I Can't Believe I Didn't Choke Blogger

Not that I was trying to, of course, but if a picture is worth a thousand words, then this is a 5000 word essay and we know how blogger feels about such things. Mainly, it waves its arms around and runs down the street screaming like a little girl. It's forgiven me so far...but the night is young.

First, an enormous thank you to the Yellowstone Unravellers. They sent me another box of squares the other day, bringing their total to 24 squares--almost a whole blanket by themselves. This is them (the squares, not the knitters--I think they balked at the idea of packing themselves into a box...which is too bad because I think we would have had a lovely time together):

Aren't they way pretty? And to answer the questions, I do indeed have enough for all six blankets. Four of them are completed. The others will be done by Thanksgiving. I have a few more than needed; I'll likely take out some of my own and substitute the ones that were sent to me so all of your lovely work gets used and the blankets have that beautiful, diverse look. And, since you're probably wondering, a photo of blanket number 4:

The black strand across it is because I was still edging it when I took this and not because I keep it on a leash so it won't attack the other three blankets. Not that that wouldn't make for a terribly interesting blog post.

Now, look closely again at that blanket photo--somewhere around the green square at the near edge. See anything odd? How about now?

Yep, she was under there the whole time I was photographing and actually much of the time I was edging. Miss is nothing if not adaptable. Oh, and "big boned". Adaptable and big-boned (as in, "I couldn't have pulled it out from under her tubby little ass if I'd tried"). Here's a closer shot--you'll note all the flash photography didn't disturb her majesty. If Miss is comfy, a 72 man parade, a 21 gun salute, and 136 men belching the theme from "Shaft" couldn't disturb her.


Lastly, I ventured out on a mini-yarn crawl over the weekend (if it doesn't require a small wheelbarrow, it qualifies as "mini" in my book). In my defense, Village Yarn and Tea was having a sale on Koigu--$7.45 a skein! Unfortunately for me, the sale started Friday and my employers are heathens who do not fully understand the emergent nature of a good yarn sale. As such, I did not arrive until Saturday when almost all the Koigu left was shades of lime green and bright yellow--not a combination I wear (yeah, I know--I made socks in a mosaic of black and something the color of a clown wig and now I'm drawing the line at lime and yellow? I can't explain it, either.) I ended up finding two colors that I liked but one of them was an orphan skein so I settled for two of the other one. You'd think this would satisfy the yarn craving.

Wait, who am I talking to? If anyone knows the "gas on the fire" nature of purchasing a tantalizing two skeins of yarn, it's you. Saying one pair of socks worth of yarn should quell the need is like saying the breadsticks on the table at dinner should take care of that hunger problem. Okay, so they're really good breadsticks...but still! So, naturally, I went on to Main Street Yarns where they happen to carry Claudia's Handpaints and a whole host of other yumminess. I pondered and petted and generally had a good time and was about to leave feeling terribly virtuous when I looked up. There, on the top shelf, tucked almost out of my vision was the non-koigu yarn in this picture:
Yep, a second chance at a green colorway. And I'm pleased to say that I've learned from my mistakes--I did not hesitate. I did not pretend to a level of self-control I only wish I possessed. I brought it right home. I also just got my Knitpicks Harmony sock needles. You can bet there will be some sock goings on around Chez Knitingale. Just as soon as the last stitch is put in the last blanket.

So, does anyone else hear a little green wooly voice insisting that it would look perfectly wonderful in the Tilting Cable sock pattern in the Winter 2007 Interweave Knits? No? Just me? Huh.