Hooray!

I finally pulled out the Norah Gaughan Intricately Cabled V-Neck Pullover and finished the last few rows of the back. Now, this is not as simple as it sounds, because those last few rows included the shoulder and neck shaping, and since I am Certifiably Insane, I found it necessary to convert the shaping to short rows. I have done this many times for shoulders, but this is the first time I have simultaneously used short rows for back neck shaping. It was a Giant Pain but I am in fact quite pleased with the results, and having a smooth castoff edge around the back neck will make it much easier to tack into place the little extensions from the front that form the neckband.

I have got to get a cheapass digital camera so I can put up pictures, but I am right in the throes of one of those periods where I feel guilty for every nickel I spend on my own amusement.

Contrary to rumors, I was not eaten by an alligator on my way to the Orlando airport. I did in fact return home safely from Florida three weeks ago. And when I got here, I had a box from Woodland Woolworks with my Reynolds Morocco in Field. So in spite of the seven hundred projects I have in progress, I immediately started the Sunburst Pullover, a Norah Gaughan design from the cover of IK a couple of years ago. I knit the front and back medallions and the side gussets, which are the interesting part, so of course I then immediately lost interest.

After that, I knit a pair of socks. That's right, a WHOLE PAIR, with TWO WHOLE SOCKS. Now... who are they for? I'm not telling!

On March 5, I not only abandoned my blog; I abandoned my entire Real Life. My Mom called me at 11:00 a.m. to tell me that my Dad was being whisked off in an ambulance for immediate emergency open-heart surgery, and by 2:00 p.m. I was on my way to the airport with my brother to catch a plane to Florida. Dad is recovering at home now, and doing well, after six-count'em-six coronary artery bypasses. Here's his Well-Wishes Web Page. I am still in Florida, struggling to teach my parents how to eat healthfully and yet deliciously.

I did manage to throw half a dozen balls of yarn and my Denise needle set into my carryon, but haven't done much knitting, even in the hospital. I was just too tired most of the time.

When I'm behind on my blogging, you know there's a pretty good chance I've been knitting like the crazy knitting fool I am. And so I have. I just finished sewing up the Reverse Seam Pullover from Classic Elite's spring pattern collection "House Party." I finished the Manos model for ThreadBear twelve days ago, and of course I had to deliver it in person. I showed up shortly after the Classic Elite shipment, so I went home with twenty balls of "Vineyard" Isabella, the cotton-blend cousin of Beatrice, fresh from the box. And now I have a nice cushy pink spring sweater. Um, okay, I have a sweater with 31 ends hanging down inside. Mind you, that's AFTER weaving in 31 MORE ends. This yarn had an absolutely outrageous number of broken plies.

Meanwhile, I can now purl like a Norwegian (in spite of Figure 2 being just plain WRONG), although it fouls up my tension sufficiently that I doubt I'll use the technique. But I'm oh so happy that I know how.

Oh! Oh! I am so excited that I am beside myself. I bought the spring IK today and it has an article by Beth Brown-Reinsel which contains the number one piece of knitting knowledge that had so far escaped me: the Norwegian Purl. I haven't tried it yet, but I will probably have to do so before I can sleep.

How I acquired said magazine: the sun was shining, my hands were tired from knitting cotton, and I was in the mood to go Someplace New, so I packed up my knitting and drove up to Lafayette to River Knits, where I had never been before. It took me about an hour and a half to get there (once you subtract the time I drove around in circles in West Lafayette/Lafayette– apparently they have rerouted US 231 since my map was printed). I met shopowner Elizabeth, who I had encountered on the indianaknits mailing list (Hi Elizabeth!) and bought grey Peace Fleece with flecks of purple, teal, and gold, two balls of Fixation, two skeins of Jawoll Sport in a purple/green/blue jacquard, and IK.

Afterwards, I went clothes-shopping on the east side. I went first to the Tippecanoe Mall. I got very excited for a minute when I saw that it had a store called The Alpaca Shack, but sadly, they did not have any yarn. I also went to Super Target and got a vanilla latte at the in-store Starbucks on my way out, which is why I am still up.

That reminds me, I have to go purl like a Norwegian.