Well, here's a couple of pics of my socks.




Hmmm! That's a lot fuzzier than I thought. Oh well. I made these while watching the evening news over the past few weeks. I used some stash yarn that was given to me (along with a lot of craft grade yarn). It's a synthetic called orlon. Easy to work with but I'm not sure it will be comfortable to wear. I doubt if it breathes at all. But I like the denim color and just wanted to get in some more practice.



This one is the Basic Sock from Nancy Bush's Folk Socks (yes, I know that's supposed to be italicized but I don't know how to do that yet). I'm using Plymouth Yarn's Sockotta. It's a nice yarn to work with but I'm not 100% sure I like the way it patterns. Maybe with a different stitch count it would be better. I'm almost done with the ribbing of the second one, thanks to knitting at Joanne's last night and to watching Manor House tonight. I think sock pictures are pretty funky when the sock is not actually being worn. But there are limits to how much I can contort and Lisa wasn't here to model. Maybe when I get these both done I will be able to talk her into showing them off.

We got some new sock yarn today at Skein. It's from Schaeffer and is called Anne. One skein is more than enough to make a pair of socks. There's something over 500 yards. It's a blend of merino, nylon and something else that I don't remember right now. It is supposedly hand dyed. The skein I want still smells of vinegar. I'm still searching for a way to justify spending $25.00 on a pair of socks. Any suggestions? (Anita, these came in after you left or I would have shown them to you.)

Other than that it was a slow day. We did have a couple of nice sales but very few customers. My friend Doris came in so I could do the three needle bind off on the shoulders of her current project, and also pick up the stitches on the two fronts. It's always a delight to see her. At 90 she's obviously not a spry as she used to be but she's still just as feisty. She left one of the sleeves behind, accidentally, so I dropped it off to her on my way home. She was so chagrined that she had done that. She's going to try to pick up the stitches for the neck band by herself but if she can't do it I'll go by her house on Friday on my way to Skein.

I was so saddened to hear that Jerry's cat friend Ben had passed on. Jerry's tribute to Ben is so honorable and fitting. A great friendship continued.

Much sadness in the community today as we say goodbye to Izzy, Wendy's friend and companion for the past almost seventeen years. Thank you, Wendy, for sharing her with us. She was a delight to see every day.

I spent some time in Bess's garden. It is truly a lovely place. Her tour is so full of wonderful insights and memories. Take some time to visit. It is a comforting place to be, especially today.

I haven't taken the picture yet but I'll try to later. I did finish the first of the Sockotta socks so I'll post that one too. I'm just about ready to cast on for the second sock. I'll take it with me to Joanne's tonight. Six and a half inches of K2 P2 ribbing is a lot less boring when you're spending time with friends.

Did you see it? On this evening's News Hour with Jim Lehrer there was a feature on blogging. The narrator mentioned "even knitting" as one of the subjects that people blog about. And as a graphic they used Erica's blog. It was only on the screen for a couple of seconds but there it was. How 'bout that? Well, I thought it was exciting. Perhaps not up there with celebrity knitting or knitting haiku(s), but still. Maybe there'll be another range war similar to the Staples one over the use of the dismissive "even". I sure hope so. We haven't had a good controversy for several days now.

I took a picture of the just completed socks that I made while watching the news. But it was so far off I've decided to wait until I can take it outside. Maybe tomorrow. I got a few mores rows done on the Mosaic scarf. And tonight I'm spending some time on the Sockotta sock. That's it for now. Time to go watch Manor House. I hope it's better than the commercials have been.

Here's the Fast Florida Sock. I used this pattern as a guide. I added 12 stitches to make it a little bigger around and I had 22 stitches in the purl section that goes under the foot. Folks at the shop seem to like it. I'm going to make a complete pair now. This one's a little short for Lisa.

And here's my progress on the Mexico sock.



You've probably all seen this sock or a similar version by now. Just wanted to show how much I got done between last night and this morning. I'm just starting the second repeat of the color. And those are my new Crystal Palace 8" dpns. Much easier to work with than the 6".

The Showcase House tour was exciting and interesting, as usual. The house is huge! Much more coordinated throughout than in previous years. I'm glad we went early because there were several bottlenecks in the traffic flow through the house. After the tour we went to a street fair in South Pasadena. Saw a couple of people I know who had booths there. It was a beautiful, warm day. But someone told me today that it might rain tomorrow. I'll believe that when I see it.

I'm about two weeks behind in my blog reading. I was going to try to catch up tonight but have decided to start another sock pattern instead. I've been working on a pair using Sockotta but we don't have any more of that yarn. So I want to work on something that we do have at Skein. So I'm going to start the Mexico sock, Fortisimmo Colori, since we just put this yarn out today.

I've been wanting to make this sock since I first saw the yarn. I picked some up last Tuesday when Carole and I went to Long Beach. I didn't know that Ann Mary had ordered it. So I paid full price just so I could have it, instead of using my store credits and employee discount. Drat! Anyway, I want to get enough done tonight so I can start to show it tomorrow afternoon at Skein.

I finished the first of the Fast Florida socks and Lisa tried it on last night. I think it's a little short so I'm going to make another pair. The first one will be used as a shop sample and I'll get another ball of Fixation to replace what I've already used. I forgot to take a picture before I took the sock to Skein but I'll try to remember my camera tomorrow and get one then.

It was busy all day at the shop. I had students most of the day so didn't get much chance to help Ann Mary with paying customers. We're still having problems getting all the needle sizes we need. Lots of back orders out there. Especially bamboo circulars. I hate when I've just sold someone a heap of yarn and then don't have the needle size to go with it. I think Ann Mary is a little timid about the quantity to order. I figure they'll sell eventually and the price just keeps going up, so get'em while you can. But none of this is up to me.

We didn't have much time to chat with each other until late in the day. Ann Mary's biggest concern right now is how long the current craze for knitting will last. I saw a couple of media references last fall that said it was over. Seems they were wrong, at least for now. We're still amazed at the number of people who are just discovering scarves and all the frilly stuff they can be made with. Not a day goes by. And every day we get new customers who are just discovering we're there, almost four years now. The day ended on a really high note with a big sale to a crocheter who is about to be converted to being a knitter.

No knitting to report on today. I spent most of the day moving stuff around. I took the part of my stash that I store in my bedroom into the living room so I could really clean. The stash is still in the living room, along with the part that I store there. I'm hoping to go through it before I put it away again and sort out stuff for specific projects. Carole gave me some plastic storage boxes that she no longer needs. It's a start but I'll need a lot more.

I'm not going to be able to get this stuff put away for several days. I can deal with it but I'm not sure anyone else will be able to. But I'm working tomorrow and through the weekend so there's no time. A friend is coming over on Sunday morning so we can go to the Pasadena Showcase House. I've already warned him what to expect. Lisa, (hope she's coming over tomorrow night) has been through this before so she probably won't even notice.

Nicholas Mateo, at about ten days or two weeks old. (I forget.) He will be two months old tomorrow. His Mom brought him into Skein today. What a way to lose an audience! Today was the first time I'd seen him really awake. One of the students asked if he was my grandson. His Mom said, "Well, sorta." We didn't explain that. I held him for a few minutes, until someone else insisted on a turn. He loves to stand up, all ready. Ann Mary thought that was a bad idea. I told her she was just being old fashioned. It's probably a good thing I'm not a grandfather.

I had a new student today. Delightful lady and a quick study. She was very surprised that she got it so quickly as she hadn't knit since she was a little girl in England. I had her knit a few rows just to relax and then showed her how to purl. She had never learned that but it wasn't a problem. We went through cast on and cast off in just a few minutes. Then we did some experiments with different size needles and using two strands held together. And the I showed her how to use yarn overs to create a drop stitch. So she's off to do the almost obligatory scarf. Although she stayed for a couple of hours I had already covered the basics in about 20 minutes. The way she's going I expect to see her again on Friday for her next project.

It was nice to see the shop busy again. It's been kinda slow for the last week or so. We had a few new customers as well as some old favorites. I think I had lunch at about 5 o'clock. But I like cold pizza anyway.

Trying to finish at least one of the Fast Florida socks so Lisa can try it on when she comes over this weekend. I have about an inch and a half to go on the foot and then the toe shaping. I'm a little more comfortable with the Fixation now. I have a second color way to work another pair with if this one works out. Made a mistake in the Basic sock and have to rip a couple of rows before I can start the gusset again. And I worked through half a ball of the Mosaic FX for the shop sample scarf.

It was a beautiful day in Long Beach. The air was clear and and a little cool. Alamitos Bay Yarn Company is right on the water. From the front you look out over the marina where all the private sail boats are moored. Behind the shop is the channel where the small fishing boats come and go. We walked around for a while and enjoyed the sights. Inside the shop they have some marvelous samples made up in most of the yarns they carry. The Trendsetter samples alone are worth the trip. I bought some Crystal Palace dpns in an 8" length. My other dpns are 6". I just want to see if these are easier for me to use. The shorter ones are forever poking me in the palm of my hand. Haven't tried them yet. I also got some Opal sock yarn and two different skeins of Sockotta.

We stopped at Forget Me Knot in Bellflower. I've been looking for a particular Paton's sock pattern book but they didn't have it. I did get one that has a pattern for a different heel that I want to try. I also got some Trekking sock yarn in two different color ways. Then we went to Stitches in Time, also in Bellflower. Still no pattern book but I got two more skeins of Trekking in two more color ways and some Fortissima Colori. So I have enough new yarn for 8 pairs of socks.

I'm almost done with the TV only socks and tonight at Joanne's I turned the heel on the first sock of the Basic socks. Worked a few rows on the Fast Florida pair as well. I'm going to go work on them some more right now.

The big news is that my archives are back! I lost them when I upgraded to Blogger Pro and have not been able to get them back, no matter what combination of code and profanity I used. Yesterday they just reappeared. So I figured it was just one of those things that Blogger gets around to eventually. It turns out though that it was the Easter Bunny. Bless her! Lisa said she had stumbled across the coding and fixed it for me.

I've been wondering when I started my blog so getting my archives back was a help. I still don't know exactly when I started but it seems it was more than a year ago. So happy, belated bloggiversary to me!

Didn't get much knitting done yesterday, just finished the heel flap on my TV watching only socks. The rest of the day I spent cleaning windows. Man, is it ever bright in here this morning! I still have the other side of the house to do but I'm not going to get to it until maybe Thursday.

My friend Carole and I are going to Long Beach to revisit Alamitos Bay Yarn Company. I haven't been there is a while. We'll also stop at a couple of places in Bellflower, neither of which have web sites. Carole is on Spring Break so we just want to get out for a change. I want to see what other shops are carrying and if they have any sock yarns.

Lisa sent me an email wondering if I was suffering from blog block again. Well, sorta. I just thought it was monotonous to keep posting about socks in progress and the alternating gloomy and sunny weather. But, lest you think I have disappeared, I am still up to the same thing.

I ripped the first attempt at the Fast Florida sock as the whole thing looked like it would be too small. So I added more stitches and changed the height of the heel flap. It does look better to me. I'm into the foot part now. Part of this sock works with the purl side out, the underfoot area. I'm having some trouble moving from one needle to the next on the purl stitches. It's hard to pull the stitches tight on a purl side. And also in the area where you switch from the knit to the purl stitch. That's the same problem I always have when I have to switch from knit to purl, for example in rib or after a cable. That first purl stitch always gives me fits. I've tried purling through the back, wrapping the needle in the opposite direction and just pulling as hard as I can on the yarn. I still get a loose purl stitch. I'm hoping that because the Fixation has a lot of stretch to it the stitches will eventually even out.

I finished the K2 P2 ribbing on the top of the first basic sock from Nancy Bush's Folk Socks. I'll try to get to the heel flap on that later today. I made the leg about half an inch shorter than the pattern called for because I'm not sure I'll have enough yarn. I'm a few yards short of what the pattern calls for so I think this will be enough. Otherwise I'll have to redo the toes later on with a different yarn. Could be cute.

The sock that I work on only when watching TV has been idle since last Tuesday. Haven't been home to watch The News Hour so, since that's the only TV I generally watch, nothing has happened with that. But the first one is done and the second one is almost to the heel. That should also see a little progress today.

And on the seemingly almost mindless scarf. I've started the third skein and have at least two more to go after that. I've only been working on this while I'm at Skein. Customers seem to really like it even though it's just a single strand. It does make some nice semi-stripe patterns. I do have to keep an eye on the stitches as it's very easy to pick up the top of the loop in the row below. I'll be happy to see this one done.

I treated myself to a copy of Socks, Socks, Socks. (From XRX, the people who publish Knitter's Magazine.) I'd been drooling over it for a week or more and decided that I could use some of my store credit to purchase it. I think it will be useful and some of the patterns are fascinating. Who knows if I'll ever actually make anything from the book. I get almost as much satisfaction from reading the patterns as I do from knitting, and it's a lot faster.

And while I'm going on about sock knitting, did you see this? I got this link from Fillyjonk, one of my daily reads. I love her point of view and always feel like she's sensible and at the same time playful. Anyway, I really, really want one of those kits. I don't usually pay that much for a pair of shoes, let alone a pair of socks. But, wow, they're fantastic!

About the weather. It's still gloomy here. The weekend was off and on again sunny and pleasant. But today could be confused with February. I'm planning to do some in depth housework (spring cleaning?) but this weather is not really helping. It would be better suited to reading, knitting and napping. Maybe if I just get started I'll forget about the weather.

Easter was nice. After an all-you-can-eat Chinese lunch I went to Skein for three hours where there was very little business. After we closed I went to dinner at my friend Robert's house. Robert is my oldest friend and I've know him longer that practically anybody. Dinner at his house is usually a matter of endurance. It's almost never ready until 9:30 or even 10:00. But then it's generally worth it. Last night we had a pretty traditional dinner, ham and scalloped potatoes. The salad was fresh artichoke hearts with cherry tomatoes and avocado. The ham was glazed with a citrus based sauce. And for dessert, tiramisu. We had deviled eggs beforehand along with some merlot that I had received as a gift from my friend Doris. And I have leftovers as well as a bunch of homemade cookies and dyed eggs, neither of which I'm supposed to have, but, hey, it's Easter! Or was.

I got started on the Fast Florida socks today. I still didn't get the gauge but after an email exchange with the designer I think I'll be okay after the sock is washed. And anyway I can always start over and use the first sock as another shop sample. I need to get some more detailed measurements for this sock, like the height of the heel and the ankle circumference. It does look small to me but the yarn is very stretchy so maybe it will fit but I think I may have made the heel flap a little too long. But I think I'm really getting a grasp of sock knitting, at least the general structure.

The yarn, Cascade Fixation, is a bit of a pain to work with. The stitches are very tight due to the spandex in the yarn. At least the stitches aren't going to slide off the needle. But my hands can really feel the results. Very sore and achy.

It was so cold today that I was wearing one of knit hats. It was so dismal outside that I thought it was winter. And dark to boot. So no pictures yet. We didn't get the rain that was predicted but it could still happen.

And in the sporting news. We won all our games again tonight. Against the second place team. We've moved up a lot in the standings as well. We're not going to be able to move into first place by any stretch but the higher we place the more prize money we'll get. And I like that.

Went to Skein today for my regular Wednesday afternoon stint and also to buy the size 3 dpns that I need to make the Fast Florida socks. There were no size 3s on the rack. Ann Mary found some in the back but just as she was getting ready to ring them up I found the two pair that I own. There in the bottom of my plastic Aguaya Salon bag along with my everyday knitting paraphenalia. So as soon as I finish this I'm going to try the Fixation yarn again.

I've been working on a scarf for the shop that uses Berroco's Mosaic FX. For all intents and purposes it's identical to Plymouth's Eros. Today Ann Mary showed me a bag of Eros that is exactly the same color as the Berroco I'm using. The Eros has twice the yardage and is only about 50% more than the Mosaic. Go figure! Then later in the day the Plymouth rep was in and showed us some of their new yarns. They have the same yarn as one of our high end companies with more yardage and a better price. I don't think Plymouth's colors are quite as nice as some of the higher priced yarns, but they're getting better. They have a new one called Electra that is really beautiful. It's one of those tufted yarns with a thin carrier strip. Saw a sample knitted up and it really has a nice drape.

And speaking of the scarf. I've ripped it more times that just about anything I've worked on in recent memory. I keep grabbing the top of the stitch in the row below and not realizing it so I end up with more stitches. Now I'm making myself count every row as I knit it. Tedious but effective.

I have a conflict of interests. As both of you will recall, I spend on average three hours a day reading blogs and sometimes the very witty comments that folks leave here and there. I'd call that a major interest. But then, also recall, I have just discovered that I really like to knit socks. But knitting socks is not something I can do while my mind is involved with other people's lives. At least not yet. So it was very stressful this morning trying to decide which to do. So I worked out a compromise. I did laundry instead. Well, actually, I read about a third of the blogs and then started the laundry and then tried to work on a new sock.

I've really been wanting to start these socks. I have the Cascade Fixation and even have the pre-approval from Lisa. So I got started and worked the first seven rows. The yarn is very, very stretchy but I can cope. The problem is my gauge is too tight. And the other problem is, I don't seem to have any size 3 dpns. I would have sworn that I did. I thought about going to Skein to get some but there was the laundry going and besides I'll be there on Wednesday. So end of that project.

Fortunately I have some other sock yarn. What foresight! So I've started the basic sock from Nancy Bush's Folk Socks book. I'm using some Plymouth Sockotta and it's looking very good. Too late tonight for a pic and I only have about four inches done on the first one. So maybe in a day or so. I did finish the second sock of the Regia self-patterning yarn. They're almost identical which pleases me no end.

Fun time at Joanne's tonight. She finally got started with the weaving class. I'm not doing any weaving myself but it was nice to sit there as Joanne went through the opening session. Loom parts and terminology. And then the fiber selection for the first project. She has a warp winding machine that makes that part so much easier than using a warping board. Anyway, it felt good just to hear all the stuff again even though I don't weave anymore. I just worked on my new sock.

And then I came home and read the rest of the blogs. So I'm up to speed and ready for tomorrow's news. And I think I can handle K2 P2 ribbing while I read.

A moderately productive day. Almost finished with the second sock and I got a bit done on the TV watching only second sock. Mostly I just lazed about, reading and dozing. We had some heavy rain and high winds. Kind of interesting weather for this time of year. Strange to have so little to say.

Another weekend of riotous living comes to a close. Turned the heel on the second sock of Regia self-patterning yarn. Woo yay! Skein was pretty quiet, especially today. My friend Carole came in and we went to a baby welcoming party after the shop closed. We didn't know anyone there except the new mom and her husband (only slightly) so we didn't stay very long.

Lisa came over on Friday night and we went to our favorite Japanese restaurant. Lisa likes sushi; I do not. Ann Mary says Lisa probably like raw fish because she was born in Korea. The logic escapes me. Anyway, Lisa picked up the Easter vest. I wasn't all that pleased with how it looked. I think it's too big. Maybe it just needs the right outfit. And she admired the new socks.

Today I took a couple of friends for lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant. One of them helped me with my income taxes so this was sort of a thank you lunch. I've known this guy for about ten years; we used to work at the same company. The company he was working for folded a couple of weeks ago so he's kind of at loose ends right now. He's been making noises about me teaching him to knit so maybe that will happen in the next few weeks. That could be fun. I really get a kick out of turning people on to knitting. I showed him one of the socks I had just completed to tempt him.

Yesterday a couple of women came in late in the afternoon. A mother/daughter duo. The daughter wanted to make one of the scarves from a recent issue of Martha Stewart's magazine. I guess she'd never been in a yarn shop before and she did not know how to knit but her mother was going to get her started. She freaked when she saw the prices. She kept asking if there wasn't some way she could make the same scarf, that would look just as good, for less money. Her mother kept telling her that nice yarns are expensive and that's just the way it is. So we finally got something together she could live with, price-wise, and then went on to the needles. Unfortunately we didn't have the size she needed in bamboo. We only had plastic. Well, that wouldn't do. She said she just wanted the whole thing to look more Asian. And bamboo was the only thing that would do. She wouldn't buy the yarn without the needles so that was the end of that. Sometimes it's so tempting to play the yarn-snob card and just send them off to Wal-Mart.

When I used the weather as an analogy yesterday I didn't really expect anything to happen. But it did. It's been in the mid to high 80s all week long and now, without any prior warning, we are in the midst of gloom. I don't think it will even get into the 70s today and rain is predicted for Saturday and Sunday. This is Southern California, for crying out loud, it's not supposed to rain this time of year! Maybe it won't. You just have to wait another five minutes.

A most excellent night at bowling. My team is not the strongest in the league. We generally hover around last place, up a notch, down a notch. But sometimes we just get it right. (Or the other team just gets it wrong.) For the past three weeks we've been pretty good, winning all the games except one last week. Not that we're ever going to get to first place but it's nice when you beat the top teams. And I have to say I was really pleased with my perfomance last night. I had my first 600 series of this league. I may have won some money in the sidepot. I didn't wait to find out but even if I don't win any money my last game was a big thrill. And it was just what we needed to win by 2 pins.

I'm waiting for the prospective employers to get back to me with their offer. I talked with the CFO yesterday and he said they hadn't had time to "put a pencil to it". (Don't you just love jargon?) Anyway I'm still waiting to see what they are going to do. So at least for another week I'll be able to squander my time, reading blogs, taking walks and generally avoiding household chores.

And there isn't any news on the knitting front. Didn't pick up the needles at all yesterday. I'm going to Skein today and will take the nearly mindless scarf, and the Regia socks, to work on. I hope I have some fun people to work with today. Since I teach drop-in lessons I never know for sure who's going to be there.

Just like the weather, if you don't like the current priorities of your knitting projects, wait five minutes and it will change. I was planning on making corrections to a lace top I started for Skein. That was for this morning. Instead I'm working on a nearly mindless scarf using Berroco's Mosaic FX. Ann Mary thinks we should make something else with the yarn I was using for the lace top. I don't really care that I've already finished the body and just had a little bit to do on the sleeves. The projected pattern is fairly simple and I didn't want to do those sleeve corrections. That's probably why I've put them off for several months. So until the next pattern is chosen I'm making the scarf.

I got a couple of colorways in Cascade Fixation yesterday for some socks. Since I was already shopping I thought I might as well pick up a couple of other things. So I got a skein of Sockotta in an orange mix, and two skeins of Regia in a primary colors kind of mix. As always, I'm way over stocked in sock yarns and there's no way I'm really going to get all these things done is the next few weeks. It's a good thing that none of my projects have hard deadlines. On the other hand that might be a good thing.

I went to Joanne's last night for the weekly sit and knit. It was supposed to be the start of a weaving class for the other member of our troika but she couldn't make it. So Joanne and I just chatted and worked on our mindless knitting. I got a lot done on the second sock of the Regia one I posted yesterday. Joanne seemed a little distracted and restless. I don't think she's feeling very well these days but being the stubborn person she is she doesn't want to admit it. She told me that Tom, my "difficult" knitter/student, had come in to see her in the afternoon. (Joanne also teaches at Skein one day a week.) He's apparently still having a hard time fixing mistakes and had ripped out all the progress he had made on his scarf. I hope whatever tips she gave him will do the trick. I always feel a little defensive when Joanne tells me about having to work with one of my students. I don't know which buttons this pushes. Maybe she's just passing along information but it feels like a "judgement" to me. (Nobody knows how insecure I really am.)

I finished the first sock of the "just when I'm watching TV" pair. I like it. I don't know who the sock will fit but I'm just going to start a knitting box the way Nanette does and someone will fit them eventually. Same with all the hats I have finished over the past few months. I have a black lace project to finish for Skein and then I will be free from that. I have to rip both sleeves back to the armhole decreases and redo them. I made two different mistakes on each of them. Who knows why. So maybe tomorrow I will get that started. This project has been on hold for so long that I've forgotten the stitch pattern and have to try to dredge it up or find the pattern. I like black but it sure is difficult to work on.

If I don't forget I'm going to buy some yarn today to make these socks. I think they're really cute and I'm pretty sure Lisa and her Mom would like them. The reason I say if I don't forget is because I seem to be forgetting a lot lately. I almost missed paying my property taxes because I forgot to check when they are due. I almost always have to think about what day it is before I get out of bed in the morning. I did manage to file my income taxes on time. I wonder when I'm supposed to pay the car registration.

The Easter Vest


and that's my shadow off to the side. (One crummy photographer). I was supposed to post this a week ago but I got busy and was doing other things so I just got around to taking a picture this morning.

And here's a detail


Not really great photos but that's partly because the yarn is so fuzzy it's hard to see the individual stitches. I'm really glad this project is done. The yarn was most unpleasant to work with.

So long as I was taking pictures I thought I'd take one of the current sock project.


I got the pattern from Knitting Now. There are several other free patterns on that page that I plan to take advantage of as time goes by. This may be preaching to the choir but as a recent sock knitting convert I just have to go on record as saying how much fun it is. I may never get as wrapped up as Lynn H who is now up to 74 pairs (plus some odds and ends that she's still working on) but I am really excited about this. I'm not sure how long I'll use the self-patterning yarns. They are easy, of course, but I think I'd like a little more challenge. I'm still just exploring the various techniques of shaping but once that's behind me I'll probably want to switch to something with fair isle or textured stitches.

Traffic has really slowed down at Skein although I continue to be busy with students. Saw several folks last weekend that I hadn't seen in a little while. That guy, Tom, was back in on Friday with his second swatch. We got him started on a simple scarf using garter and stockinette stitches plus he'll do some color changes as he goes. He's getting better but still has difficulty figuring out which side he's working on. I haven't taught any absolute beginners in a while but I have a few lined up over the next few weeks.

Let's see, what else? Oh, about the job. I still haven't made up my mind but I've been for a couple of lunches with the prospective employer. I'm supposed to talk with them again on Thursday to see what kind of compensation package they will offer. It turns out that it's really a sales position. I've never done that kind of thing other than retail sales. So we'll just have to see.

Yesterday was mostly a day of domesticity, laundry that sort of thing. But it's done, for a while anyway. Took a friend to lunch so that took up a big chunk of time as well. And then there's all the war news and reading blogs. No wonder I'm so far from finished on so many things. Today I've got to start working on my taxes. Mostly that means sorting through the year's stack of paper that I might need so I save it just in case. Most of it will be thrown away.

I had a call from a guy I used to work with, five or six years ago. He's looking for someone to do a little PR for the company he's with now. I'm thinking about this. It involves a lot of driving and in LA that's not a pretty picture. But I'm going to call him back today and see if I can get some more info and try to make a decision in the next day or so.

I think I've finally found a solution to the edge treatment for the Easter vest. Just plain old garter stitch. It seems to be working. If I can get it done today I'll have a picture tomorrow. Spent a couple of hours on the faux fair isle sock and the TV watching sock. And the friend I took to lunch yesterday wants me to show him how to knit. Do I really want to go back to work?