Why does this keep happening?

Yesterday was yet another Thursday that felt like a Friday. That is SO annoying! And it keeps happening. It was hard to get up this morning, especially since I turned my alarm off when it sounded and I didn't wake up until 7:20. Not a good start to the day. But it's going to be a relatively short one since I've got a dentist appointment this afternoon.

I didn't do too much knitting last night. Still slogging away on the body of the cardigan. I have twenty-five more rows to go before I start on the yoke. This will be my first yoke cardigan although I've admired them for a while. Actually one of my very first tops I knit (and subsequently gifted because the color was all wrong for me) was a pattern from ChicKnits called Gigi, which is a bottom up top. I loved the way it looked and it's taken me what ... 5 years? .... to do another project like that. I've got a few yoke top patterns in my favorites and my queue and I found some Noro sock yarn on sale at Elann yesterday so I snatched up 3 skeins. I found a simple cardigan pattern made from sock yarn but knit on size 7 needles and I might try it. I think I'd like to steek it though. Or if I don't do that cardigan I'll do the Whisper Cardigan which has an interesting construction. The only problem with that is that there would be plenty of purling and we all know how I feel about purling. The Noro sock yarn is rather loud so I want to keep the garment simple so the yarn can do all the talking.

Tomorrow is the first of May already. It's the opening of boating season so there will be a boat parade and the rowing races. Right now the weather doesn't look promising. I will have to stay far away from this mess tomorrow. I've got plenty of chores to do before rehearsal plus, most importantly, I've got to get vegetable starts!

Bugs

There are certain times of the year when little clouds of gnats harass me on my bike ride. It is a bit early and cool for them but last night I managed to not only get one in my mouth, but another in my eye and a third in my ear! A gnat trifecta.

My friend McG is coming to town this weekend and I always look forward to his visits. He's doing a show Sunday night in Snohomish which I'll be able to catch and hopefully we can get together for dinner while Mr. M is busy these next ten days. McG brings out the devil in me. I think we all need a friend (or 2 or 3) like that in our lives. I know I sure do. Really really do.

The weather forecast is for a pretty nice weekend so I really must get my vegetable starts in on Saturday, or at least buy them Saturday and put them in on Sunday. I wish my sister lived closer. She loves to muck about in the garden. I am much better when there's another working with me. Tink is, alas, no help whatsoever.

I remembered my running shoes today so, weather permitting, I'll have a nice little run at lunch. I don't think I'm going to be doing too much running when I'm biking every day AND on a diet. I'll see how it goes.

Big doings at the UW

The president of the university resigned yesterday and he is going to be president of the NCAA, effective November 1. This is huge news and quite a surprise to everyone. Considering all of the budget cuts he's had to deal with, I don't blame him for taking it. Plus I'll bet it's going to be a cool job.

It was surprisingly chilly this morning, but at least dry. I keep forgetting that it is really EARLY spring yet. Our bike commute challenge starts next Monday. I can't say I'm actually looking forward to it, but I'm going to do my best to bike every single day. I've got a dentist appointment this coming Friday, but nothing on the calendar for May so I won't have any excuse to drive in.

I wanted to have a little walk yesterday at lunchtime but a storm blew in right before noon and I opted out. It's noon knitting today! yay! I brought the body of my cardigan - the boring and seemingly never ending expanse of stockinette stitch. I have over 30 rows until I can put the sleeves on and start the yoke.

All's well

Tink is all better. She came in and snoozed by me as I worked for most of the morning. After lunch I took her for a little walk and she perked up a bit. She was drinking water and she did do her business so I canceled the vet appointment and by late afternoon she was herself. I just can't let Mr. M be in charge of her in large crowds like on Sunday. He doesn't pay attention and she gets into all sorts of things. She is a dog and will eat most anything.

I worked on the cardigan, finishing up the garter rib portion of the body and starting on the long haul that will be the stockinette portion of the body. It is mind numbing knit and purl with the odd increase row thrown in for about six inches. This is the back and the two sides, since it's all of one piece, so the rows are long. It's good TV knitting. Too bad we don't have a new episode of LOST tonight, but a repeat of an episode that I've already seen twice.

It was pouring rain all night but it has lightened up this morning. I was looking forward to an easy run this lunchtime but I took my good, newer, running shoes home for the race and forgot to bring them back. So no run today. Maybe a little walk if the weather permits.

The weather is getting better and I really need to nail my butt to a chair and sew up those two seams on my dress. I should be able to wear that in a week or so.

Super awesome run!

As the title suggests - my race yesterday was GREAT! I even surprised myself. My unofficial time, from my Garmin, was 34:35. That is more than 2 minutes faster than my last race. That averages out to 11:30 minute miles and what I want to get to is 10 minute miles. For a great part of the race I was running 10:30 miles. I got a little tired about mile 2 and slowed down. I think if I had paced myself differently I might have done a little better. I am just thrilled though. I was shooting for 35 minutes so to have done it in under 35, WELL under, is just great!!

Since I had done all of my chores on Saturday I had the entire rest of yesterday to just chill in my comfy chair, listen to audio books and knit and do laundry. I got a good bit done on the cardigan. I've got less than 20 rows to go in the garter rib before I switch over to stockinette. It was a perfect day. Mr. M was out working and Tink and I just relaxed until it was time to get ready for dinner.

In retrospect, that should have been a clue that she wasn't feeling up to par. She spent the ENTIRE afternoon next to me, snoozing. And then last night she was up all night. You could hear ... well *I* could hear ... her tummy gurgling and growling and making all sorts of noises. She was crying to go out or pacing around. I got up at 1:30 and again at 3:30 and in between did not sleep much. She has been out since I've been up, about an hour now, but I haven't seen her throw up, just eat grass. I'm going to work from home today so I can keep an eye on her. If she doesn't start perking up soon I'm going to have to take her in to the vet. And in the meantime, I've got plenty to keep me busy here.

1:30 AM

Tink has an upset stomach. That means I am up, waiting for her to do whatever it is that she needs to do to make things right with her tummy. I hope she is quick about it. I am tired!!


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Thank goodness

I finished up those sleeves last night, finally! And after they were finished I needed to put them on holders - 19 stitches for the underarm on a separate holder from the rest of the sleeve. Of course, I did it wrong the first time for the right sleeve. It took me AGES to get those oriented correctly but it is done and they look lovely. Not only that but I got the body of the sweater cast on and did about 4 rows. I must be super vigilant so I don't mess up the pattern on the body because it would be impossible to hide, like the cuff of a sleeve, and I'd have to take it out. I hate doing that. Tonight Mr. M is out doing a show so I'll have a nice, quiet, long evening to get some serious work done on it.

I was invited to join a team for Bike to Work Month, May. I've now registered so no turning back! All fingers crossed for a lovely, dry May.

I had a decent run yesterday and I am still quite stoked about the race on Sunday. I've got a busy busy day tomorrow - pick up my timing chip, bib and T-shirt and do basically all of my weekend chores, plus rehearse, so that on Sunday all I have to do is race. Then I can come home and veg the rest of the day Sunday and not feel guilty. Mr. M may even take me out to dinner. We shall see. Regardless, diet be damned, I'm having a cocktail Sunday!

SO close!

I took my sleeves to noon knitting yesterday and got a good hour in, and then last night I spent the entire evening catching up on Glee and knitting on those sleeves. Before I went up last night I measured them and I was right, my row gauge is off. They measure 17 1/2 inches but I have another increase row to do. If I follow the pattern then I have almost 25 rows to do. I am not going to follow the pattern though. I'm going to knit up to the next increase row, do that and do one other row and call it good. Or maybe I'll do the increase a little earlier ... I'll take a close look at them tonight before I start and make up mind then. But the good news is that I'll be able to cast on for the body of the cardigan, maybe even tonight! yay! I am SO sick of wrestling those sleeves around. It's that darned bamboo circular with the skinny cord. I have to fight to get the stitches up onto the needle every round and it's getting very old and my fingers are getting sore.

I have high hopes for my run at lunchtime today. I forgot my Garmin at home so I won't be able to get an accurate reading of my speed but no matter. I'm just going to go easy and save myself for Sunday. The revised forecast says it's going to nice too! Of course, if it's too nice then I'm going to have to make good my promise to myself and get the garden in. Oh well - it won't be so bad.

What a disappointment!

Yesterday's eagerly anticipated run was a bust! I had about zero energy and ended up walking the last half mile. I guess I just wasn't properly fueled. I still have high hopes for Sunday.

It's pouring rain today and so I took the bus. I have joined up with a team of bike riders for a competition in May, which means that I must ride my bike EVERY work day in May. There will be no taking off for rain days, so I don't feel too guilty for indulging today. But I will have to dig out my old waterproof pants for those days it will inevitably rain in May. It is Seattle after all and I don't have a proper place to dry off (and dry my clothes out) if I do arrive to work soaking wet.

Rehearsal was indeed canceled yesterday which didn't break my heart. Tink needed a bath and I needed to work on those sleeves. I think my row gauge is off because I only have 3 more inches to go until the sleeves measure 17 1/2 inches and I've got over 40 rows to knit. No matter - I'll just keep measuring. And I don't mind if the sleeves are a little long. I can always roll the cuff if they bother me.

I think I'm going to have to get my vegetables in this weekend, weather permitting. Our bass player said he and his wife put their garden in last weekend. I am waiting until my neighbor down the street puts hers in because she had the most awesome garden last year and she had put hers in about 3 weeks prior to me. As much as I hate working in the garden, I don't mind tending the vegetables much and I sure like eating them. The corn and the (very few) tomatoes we got last year were just SO good! And I love having fresh herbs as well. And lettuce. I had great success with lettuce in the planters on the deck last summer so I must do that again. Let's hope for at least a little break in the weather.

Let's try again

Yesterday was a tough day for me. I was really suffering from the effects of Sunday night's insomnia. I was like a zombie in the afternoon. It was a lovely ride home though. The air was warm and the scent of lilacs was everywhere along the trail. It just smells good everywhere now. Every time I let Tink outside last night I would stand there and have a good sniff. But I only did a few rows on the sleeves -- I'm now up to 105 or so. I caught up on Desperate Housewives and headed up to bed early. Thankfully I got a decent night's sleep last night so .... let the day begin!

It's a running day today and I've got errands after work so I drove in. Yesterday I wrote my mitigation statement for that stupid speeding ticket I got in January along 35th. I don't take that street in the morning much any more. I sure hope the mitigation statement does its trick. I truly believe that $189 is a ridiculous fine for that infraction. It's a revenue generator, pure and simple.

We may or may not be rehearsing tonight but won't find out until later in the afternoon. It's my favorite night of the week -- LOST. Not too many episodes left though, which makes me sad. It's almost as bad as the end of football season!

I have to admit now my newest addiction is audio books. I bought two more last night - A Patchwork Planet by Ann Tyler and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which is narrated by Stephen Fry. Two really good ones. I've got to slow down though - it's a pricey little addiction.

It's good to feel good says Simple Shelley

I had an awesome run around the lake this weekend. The weather was fantastic and I was feeling great. I made the entire lake in 33 minutes!! That is HUGE! That means that I should be able to break 36 minutes at this race. I'll just do a couple easy runs this week and be ready to tear it up next Sunday.

I had a glorious quiet day on Saturday. The sleeves are coming slowly slowly as sleeves have a tendency to do. I always forget how long it takes. It doesn't seem that sleeves should take so long but they're a big piece of the garment and I am doing both at the same time. I think I have about 50 more rows to go. Maybe by the weekend I'll be done. I did not pick up the dress. The weather is getting nicer and I should really get that finished.

Had a good rehearsal this weekend as well. Doug has a line on a keyboard player. He's going to come to rehearse with us next Saturday. That should be fun. I hope he can sing.

Today I've got to get my mitigation statement written and FAXed in to the Municipal Court. This is in answer to that ridiculous speeding ticket I got in January. It's a complete racket, this speed trap. Once a week they station a van about a block away from the school zone blinking light. The person running the camera in the van sets up two sandwich signs along the road a block or two before the van, essentially extending the zone by two blocks. Only on one side, mind you. They set the school zone sign blinking a full 45 minutes before school starts. Do you know any elementary children who come to school 45 minutes early? I have NEVER seen a child at that time of the morning. It's entrapment, pure and simple. And the fine? $189!!! It really makes me mad.

How strange

I was just heading up the hill this morning towards 39th. I heard something that at first I thought was a very loud radio. Maybe someone in a car waiting outside of a house. But as I climbed further up the hill it was sounding like bagpipes. I thought it rather early for someone to be outside in their garden practicing but as I reached the intersection of 136th and 39th I saw a man in full kit marching down the street piping! How extremely strange. I have no earthly idea what he might have been doing except practicing. There is a rather large Scottish festival in late spring so maybe that's it.

I did have a really good, strong run yesterday so I just this morning registered for the Top Pot Doughnuts Inaugural 5K Doughnut Dash and Walk. I'm going to run the course this Sunday for a practice run. It would be nice to break 36 this time.

No real knitting news. I just plugged along some more on the sleeves of the sweater. It was FlashForward last night and then a SNL special. I have a busy weekend but I would dearly love to carve out some time to finish up the dress. If I could only pull myself away from that lovely lovely yarn long enough to sew a couple seams.

Productive? Not so much.

I *really* enjoyed the peace and quiet yesterday plus, of course, it's always nice to work where I can look out at the sunshine (or rain, depending) and not have to walk away from my desk to do it. Someday ... someday I will again have an office with a window. Until then it is nice to be able to work from home from time to time and I always try to arrange it for a day when Mr. M is going to be out. When he's around I spend too much time trying to block out the sound of him. Anyway, after helping the chair's assistant with her image problems, which I guess I'm going to have to deal with next week, I took Tink for a walk in the sunshine and then buckled down to work on my quizzes.

I've spent the better part of 2 weeks re-vamping these ancient quizzes, re-purposing the CGI scripts and re-designing the look and I finally got it down. Well, there is one more thing I'd like to do but I'm not that good at Perl scripting and I am having a heck of a time figuring out how to include style tags in the output, or put the output into a table, so I've had to put that idea by the wayside so I could get the major portion of the project done. I got organized, moved all my files over to my laptop and got down to the tedious work of re-writing all of the scripts, one by one. Each quiz comprises one cgi script and four html pages. This is a fairly time consuming operation and, to make a long story short, after doing a few hours I thought it prudent to test my work (ya think?) and what do you think I found? Go on, guess. ............ If you guessed they didn't run, bingo! Arughghghgh!! I am 99% sure that it's because of the program I was using to edit the CGI files. My guess it that it's putting invisible characters into the scripts. So it's back to page one this morning. But I am going to test as I go rather than assuming each one is working as the previous.

Tuesday my run wasn't as good as I was hoping it would be. My guess is it's because I had forgotten my inhaler, which my doctor told me to use before I exercise. I noticed that I was wheezing a bit and I wasn't breathing as easily as I had done on the previous Thursday. Allergy season is hitting very early this year and the combination of what I did to my lungs this winter and that made my run a little tougher. I have high hopes for a good run today. I've got to sign up for that April 25 race this afternoon.

With my nice quiet evening I made some good progress on the sleeves. Oh but I love that cashmere yarn!! One thing though -- it is rather delicate. I have to be careful not to pull it to hard. I broke a strand last night. I have about 20 more rows to go and then it's stockinette for the remainder of the sleeves, which I am looking forward to. And I must say, this latest audio book I am listening to is SO riveting! I really do need to pay closer attention. I had to tink back twice yesterday evening because I had not paid enough attention. Timothy Dalton is the one reading this book, "Christine Falls". It's set in Dublin in the early '50s. He is miles better than the narrator of that Flashman book. I am going to delete that. I know I'll never want to listen to him again.

Best laid plans - and LOST spoilers

Well, I'm working from home today but getting a bit of a late start. I have a project I want to get a good start on and since Mr. M is out on a job all day and into the evening, it's a perfect time for me to get a little peace and quiet and get some work done. But I've spent most of the morning dealing with some image issues that the chair's assistant is having. I seem to have gotten that handled and so the rest of the day should be productive.

Before LOST last night I did another 10 or so rows on the sleeves. I made *another* mistake with that garter rib however since I'm doing them at the same time it is now a design element, not a mistake.

LOST is becoming even more interesting, if that's possible. What a story, especially for a crazy romantic like me. It seems it's all coming down to love. We have the main characters connecting with each other in the sideways universe and when they touch or kiss the memories come of their connections. I know this is going to sound really crazy so quit reading now if it's going to make you squirm .......... I really did have a similar experience once. The first time this certain person and I kissed I looked at his face and I swear I saw him change from man to boy to old man and back again. It was the most incredible thing I had ever experienced. I must have had a funny look on my face because he asked me what I was looking at. I think I said "I don't know", because it was very strange. And that's my "woo-woo" moment for today.

Now back to work.

No half way measures

I thought about it ... about just ripping back those cuffs. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that we're only talking about a very small fraction of the entire garment and I might as well just start from scratch and get it right. So that's what I did. And here we are, about 11 rows in now. I have made one small modification (besides redistributing the number of stitches on each needle) and that is I'm NOT going to purl the faux seam stitch. It is difficult enough to keep from having ladders at the seam. That'll be enough for the look. I don't really care if it looks like I knit my sleeves in the round. I will put the faux seam on the body of the sweater, since I believe that is much more noticeable than the sleeve seam or not. My only other challenge is that I'm using a Denise needle for one side and a bamboo circular for the other which, as you can see, have vastly different cables. If I pull my stitches too tight at the corners (to keep from having insane ladders) then I am wrestling the stitches off the cable and up the needle. Oh but the yarn -- it's so yummy and lovely. Totally worth all the hassle.

It's cloudy but not too cold. I'm going to do another 3 mile run at lunchtime today. I'm really getting excited about the race on the 25th. It's been quite a long time between races. I am hoping this one won't be packed. It's a new race -- in fact I think it's the first year - so hopefully it won't be as squished up as the last Love 'em or Leave 'em I did on that course. Now if they'd only ban strollers and dogs I'd be happy.

While I was working on my sleeves (and Mr. M was up in the theatre watching some hideous Chinese warlord thing [I think]) I was finishing up the first of 3 DVDs that my friend McGarrah had insisted I rent. It is a series from British TV called "Black Books". It's very funny and perfect knitting fare. I've interspersed them in my Netflix queue with the movies. It's handy having something to pop in when I just want a little something on while knitting. Nothing too taxing ... like ...... LOST. Woohoo! I love Tuesdays.

Do I hear croaking?

It was a pretty productive weekend. I buckled down Friday when I got home and finished up the Great Gatsby dress -- all except sewing up the side seams. It is *adorable*!! The picot edging around the neck edge really makes it. It took me the entire evening on Friday to do it, but I knew that I would be settling down to start the Tangled Yoke Cardigan on Saturday so I think I showed extreme restraint in working on that dress Friday night. I put it over my head on Saturday and held the side seams together and indeed it's going to look great. I guess I'm going to have to make some sort of bargain with myself to get it sewn together. Since it's sleeveless I've got a few weeks before it'll be appropriate attire anyway.

The gardeners came bright and early Saturday morning and it was a nice day for gardening. After I ran my errands I settled down in my comfy chair to start the sleeves before I had to head out to rehearsal. Since they are done in the round I cast on for both of them and am doing them like I do socks, two at a time on two circular needles. I only got a few rows done before it was time to get out of there so I picked up where I had left off on Sunday.

The sleeves start out with about 7 1/2 inches of garter rib, which is regular 2x2 rib for one row and plain knitting on the other row. This in itself doesn't sound too complicated. All one has to do is keep track of the rows -- odd or even numbered. However, there is shaping going on as well as the ribbing, which switches out to regular stockinette stitch while still shaping. One of my pet peeves are patterns for sleeves that write the increases (or decreases) as increase so many stitches every so many inches however many times. This pattern has the increases listed by rows -- for example, increase two stitches every 14 rows 8 times AND at the same time switch to stockinette stitch when you have completed 71 rows from the beginning. So here we are keeping track of each row we knit, and on a separate counter the number of rows between the increases AND how many times you have done the increase, always keeping in mind whether you are on an odd or even row.

Sunday I had downloaded a new audio book having found that I was too annoyed at the narrator for the Flashman book -- I spent too much time while listening thinking about what a terrible actor he was. The new book is VERY good and I was enjoying it and kitting along while the yard work was getting done. The man had brought his wife and young son with him because his helper left on Saturday and never returned! The little boy kept knocking and coming in and out, same with the wife, plus I was running upstairs to switch out the laundry AND listening to an engrossing audio book. After I had done the first of 8 increases, about 25 entire rows, I realized that had messed up and I had no idea where I was but I had done three rows of plain knitting so in essence I had started the stockinette stitch portion of the sleeve 4 inches too soon. I thought I could live with that so I carried on. Then later in the evening I realized that my second increase had left a hole plus the purl stitch fake seam was not looking nice because it was the last stitch on the second needle and I couldn't pull it tightly enough to look right. I left it then and went upstairs to read.

When I came down this morning and picked up the sleeves I realized that I could not live with that hole in the sleeve nor the seam and yes, I really would like 7 1/2 inches of garter rib, because it's pretty. So it's frog away for me this evening. I do think that I can rip it back to the first increase row without too much trouble. And if I can't, well then I'll take it all out and start over from the very beginning. This yarn is just too yummy for a sloppy job.

I found a race to run this month sponsored by, of all people, Top Pot Doughnuts! It's a run around Greenlake, which is always nice because it's flat. I have two weeks to get into shape for it and considering I did three miles easily last Thursday, I think I'll be fine.

Sunk

Guess what was waiting for me when I got home last night? That's right -- 15 balls of pure cashmere tweed bliss! And while I had every intention of not touching it until I had finished my Great Gatsby dress, I was powerless when I opened the package. I went through my considerable (and messy) stash of magazines and unearthed the correct issue and decided I'd do my gauge swatch. Here's how I justified it -- I didn't have time to finish up the left side and put the shoulder together, nor pick up stitches for either the neck or armhole because I wanted to watch Flash Forward. BUT I could easily knit on a swatch while watching the program, so that's what I did. And believe me, I wanted to just cast on and get going but I really want this to be a nice perfect fitting sweater so I'm going to get gauge, which is 6 stitches to the inch. I started out with the needles called for in the pattern but found I was getting 7 stitches to the inch plus the fabric is a little stiff. So I changed up to size 6 needles which is giving me about 5 1/2 stitches to the inch. So my choice is to use the smaller needle and block it out to fit or use the next size up and have it a little bit bigger. I am going to choose the second option. It's cashmere. I like the softer feel of the slightly looser stitch. And an inch or so of positive ease is not a bad thing for a cardigan.

I had a super good run yesterday. I went 3 miles and I think I'm going to stay at 3 miles for a few weeks and see if I can bring the time down a minute or two. I believe there's a 5K run some time in May ... I should do a search on that. I'd like to get a new PB this spring.

Yup, it's spring for sure

This morning while I was getting ready to leave it started hailing like crazy! Hard! The deck was just covered, like it was snow. Normally I would have been caught in it, but I drove in today. It looks like it's going to be nice this weekend, which is great news because I have people coming to clean up my garden. Hooray! As usual it's a HUGE job that I've been chipping away at, but it's beyond the scope of my talents. The unfortunate part of the deal is that there is a vast no man's land just behind the house and the deck, between where the rockery and lawn starts and the house. When we bought the house it was, of course, immaculate. The landscapers had put down black plastic and covered it with bark so it was lovely. However, the next year the weeds started growing up through it and I could barely keep up and now ... it's a jungle! I would dearly love to put paving stones down there and make a nice patio, but the paving stones I want are rather pricey so I'm waiting until this fall. In the meantime I've got to do something with that area so I am thinking of just getting the biggest weeds out of there and then putting more plastic and bark down just to hide it until we can get the patio going. That was not part of the bid the gardener gave me yesterday so ... I guess that's going to have to be my "little" project for the next few weekends. What about Mr. M helping? Ah no, not his thing. He mows the lawn, which is a big enough job, considering the hill.

I tackled the left side of the dress last night and am only about 10 rows from finishing up the shoulder and 3 needle binding the front and back together. Then it's picking up the stitches for the neckline and arm holes. I hope to get to at least one of those before I have to stop tonight. I know I must hurry up with this because I ordered 15 balls of a gorgeous cashmere tweed from Elann and as soon as that comes I'm not going to want to touch anything else.

One down ...

I had a super busy day at work yesterday. I got caught up in a programming black hole. No success, either! Hopefully today will bring joy in that realm. I did have great joy biking to and from work yesterday. It is SO good to be healthy again! Facing those hills is a piece of cake. I had forgotten that they weren't really all that difficult when I was feeling normal. I drove in today because I've got to shoot right out to rehearsal after work so I'll run at lunch today. I am looking forward to that as well.

Yesterday evening I buckled down and finished up the right front of the Gatsby dress and joined the shoulders with a 3 needle bind off. I most likely will not be able to get to work on the left front because of rehearsal and LOST but for sure tomorrow, after giving stinky Tinkie her bath. I just bought some cashmere tweed from Elann - terrific price and I've been wanting some green tweed for ages. I am thinking of doing the Tangled Yoke Cardigan . I think the yarn will be just perfect for that.

74 days until Hawaii.

It was a stormy stormy weekend

I took Friday off and we went out to the coast to my favorite funky little cottages. But wow, was it ever blowing! And raining! I wanted to post pictures of Tinkerbell running on the beach but there is no cell service out there either! Plus the weather was so bad that I only took her to the shore one time.

I did get some good knitting done while riding in the car to Long Beach and while we were there. I finished up the One Skein stole (and blocked it last night), and I am very close to finishing up the front of the dress. I am working now on the right side arm hole, which is a bit tedious. But that will leave me with only one more to do, then 3 needle bind off the shoulders, do the stitching around the neck and arm holes and sew it up. Now that I write it all out ... there's quite a bit of work left to do. Maybe by the weekend I can finish it up.