As if I didn't have enough...

I got more. I ordered from Sue at Little Knits last week when I stupidly checked the yarn sale thread of the coffeeshop. She was selling Noro Big Kureyon for 50% off! How could I resist? So I got a couple hanks. That's color #18. And then I spied some Lorna's Laces sock yarn that I've been dying to try. But I just never saw it around and could never bring myself to actually buy it before. So, I broke down. Purple Club Iris Garden All I can say is - wow. I can see why people drool over this stuff. It's so soft! I don't know what would happen to my bank account if I ever came across this stuff locally. Wow. In other news, see that progress bar over there? The pinwheel baby blanket? Yup. It's almost done. I'm working on the crochet edging. Yup, I'm a hooker now. Just call me prostiturtle. Pics when its all officially finished.

Meet Soapy the Soap Turtle

Soapy the Soap Turtle came from Amie at the Rosebyany blog. I was over there reporting the finished Jaywalkers, when lo and behold, I saw Soapy. So I had to immediately make him of course. Took about 3 hours. Remember how I said Sunday was a day for finishing? Well, apparently it's a day for starting too. So long as you finish. Heh. Step One: Insert Soap Step Two: Push Soap In Isn't he cute? (Pardon the gratuitous linkage, can you tell I love this pattern? I want everyone to find it! HERE!

Front, Knit, Slip...

Front, Purl, don't. Back, purl, slip, back, knit, don't. That's my kitchner rhyme, y'all. And it worked. Wanna know how I practiced it? I know, you've seen those before here in the bloggy thing, but never before have you seen them as a completed pair! It was a beautiful day in Charlotte. I sat outside in my rocking chair and knit. I was nearly finished anyway, and Sunday just seemed like a good day for finishing. So I did. But Sunday didn't start out so well. How many times do I have to tell him that plant stand is not a scratching post? Geez. So I got to start off my day, not by brushing my teeth or taking a shower or drinking a cup of coffee, but by vacuuming. Thanks, Ripple. But otherwise, it was a gorgeous day. Ripple sat on the ledge and enjoyed the flowers. Morris sat in a sunbeam - under the grill. Geez. That's safe. (No, it was not in use.) Oh, and see those flowers? Yesterday I tidied up the porch. Now it's my haven. I sat and read the sunday paper, drank my coffee, then knit. I had a good day.

Flash Your Stash Day!

Screw April Fool's Day. Happy Annual International Flash Your Stash Day of 2006! To view the photo set in it's entirety, please go To My Flickr Set as this post alone will not do it justice. And please, oh, please, if you view no other stash's today, you must view Bezzie's. I swear, she makes me laugh on a daily basis, but this, this I must share with the world. Don't miss out. (Not for children - FYI) OK, now, please note that there is a new flickr badge on the sidebar there under my FO's badge. So, for all the pics, please, please, please check it out! My Yarn Shelf. Needles on top, books down below.

You've Met Agent Bagsmith already. He holds nearly all my notions. My Wool shelf. That Noro on top (silk garden, Kureyon, Cash Iroha) and KP Shadow, and Lamb's Pride. On the bottom, my Cascade 220 Collection. Here we have my yarn closet. On either side we have my acrylic collection, mostly gifted from my mom, the bright fun colors on the left are my own fault. The middle, that's my sock yarn. Take a closer look. Top drawer is my "nicer" stuff. A ball of Trekking XXL, a couple skeins of Sockotta, and in the back of the drawer my Magic Stripes. The middle and bottom drawer are mainly Knit Picks sock yarns. Who didn't stock up on the Dancing when they heard it was being discontinued? Heh.

Please, do go to my To My Flickr Set to view my stash in it's yarnographic entirety.

Random Friday.

Woo Hoo! It's 8pm on a Friday night and yours truly is a wee bit toasted. Yesssss....I love fridays. So, I went and got the oil changed in my car today (got to leave work early for it) and thought I'd look into trading it in to save a few bucks. That was a no go. It's been too soon. I just leased it December of '04. Oh well. But I got an inch of my Jaywalkers done. Mind you, I turned the heel and finished the gusset last night. So it's really sock shaped by now. One of the sales reps asked me about it. "What are you making?" (Me holding up the sock) "Guess" "Socks!" "Yes." "For what?" "A foot." Dumbass. So then I head over to the local pub for a pint (or three) and then meander next door to Charlotte Yarn. My plan was to use my full frequent buyer card to buy some sock blockers. Well, I don't know what to think about it, but Remi was so nice, she gave them to me for free! Because I'm "such a good customer". Oh shit. Has it come to this? Have I spent that much there and that much time as to warrant complimentary sock blockers? Wow. Thank you! In other news, um...what's wrong with this article title? Elegant? Really? Umm...not so much. Woman's World really hasn't changed in the past 15 years. Yet, my mother continues to buy it. And hence, once in a while, I am compelled to buy it too. It's oddly comforting. But please. Elegant? Um...yeah.

Bathroom: Take 2

Firstly, I'd like to thank you all so much for your kind words in regards to yesterday's post. I continue to think of Raj, and his family, and wish there was a memorial service or something for me to attend. No obituary has been printed, I'm sure the family would like to maintain some privacy in this tough time. It's hard enough to hear his name on the news and the radio every day. So, remember how I repainted my bathroom to fix the horror that was the Jaywalker bathroom? Well, yesterday I got the finishing touch in the mail from my sister. She gifted me a wonderful linen shower curtain that she no longer had a home for. It's perfect! So, here is the cavalcade of photos:
The new shower curtain.
Check it out, new light fixture. The other one was older than me. It had to be. This one is so much brighter. I love it!
Pardon the spray bottles on the toilet. One has a water/conditioner mixture in it for the "day after" hair. The other is just water. I had used it for taking down the wallpaper. It still lurks in the bathroom though. I think it's emotionally attached.
This is directly across from the toilet, and the only place thus far I have found to put the stupid litterbox. I really need to potty train them. I hate the litterbox in a public area. There's just nowhere else right now.
Hi!

Fuzzy Foot II: Electric Boogaloo

I think I used that post title the last time I posted about finishing fuzzy feet. Oh well. I like it. It makes me think of disco. Anyhow, I finished the second fuzzy foot last night at my knitting meetup. It's a bit smaller than the first, but I think that's because for the first, I used the smallest cord in my Boye set to knit it in the round until I couldn't fit it anymore. The second, I had went ahead and bought a 32" Addi turbo in the 10 1/2 size because I figured I'd be knitting a lot of these. Um...well...I think doing the magic loop cum sideloop technique made me knit it a bit tighter. Oh well. It's not that huge a difference and once they're felted who'll know anyway? Now, all I have to do before April 21st is find a box to wrap them in, type out some fun step-by-step felting directions that a 12 yr old could follow (with mom's help with the washer) and get them mailed to Seattle. I think my Nephew will like these. And probably the do-it-yourself part more. So, the meetup last night was at a new location for the folks on the north end of town. Well, I got lost getting there. Thanks, MapQuest. A mall is not in the middle of the suburbs. It's a new mall, just opened at the beginning of February (I think, coulda been before that) so you'll forgive me for not knowing where it was. But damn. The Borders books in that mall where we met...amazing collection of knitting books. I found The Twisted Sisters Sock workbook (which I'd only seen online) and finally broke down and bought Socks Socks Socks. I was able to flip through it thoroughly and admitted that there were at least 4 or 5 socks patterns I wanted to make in it. The Twisted Sisters book - wow. There's so much more than just sock information in there. It'll be a great resource for me when I'm ready to dye that sock yarn I bought from knitpicks at the beginning of the year, and when I get my hands on a drop spindle to give spinning a go. It's all there! Sweet. And I got a 25% discount for the next time I buy something there. So I think I'll finally break down and buy Knitting Over the Edge. I really should get it before the weekend, because I want to finish up the pinwheel blanket. I might go ahead and get it tonight at the meetup at Books-a-Million. The blanket is big enough for it's purpose, and it's ready for an edging. I'm trying to figure out how that'll work on a round blanket. Will I have to maintain the YO every other round of the edging to keep it flat? Hmm... In other news. My favorite Conveinience store clerk was shot and killed the other night. Rajendra Premani always greeted me by name, remembered little details about me, would have my 2 packs of Parliment Light Menthols ready for me (before I quit) and cheered me on when I told him I was quitting. For 4 years, I only went to that Circle K because of him. I lived right next door. The apartment complex that the shooter ran into after. For 3 of those years, my building was right next door to the Circle K. Then I moved further back into the complex. Raj was covering for a co-worker. He could have gone home 3 and a half hours earlier, but he stayed. He and his co-worker did everything that was asked of them, and the asshole still fired his gun. I'm so glad they caught the guy. It hurts my heart to think that this kind man is dead.

Meet Agent Smith. Agent BagSmith, That Is.

So, Sunday was a very productive day for me. I woke up early, tidied up a bit, read my paper and drank coffee. I caught up on the knitty boards and then went to Lowe's for a few necessities to hang some shelves. Then, well, then I went to The Peace of Yarn. I went there with the intention of buying this bag but then had second thoughts. I had heard several knitters comment that the lantern moon bags didn't really lend themselves to portability. Mostly because of their delicate nature. The clerk at the shop even mentioned that. I had also always had my eye on a bagsmith bag for a while. You see them in the magazines and you can just picture it sitting on the floor beside you on the couch as you merrily knit along. I'd never actually seen one in a shop yet though. Until Sunday.
Meet Agent Smith. Agent Bagsmith. He holds lots of stuff (including my new orange chibi that I finally found!) I love all his pockets and nooks. He can fit nearly everything in there that I need on my current projects. Well, he could fit it all, but I refuse to put my Adamas Shawl and stuff in there, it's gotta stay separate and at home. If I try it in public, I'll screw the pooch. I just know it. But for some reason, I put the dental floss in him. Hmm...need to move that to the Adamas bag. I look forward to grabbing him and taking him to my Stich 'n Bitch and my Knitting Meetup groups. Isn't he the most useful bag you have ever seen? I love me some bagsmith. As I was preparing for Flash Your Stash (how are you all planning on doing this? Lots of pr0n up close, some storage shots, what? All of it?) Ripple couldn't stay out of trouble. And I couldn't resist grabbing the camera before I rescued him. The little stinker. He just has to jump up on the shelf over my computer, then see where he can go from there. I'm still waiting for him to make it on top of the shelves housing my book stash (and part of my yarn stash, and my needles, *sigh*) And now, after Sunday's shelf installing extravaganza, I have a veritable walkway around the walls of the office for him. You'll see. Oh, and back to FYS. I have photos of my closet and shelves where I keep most of it. I have some close ups of the stash too. But, uh, how does this work? Do you have to label every photo with what it is? How many pr0n shots? Do you have to have one with the whole mountain that is your stash? I guess that'd be nice, if not a pain. This is my first time flashing, so I'd like to hear what you all have seen or done.

Just Call Me Crazy

OK, it's done. Thanks to the inspiration from StringBean I went and started a ring. I mighta gone into overkill by also starting a blog but oh well. So, as you see, in the left hand column there under my ABC along ring, we have the Knitting Crazy Cat Ladies ring. Steal the button if you like, just save it to your own image hosting service first. I'll likely come up with a better one later. So - yay! Crazy Cat Ladies who Knit - UNITE! Come join, just click the necessary link down there. Or e-mail me at prostiturtleATgmailDOTcom and be sure to include your website url and your e-mail. Yay!

F is for Felines

Heh. Managed to get cats in there some how. So, I finally get around to "F" in the ABC-Along (see sidebar for A-E). F is also for Friends and Family, which these felines certainly fill those rolls as well for me. First, we have Morris: Morris has lived a long life. I think. You see, my sister adopted him while she was in the Marines in Jacksonville, NC. Morris was living outside her home, and visited her regularly, bringing her "presents" and whatnot. She'd let him inside every now and then, and one day - he didn't leave. He'd obviously been a part of someone else's family at some point. He was fixed, and friendly. Then she moved to Charlotte along with her 4 other cats, to a 1 bedroom apartment. And Morris, you see, likes his alone time. You can't get alone time when there are 4 other cats taking up all the good sunbeams. So he took to living in the covered litterbox. He stunk to say the least. After convincing my sister that she needed to reduce the feline population of her home, I adopted Morris. He was shy. I took him home and immediately gave him a bath. He didn't like that so much. He spent the first month or so under the bed. I put food and water under there for him. Every night my roommate and I would pull him out from under the bed and hold him, talk to him, and pet him. Eventually, he would come out to greet us and hang out with us. He and Ripple grew to become great buddies. I can't picture one without the other now. The longer Morris and Ripple were together, the more energy and spunk Morris showed. He plays and runs around like he was just a couple years old. We think he's anywhere from 13-15 years old now. He's a good Feline. (Heh, there's my F again.) And then we have Ripple. This is my favorite picture of Ripple. Not the best quality, but it really shows just how funny he is. When I went to graduate school in Louisville, KY - I moved into my first apartment. I was all alone. I'd never been without a cat. Well, when I lived in the college dorms, but even then there were cats around. I had a roommate that was highly allergic to cats. Being the bitch I was though, I got a cat anyway. I got Ripple at the pet shop. He was from the animal shelter and had been found in rurall Kentucky in a box on the side of the road along with his brothers and sisters. He was the last one left. He saw me and immediately crawled up the side of the cage he was in (like one of those Garfield dolls that stick to your car window with suction cups) and I knew he was mine. I brought him home with a harness and leash (I intended to walk him at the local park) and he immediately took to me. He would burrow in my hair to nap (and still does, but instead of my shoulder, he sits on the couch and burrows from behind), he join me in the shower (yup, he likes to get wet) and never objected to a pedicure. Ripple lets me pick him up and snuggle him while he purrs in my ear. He's my kid. He's 7 years old now, but you wouldn't know it. He's still as full of mischief as the day I took him home. Men may come and go in my life (though they haven't come in for several - ok - 5 - years now) but my cats are my constants. They're my friends and my family. The ones I come home to every night that greet me with a headbutt to the shin, and wait for me by the door. They sleep on the bed with me every night. Morris on the pillow by my head and Ripple at the foot. They're my boys. My little redheads.

Row 19, You Can Kindly Kiss My Ass

(The following images have been brought to you by Imageshack. Because apparently, Blogger hates it when we try to upload our pics. As always, please click the thumbnail for a decent size image.) I finally cast on for the dumbass shawl tonight. And row 19, kiss my ass. I had to tink back on you not once, not twice, not 3 times, no. 4 times I tinked back on you before I found my mistake. You're really not as hard as all those little o's and /'s and \'s make you out to be. But please, don't make me take you out of your protective plastic shell and think of new ways to fold you into an origami bird. Just. Don't. I managed to get through the upper chart portion of the Adamas Shawl pattern. Casting on and getting through that first row was tricky. I've never used such fine yarn before. Once I got going, I took my time, I talked the pattern through (Ripple was Soooo not impressed with my ciphering) and managed not to fuck it all up too badly. I didn't have a problem until rows 17 and 19 when I had the most stitches on my needle. The repeats were regular enough, but I lost track of where I was in it because I was being so careful. Know what I mean? I kept looking from the chart to the needles after every stitch, then forget what repeat I was on. Ugh. It was ugly. Also, I went to a new yarn shop today. It was nice enough. No Noro (!) and a poor selection of needles. But the rest of the yarn, and the set-up, was really nice! Pricier than the shop I frequent the most, but it's nice to know what they have. And I couldn't leave without picking up something special. Isn't that the neatest little knitting basket you've ever seen? I plan on using it for my sock in progress. Once I get one going again. I also picked up a little more Cotton Chenille for a flower washcloth (for me!) from Weekend Knitting. I have one more to make for my mother, and I'll have some white left over, so between that and this, I just might have enough for two! Yay! Oh, and be patient. There'll be pics of the finished bathroom very soon. It's drying and a few more things need to be installed. And I haven't decided whether or not to paint the doors and the cabinet the darker color that I used for the glaze. I probably will.

Jaywalker Wishes and Crisply Striped Dreams.

First, let's start with the one good thing that I did this weekend: This is the Lacy Round Cloth , March's mid-month KAL on the yahoo group. Upon suggestion on Day 2 by the moderator, I changed yarns every 20 rows. Upon getting pissed off by said mod and saying "screw it, I can find dishcloth patterns myself" I looked up the pattern and realized the mod was wacked in the head because picking only 2 colors, for a 9 section repeat, would make me start and end with the same color "petal". So, I ended one repeat early, and it's still very round. So screw it. Next time, I'm picking 3 colors, and doing all 9 repeats. I'm not going to quit the group, I thought about it, because this chick really was quite rude to an innocent e-mail I sent, but screw it. She's not the one sending out the patterns usually. She's covering for the group owner. So, I just won't be checking into the group's messages from now on. Anyway. So. The Jaywalker bathrooms was a complete disaster. And I had fabulous help too. One of my knitterly friends from my meetup.com group offered to help me, and even brought help! All was going fine until they had to leave. Then I took over. And I screwed it up. Maybe I'm just too picky, but it just didn't come across on the wall like it did in my head. Their part turned out great. The edges needed a touch up, but the stripes were even, and looked good. A bit wider than I was thinking in my head, and I was also thinking of more repeats in the up and down. But damn if what we did do didn't take long enough. Fuck that. Then I took over. Doesn't look the same does it? I was so disappointed. And every time I tried to fix it, I made it worse. It was sad. I even gave it a night and tried to fix it later. Nope. I went out first thing in the morning and bought primer and paint and glaze, and I'm doing a ragging technique now. It's looking good. The Jaywalker Bathroom lasted all of 24 hours. Not even actually. I'm still sad about it. I'm glad I'm redoing it in a much more subtler style. It will look a lot better. And it already does. But paint was everywhere. It was a complete mess. And I still have some cleanup to do. But I'll have it all fixed in a couple days. Just a few more walls to rag, and we're done. Then it's on to the Adamas Shawl from Knit Picks. Aspiring Crazy Cat Lady and I are going to go through first time lace-knitter hell together. And remember how I said I bought the same color yarn that my sp sent me? Nah, I only thought I did. I nearly did actually. That was my second choice (apparently) and I went with the Sunset colorway. It's purty. But damn, after seeing the Jewels colorway in person, I almost wish I HAD picked it. Oh well. This will also be my very first time trying to knit something by looking at a chart. And I'm scared. I like the written directions. I'm seriously thinking of writing out the pattern. But I think that might be stupid. I'm not sure. Any advice from you lace-knitters out there? Moral support?

One Small Step for Knitter-Kind, One Giant Leap for Me.

So, rather than hit the pub, I was a good girl yesterday and hung out at my LYS after work. (I only bought 3 skeins of Lamb's Pride - for Fuzzy Feet - I swear I needed it! Well, one skein anyway.) Well, conversation ensued, and again a question was posed to me that I had always answered with a "let me knit a few more first". Socks. She wants me to teach a sock class. Only one student - that really wants to learn the 2 circ method - and she's a beginner. OK, one student, I think I can handle that. But still, I gotta teach. Knitting. Um, wow. So yeah, I agreed. We'll see how it goes, then maybe in the future, I can do it formally with more actual students. The lady that normally teaches socks, does only DPNs and doesn't really support the 2-circ method. So, Cristi to the rescue! Eek! Wish me luck!

I got it!

IGOTIT!IGOTIT!IGOTIT!IGOTIT! I can't wait to go home in a couple minutes and wind all my skeins into balls. Wound balls make even cheap acrylic look cool! My stash is going to be stylin' for Flash Your Stash! Yay! I ordered a swift yesterday. Joann's has them for $39.99 right now. But if you use your 40% off coupon on it, you end up saving even more, you just have to pay for shipping. But you still come out ahead! Yay!

Jochibi is the Best (not so) Secret Pal!

Let me tell you, I had the day from hell. I worked overtime yesterday trying to get this new fangled set of numbers all done for the period report at work that was due today. We met at 10am to discuss the report TODAY - yeah, the day it's due. How clever! Nearly every number I spent working on yesterday for 9 and a half hours had to be reworked from a different source. Thanks boss. So I worked through my normal lunch time today, ate at my desk at 1:30 (finally) and got the report out at 2:30. THANK GOD. It was due at noon though. Oh well. It's OVER! At least for a few more weeks, then I can update it! Yay? So, after work, I head on over to The Yarn Shop because I knew they'd be open until 7pm. I wanted to buy my mom some yarn to go with a project in The Happy Hooker that I'd gotten for her. I treated myself to a skein of Cascade 220 Quatro, and a skein of Plymouth Fantasy Natural 100% Cotton for a facecloth. I also treated myself to a couple sizes of Bryspuns (I love using them for cotton.) ANYWAY, I sat for a bit and started on a Mock Cable Rib pattern (March 11 on this) and then I headed over to Michaels to find some crochet hooks with the padded handle that Trillian recommended for my mom's osteo-arthritis. I found some! Then, I finally head home. And we get to the point of this post. My next package from my SP is here! Yay! Lemme tell you, Jochibi is WONDERFUL as a (not so) Secret Pal. I kinda feel bad for guessing it was her back on February 16th in the Knitty thread for the SP6 guessing game. I officially busted her back here, on the 18th. Jo, it was the Japan hint you had given me from my first package, and knowing it was shipped from Delaware. The two hints were put together on your questionnaire. But hey, I busted another SP by looking at her avatar photo code, so it was only a matter of time. (I know who funfuristhedevil is!) So, I see Jo's beautiful daughter, Willow has customized the package with some very fun turtles. She's a budding ar-teest is she not? And then lo, behold the knitty goodness: What's all that in there you ask? Lemme show you. First, the non-yarn: That's some Trader Joe's Gourmet Peanut Brittle (I haven't had peanut brittle in YEARS! And Trader Joe's Soy & Flaxseed Tortilla Chips. She says they're her favorite snacks. I'll take your word on the tortilla chips, Jo. Um, hmm. I'm in for an adventure I think. Fortunately, not like the taste adventure Domestic Overlord is about to embark on. Oh, and see that on the left? A "Limited Edition Hershey's White Chocolate Confetti" bar! Yay! Why have I not seen this anywhere? I so need to stalk the candy aisle of Harris Teeter. And those candles, to die for! One is scented "fresh cut roses" and the other "lotus blossom" and wow. Do they smell good! Anyway, lookee what else: Yes, I'm sitting in front of the door because I couldn't wait to open it. Like the carpet? Heh. That's 3 skeins of Berroco Cotton Twist in my favorite Fall Foliage colors. Jochibi suggested perhaps a new Odessa, for me (!), out of it. I see she's been paying attention since I mused that perhaps I need to try cotton to combat the itchiness. You bet I will! The next step is to figure out how to make the colors swirl. And the other skein, this shows how psychic my SP is, is Knitpicks Shadow in the color Jewels - THAT I BOUGHT 2 HANKS OF TODAY to knit an Adamas Shawl! That's some psychic powers that is. The same color? How the? What? Wow. I bow to you, Jochibi, for you are far more gifted than me in psychic powers. Wow. And that wasn't all. She sent me a wonderful housewarming gift too. Before I opened it, I read her note, stating that her sister had gotten her one of these, and she uses it all the time. I laughed my ass off when I opened it. Because of course I see that it's a shotglass when I opened it. Then I saw the detail. My, I bet that is useful. Now I'll know just how many tablespoons of Jagermeister is in a shot. Heh. But seriously, I do see how useful it'll be when I cook. So, everyone, go give Jochibi a visit and tell her what a wonderful SP she's been to me. THANK YOU,JO! And finally, for Zibbibbo, some yarn pr0n:

Dishcloth #12

Simple Summer Dishcloth Yeah, I'm addicted. They're such fun, small projects though! And I love giving them as gifts! Yeah, the only ones I've gifted have been to my mom, but still. I have a plan to have one in my purse ready to give away when needed. Another Knit-a-long starts tomorrow, and I'm ready! So, last night, I thought I'd make all sorts of progress on the Pinwheel baby blanket, but it's kinda hard to knit when you're drunk. heh. I had a day from hell at work, and even had work to bring home. So, while I filled out 121 meal vouchers, I sipped a glass of wine. Then when I was done, I kept sipping. I forgot the "eating" part of the evening until about 9pm. But I still managed to get 4 repeats done. I'm not sure how big I'm going to make it, but we'll see. I really hate the idea of transferring the live stitches to waste yarn just to see how big it is. Seems like a lot more trouble than I need to go through. I figure if I can measure from the center to an edge, that'll give me just as good an idea anyway. Right? *sigh* I see waste yarn in my future.

Insert Title Here

Yeah, I can't think of a good name for this post. I could go with something boring like "Progress!" but, meh. Yesterday was so nice. I managed to get a lot unpacked and out of the way. The weather was nice, so I sat outside in my rocking chair and knit. Oh, my, that makes me sound 90. Does it help if the rocking chair looks like this: I got that chair at a dumpster, painted it, and reupholstered it with a tapestry from my college days. I love it. I have no room for it inside, but it fits on the porch. Anywho, I worked on the pinwheel baby blanket, and here's the progress: For reference, it's on a 32" circular. I know because it's knit from the center out, it'll grow fast, but I'm almost to the point where visible progress is about to stop. I'll be knitting forever and only make it grow by a 1/4" - just you wait and see. I'd love to get this done for the weekend. Cross your fingers. Oh, and see those stitch markers? We'll call that a hint should my SP actually view my blog. Hee hee.