I am awash in knitting-related news items, so here are the headlines:

• Hope and Lana have an Indianapolis Acquisition Expedition


• Purple Cash Iroha obtained due to ThreadBear KFI clearance sale


• Second sleeve added to Intricately Cabled V-Neck Pullover


• Charlotte's Web shawl cast off and pre-blocked


• River Wools opens in downtown Terre Haute


• Crochet lace cardigan begun
  
• Lana to teach beginning crochet class at River Wools!!!

I have successfully set in one sleeve of the NGICVNP in only two attempts, but now I have to make myself do the other one. I've lost interest again because I discovered that this sweater currently fits me just fine. Yes, I realize that is customarily the goal of knitting a sweater; however, since the weather is now getting too warm for long sleeve sweaters, and I intend to be a yet-smaller size by fall, I don't know if I will ever get to wear it. Probably it will be okay with a reblocking, or I may even put it through the dryer (after experimenting on a swatch). Good thing I'm largely a "process knitter."

By the way, can anybody explain why the row gauge of the front and back were altered by blocking, but not the row gauge of the sleeves? I had to re-knit the sleeve caps as a result. Also, note that the sleeve shaping given in the pattern is just plain WRONG: the specified gauge can't possibly yield the measurements from the schematic. I had to change the number of stitches at the armhole and recalculate the rate of increase.

Meanwhile, I have been cranking away madly on a Koigu Charlotte's Web shawl in sunset colors. I ran out of color #4 and had to start #5 early, so I'm hoping I don't run out of #5. But if worst comes to worst, I have another three skeins of #5 in the house in a different but similar dye lot which I could use for the edging and fringe. They were intended for socks, but I can rob a half-skein without causing problems.

Oh, and a bonus: I did some Actual Paying Work last week, so now I have a little yarn money to spend. :)

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.