Eureka!

I've figured out what yarn to use for the Candleflame Shawl: This yarn was a present from a patient. I was reminded of it today at work when I saw a gift of fruit and other goodies; looking at the card, I realized that it was from a patient who I had stayed up all night taking care of. At the time, I was sure that he wasn't going to survive, but he did, and was discharged home from the hospital while I was on vacation. He wrote "Thanks for saving my life" on the card. It's a weird thing to hear something like that. Because I didn't save his life through any superhuman talent; any other doctor with the same training that I have could have done so. It's like an airline pilot landing a plane - "just doing my job". I happened to be the one who was on call the night that he came in, that's all. But I still took home the basket that the goodies came in - it will be a great place to store yarn...

Keeping myself honest

I'm nearing the end of the mindless stockinette socks (I actually sat in the poker room at the MGM Grande and knit today while The Gambler did his thing), and Coachella may go into hibernation (I hear that it cooled off back home while we were gone). So soon I will have to decide what project to start next. One thing I have to keep in mind is that we are going to Europe for 3 weeks on October 6th, and I picked up this dress to use as the "nice outfit" for the trip: There's a long list of projects that I have yarn for: Dropped lace scarf out of the purple Parisienne Purl scarf out of the red Parisienne and red Malabrigo, or maybe I'll use Boku plus red Malabrigo with the Parisienne. Clapotis - out of Fleece Artist KidSilk 2 ply (I'm in a Claptois KAL that starts in late September) Rogue - out of Mission Falls wool Flair - out of Patagonia nature cotton Dragonfly - out of Elsebeth Lavold silky wool and silky tweed Half Obi - out of Giotto Chelsea - out of Autunno and 2 skeins of teal Manos Sahara - out of Cherry Tree Hill Silk 2 button jacket - out of Colourworks (bulky) Lite Brite - out of Noro and Cascade 220 Melody's Shawl - from the kit Trillian 42 gave me as a VD present. And, there's another friend having a baby - a boy, so I plan to knit some Saartje's booties plus a Norwegian Baby Cap out of an orphan skein of sock yarn that is a blue/black marl. Not to mention all that other sock yarn that should be knit into socks...

So far, So good

Can I just pause to mention that I love Crazy Aunt Purl? Well, my first day at work went well (technically it wasn't my first day, because I've worked here a total of 3 or 4 weeks since June of last year, but it was my first day of being a non-temporary member of the hospital staff). Big sigh of relief. Thanks for the comments about the jaywalkers - no photo to post (I'm sitting in my new office right now, eating lunch - so you just get text today), but I finished the heel last night. I really really love the way that the Regia has pseudo random stripes. I keep looking at the sock and having little conversations with myself: Id: "hmmmm...that would make an awesome sleeve" Superego: "you aren't supposed to be buying any yarn until October" Ego:"Well, it is sock yarn, and it's not supposed to count. Let's google Regia 6 ply and see if it's sold online" Id: "Hey, there it is, I could place an order right now" Superego: "Um, hello? Do the words 'Knit from my stash' ring any bells?" Ego:"At that price, it would be a pretty expensive sweater if we had to buy 11 more skeins" Id:"Well there's this other colourway that is on sale for 2$/skein!! It says I need 13 for a sweater, but because I am tall, I should get 15. Or maybe an even 20" Superego: "Am I speaking in tongues again? No buying yarn!!!" Ego:"The striping looks great on the sock, but we wouldn't get the same effect on the body of the sweater" Id:"Maybe I could just use the striped yarn for the sleeves, and use a coordinating colour for the body of the sweater...let's start shopping for yarns that might match it" Superego:"Hey, it's past bedtime. You have to get up early tomorrow" Ego: "If we buy the yarn online from this US site, we'll have to pay duty on it. Not to mention the fact that Kyle will probably be the one who will be home for the delivery, and we'll get an earfull about it" Id: "Bah! Fine. Where's that chocolate milk that I picked up at the store on Sunday? I can't believe that I didn't get any ice cream while I was there..." So I decided that I MIGHT buy a few skeins of the sale yarn (enough for sleeves), but I wouldn't do so until after I finish knitting my Poppy sweater. And my EBTKS. (Well, maybe once I cast on for my EBTKS...) So if {insert diety of choice} wants me to have that yarn, it won't be completely sold out by then. Oh - Batty - thanks for the compliment about my photography skills. The beauty of digital photography is that I can take 25 crap pictures for every one good shot, and just delete the crap.