I did a yarn crawl in the city last Wednesday, and I've been cranking away at Secret Baby Gift Knitting ever since. (Shh...) Then there was Big Fat Greek Thursday--Opa! (Did you notice that the exclamation point after "opa" looks like a lowercase "L"? Maybe the Greeks are all enthusiastic sock knitters.) Friday I had lunch with Hope and gave her her birthday present, the most recent Rebecca mag that she'd been coveting. (Aren't I a good cousin?)

Unfortunately, secret knitting doesn't make for very interesting blogging.

Well, UGH. I've been sick for over two weeks. (Couldn't you tell from my recent codeine-inspired posts?) I still haven't quite gotten rid of this revolting cough.

Sick or not, I had to go to a wedding in Minnesota last weekend. I actually felt just fine as long as I didn't move or breathe too much, either of which would provoke a coughing fit. I did have a lovely time, though, especially after I discovered there was a yarn shop two blocks from the restaurant where the family Saturday brunch was happening. It was The Yarnery at 840 Grand Street in St. Paul. Imagine my surprise when I realized that not only was this one of the shops featured in Knitter's Stash, but it was the shop that contributed the only pattern in the book I had actually started: one of the Eight Linen Washcloths! In general, The Yarnery is an excellent shop. They had practically the entire line of Rowan yarns, in all the colors. I wanted to pick out yarn for a Debbie Bliss baby sweater, but I was so overwhelmed by the available choices that I couldn't commit. I had also hoped to acquire Yet More Koigu, but nothing grabbed me. I ended up buying the spring IK and Knitter's, a Pony Pearl circular needle to try out, a set of #11 doublepoints of my Very Own for future Fuzzy Feet, and a ball of Rowan Linen Drape to swatch for a summer vest for me, me, me.

[By the way, Happy Belated Birthday Hopie Marie! I was too sick and pitiful to get you a card last week, but I was thinking of you, especially in the yarn store. I don't think you wanted any of their Koigu, either. We'll have to go raid ThreadBear after their next shipment.]

I've always been pessimistic about the prospects for a good yarn shop in western Indiana. I just think that people around here are too cheap to buy good yarn. But suddenly the solution occurred to me (inspired by a King of the Hill episode): I should open a combination knitting and gun shop. This would take advantage of a basic natural Hoosier law: For every woman who won't spend five dollars on a ball of yarn, there is at least one man (her husband/boyfriend/father) who will spend five hundred dollars on a gun. I could call it Yarn & Arms. There could be departments like Noro & Ammo, Sweaters & Scopes, and Lace & Lead.

I think, however, that it might be necessary to store the ballwinders behind the counter, lest they make anyone nervous.

Am I the only one who gets the urge to handpaint her cat with Wilton dyes? Ever since I got this long-haired, fluffy white cat...

I had such a lovely time with Hope at Matt and Rob's felting party yesterday that I was inspired to start my own Fuzzy Feet. Hope loaned me her #13 needles, I bought two skeins of purple Lamb's Pride, and commenced on the spot. I finished the first one last night and the other one in front of the TV this evening (Stargate Monday). I wanted to try hand felting so I took one of them in the shower with me. It was going verrrrry slowly so I went back to the machine method. They are in the washer on what I think is their final rinse, yay!

This afternoon I had my five-year-old nephew over for several hours with NO PARENTS and everybody survived. In fact we had a grand time. He is fascinated by the swift that is more-or-less permanently installed on the arm of my couch, so we wound the rose Shepherd Sport that I brought home yesterday. I just know this boy is going to be a knitter. We also played with Fimo. He made marbles; I made Gromit, with purple knitting on the needles.

By the way, am I the only one who's noticed that Gromit holds his knitting needles overhand (er, overpaw)? I really expected him to use the British pencil hold (and in fact that's how I sculpted him) but I checked later and, whaddayaknow, his paws are on top of the needles.

Once the Fuzzy Feet went in the wash, I started a pair of Nancy Bush's Traveler's Stockings with the Shepherd Sport. I made a pair of these as my first pair of socks ever and boy, was that ambitious. It would have been fine except for (a) the typo in the IK instructions on how to turn the heel, and (b) the necessary adjustments for my ample calves. They came out okay, but I am a much more accomplished knittter now and I'm sure I can do better this time around.

My Real Life has been interfering with my blogging. At least it hasn't been interfering too badly with my knitting. I had to drive into the city two days in a row this week to buy a car, but managed to include some knitting adventures in both trips. Wednesday, after picking out a car, wheeling and dealing, and signing the papers, I went to the Borders knitting group and got to catch up with a friend who went to Stitches West. Thursday Norma took me to pick up the new car, but first we went to two yarn shops (I was very good and only bought some Rowan All-Seasons Cotton that had been marked down to two bucks a ball) and had Indian buffet for lunch. On my way home I swung by a third shop to pick up the knitting needle I accidently left in the sofa last time I was there.

Meanwhile, I have finished the front of the entrelac sweater and the first of the Flaming Fat-Leg Socks. I enlarged the stitch repeat gradually, so it goes from being 54 stitches around at the ankle to 72 stitches at the top. The other sock is done as far as halfway up the cuff.

Hope and I are having a Grand Outing tomorrow and going to the felting party at Matt and Rob's, yay!!!