish line by Friday, I feel very random. This is one of the nearly complete projects. They're Stinkerbelle's long awaited fingerless gloves. Her next pair. She has a few but she always has an idea for what I can do with the next pair. There is no pattern for these other than the notes I'm making in Ravelry as I go along.



I am currently planning 2 party-like events. I'm not sure how I keep getting myself into these things other than a habit of saying "Yes." It's really ok ecept that both events have itty bitty budgets. I'm not an itty bitty budget planner. I want every event I plan to be awesome.

The snow is still very present in our area and I really think that people need to get over it already. Parking in the commuter lot is still ridiculous because people are continuing to ignore the painted lines and park any which way. If I can see the lines then so can they.

Yarn is multiplying in my house. I swear I have no clue where it's coming from. I cannot possibly have bought it all. I was trying to clean it up last night because I was sure that there was more than one chair in the living room and I suspected that the other one was buried under yarn. I was right. DH suggested storing the yarn with birth control pills instead of cedar balls. It's an idea.

Finally, I know exactly how I'll spend the money I'm saving on yarn. My diffuser recently bit the dust so I went looking for a new one. Most stores only sell diffusers with hair dryers so I had to go to a specialty store to get one by itself. I did that last weekend and used it happily for 2 days. This morning my hair dryer died. I have bad hair today. I need a new hair dryer.

Number 6 -Come on Down!

It has taken me an eternity to get around to posting today. Mostly it's because I feel terribly random. Unfocused. Ready for a nap.

• Maybe it's because I was deprived of my relaxing Sunday morning by having to rush Stinkerbelle to the doctor (who was in the office!) after her Sunday school called us to pick her up because she was "unwell". Since she had her H1N1 shot the day before we were worried. It turned out that it was just an asthma attack. We had a long discussion about how important it is to bring her inhaler with her EVERYWHERE.


• Perhaps I wasted all my focus on 28Thirty. This was my constant companion all through the weekend. So far I really love it but I didn't enjoy the endless raglan increases at all. By the time I divided for the sleeves I was well over 300 stitches. That is not a happy thing at all but it makes me feel a bit better about using this as my NaKniSweMo project. I think that those Increases of Doom should certainly qualify as something.


• The yarn I'm using has turned out to be a surprisingly good thing. It's Peace Fleece, a yarn I've avoided for quite a long time. I was afraid it'd be scratchy or unfun to knit with. While it isn't as soft as some other yarns and the dye is getting on me a little bit (not very noticeable at all) I am really enjoying knitting with this. Not only does it behave well - it also creates a really nice fabric which feels super sturdy. I feel confident that it will hold up well. It doesn't hurt that the color is fab. The girls at the LYS saw it peeking out of my bag on Saturday and all commented on it.


• Then again, it could be that all the online scrabble has addled my brain. OMG! That is wicked addictive. I finally felt like my skills were ok and challenged some random scrabble addict to a game late last week. Since then all I'm getting is vowels. What do you do when all you've got to work with is "AAOUIIIR"? SRSLY!


• It could also be that a card I received last weekend just knocked me over. I don't know if it was the 40 thing or what but this year my birthday was marked by members of DH's family who never have in the past. The last one was his grandmother. Granted it was a little bit late but she's 96. And it's worth noting that I always thought she hated me. Perhaps at her advanced age she forgot that I'm the evil one. Maybe she was posessed by aliens. Does it matter?

This brings me to the belated choosing of winners of my birthday contest. I had hoped to have my girls do the choosing but corraling them for more than a minute is easier said than done. So I resorted to the Random Number Generator and it chose Kathy as the winner of the STR and the book.

And then, because I was having fun giving stuff away I hit the Random Number Generator again. This time Jan's name came up. I'm guessing that she'll want the Mini Mochi.

The rest of the yarn will go in the stash until I find another good excuse to give stuff away. Thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate.

Random Wednesday

It's Wednesday, my girls have been away now for a bit over 2 weeks and I am officially missing them something fierce. The constant notes fron Stinkerbelle telling me that she's having fun but she really needs a hug, misses me a lot and can't sleep aren't helping at all. My baby girl needs me! I send her notes and things (lots of packages heading south this summer) nearly every day. Sometimes more than one a day. And, yes, I do know that all the stuff I send will somehow have to fit in the car for the ride home. Wish me luck on that one.

I think that given everything I can be forgiven for feeling a little random today.

Because this is still a knitting blog I've got a pretty current shot of one of the 3 pairs of socks that are currently on the needles. Yup, three. There's the commuter knitting, the socks that require concentration, and the socks that begged to be cast on. These are my Daiquiri Sox because the color of the yarn reminds me of a strawberry daiquiri and the pattern is Sunshine by Cookie A. One is complete and I've got a finished heel flap on the other. These ought to be finished by the end of the week.

Aside from the plethora of socks, I'm also actively working on finishing a gift for a little girl who just turned two. Leave it to me to grossly underestimate the amount of ends to be woven in on a color work project. Ugh! No, actually that's a double-ugh since the knitting portion of the project has been complete for about a week and all of the weaving of then ends is preventing me from completing the finish work and calling this one done.

Here's a picture of Teddy that I snapped a few weeks ago when I saw him in front of my building. I answered a trivia question at the conference on Monday about him. Clearly the quiz was geared towards out-of-towners because they were shocked that I knew who raced around the field at Nationals games. Duh! My name badge said I was a local.

I'm kind of partial to Teddy. Perhaps it's all those visits to Sagamore Hill as a kid. Maybe it's the fact that Teddy never wins the race. NEVER! He has a short attention span like me and get's sidetracked by things like hot dogs and pretty things. Poor Teddy.

Unlike Teddy my firm softball team was a winner last night. Yay! I made it to base on balls but I had no RBI's. I'm just happy not to have detracted from our efforts. And not to have melted. It was so disgustingly hot and sticky.

Lastly, I'm thinking of a good friend who is undergoing surgery today. I'm praying that she wakes up at the end of it all cancer-free and ready to take on the world.

Random Monday

No party pictures to share this week. It was a really busy weekend full of more highs and lows than usual and the only way to address it all is a list. I'll try to keep it balanced and orderly.

• My sister and her family are not going to be visiting us this week after all. I'm really disppointed about that but it's for a good reason. She got a job and starts sooner than expected. Yay. I hope that makes it easier for them to transition to their new, civilian life.
• On the other hand, my brother had to make a last minute trip to our area this week so we'll get to see him. Woot!
• DQ had her annual dance recital on Saturday and she did a great job. Not only that but the costumes weren't as hideous. Trust me - this was a huge improvement.

• My M-I-L was here for the recital. It was an, ummm... interesting visit. She returned to Florida yesterday.
• DH, Stinkette and I went to see Star Trek. It was a pretty good movie but as the credits rolled and I heard the old familiar voice intoning "Space... the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise... " I found myself tearing up. My dad loved Star Trek and I know he would've loved the movie.
• After the movie, we went to a restaurant for dinner and found a long wait. But there was no wait to eat at the high counter along the kitchen. Being total Food Network junkies, these were the perfect seats for us. We watched attentively. Those guys sure are fast and efficient.

• Saturday we heard that a very close friend got the kind of diagnosis that no woman, or anyone, ever wants to hear. In a true sign of the times, her eldest texted the news to DQ in a post that started "Guess what?". We are so worried but we know that there is nobody stronger than this friend. Pink ribbons all around and the best healing thoughts for her and her family.

More Randomness

The baby dress is nearly finished and so is the first Clean Laundry sock. Yay! All very good things but since Ijust showed them to you yesterday they're not terribly bloggable. It's ok though because I'm feeling a little random today. Very random.

• Did you watch Idol last night? I did and I have to say that I don't get Megan Joy at all. The stylings she does with her voice are just weird to me. Last week the judges seemed to go for her brand of weird which made me wonder if it was just me. I was way happier last night.
• I watch DWTS too. I may be a reality TeeVee junkie. I think that show was much improved this week when they sent Denise Richards home. I just don't like her at all. No good reason - she just irritates me.
• What is up with discourteous drivers? Twice this week I've had to use a parking garage and I think that they're all hiding out there. They go whipping around blind corners as if the garage is empty and give you dirty looks when they see you - stopped properly before rounding the corner - as they come right at you.
• The telephone drivers are out in force too. I know they think that they can do it all if they just slow down but they can't. They just irritate the other drivers on the road by going too slow for conditions. Especially the guy who stopped at the green light. Hello - green means go dude! Just hang up and drive ... please!
• I'm really looking forward to tomorrow night. It's movie night at my LYS and this week it's Northanger Abbey. Yay for Jane Austen. I just need to decide what knitting to bring with me and hope that DQ doesn't get a better offer. I really love going with her. I am such a lucky mom to have kids who like hanging out with me.

January Randomness

What's one step beyond random? Whatever it is that's where I am right now. How about unfocused? Here's my unfocused Thursday.

• Stinkette is learning all about drugs and smoking and peer pressure in school lately. Last night she suddenly launched into a discussion about it as she sat on the couch with me. She was explaining it all to me with such zeal. The peer pressure aspect was especially interesting to her and she gave me several what if's. I was struck by how big my baby is getting and how much I wish she'd stay little for a while longer. It was all I could do not to squeeze her in a huge hug.
• I hate driving in the rain. Snow is surprisingly fine with me but the rain makes me very nervous and at night.... I worry every minute I'm on the road. Wouldn't you know that the one night of the week that I have the most driving to do it absolutely poured buckets? This is the second recent Wednesday that this has happened to me. I slowed way-the-heck down (which is saying a lot) and turned the radio down. I really, really hope that next Wednesday is dry.
• I'm so flattered by the confidence everyone has in my ability to finish all my lace on time. I'm going to do my best to live up to expectations.
• Only 3 kippot to go. I had hoped to have them all done by New Years Eve but I got seriously sidetracked by Grandma's sweater.
• Speaking of that sweater, Grandma called the other day to say that she finally had a chance to wear it about and it's perfect. Yay! I smiled all day.
• Why is it that every time I cross something off my to do list something else takes it's place?

Cash Would Be Better

This has been a week of nonstop appointments, meetings and demands on my time in general. Is it any surprise that I'm feeling a little random?

Most of the activities are school related, like the back to school nights that I attended last night and will attend tonight. Yesterday was my first back to school night at the secondary school that DQ attends now, the one many refer to as "the aircraft carrier" because it's just that big. I met the odd english teacher, the energetic social studies teacher, the serious math teacher and the science teacher who is just as funny (and cute) as DQ said he was. I opened my wallet for the massive marketing machine that makes the school run and marveled at it all.

Yesterday I also received a little surprise in the mail. CNN sent me a nifty lunch bag as a thank you for my iReport. Admittedly cash would be better but, considering that I submitted the report with no expectations at all, any show of appreciation is nice.

Today I'll attend Stinkerbelle's back to school night and hear from "the nicest 4th grade teacher in the school." With an endorsement like that how could it not be a great night?

What are you up to?

NYC

Thanks for all of your good wishes. We really appreciate it more than you know.

The trip to NY was not a vacation and it was not a trip we made happily but, even in the darkest times there are things to cheer us up and make us smile. Here are a few from last week.

As I mentioned yesterday, my father-in-law was a printer who had a lot of contacts in the hospitality industry. It was those contacts that allowed us to stay at a super cool boutique hotel on Park Avenue at a very low rate. This was the view from our window. That's Grand Central Station.



One morning we walked out of the hotel and found a series of hospitality trucks all set up right in front of us. At the corner we saw signs directing people to the sets and props etc. They were filming Damages right around the corner. Sadly we didn't see Glenn Close or Ted Danson. Wouldn't that have been something?



On Sunday morning, before we went to resume our vigil at the hospital, we had breakfast with my brother and his wife. More importantly - I met my new niece Manhattan Sarah. Baby time is always a great pick-me up.



We also ate many great meals in NYC. It's kind of hard not to when there are so many fabulous restaurants around. One meal really stood out - we had dinner at Tao one night with my husband's cousins and other relatives. It was one of the coolest places I've ever eaten and the food was amazing. The company was a standout too.



Tomorrow I hope to have some fiber related stuff to share.

Hello My Name Is...

This is my new niece who was born a week ago while I was listening to Senator Obama tell us all about how he'd like to improve things for women. She is the first child of my brother Micah and his wife Misun and her name is Manhattan Sarah. Yep, Manhattan.



Obviously the name is a little unusual and there has been a lot of discussion about it in my family. I suggested that my brother start a fund for the therapy that she'll need when she get's older. Stinkerbelle thinks that her new cousin ought to learn self defense. Nicknames have been suggested and one relative has decided that they'll just stick with the middle name. It's unlikely that her full first name will be used very often but still, the child is Manhattan from Manhattan. Can you imagine the jokes, the double takes, the looks of disbelief that she'll get?

Then again, this isn't the first child I know who is named for a borough of New York. This is Brooklyn. She's the daughter of my buddy Felicia and she's turning one this week. I thought that would be a hard name to get used to but it's really grown on me.



Anyone know a Bronx? That may be better as a boys name. What about Staten Island or Queens? What's the weirdest name you've ever heard?

14

I've got a bunch of random stuff today. Updates, short takes and stuff that didn't fit anywhere else.
1. I started a few things lately. I just seem to be compelled to fill all the empty needles in the house with stuff.
2. This is the beginning of the Alpine Lace Scarf from Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby. I'm using Fino from Alpaca With a Twist and so far it's working out just fine. This lace is very easy to read and after just one night with it I'm starting to feel the flow. Right now I wish it was here instead of at home. My fingers are itching for lace.


3. This is the first time I'm adding beads to a shawl. I'm using the crochet hook method to add them and I really like it.
4. I have no illusions of finishing this on time to wear it with the dress to the August event. It would be nice... but not likely.
5. A little project monogamy would probably help but I don't see that happening at all.
6. There are 3 socks actively on the needles right now. This picture shows the second Monkey sock in the light green, Francie by Rebekkah Kerner in the coral, and Widdershins by Brooke Creel in the dark green.


7. The yarn for the Francie socks is Dream in Color Smooshy in Lipstick Lava. In the skein, and even balled up, it didn't look like much and I wasn't excited by it. Some parts looked kind of grey and blah. As I knit it up my appreciation grows. This stuff is lovely!
8. I also started a summer top for DQ recently. I'm using Elann Esprit and the pattern is the Esprit V-Neck Summer Tank by Flora Yang, a free pattern from the Elann website but it's a little weird to me and I've been stalled. I think that it's the dropped stitches. Maybe I just need to focus.


9. Kippah #7 is half way finished. Crochet is so simple, quick, and easy compared to knitting. I'm still not sure I'll finish on time. There's still at least 73 more kippot to make.
10. Here's a Stella D'Oro lily from my yard. We've got a lot of these in front of my house. When they're blooming I'm tempted to add even more.


11. This is a statue of Lieutenant-Colonel John By that overlooks the Rideau Canal in Ottawa. He supervised the construction of the canal which played a pivotal role in the development of Canada. According to a plaque near this statue, Ottawa was originally called Bytown in his honor.

13. Look at that second picture. Is that a happy face? A proud face? The face of a man you'd name a city for? The way that he's smirking looks kind of wry to me. It looks like he's thinking "Let's get this over with."
14. Today is my fourteenth anniversary. Who'd a thunk it? Happy anniversary B!

Random Thoughts

I think that running into your hairdresser on the street when your having a bad hair day has to be a bad sign. Don't you? It can't possibly be good. Let's hope I'm wrong.

Last night I helped out at the spring book fair at my daughters school. I really wish that all those people predicting the end of the book could have the same experience I did. We sat inside the school library, listening to the crowd of kids gather loudly outside, pressing against the doors with barely contained excitement. Those kids could not wait to get inside and buy books! For and hour and a half I rang up tall stacks of books for my girl's classmates. It was so encouraging.

Is it just me or is there something very weird about having Def Leppard perform on Dancing With the Stars last night? I love the band from way back when so I was excited to see them even if they do look a little old and puffy. Incongruous is the word that came to mind watching them perform while the dancers did their thing. Even the camera people were thrown off by the spectacle. Thanks for the full screen shots of smoke Mr. Camera Guy.

What do you think about the new, brown, St*rb*cks logo? It's not really working for me.

I still haven't started this year's garden and it's making me feel like a bit of a slug. I had such big plans to enlarge the garden space, add a retaining wall to level it a bit, start plants from seeds, and use my own compost to enrich the soil. The space has been enlarged but that's the extent of the progress so far.

The blueberry bushes look pretty healthy. Maybe we'll just forget the garden and concentrate on the berries. No, not really but if anyone has a really good idea about for to keep birds and animals out of my blueberries I'm all ears. The nets I used last year only kept me out.

Ramdomness on Thursday

Today is Take Your Children to Work Day so I'm writing this while monitoring my girls. Having your kids in the office can make anyone feel a little scattered so here's a somewhat random post.

Take Your Children to Work Day isn't the only thing being celebrated in my office this week. There was Employee Appreciation Day and Earth Day too. Law firm tend to celebrate all these things by feeding you really good food. It really sucks that it's all falling during Passover - when I can't eat any of it. Willpower don't fail me now!

I wouldn't say that I'm over Passover quite yet but I'm getting close. It's not that there is nothing to eat. I've actually had some good lunches like this one yesterday - strawberries and sour cream with a coffee cake cupcake. Yum! I just feel limited and the fact that everything has to come from home - no last minute pizza runs - makes eating more of a planned enterprise. No fun at all.

Making the coffee cake in the form of cupcakes rather than a single pan was Stinkerbelle's idea. She has announced that she wants to go to culinary school and become a pastry chef when she grows up. She apparently feels the need to start proving herself now so no baked goods can leave my kitchen without her touch any more.

I finished another book last night (just 2 days start to finish) and it was really good and sooooo satisfying. I read What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman which got high marks in a review I read. It's a mystery about a woman who turns up claiming to be one of a pair of sisters who disappeared from a Baltimore Shopping Mall 30 years earlier and had long been presumed dead. The story is told from multiple points of view and goes back and forth between the past and the present dropping little tidbits and bombshells along the way. It sound like it ought to be confusing but it flows beautifully and I was so engrossed and enjoying the way the story unfolded that I didn't even want to peek at the ending (as I often do).

Having finished 2 novels is a week amuses me endlessly since I spent a good part of Saturday night with friends discussing how our daughters read too much. Ahhhh irony.

The sock I finished on Monday is this one - one of the pair of Elfine's Socks that I started 2 years ago. I'm beyond pleased to have been able to diagnose the problems preventing me from making progress and solved them. There was more to it than just knitting them one at a time and I'll tell you all about it when I'm finished with them. I'm certain that this will be a pair before I hit the 2 year mark.