Well, here’s an update on my Celtic Dreams. I just finished the third repeat of the center panel, which means I have one more to go before I get to the lower, “skirt” section.

I did work on my other projects–my Peacock Stole, my socks, but the CD is the one that got the most knitting attention this weekend. Not only are they such pretty cables, but darn, they’re so addictive! Not to mention the fact that, well, it’s just about May and getting warmer every week as we get closer to summer, and I kind of want to get this done before summer sets in. Air conditioning or not, I don’t want to be working on the end of this winter-weight sweater in July, you know? So, it’s moved up just a little ahead of the light, airy lace concoction, just for sheer logistics.

Today was a much quieter day than yesterday, but equally nice. The weather was the same–perfect–and we had a good walk this morning, but a pretty lazy afternoon. Mom’s allergies are acting up, though, so her nose was pretty miserable (sigh). It’s really just not fair that our two favorite seasons–the “transitional” ones–are the ones that make us feel so lousy! It’s just ironic–the extreme seasons of winter and summer, we don’t want to spend massive amounts of time outside because it’s too cold or too hot. But the seasons with the perfect temperatures where we’d love to be out there a lot? Can’t because we’re so busy sneezing and coughing. Way too ironic.

Oh, and Chappy thanks you for the compliments, and is convinced that it was his snazzy hair-do that solicited all those nice comments. No wonder he works so hard on them!

And, today’s post title? We saw a commercial before for Softsoap. “We looked for the softest thing we could find, and this is what we came up with.” Cashmere Extract. Um, excuse me? What on earth?? What kind of extract can you get from cashmere? Lint? (To be fair, that’s Mom’s line.) Don’t you love it when advertising companies make up their own things? Like Carnation Good Start’s “Comfort Proteins”–it’s just something that sounds good. I’m not saying the products aren’t good (and I certainly have no need for baby formula and so won’t be trying it any time soon), but I get frustrated when I see the ads, you know? It’s not they’re lying, exactly–they can certainly claim to be the only product with such a thing, because, well, I honestly think they made it up. And now this? What is cashmere extract? Goat oil? Some form of goat-lanolin? Really, I think Mom came up with the best answer.

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Edited to Add: Okay, forwarded by Risa, forwarded from the NJ Fiber Fanatics Group, forwarded by a member . . . the following answer from Colgate:

“Goats have two layers of hair. The inner layer of their hair is soft and is referred to as cashmere. Cashmere extract consists of proteins
taken from this inner layer of goat hair. The chemical name for this ingredient is hydrolyzed keratin. It is on oil that is extracted from the inner layer of goat hair. The goat hair is collected after shearing. No goats are harmed during this process.”

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