Where are the pictures?

I just got back from my second conference of the month, that of the South Central Chapter of the Medical Library Association. This is my "old" chapter, the one that I belonged to (geographically) all those years I lived in Texas. My "new" chapter, the Midwest Chapter, is great, but going to SCC is like spending 4 days with 200 of my closest friends -- I've know some of them since I attended my first meeting in 1986, on a student scholarship, and some of them I've only know a year or two, but they're like family.

So I love these people -- but I didn't really take any pictures of them! Indeed, most of the pictures are of Van the Armadillo, who visited us from the Tulsa Zoo.

More pics of Van here - I actually have a flickr tag for armadillos!

Our closing party (a very elegant sit-down dinner, with dancing, which is always amusing, considering the women:men ratio) was at the Philbrook Museum of Art, which is in a gorgeous mansion.

More pictures of the gardens here.

There was knitting, too. In fact, there were several knitters in attendance, and some went out on a mini-yarn crawl. I didn't go - instead, I went with about 35 people to a Thai restaurant -- much less expensive!

Hedgerow Socks, in Malabrigo Sock Yarn in the Persia colorway, which is actually much more blue and not at all brown. Stupid light....

FO!

I have been knitting -- a lot, in fact. I am not a fast knitter. Sometime in September, I decided that I wanted to make my friend and mentor Ellen something hand-knit for her 70th birthday. I knew I would see her at a conference in October. She lives in Texas, and doesn't really need hand-knits, so I decided a small shawl would be good. I decided on Ishbel, made from a skein of the Malabrigo Sock yarn that I seem to be collecting. She can wear it under her winter jacket without adding too much bulk.

I cast on and got about half way through the plain stockinette section, but then put it aside to finish my February Lady Sweater, because I wanted to be able to wear it at my October conferences - one of which began on October 1! As you know, I finished the sweater on September 27. I picked Ishbel up, knowing I had about 2 weeks to finish it. However, looking at the stockinette, I was unhappy and felt like my stitch count was off, so I frogged the whole thing!

Off I went to my first conference, where I knitted a lot (and also bought lots of yarn, including more Malabrigo Sock yarn!). I got back home on the 7th and finished knitting on the 12th. It would have been nice if we had had a three day weekend like some people, but I had to go to work!

The yarn in Malabrigo Sock Yarn in the Solis colorway.

I have to say that this is not my best knitting. I probably should have gone down a needle size and made the large version (I made the "small stockinette/large knit" version). The stockinette part definitely looks too loose and the yarnovers are too big. There's also a wonky area at the edge, over the span of a couple rows. It's only noticeable when it's stretched out blocking, and only I know it's there -- well, y'all do now, too -- but it's disappointing.

The wonkiness is on the left edge, out of the picture!

But - I'm giving it to Ellen anyway. Crunched up in the neckline of her jacket, it will be very pretty!

Since I'm sure you're also waiting for a cat update, too, I need to tell you that Harley and Dolly are suddenly best of friends! They cuddle up on the bed and lick each others' ears. Very sweet, and it only took a year and a half! I'll try to get a picture of it for you.

I did, though, get a picture of Vinnie cuddling with my mom, who visited over the weekend.

It was much easier to knit with Vinnie on Mom's lap and not mine!

Saturday morning, Mom and I were up bright and early to eat breakfast at the Hamburg Inn (biscuits and gravy - yum!) before the Homecoming crowd got there. At about 8:45 we heard a murmur through the restaurant: "snow! SNOW! SNOW!" Yes, on October 10, it was snowing! And not just a few random flakes, but genuine flurries that lasted a couple hours, and even stuck to the still-green grass and leaves! Luckily it all melted practically as soon as it stopped snowing, but it's been cold - with highs in the low 40s, 20 degrees below normal - all week. I'm so not ready for winter; I'm glad it's supposed to warm up again!

I tried to take a picture of the snow.
Here you can almost see it on Home Ec Workshop's window shade.

Travels, stash enhancement, and photoless knitting progress

October is practically in double-digits and this is my first post. In my defense, I was out of town for the first five days, attending a conference in Columbus, Ohio. Great conference, with plenty of knitting-friendly presentations. I made excellent progress on the Ishbel I'm knitting from Malabrigo Sock yarn. Unfortunately, the pictures are being held hostage on my camera, whose cord seems to be missing. Take my word for it - it's pretty and green and blue and probably about 70% finished! For those of you who have knit Ishbel, I'm doing the "small stockinette-large lace" version. And it has to be done by next Thursday, so I need to keep knitting!

While in Ohio, I did manage to visit a few yarn shops and to purchase some souvenir yarn.

At the Knitter's Mercantile in Columbus, I bought sock yarn:

Two more skeins of Malabrigo Sock Yarn in Persia and Eggplant,
and a skein of Alpaca Sox in a pretty sage-y green

I also bought stitch markers and crochet cotton, which I needed to tame Ishbel. Oh - and a skein of Online sock yarn which has already be gifted to the co-worker who cat-watched for me while I was gone.

At Wonderknit, I purchased a skein of locally-dyed sock yarn. I talked myself out of a skein of lace yarn...

Neighborhood Fiber Co. Studio Sock in Tenley Park (not quite so neon in real life!)

I also had the opportunity to visit a couple shops in Dayton. Actually, they were both in the suburb of Beavercreek. Fiberworks is smaller, with some very nice yarn, including a few brands (don't ask me which - it's late and my brain is tired) that I had heard of but never seen, and a lot of fiber, for you spinners. Busy Beaver is an all-purpose hobby/crafts shop, with an eclectic mix of yarns in the back room. They had a lot of cotton blend yarns, which is what I bought there.

At the top is a skein of Jojoland Harmony, purchased at Fiberworks, which I want to use for a scarf/shawlette that will show off its color changes.
Below that are two skeins of Cestari sock yarn, from Busy Beaver, which is a cotton-wool blend.

And now I have to convince Vinnie to let me knit a bit longer....