when does life slow down?

So much to catch up on! First, there was the panic about what knitting project to bring with me. I wanted to start the Ribby Pullover, but then realized that knitting with a linen yarn really probably needs a gauge swatch and a wash before casting on 200+ stitches. Scrap that. Lace? Um, again, need to figure out needle sizes, etc., and there just wasn't time. Therefore: lace socks!

I started the Embossed Leaves socks (IK, Winter 2005) with stashed yarn from Rhinebeck from 2005, I think. Seeing those socks in the magazine was the only reason why I bought mossy green yarn. I was casting on in the car to the airport, then quickly put them down and concertrated on not getting queasy from the driver's, um, interesting style of accelerating and breaking every three seconds. I leapt from the car. Saw another knitter in the Jet Blue terminal. Didn't go over.


New Orleans was quiet. Too quiet. Everyone should go there ASAP. Remember when it was patriotic to go to the mall and spend money? Time for that again. The conference was fine, good even. But even better were the fresh beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde on Thursday morning. Yum-o. I went to Quarter Stitch on a lunch break, and got some very pretty cotton/rayon blend yarn... which I don't yet have a picture of. But don't they pack things up beautifully? (I had to undo the package to fit everything in my backpack. C'est la vie!)


Saturday was the marathon to finish the blankie. Hubby was working, so I settled in, thinking that I'd be finished in four hours or so. Ha! It took much longer than anticipated, but I did finish during The Philadelphia Story. The blankie was gifted on Sunday, and much admired. It was hard to give it away so soon after finishing. K&E should expect me to visit often, so I can hold the blanket, er, baby.


Garter stitch does take much more yarn than stockinette. I weighed the other Cotton-Ease blankie and this one on our kitchen scale. The stockinette weighed 287 grams, and the garter 355 grams. So I can confirm that I used three and a half skeins of Cotton-Ease for this project... except I had to buy a skein of pink for the second. Darn. (Now a shot without the flash.)