First, thanks for the compliments on my new sweater. I wore it to work today and, while the sleeves were rather in the way (as I expected), who cared? It looks good, fits well, is a gorgeous color . . . what’s a little sleeve-inconvenience?

With that done, though, well, here’s a look at my knitting bag . . . almost empty, with just that one, lace project waiting to be finished. It is almost done, too. There’s something like 10 pattern rows left, and since I’m getting through two rows per hour (that’s one pattern row and one “purl-back” row), this should take me about a week and a half to finish.

I promised myself that I wouldn’t start my next sweater until this lace shawl is finished. I mean, I did start the poor thing last summer–9 months ago–and it’s not really its fault it’s taking this long. Or, to be clear, it’s only partly its fault. It’s Zephyr, first of all, which I love the look of, love the feel of, but apparently can’t stand actually knitting with. To date, I’ve only actually finished one thing made in Zephyr, and, pretty though it is, how often do you suppose it makes it out of the drawer to be worn? If you guessed “almost never,” you’re spot on.

Speaking of guesses, you’ll remember that I had a contest recently to celebrate 3 big milestones for my blog. There was the 3rd anniversary, the move to a new home here on my own domain at WordPress, and my 10,000th comment. (I know, it just blows my mind–especially the fact that there would BE three milestones so close together.) Anyway, when I actually shut down the comments on the old blog, prior to moving, I was at 9,995, and as of midnight on the 15th, my anniversary, it stood at 10,104. (Currently? 10, 443–quite a jump!)

S0, the winner of the closest guess is, ironically, the first person to have ventured a guess (this isn’t the first time that’s happened). But, who cares? Chris, come on down! Considering how generously you promote other people’s contests, it’s only fair that you win once in a while. The prize will be some . . . Zephyr yarn! (Because, well, the stuff really is gorgeous, and apparently it’s just me that it doesn’t like.) I’ll need your snail-mail address, please–and . . . white? Or purple?

It was a weird day at work today–lots of people celebrating at the Giants’ win yesterday. (Personally, I didn’t watch the Superbowl, I watched Miss Austen Regrets on PBS.) But then, our computer system was having problems, and it took them until almost 3:00 to get the internet/external-email up and running again. Which meant that, not only was I having a slow morning because I wasn’t getting e-mails from clients (or client-services), but I couldn’t browse on the internet to pass the time, either. It worked out all right, though, because I worked on Dad’s webpage . . . irony of ironies, I know, that I, of all people, am designing his website. Because you all KNOW that I’m not a programmer. I am, however, the only one in the family who knows anything about it at all, though, so . . . it’s up to me.

I’m up to November 2005 in my quest to update my archives, and as usual, have found some interesting things. Like this collection of Calvin & Hobbes snowmen cartoons. (Be sure to click on the “in real life” link at the top, too.) Certainly my first experience of a sheep-and-wool festival made an impact. And there was that first experience with Zephyr, too. Lots of cute little-me pictures from past birthdays, as well as a bunch of other firsts….

• Tags: Family, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Just . . . Monday // 8 Comments »