Just a Quickie

Last night I got bored with everything I was knitting, so I cast on for Thorpe. I finished it early this afternoon, and I love everything about it. I especially love the yarn, which is Blue Sky Worsted Hand Dyes in Chocolate. Normally I don't use many chunky yarns (the label says "worsted," but I'd say "chunky," since I was getting a nice fabric on size 10 1/2 needles) but this was calling to me. Now that I've used my one skein, I'm wishing I had enough for a sweater. Not that I need another sweater project. The contrast edging is doubled Blue Face Leicester DK, left over from my Shetland Triangle. I only had a few inches of yarn left after the braids and the weaving-in of ends. Also, I keep forgetting to mention that I published my Ilene Bag pattern as a free Ravelry download last week.
Help yourselves!

MEME

1. What were you doing ten years ago?
Being 13. I was in the seventh grade at Dartmouth Middle School, and was just starting to get into art. I didn’t do too much other than hang out with friends, read, go to school, and drive my mother crazy. I did not yet have even the slightest interest in knitting.

2. What are five things on my to-do list?
Update my resume, continue reading War and Peace, knit a baby bootie to match the one I just finished, go to the bank, and clean out the fridge.

3. Where have I lived?
Brookline, Pepperell, South Dartmouth, North Dartmouth, Boston, West Roxbury, Brighton, Jamaica Plain, and Chicago (One of these things is not like the others.)

4. What would I do if I was a billionaire?
I’d pay off all my debt, and the debt of any friends/family who were interested. Then I’d quit my job and buy a nice big house to gradually fill with yarn over the course of the rest of my life, which I would spend baking and knitting when I felt like being at home, and traveling when I didn’t. I’d still have more money left than I’d know what to do with, so I’d give a lot away to charities and schools and Planned Parenthood.
(You don’t have to like Planned Parenthood, but I think they’re awesome.)

5. Who would I like to know more about?
Squeezleknits, Roman Sock, Chama, Scary's West, and The Periodic Knitter. Consider yourselves tagged!

Committed

I've purchased 18 skeins of Ultra Alpaca
for the Fitted Jacket with Embroidery

Maybe I should be committed.

How to entertain yourself without knitting

Ever wonder what it's like having a rabbit?


It's also like this:

The Answer

And the mystery fiber is:
But not just any angora.

Meet Ruth.

She came home with me today. She is scared out of her wits. She is only three.
Sorry for the blurry photo - I didn't want to shine bright light on her or use the flash, and she wouldn't follow me into the brightly-lit kitchen even when I tried to bribe her with banana chips. Apparently, rabbits really like banana chips. Who knew?

I think Kate wins the guessing game, since she said it was "handspun plied angora," which it most certainly is. Way to go, Kate, keep an eye on the mailbox.

Next up: plucking an angora.

Tempest, Treats, Tolstoy, and Test Runs

I've been knitting stripes all weekend, and I'm finished with the waist shaping for Tempest.The brown yarn (Harrisville New England Shetland) is really scratchy compared with the green (Knitpicks Shadow) so I'm really happy whenever I finish a brown stripe. I can't wait to wash and block this to soften it.

When I got home on Friday, grumpy from a hideously stressful work week, I found a birthday package containing these items:
Boy, did I cheer up quick! I changed my earrings and started blowing Miracle Bubbles in the kitchen. Who doesn't love bubbles?
I also learned something I didn't know:
Thank you, Kate!

The War and Peacealong has commenced with a vengeance. The Ravelry group is already 33 members strong, and it seems like we have a really interesting and thoughtful bunch of people. I'm looking forward to the discussions - I started reading this weekend, and I think I'm really going to enjoy this.
In addition to the reading, I'm going to undertake another colossus I've been considering for a long time: the Fitted Jacket with Embroidery from Norsk Strikkedesign. I'm going to use Berroco Ultra Alpaca, (AKA my favorite yarn ever). I just have to pick colors - not so easy with over seventy to choose from!

I'm already swatching with the multitude of scraps and odd-balls I have left from other projects. Working from the enormous chart is reminding me of Brocade, but without the horrible intarsia torture. Fair isle is SO MUCH BETTER.

The answer to the question I posed in my last post is coming very soon. Any last-minute guessers had better hurry up!