"...Cuz I Invented the Knitternets."
About midway through the summer, I realized I was spending too much of my day on the internets, and not nearly enough time on knitting or other productive endeavors.

For some reason, I have always believed that it would be wrong of me to start my day sitting on the back porch with a cup of coffee, knitting. For some reason, I believed this would make me more skank-like.

For some really curious reason, this type of self-recrimination did not apply to my getting on the internets. So earlier in the summer, first thing every morning, I'd get online, read my blogs, emails and Ravelry updates. When I was done with those items I would think to myself, "Hmmm. There must be some other site I can check out..."

And would then commence to stalking old boyfriends and their ex-wives. Or old girlfriends of ex-husbands. Or the current husband of my current husband's ex-girlfriend. ::That last one might be less a joke than reality.:: Or Google the address of my childhood home and look for my old roof from the satellite perspective.

For some really good reason, I realized that this thinking made as much sense as knitting cat fur for kitten britches.

So I made a new rule: Before I did anything else in the morning, I would sit and knit for at least an hour. After that I was free to do whatever I wanted, be it cruising the net in search of childhood rooftops of ex-boyfriends, or reading my fortune from the cilantro mud leaf mold patterns in the corner of the refrigerator vegetable bin. ::The most valuable reading from the vegetable bin, to date is "Don't lick the corner of the vegetable bin."::

That, in part, is why I have not been around the internets that much, be it on your Ravelry, commentatin' on your blogs or looking at your ex-mother-in-law's ex-boyfriend's daughter's roof, from the sky.

Other reasons for my absence include some family issues that have kind of hurt my heart and given me a bad case of brainerreah, i.e. frequent and uncontrollable and highly unpleasant thought thinking.

But mostly I've been away because I have found that cruising the backyard knitternets is very addictive in that the more I knit, the more I knit.

As follows...

Here is the startup of the Hanging Garden Shawl.



The yarn is Joseph Galler Suisse something. It's part cashmere and part something else. I realize that this yarn is not a good match for the pattern in that the yarn for this pattern should be crisp and clean. But you have to trust me on this; the pattern is a very good match for the yarn. Because it was the last pattern possibility on Earth. No, it was.

The yarn is supposed to be a sportweight, but based on the 17 buttillion swatches I have performed on it earlier this summer, I'd say it is finer than that. I initially looked for a sweater pattern, but because the yarn is so dark interesting stitch patterns don't show up. And miles and miles of stockinette on size 2 needles is not my cup of pie.

The above picture was dark on purpose so you can better see the pattern. Here is a better view of the color:



Here it is in a more advanced stage of development.



I love knitting on this and for the past two days have been thinking of doing nothing else but knit on this. In fact, I love knitting on this so much that I have ripped, knit, re-ripped and re-knit the same patch of 30 some rows, some three times over, already. And yet, I love.

::Pssst. Anybody else see monkey faces...?::

Oh yeah, this yarn is on my Mission Possible '08 list, and therefore was on my summer 'to-do.

I have also cast on for another pair of socks, for my lighter knitting needs, i.e. while drinking alcohol and/or watching the Olympics.



The yarn is Online Sport something and I bought it on sale from the lys at the yarn store. It's kind of scritchy but it's knitting up fast.

This post is about 1/3 of what I had planned to share. I'll save the rest for later.

In the meantime, do you recognize the significance of this nearly overflowing glass cupboard?



College blob has returned to his alternate parental-hosted universe. And after three months of a slow but steady bilking of supplies, the glass cupboard is now enjoying a sudden reversal of fortune.