KarenJoSeattle

Milestones

Except for sewing in a few ends, I finished the back of the Jaeger Biscuit cardigan.

Including sewing in ends and whip-stitching the button holes, I finished the front button bands on the mountain Colors top-down cardigan.

One of the workshops I took from Sally Melville last May covered picking up stitches along a curve such as a neck edge. I'll dig out my notes and take them with me tomorrow to circle where I'll pick up for the neckband on the Mountain Colors cardigan. That was one of the things I learned that weekend that I promised myself I'd practice so I would remember them.

Let's hope I took good notes. Sally's rules for picking up worked very well and resulted in a nice, smooth curve.

One Step Back

I'm back to where I was this time last night, ready to sew down the button-hole-side band on the Mountain Colors cardigan.

Once the button band folded over as I started to sew down the hem it became clear that the button holes lay way too close to the picot edge and too far from the sweater body edge. Plus, they still didn't look as neat as I'd like.

And one button hole had one too few stitches as I can no longer reliably count to three. At least I can pattern-match well enough to make the corresponding hole on the underside of the hem the same size.

So I spent this evening ripping and reknitting.

Much better.

I should do a swatch of buttonholes. I think in something like a button hole, the techinique that works best for each knitter varies with the knitter's style and preferences. I'd like to determine the best method for me.

Plus I plan several projects that include buttonholes in the near future and would prefer to practice on something other than my actual garment pieces.

Running Around

Before I got to my knitting today I had to run some errands.

I needed to go to a couple places in the same area as my favorite Farmer's Market, so I stopped in for some late season produce. Since we have a relatively mild climate for as far north as we are, this market actually runs year round, but today was the last day this year for the vendor where I bought the little eggplants.

I actually bought twice this many, but we had some for dinner mixed with mushrooms, bay scallops, and wine.

Then I stopped at The Weaving Works to buy Addi Natura needles in sizes I need for one of my cardigans plus a couple others I knew I lacked. I had some filled frequent buyer cards, since this is my main source for my Addi needles, and these needles came out more than half off.

I also got to buy art supplies for the Design class I registered for. I love playing in art supply stores. It looks like we'll get to work with a lot of different things in this class.

I finished the knitting on the button hole band on the Mountain Colors cardigan. I'm ready to start sewing it down but I'll wait until tomorrow to finish. I also split a length of my 4-ply yarn in two to use for stitching around my buttonholes to hold the two layers together and neaten thing up a bit.

Measuring

In the last class on my cardigan, I had trouble with measuring my back piece to determine if I had enough done to start shoulder shaping. By my figuring from earlier measurements, I still had more to knit.What I got in class indicated I should start my shaping.

This really was the first measurement on this piece that could not be worked around if I didn't get it right. I could tolerate a bit of variation in the finished length. If the back turned out a bit too narrow or too wide, I could adapt the front pieces or button bands.

If the armhole turned out too short, though, the sweater would not feel comfortable. If too long under the arm, the sweater would look a bit frumpy and poorly fitting.

While knitting I'm careful to lay my piece on a flat, smooth surface occasionally to measure accurately. In class I measured on the wooden work table. My measurements there came out bigger than I got at home, for some unknown reason. The sproinginess of this yarn maybe be a factor.

So today, before knitting any further, I decided to do some more definitive measurements.

First, I lay out my piece and loosely pinned it out without stretching. This did take a bit of repinning and repositioning to make sure things lay straight. I also pinned out the edges unrolled to try to get a better idea of the width.

When I measure my actual gauge it comes out a bit tighter than my swatch, but I wasn't getting a width that matched that gauge. Once pinned, my length measurements matched what I had gotten before at home. The width, however, did come out close to that predicted by my new gauge.

As a double check, I wanted to measure my piece hanging as it would when worn. I pinned out the needle end of  my piece, which worked for me without transferring the piece onto a length of waste yarn because I knit the piece flat on a circular needle. Again, I tried not to stretch out the piece and to get the top line straight.

I propped my blocking-board-equivalent against the wall and carefully pinned the piece again in a few spots as it hung from the needle. Then with one hand I just pressed it flat to shape while I measured. The measurements here matched the previous within a quarter inch in all directions.

So now I know that I do indeed need to keep knitting before I start my shoulder and back neck shaping. I expect I'll need to do this pinned measuring again on this and the other pieces.

Third Time's a Charm...Sort Of

Why do knitted button holes always turn out somewhat funky - funky even after you've ripped and redone them three times?

First I did a one-row, 2-stitch button hole on one of my knit-back-backwards rows. I pretty much followed the directions Sally Mellville gives in The Knit Stitch for a knit-row version. It seemed to work.

But once I had the next row knit and looked at them, most had a noticable hole at one end and some just looked wrong.

The wrong ones turned out to have one too few stitches in one direction. Then there was the buttonhole that just didn't exist, despite a pin marking where it should exist.

Second try I went for two-row holes, but used a purlwise crochet cast-on. This cast-on does not work in this application. Trust me on that and save yourself a round of ripping.

The e-loop cast-on (aka backward loop cast-on), which the buttonhole instructions called for in another pattern that I knew I had and finally found, worked fine, though it defies all attempts at consistent tension. Plus I had to pick up a missed cast-on and a pair of dropped stitches over the next couple of rows.

Fortunately I dropped a pair of stitches because I dropped them on the YO P2tog row I did for the picot hem edge. I managed to wrestle enough slack to both retrieve and knit two stitches together and to add the matching YO.

I should mention that I haven't done button bands before. I've knit quite a few sweaters, but only two cardigans, though I wear cardigans more than pullovers. My garter stitch cardigan (that I never wear but liked knitting) has no separate band. My big, frequently worn at home and heavily pilled, basketweave-stitch cardigan has I-cord edges like the pattern in Simply Knit on which I based it.

Because this button band has a picot hem I now get to do the button holes all over again. Tomorrow. Once. Maybe.

Micellany

...With irrelevant but entertaining photos. I think the Casbah comes closer to the actual color than the last too-blue photo.

I sewed in ends on the cats' throw, then started to crochet the edge. When my breathing became labored I had to put it down. Lesson learned - finish the project before the cats shed all over it. They love it anyway in all its unedged and unblocked glory. (I just had to retrieve the Brittany birch crochet hook from the girls while writing this. We may lose ground on the crocheted edge.)

Think good thoughts for my blog friend Laura. She seems to have dodged the worst, but watches the Southern California fires burn two ridges away. I've lived through similar fires in northern California, but never quite that close. The ones down south rank much worse on the scary and unpredictable scale.

The progress slowed on the Jaeger Biscuit cardigan today as I waited for some clarification of numbers from Karen. I took advantage of the wait to answer a couple days' backlog of e-mails, both bloggish and not, and then reply to answers. I thought about how different this instant contact makes my knitting life from the early 70s when I first learned. No wonder I never made it past stockinette scarves and brown acrylic back then.

I need to write a post on knitting back backwards. I thought I had but apparently I just took the photos. In the meantime, there are videos here. However, what she calls purling back I call knitting back backwards and vice-versa. What I need to find are instructions for purling back backwards from the knit side so I can do garter stitch edges and such. I'll think on this.

I found a Destashing sales blog. Anybody familiar with this site? Earlier today Bloglines could find the feed but not add it to my subscriptions. Now they can't find the feed. Is this a sign? See below.

I can't decide if I need to order more Jaeger yarn from England now that the last of my first order arrived safely (though six! weeks later). Need may not apply to a discontinued yarn yen. Note that I did not link my source.

Not at Rhinebeck

I've said it in a couple of comments on other blogs, so I'll say it here, too. Next year I will do a 'Not at Rhinebeck' blogalong. Add the apparently several thousand knitbloggers who are off fondling fleece in NY to those who aren't usually on-line over the weekend and it's pretty quite out there.

Both sweaters are moving along nicely.

My top-down hemmed Mountain Colors 4/8s cardigan got one button band completed plus ends sewn in. Well, all ends sewn in but one that needs some fiddling because the join looks funky on the right side. I want to pick up and knit the other band to the row where I'd place the one-row button holes before Wednesday knitting circle.

I've learned one-row button holes at least twice, but never actually executed them for a garment so I'll want some direction for them. Hopefully doing two cardigans back to back, one of which has hemmed bands so needs the button holes done twice, will cement the technique in my brain.

The pieced cardigan in Jaeger Biscuit-colored Extra Fine Merino DK has 9 inches of back with a tad of waist shaping. I need to have a minimum of 13.5 inches for the next class, also Wednesday. That should be doable. I may even start on the armhole shaping as it's pretty straight forward.

The nice thing about a simple sweater done in pieces in a non-bulky yarn is that it fills the role of portable project as well as TV/movie project. Once I actually get the thing sewn together it will be a very useful basic sweater.

However, that actuality may be an issue. I can't remember the last time I seamed a sweater. And we'll leave for a month and a half of holidays down in California just a few days after the last session of this class, so no opportunity to bring it to circle for help/moral support until January.

I'm not a good sewer. I am, however, a very good mender. I just need to think of it like mending. I've practiced with my hems on the Mountain Colors.

So Close

Tonight the Spousal-Unit and I walked the four blocks up to the main library for an appearance and book signing by Oliver Sacks.

We got to within five people of actually making it in. Another 200 or so people behind us also didn't get in. I have a feeling more people actually got in than there were seats for or than would make the Fire Marshall happy.

Any geeky knitters out there who love good mind-blowing knitting tricks needed to go read about Janine's save on a mis-knit cardigan with a complex yoke. I love this kind of stuff.

I'll have some photos of knitting tomorrow. Currently I have two sweaters under way and both show some progress. Let's hope things continue that way.

Overbooked

So, I got off the ferry from my two knitting classes five  minutes after the time for Laurie/Crazy Aunt Purl to start reading from her new book. I trotted through the rain up the hill to Third Avenue with my umbrella, extra large purse stuffed with things like the skein of Casbah and a hat a friend couldn't finish due to mohair allergies, plus two sweater-sized project bags with all the sweater makings in them. No time to stop and drop stuff off at home.

As I hopped on a bus I realized that the free-ride hours had also expired about when Laurie purportedly started to read. I set down the two project bags and began to dig in my purse for my wallet. The drip from my umbrella ran into my left shoe.

The bus driver told me I had to move that stuff behind the line. I slung everything, including the purse, over the line and crouched down to pull the knitting out of my bag so I could find my wallet before we got to the next stop and someone wanted to get to the door to get off.

The light turned green and the bus moved. I sat down in the aisle - hard.  I thought what an appropriately Laurie moment I was having as I sat there and rummaged for my fare. I found the wallet and the bus money stash, slung everything back over my shoulder and lurched back up to drop my fare in the box.

Eight blocks later I dashed off the bus, saving about seven minutes over walking based on my frequent experience with these hills and stoplights. About twenty minutes after the designated time I rolled into Barnes and Noble.

The store had about half enough chairs from what I could see through the standees. I found a spot where I could see Laurie between heads and also stash my load out of the traffic pattern. She had already sat back down after reading and now answered questions. What questions I don't know since I couldn't hear them and could only understand about half of what Laurie said. That half was funny.

When she finished I went up to the front registers to claim my saved copy of her book and see if they had more copies so I could get a second one. The young guy at the register really did seem sorry that he didn't have extra copies there.

I cruised around looking for where they had put the books - not with the knitting books or on any of the tables I could get to. Quite a few people still milled around working their way to the back of the line.

I asked at the information desk at the edge of the crowd. The young woman there thought the books were on a table right in front of Laurie. She waded into the crowd, but returned to tell me none remained. I got back on line at the registers and paid for my held copy, very glad I'd preordered one and wishing I'd requested two. I wanted the second to stash for a future blog drawing.

Then I made my way to the end of the signing line - literally. I was last in line until just a minute before my turn when a couple more people added on.

As I got on line, the woman in front of me told the woman a couple of people ahead that she looked very familiar.

"You know me?" she asked.

I looked up and said, "You're Rabbitch."

"Yep," she replied.

Only after I'd waited for the hour it took to get to my turn and saw Rabbitch sitting to one side with her friends did it occur to me that I'd never actually met her in person before. I introduced myself and chatted for a minute.

The wait went well. I talked knitting and town of origin with the three women in line ahead of me. I almost got a second book.

One of the women in front of me had no book. The redhead who seemed to be running the signing tried to find her one and thought she had. Then they discovered it was already inscribed and just misplaced by its owner so she still had none.

The woman who had been helping me at the information booth earlier showed up with an actual unclaimed copy. The knitter in me won out over the blogger and I handed it to the woman with no book.

When it was her turn for photos and signatures, that same woman joked with Laurie about Photoshopping the picture. Laurie said she intended to Photoshop one of herself with a naked Al Gore.

The redheaded organizer  said that this was the best group she'd had in several years of signings and she do an event for knitters any time.

We just smiled and agreed. No one bothered to mention the need for more chairs, more books, or a microphone. She looked much too happy so we just left one more person with an improved view of who knitters actually are. Besides, we'd had a good time.

As I gathered my bags to leave Laurie told me she really liked a woman who traveled heavy.

The rain stopped as I walked home.

Prizes

Blogless Karen won first choice of prize in my blogiversary drawing. Second choice goes to ashpags. Congratulations.

Karen, I sent you an e-mail. Ashley, I'll let you know what Karen picks. You already have a signed Casts Off, don't you?

I need to get back to you guys on Laurie's appearance last night. Right now I need to shower so I can brave wind and rain to catch a bus over to an appointment with my aesthetician/friend Souzan. While this storm that's all over the news rages outside, I'll be getting a facial, spa manicure and pedicure. That is, I will as long as the power stays on.

Here's a photo of some yarn I bought yesterday to keep you happy. Handmaiden's Casbah has 325 meters of merino, cashmere and nylon in a one-of-a-kind hand-dyed skein.

Varvikud

No idea what that title  means. A blog in what I think may be Estonian linked to my crochet cast-on tutorial. Apparently it's a pretty popular blog.

Anyone able to tell me anything about this post? I think it is about the knitting of the toed socks pictured.

Very cool in a Small World way to be cruising through my page referal stats and come across this.

Well, That Worked Well

My shameless promotion of my blog contest in a comment on The Yarn Harlot's site gave pretty good results. I got a nice blip in page views. Quite a few readers even left comments for the drawing. Hello to all who came over from there. Good by to my lovely tall blip from Stephanie's post a month ago. It'll never look that impressive again now that it just shows up on two month's worth of stats.

If you haven't gotten a thank you e-mail from me, I don't have an e-mail address for you. Melissa, Cindy H, and ellen in indy, I don't have any contact information. Please drop me a line using the link in the sidebar to the right so I have an e-mail address for the drawing. For Meghann/Megynn, Mary, and Lana I just have blog links, but no e-mail addresses I could find on your blogs. I can just leave a comment for you, but if you'd rather have an e-mail notification, also drop me a line. And rest assured that the issue with my not receiving comment notifications has nothing to do with anything you did as acommentors. There's a glitch somewhere in the delivery process.

The contest has also brought out some readers I didn't know I had. It's nice to know that my increasing page views don't all come from search engines finding my blog.

I think maybe blogs that have been around for a while have a larger proportion of their readers registered on Bloglines, where they give you a number of subscriptions per feed. My newer blog has an increasing reader base without much of an increase in Bloglines subscribers. A couple of years ago they had less competition. Plus, the knitblog crowd now days seems pretty savvy about things like feeds.

Personally, I'm very happy to have someone else do all the work. Then again, I still don't have everything I planned in my sidebar done for my six-month blogiversary. I have averaged 5.65 posts per week. I'm very proud of that little figure.

I have done a bit of knitting in the last few days. My latest shoulder shawl got frogged and reknit to just past where I was. The first bead pattern I tried didn't make me happy.

Plus I'm swatched, packed, and ready for a cardigan project class taught by Karen starting tomorrow.

Besides that class I have an errand to run in the morning, knitting circle where I may actually get something done on the bands of my current cardigan WIP, and a book signing by Laurie/Crazy Aunt Purl to attend. Not much time for finding a number generator and posting to the blog in there. Expect results of the drawing on Thursday morning. That should give some of those I have no contact information for time to contact me.

Back to it

I apologize for so many days absent. The last few days included a combination of lots of chores and errands and some down-time doing something completely different. I did a couple of actual workouts and caught up on an exercise video forum I had neglected since last May.

I finished the knitting on the cat's little throw late last night. It still needs ends sewn in and a crocheted finish on the side edges - if I can ever get it back. No one could accuse these girls of not appreciating a nice hand-knit gift.

Don't forget if you haven't yet, please leave a comment for entry in my 6-month Blogiversary contest by midnight tomorrow. Also, if you don't link to a blog where I can get contact information for you when I don't get a comment notice from TypePad, please send me your own comment notice via the link in my sidebar. Odds are I won't get your e-mail address otherwise right now. Melissa and northernknitter, I didn't get your e-mail addresses so please send me a note.

Annemor Sundbø

Last week end the Nordic Heritage Museum here in Seattle held a Nordic Knitting Conference. I originally signed up for it, but ended up with a conflict due to an out-of-state family event.

At times like this I rely on the blogging community to fill me in on what I missed. This time, my local Knitting Guild also pitched in with a program by Annemor Sundbø before she headed back to Norway.

In 1983, Annemor bought a mill that recycled woolen goods in order to learn more about the process. In the rag pile of wool to be processed she found many handknit examples of traditional Norwegian items and motifs. She began to collect many examples and record the motifs used.

This led her to research the origin and use of the designs she found. Many of these motifs have specific meanings and symbolism. Annemor led us through the symbols combined into such familiar motifs as an eight pointed star divided by a pre-Christian cross with four arms of equal length. Then she showed examples of these same motifs used in various cultures from Scandinavia to the Near East to the Orient.

Many of the mittens Terri Shea used in her book Selbuvotter came from Annemor's collection. Terri includes patterns for many of these traditional mittens in her book. So that fortuitous rag pile resulted in much of the current research on traditional Norwegian knitting and the preservation of many patterns.

Unfortunately, Annemor's book Everyday Knitting is no longer available in the US though her other two books can still be found. She can fill orders to the US from Norway. Because of exchange rates and transportation the books cost more than we are used to paying here.

Need some contact info, please

This TypePad issue with missing comment notification now causes a potential problem with my contest. I have several commeters who have no blog linked and for whom I haven't gotten an e-mail address due to no notification message. New commenters seem to be most likely to not produce a notice.

Ruth-Anne (in Seattle), Helen, Anne, and Nicole could you please send me an e-mail using the link in the sidebar? I really want to be able to contact anyone who wins my drawing.

Blogiversary Contest

Next Wednesday marks six months for my blog. Of course, I'm holding a contest to celebrate.

All comments left on posts dated from this one through midnight on April October (duh) 16th will be entered into the contest with two winners chosen by random number generator. Because I'm still having some issues with comment notification, I won't include comments left on posts from dates before today just in case I miss one.

I have two prizes. First I have a signed copy of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off. Then, a skein of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock DK in Moody Blues. I'll give the first chosen winner their choice of prize.

I have three things scheduled for the 17th already, so it will be late that night or the morning of the 18th before I post winners.

So welcome everyone and thanks in advance for stopping by.

Could You Guys Stop Posting Until I Catch Up?

Last night I turned on my computer for a quick check of my e-mail. The Bloglines icon informed me I had 121 posts waiting for me.

I've got that down to 79, but I swear I've read more than 42 of them. It feels like I'd be back at square one if I took a couple hours off. Do you think maybe I have too many blogs on my list? A couple would be easy to drop as I don't know the writers that well yet. How can I let go of any more?

Why when I'm home for the weekend are the posts thin and when I'm gone everyone has nothing better to do than write long and fascinating treatises?

I guess I should mention that I got my Ravelry invitation almost two weeks ago. So far I've looked around twice. I don't feel like making the time for it right now. Soon, though.

Spousal-Unit and I spent the weekend in Salem, Oregon visiting my nephew at Willamette University's Family Weekend along with my sister and BIL. We had mild but decidedly autumnal weather and a very nice time. Sometimes I really like to experience my large family in smaller bits.

The linen stitch throw now measures about six inches. I think that counts as one third done. I made it about 30 inches wide. Eighteen inches seems like a good balance to that. Then I'll do a crocheted edge on the sides to neaten them.

So far I've also used less than a third of the yarn I planned. If I decide the thing needs more width, I'll have some yarn for it. That's always nice.

Linen Stitch

Linen stitch, also called Woven stitch, makes a dense, firm fabric with little give or stretch. While it has a tiny bit of drape when done at a reasonable gauge, it can easily become stiff as a board if knit tightly.

This firmness makes it a good choice for home decore type projects like pillow covers or for items needing a stiffer fabric such as tote bags.

My current linen stitch project is a throw for my cats. I hope that the texture of this stitch will allow it to stand up to the occasional kneading from a cat.

Offset rows of alternating knit stitches and stitches slipped with the yarn in front create a mesh of stitches that do  more resemble a woven rather than knitted fabric in its characteristics.

The slipped stitches produce a texture that lends itself well to using two or more colors. Knit two rows in each color, starting with a right side row.

Here's the stitch as I'm doing it.

Start with an odd number of stitches.

Row 1 (RS) K1 *slip1wyif, knit1, repeat from *, ending with a K1

Row 2 (WS) Purl

Row 3 K1 *knit1, slip1wyif, repeat from * until two stitches from end, K2.

Row 4 Purl

Note that Row 1 starts and ends with K1 while Row 3 starts and ends with a K2.  This offsets the stitches in Row 3 from those in Row 1.

Diversionary Project

I started a new project today.

My current active WIPs include my cardigan, which has gotten fairly large and needs button bands before I complete the sleeves, and a beaded version of my shoulder shawl.

Tomorrow morning I leave for three days in Salem, Oregon to attend Family Weekend at my nephew's college with Spousal-Unit, my sister, and my BIL. Neither of the above projects seem appropriate for travel.

A few days ago I threw one of the cats' throws on the large ottoman in the living room in place of completed knitwear accessories. They've spent hours curled up on it since then.

So, I decided to start a more presentable throw.

I'm using Mission Falls 1824 superwash in linen stitch. So far it goes faster than I expected. I hope the stitch holds up to cat kneadings.

I did get another couple of inches knit on one of the cardigan sleeves, too. I had a period when I wanted something mindless and simple but didn't want the throw to get too large to pack in a small zippered project bag before I even left.

I get back Sunday. I'll probably miss an appearance by the mother/daughter owners of Fleece Artist and Handmaiden that evening at my LYS, a definite sacrifice. I'll also miss the Nordic Knitting Conference here this weekend.

But, we had a good time last year and it's family.

I'll try to get up at least one post while I'm gone.

Do You Ever Do This?

I didn't quite get as far as the button bands on my cardigan in circle today.

I finished the knitting ready to sew up the hem just before we started.

I finished the sewing just as we ended.

It's not absolutely perfect, but I'm pretty well pleased.

I did ask plenty of questions about those button bands and the neck band. I don't think I'll run into any major problems.

I'm sure I'll run into some minor ones.

This cardigan is based on Karen Alfke's sweater Unpattern and knit with Mountain Colors 4/8s wool in Silverbow, a discontinued color. Karen teaches a class on designing with Unpatterns, as well as several others, at Stitches East in Baltimore next week. She still has space in the class on the sock The Yarn Harlot cited as the only pattern she's ever knit twice without changing it.

I also figured out how I had managed to make a particular error repeatedly.

I kept finding that I'd picked up the thread between the two stitches at the point where I switched from one needle to the other in my knitting in the round on two circulars. I always caught it when I came on it since the loop didn't look or feel like a normal stitch. However, when I dropped it that left a too-long length of yarn between the two stitches which I had to stop and distribute through several stitches on either side.

I figured out that if I let go of my yarn while I rejiggered things as I moved from one needle to the next, I had a good chance I'd pick it up in a way that wraped it around the cord of the just finished needle where it waited, imitating a real stitch, until I came back around and had to stop and deal with it.

Haven't done it again since I figured that out.

Cat in the Hat

Literally. I really hope the kid in Afghanistan who gets this hat doesn't have allergies.

I finally got the ends sewn in after I took it away from Talitha.

I guess I better wash it before I send it off.

I also got the latest shoulder shawl blocked. It still needs its ends sewn in. No, I didn't finish the others. One a week seems to be my limit, mostly due to the call of competing projects.

Projects like the Mountain Colors cardigan which lacks about three inches plus a hem on the body. Maybe it will look worth a photo when I finish this part.

Since I plan picot hemmed cuffs, I want to finish the body with bands and all before I complete the sleeves to have a better chance of getting the sleeve length right. I want to get to the point where I can start on button bands in circle on Wednesday. I actually haven't done buttons bands before this sweater. The only other cardigan I've made had none.

In purchased sweaters I wear cardigans the most. I need to knit more cardigans, so I signed up for a three-session class later this month on Karen's multi-gauge simple pattern from the new line she calls Spectrum.

I rarely take project classes, but like her top-down sweaters, this is a design-it-yourself sweater -- my kind.

Things have quieted down a bit here since The Big Harlot Hit. Page hits seem to have settled into the 50 o 80 a day range from the 30 to 50 I'd reached before. Plus I find people recognize me when I comment on their blogs.

I'll celebrate my six-month blogiversary on the 16th. I think these stats are pretty good for starting from not even regularly reading blogs before. Aren't they?

Oh, I have an extra autographed copy of Stephanie Casts Off for a celebratory drawing. I hope by then I can solve the puzzle of why most of my e-mail comment notices go missing so I can actually get an address for the winner.