One Crazy Fiber Lady

Artist

It appears that I have a budding Michelangelo in my house. (click to biggen)

He worked on this masterpiece sometime between the time I kissed him goodnight and when I checked on him before turning in myself.  The incriminating marker was still in his sleeping hand.  Fortunately, it was a washable marker and the 'magic eraser' worked on it.  He was pissed this morning to find it gone.  Oy.

As an aside, I took this picture with the lights off using the "Night Snapshot" setting on my Elph.  I'm seriously impressed.

Obligatory Knitting Content:  I'm halfway through the short row heel on the second Jitterbug sock.  Woot!

Craft on!

Square Update

In a last minute change of plans, unlike MDSW when I expected to go alone but came with a child instead, I will be alone tomorrow for the annual pilgrimege to Rhinebeck.  I'm not exactly sure why I didn't think of this before, but I'm converting the mother's helper to babysitter and leaving the monkeys at home with her. 

I think the reticence over being over an hour drive away in case of emergency is what held me back initially.  But really, the babysitter's mom is nearby and was their toddler daycare teacher.  The pediatrician lives across the street.  I'll check with the neighbors to see if I can leave their numbers as emergency contacts.  I'll also leave my cell phone number (and probably some of my fellow fiber friends incase my cell signal is as good there as it is at home - read non-existent.) as I vaguely remember getting calls last year.

The motivating factor here?  Alex isn't feeling well.  While he isn't sick sick, he did throw-up a couple of times last night but is otherwise fine.  No other symptoms though he's now complaining of a sore tummy.  Not sure what it is about, but its better he stay home.  With A here with him, she's his most favorite person outside my mother, he'll be fine.  Not to mention that there is far more for them to do here than at the festival.

So those looking for me tomorrow, stop looking for the double stroller and the mother's helper.  I'll be stag.  Sweet. 

Craft on!

ABC's

Trying something new that has been banging around inside my skull for a couple of days now as a post theme.  Really thinking about it, there are three big components of my life, ABC's if you will.    I present them to you:

A is for Animals

There are a couple of critters (other than the bipeds) who live in this house.  They are all doing fine.  Here is the choice photo of the week..

Even though I've had cat(s) now for decades, I continue to be surprised by the way they contort themselves.  Note that Sara's coat has FINALLY grown back in from that "grooming" last December.  Took a good long time for it to really achieve full puff.

B is for Babies (though not such babies)

The girl child continues to sleep in increasingly odd spots.  A few nights ago, I found her just inside my room sleeping on the hardwood floor.  Personally, I love how she wedged her Zoey doll into the door :)

She's also taken a liking to sock yarn.  I find her quite frequently digging through the sock yarn basket in my room, picking out a few skeins.  I left her one morning, as I went to work, with this collection in the kitchen.  Not sure where this addiction comes from ;)  She does have good taste in yarns though!

Boy is modeling a sweater that I knit years ago out of sock yarn.  I think it is an Ann Norling pattern, but I'd have to go digging in the old pattern notebook to confirm.  I made it for my sister's oldest, who is turning 11 in December.  It came back as a hand-me-down a short time ago.  Alex found it in his closet and has taken a liking to it.  Fits him well too!  And yes, I have a pair of socks in the same yarn....and if memory serves correctly, probably one of my first pairs also from a Norling basic sock pattern.

C is for Crafts

I've been doing some serious crafting, thanks to the daily train ride.  First up the knitting:

I knit a Drive-Thru for Kat in just about a week (10/1 to 10/7 for the knitting and I did the buttons on 10/12).  I made the 4yo size.  The yarn was a combo of Cascade 220 (the fuscia which is the same as last year's sweater) and Galway (black and white). 

The Galway is left over from Alex's Drive-Thru:

They'll probably be wearing these sweaters next Sunday at Rhinebeck.  I'll be wearing this:

I finally made it through the sewing parts of Minimalist.  I do want to give it a good soaking, probably should do that today.  I do like this sweater very much.  I knit it from Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran in the Casket colorway.  It was a fast knit that took me longer to assemble.  I have no pictures of it, but Ribby is also assembled.  It is just waiting for a zipper.  I was on a bit of a finishing quick towards the end of last week.  I should probably sew it in tonight and have a finished shot soon.

Also in the works is my swatch sleeve for Autumn Rose.  I'm loving this project.   I hit gauge right off the bat with it, which makes me quite happy.  It doesn't make for great train knitting (but that's what things like socks and Clapotis are for) but I've made progress the last two nights while watching the Red Sox play :)  Sara graciously agreed to model...

I've caught the Fair Isle bug and rediscovered that I like colorwork.  The Ingeborg kit might actually bubble to the top of the queue sooner now, and I picked up some yummy yarns at MY last week to knit Eunny's Argyle Vest.

There's also been a bit of spinning around here.  Have to, must justify further purchases at Rhinebeck next week!!!! 

First, I finally finished that cashmere/silk blend that I bought at MASW this year from Foxfire Fibers in Greylock.  I'm leaving it as singles and will probably knit the Shetland Triangle with it.

I have two bobbins of the wool blend roving that I bought at GSSB  to knit Kat a sweater done.  I've been spinning this stuff a rather fluffy long draw.

I also plied a bunch of bobbins that have been sitting around for a while, but no pictures of those at present.  I still need to skein em up and wash em. 

So yeah, its been busy around here, but it always is.  Its better that way.

Next weekend is Rhinebeck.  Woot.  The monkeys and I (along with a mother's helper) will be there on Sunday.  I'm a square again this year!

I think that covers most of what's been going on.  I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting though.  Oh yeah, including my third blogiversary which was this past thursday.  Happy Blogiversary to me :)  Whodathunk I'd still be at it three years later.  Surely not me!

Craft on!

Pair of Fours

I have plenty of knitting to show, as well as spinning and cute animal shots.  But all that must wait for another post.  Tonight is about the monkeys.  My babies, who continue to remind me that they are not babies, turned FOUR today. 

It seems like yesterday that I was eagerly anticipating the arrival of my precious babies.  How could that be four years ago already?  I'm quite proud of these two little people so far and look forward to seeing how they develop over the next year.

I do know that I got an email at work today (which I still love BTW) from mom to show me what the birthday pair had done...

Should be an interesting ride!!

Craft on!

Keeps on Changing

Damn, another week got by me without a post.  Sorry.  The new schedule is still kicking my butt.  Not getting home until 7:15 is getting challenging.  Dinner has been shifted later though most nights they've finished, or are finishing, just as I walk in.  Shorty bedtime has definitely shifted later.  The only thing that hasn't shifted later is the morning alarm clock.  It still goes off at 6AM so we can be out by 7:45.  Sigh. 

With the kids staying up, "my time" has been compressed as I still need to get to bed at a decent hour in order to do it all the next day.  I have been knitting/spinning and other things, but computer time (as that is how the day is spent) is significantly reduced.  Sorry again.  I have lots of pictures (but not with me - except what is sitting in my flickr albums.

Some big events....

1.  Alex gave up his pacifier.  FINALLY.  The new school didn't allow pacifiers.  Wish someone had told me that, but during their second week there, they finally enforced the rules thereby creating an unhappy boy.  With thanks to Super Nanny, I had him gather his binkies for the Binky Fairy to exchange for a present.  She gave him a dust buster.  He's ecstatic :)  The first day was a tad rough (last Thursday), but he hasn't asked for one since.  Sweet.  The "mean" teacher situation made for a "I don't want to go to school" kind of weekend, and he got away with it last Friday.  Yesterday, I manhandled him into the car, strapped his ass into his big-boy-booster-seat (another recent change!) and drove the hysterical kid off to daycare/nursery.  His teachers can not be anywhere near as mean as me.  Not surprisingly, once at school, he discovered that the teachers weren't such monsters and had a good time. 

2.  The day Alex stayed home from school because of the mean teachers, Kat came to work with me.  This company is just great.  They were really wonderful to her, with hidden caches of kid-stuff throughout desk drawers including silly putty, crayola markers and all sorts of other things.  She did amazingly well, was a really good girl, and made it through a long day.  We took the 5:25 train home where she crashed.  Hard.  Not surprised there.  And.  Oh yeah, I did get some work done that day too.

3.  Work is still going amazingly well.  I'm getting to do more and more things as I learn the systems and am making contributions rather than reading documentation.  Nice change, though I suspect there come a point when I long for the quiet days :)  All in all, I'm glad I'm here.

4.  Mom went to her first fiber festival this weekend.  We took the kids to the NJ festival in Ringoes.  I bought some fiber.  Not surprised huh?  Some wool blends in pretty colors to make the twins sweaters.  Some year.  Though I do have almost one bobbin of Kat's done on the Vermont Wheel.  The bigger purchase was not a wheel, for a change....

Meet Bandit

He's a 9 month old Jersey Wooly.  And just the sweetest thing!  After leaving the festival with this little guy in a cardboard box, I had to hunt around looking for a hutch for the little fellow.  Two stores later, at a PetSmart in Hamilton, I had all the supplies for the newest pet.  More pictures of him at Flickr.  Do I need to mention that the kids love him?  Didn't think so.

5.  I think I burned out on socks... I've pulled the needles out of a couple of attempts now.  The Anastasia in the Kitty's Eyes is definitely a no go, even with my reduced stitch count version of the sock.  The yarn was just too splitty.  I've moved to a plain toe up sock using Duets Skinny in Sailor Girl.  Love it.  All this sock sampling has taught me a few things about the yarns I like and don't like to use for socks:

    a.  Don't like many stranded/lightly twisted yarns.   I prefer the hard twist, fewer ply yarns like the Louet (Koigu, Claudia, Duet Skinny).   Too many plies or soft twist begs for a lot of attention while knitting so as to catch all those damn plies.  No like.

     b.  While I don't mind a solid color, or a semi-solid tone on tone yarn, I find I don't like a subtle variegation.  The bandaid inspired Aussi Sock that got traded/sold was a good example.  The color changes, while not being tone/tone but were pink/cream/brown were just far too pale.  I seem to prefer the more boldly colored.  Boldly going where no yarn has gone before.  Anyway...

    c.  Plain socks rule.  I might collect sock patterns out the wazoo, but sock knitting really is my mindless knitting on the train while reading knitting, so patterns don't play nicely with that scheme.  Nor does the splitty problem mentioned in a) above.  However, doesn't mean I'm not totally inspired by beautiful sock patterns.  Speaking of which, my SnB's own Jersey Knitter won the SOS2007 Design Contest.  WAY TO GO INA!  Go give her some much deserved congrats.  The socks, which I was fortunate enough to see at the SnB are just gorgeous.  I might make her socks as one of my exceptions to plain knitting sock rules :)

6.  I've finished the body for the Tangled Yoke Cardigan and started the sleeve.  The cuff seems far too big and I fear it will flap all over my arm.  Its sitting in timeout while I debate continuing it or repurposing the yarn for something else.

7.  Minimalist Cardigan is proceeding very nicely.  It has become my commuting knitting over the last week or so.  I finished the back last night and started the Right Front (though will be my Left Front) this morning on the train.  I'm using the Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran in Casket that I bought from Deb a while ago.  It has been marinating in stash long enough.  Pretty stuff and I'm enjoying this knit.

Well the server I've been waiting for to reboot is now back up.  Back to work.

Craft on!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Just as the job thing had settled down, another monkey wrench was thrown into the works.  Last Tuesday I received a letter from the twins' Day-care/Nursery school inviting me to a parent meeting discussing the future of the center.  This meeting was last night.  Oy. 

For some background, the school leased space from a local Jewish Center (synagogue).  Unfortunately the congregation of the Temple shrank to the point where they could no longer sustain themselves and merged with another area Temple.  The building was put up for sale in June of 2006.  The sale finally went through this past June 1.  During the course of the negotiations, the school director tried repeatedly to make contact with the prospective owners (a Korean Church) but all she could get was assurances through the broker that they "did not want to disturb the community" and they "welcomed the revenue" the school brought in.  This all changed at a meeting on June 12 when they announced that they would not be renewing the schools lease which would have to be out Aug 31st.  Long story short, the director has not been able to secure another location within the time allowed by the Church and had to break the bad news to us last night.  There were tears in her eyes as she explained what had transpired.  Hers were not the only teary eyes. 

So barring a miracle, I've got to find a new nursery/day-care center for September.  I've spent the morning on the web and the phone calling the centers near me.  I have an appointment EARLY Thursday morning at one place to take a tour.  It sounds great on paper, with early drop off and even later pick up, provides lunch and two snacks a day, activities, kindergarten preparedness curriculum.  I'm just curious as to how big a premium this one comes with.  Good thing I'm getting a raise.  The bigger problem is that starting next week, I'm at a new job, so I need to get this settled and right quick.  I can't be taking time off right off the bat.  Geez.  It is always something isn't it? 

Craft on!

Balance

First, the dark.  That 2.5 hours of torturous interviewing was for naught.  They loved my personality, but thought I was light on the tech.  Sigh.  Maybe not for naught, I did stop on the way home and picked up a few books so I could buff up the tech.  There's still two more companies still in play, including the project over tech torture where I place #1 so far.  And I have another interview with a different company on Tuesday.  With a little studying of the concepts rather than the application, I can land one of these.

Now for the light!  Thanks to fleegle, I now how a registered legit copy of the WRS!  Share the love with her!  She saved my head from exploding.  I took advantage of the summer Friday yesterday and headed uptown to Habu to check out their superfine lace weight yarns for WRS swatching.  I found two possible contenders.  I've spent the lace day and a half swatching and have narrowed it down to two contenders.

1.  Habu Fine Merino A-33 2/48 (top) on a US1
Pro:  Softer, two ply, cheap, blocks nicely
Con: Lace doesn't seem quite as crisp

2.  Lacis Shetland Cobweb (bottom) on a US0
Pro:  Crisp lace
Con:  Single, very fragile, found a bunch of knots in the single skein I went to wound.

The Habu is on the top and the Lacis is the bottom.  I really can't decide.  The Habu, being merino, is way softer than the Lacis and seems more airy.  However, the lace just seems sharper in the Lacis.  I dread dealing with all the knots and hope the one skeins is just a defective one.  See Ina, I did swatch!  There were more swatches, but these two are the leads.  The first was a Habu Merino on a 0 that, while nice, just wasn't very um....

I don't know.  I also picked up some silk from Habu - Tassar Silk Organzine Twist N-13 35/6x2, which is really close in weight to the silk sold by HK in the cone.  I'm not a huge fan of lace with silk and found the swatch to be crunchy.  Its definitely out of the running.

I can't decide so I'm asking for input.  Time for a poll.  Please only vote once ....

Which yarn should I use for the WRS
	Habu Merino A-33
	Lacis Shetland Cobweb
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Craft on!

could it be?

Could it be, two posts in less than a week?  Oh yes.   Lots to update and  I can't bear to wait a week as I know I'll forget something.

1.  Fibery Goodness...

The Loksins are finished.  I grafted the toe last night.  Nice pattern that I would definitely make again, just not in that yarn.  It was splitty and the resulting sock is itchy.  Still, another pair of finished socks for the Summer of Socks.  Weeeeee. 

Yarn:  Lang Jawoll
Needles:  US0
Mods:  smaller needles and I reduced the stitch count from 60 to 56 by pulling two out of each of the plain stockinette sections.    I also did a more straightforward reduction at the toe.

The socks fit perfectly.

I couldn't decide on the next yarn to use so I had Alex pick from a selection.  He chose these:

He selected these.  It is Stone Barn Fibers Gypsy Girl Creations in the Ominous Skies colorway that I bought from Loopy Ewe a few months back.  Not sure if I blogged it, but I might have.  There's been a lot of sock yarn in and out recently and I don't always fess up to it all.  I took this picture this morning at the train station.  Some bloggers use artful arrangements, I use the dashboard of my mommy-mobile :)  The sock?  Excellent yarn.  I'm loving it.

2.  Job Thing -

I have a second round interview this afternoon, an hour from now really, that could seriously be it.  I heard from my recruiter this morning that they really liked me from the phone interview and that if it goes right, they'd be ready to make an offer.  I might just get that birthday present after all! 

3.  Lace -

I will be knitting that masterpiece after all.  I'll give details when that pattern is in my hot little hands, but rest assured, my head won't be exploding anytime soon.  Next up will be the quest for the perfect yarn!

As for Tina?  No new pictures, really, you don't want to see the same center panel over and over and over again now do you?  I didn't think so.  I have been diligently working on it every night and have now finished 3.5 of the 9.5 repeats.  Getting there.  Love the yarn but am having a hard time imagining that Zephyr appearing thick compared to whatever WRS will be knit in.

4.  Kidlets -

Dad introduced the monkey boy to Lincoln Logs last night.  Mr. Mechanical took to them like a duck to water!

Kat missed out as she fell asleep in the car on the way home from camp/daycare and slept through the night, with only very brief periods of wakefulness.  Amazing.

Anyway, I'm all atingle with everything that's going on.  Must change clothes is a bit.  I hate the outfit that I put on this morning and if I'm going to rock the interview, i couldn't do it feeling crappy in my clothes.  I took advantage of there being an Anne Taylor Loft a short elevator ride away, and their having a sale, to buy me a new skirt and top.  Now I just have to put it on. 

Fingers crossed people!

Craft on!

There Be Wheels Here

It was a whirl of a weekend.  I'm a bit late in posting this as the wonderful women who were here on Saturday all beat me to it, but I'll give it a go.  I hosted a very talented group, informally the Jersey Spinners.  Deb, Kim (and Liam), Ina, and Jessica came over and together the similarly afflicted enjoyed a gorgeous Saturday by spinning on the patio.  There was great food and even better company. 

Not the best of shots, the other ladies have far better posts and pictures than I including bobbin shots of what each of us was up to.  I did capture the intrepid spindler supreme, Ina using my Lendrum.  Not surprisingly, she took to it rather well.

After they sadly left, I was alone in the house.  To give me a break, my folks took the twins to the boat for an overnight Saturday morning as the Jersey Spinners were arriving.  I made a quick/light dinner and went back to the wheel (Schacht) and finished up the second bobbin completing the first four ounces of the June Spunky Fiber offering.  I love BFL and her work is just superb. The color is Tulips.  In a very rare occurrence mood, I actually plied the two bobbins together and even skeined the darn thing up....that night.

The ball of roving is a second 4 oz of the same colorway/fiber.  I'm going to spin that one differently having read the article in the latest issue of Spin-Off on spinning self striping yarns.  I can't wait to give it a go.  I "quickly" counted up the loops and calculated 411 yards from the 4oz and broke out the swift.  Yes, it was now a center pull ball.

I was good, restrained myself from casting on then and there as I only had the ribbing on the second STR Red Rock Canyon sock to complete.  And I did.

These are my vanilla sock recipe with the turkish cast on, toe-up, PG-R no wrap short row heel with a 2x2 rib and a sewn bind off.  I'm quite taken with that bind off as it really is perfect in this application!  The yarn was the lightweight and I used US1 DPNs over 52 sts.  Standard socks all the way.

Letting no moss grow on my DPNs, I quickly cast on the newly spun Tulips yarn.  I finished the first sock on the train home from work yesterday and even got the toe done on the second.  No second sockitis here!  They're definitely fraternal socks....

The gauge is identical to that of the STR Lightweight and as such the pattern is a clone of the Red Rock socks I just finished.  The colors are fun and the yarn is just yummy.  I really can't remember the last time I actually knit my handspun!  Shame really.  I seem to stash it like all the rest and get totally distracted by the store bought stuff (of which there is more but that is for another post - though my Ravelry queue would be a good indicator).  It is definitely a nice reminder that I should be using my handspun more often.

Saturday wasn't the only day for spinning.  Oh no.  Sunday was the monthly meeting of the guild that I joined way-way back when I first learned to spin.  They meet the first Sunday of the month at a colonial era house in Fishkill, NY.  It is an hour drive for me, but in good weather, it can very scenic.  While I used to go every month, once the twins started moving along (not to mention the months I was VERY pregnant) I stopped going.  I think the last time I made it to a meeting was last fall.  I brought my little Gem and spun some of the dyed merino I bought at MDSW this year with me.  Part of the group spun outside on the lawn under a huge tree (no pictures... camnesia again!) while the rest worked a wet-felting workshop.  It was nice to get to go back. I left the meeting and met up with the rest of the family at the boat, which is conveniently located between the guild location and the house.  Nice.

One other activity this weekend has been the start of the Mystery Stole 3 (sorry getting too tired for the linky love).  I cast on Friday morning shortly after the clue was released.  I'm using Zephyr in Steel on a Addi Lace US4.  I'm now on row 80 of 100.  I should be able to finish the rest of the rows before the next clue pops out on Friday.

Sorry for the lousy picture. 

Now for the job update thing.  I didn't get the offer from the law firm in time to go back after my vacation to then give notice.  Oh well.  It seems the firm has a twice annual hiring freeze at the end of the 2nd and 4th quarters so that the numbers guy can review things.  And wouldn't you know it, the 2nd quarter just ended.  The gentleman at the firm who would be my boss called me yesterday to assure me that yes, all is well.  They are definitely interested and will be making an offer.  There's just this process that needs to be followed.  I should have the formal offer early next week!  Yay!  Works out somewhat better in a way too.  My buddy got two offers on Tuesday and since he's out until next Tuesday on some PTO (paid time off), we can probably give notice ON THE SAME DAY.  MUAHAHAHAHA.  I don't need to tell you that we both report to the same jerk, do I?! :)  Hee hee hee hee.  anyway, I wanted to give an update to where we are right now.

Today was very quiet.   We had a real do nothing day in the house with the weather being cool and overcast.  I did a little knitting on MS3, as well as futzed around with a crochet hook.  I'm ready to go relax with some knitting and a cup of tea before bed.   But before I go, I have to show the view from my bedroom door these days.

Kat, for some odd reason, last week decided that she didn't want to sleep alone in her room.  While she's always had this odd preference for the floor which I think I've mentioned before, she's taken to HER floor.  Now she moved to the hallway right outside my door.  How odd is that?  I can't even begin to fathom the force that has her sleeping there.  Any clues?

Birthday Meme

Jessica posted hers and offered up the tagging to those interested.  As my birthday is around the corner, I figured it would be a good time to go for it.

Here are the rules: You go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday (only the month and day). Then you write down 3 events, 2 births, 1 holiday, and then you tag 5 friends (though I'll follow her lead and not actually tag anyone.  Consider yourself tagged if you so choose).

July 22nd

Events

• 1793 - Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific Ocean becoming the first Euro-American to complete a transcontinental crossing north of Mexico.
• 1933 - Wiley Post becomes first person to fly solo around the world traveling 15,596 miles in 7 days, 18 hours and 45 minutes.
• 1934 - Outside Chicago's Biograph Theatre, "Public Enemy No. 1" John Dillinger is mortally wounded by FBI agents.

Births

• 1890 - Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, American Kennedy family matriarch (d. 1995)
• 1940 - Alex Trebek, Canadian-born game show host

Holiday

• Pi Approximation Day

Finally, I found this while surfing and got curious ...

I know there was more, but my scattered brain has lost the tendrils of thought.  Must have been that evening at Chuck E. Cheese's last week for a kid birthday.  More than likely it is wool fumes :)

Craft on!

Catching Up

Another week, another post.  There's been alot going on.  Including spending Saturday with our favorite BronxGirl to celebrate her birthday.  Met/Saw again some wonderful knitting/blogging people.  It really was a wonderful time.

I spent the remainder of the weekend cramming and reading up on VB.Net so I could sparkle on a tech test Monday.  The results came in today.  I did very well on one portion, so-so on another and downright poorly on a third.  Oh well.  Not up to snuff for the senior position the company was looking for so that option is over. 

It isn't all bad news.  I'd told my headhunter my concerns regarding the law firm who then, very diplomatically I might add, communicated those with the firm.  Tuesday afternoon the I got a call from the fellow I'd interviewed with at the law firm.  He wanted to answer any further questions I might have had and to clarify the misconception I had.  After getting the no today from the preferred place, I realized that any company that would be calling/meeting to give me more information must really want me.  I gave the associated recruiter the go-ahead.  I would like to work there.  There's flexibility, independence and room for growth.  And hell, if it sucks, I'm not married to them and can always move on with the explanation that I took the position wasn't what it was billed to be.  I should hear tomorrow.  The hiring fellow needs to get signoff for upping the salary range for the position to meet my requirements.  Good huh?  I might just be able to go back on Monday and give notice.  That would be sweet!  4 days of vacation (kids are off this week) and then end it.  Ahhh.

Yes, there's been knitting!!!

Yesterday, sandwiched by a long outing to the mall, I started and finished this sock.  It is my standard recipe toe-up (you can see its mate started), on US1 over 52st.  The yarn is STR Lightweight in Red Rock Canyon colorway that I bought last spring.  Don't think I blogged it though, but I remember ordering it after reading about the STR event at MDSW.  The couple of clicks was way easier than standing in line.  Remind me to show my MDSW 2007 t-shirt that I ordered off their website a few weeks ago ;)

Also on the needles still is the Essential Tank.  I'm just shy of the armpits still though getting awfully close.  I really should work on it, but the whole SOS2007 has me distracted by socks.  Not to mention the timesuck that is Ravelry.  I finally got my invite on Friday and have been terribly distracted!  My name over there is, not surprisingly, crazyfiberlady.  Go figure.  I've opted not to upload all my finished projects, but like others, will be treating as tabular rosa and will start new there. 

That's about it for now.  I have to go fish the monkeys out of the pool so they can go to bed.

Craft on!