Apparently, I can have the pattern, yarn, and needles for the project I'm anxious to start laid out right beside me and still wind up casting on for something totally different! How does that happen?



I'm suddenly knitting a scarf that I had only the vaguest intention of making, with yarn that I had almost no intention of using. But I'm enjoying myself. And, unlike the Squirrel and Oak Mittens, I can work on this one while I'm supervising the babies because it's such a simple lace pattern.

There's something satisfying about finding a good use for yarn that I thought might sit in my stash forever. I didn't need to find a use for this yarn, which is a salmony-pink thick and thin mystery skein -- I'm guessing it's cotton -- from a bag that Grandma bought us at the thrift store. But I'm happy to be doing something with it. I pulled out this skein and a black skein of the same stuff, and a partial ball of pretty varigated something (hey, that might work for Calorimetry!) and Alex got the rest. It's a fairly good system, with yarn. The big bag of quilting cottons we got for Christmas to share is going to be harder to divvy up.



If Leif will stay asleep and Quinn will go to sleep, I'm going to try to start these tonight. The Endpaper Mitts still aren't done, but if I can't buy yarn for nine months, I'm going to cast on as many projects as makes me happy. I can't buy new needles, though, so I may have to get creative. There'll be plenty of time later to worry about how many projects I have going and decide which ones should be finished when. And nothing says I can't just frog a few if that's what I feel like. There's no rule against just playing with the yarn for a while.

I've looked every place that issue of Knit It! with the Nanncy McPhee sweaters could be, and it's not in any of them. I googled and found pictures of three sweaters from the article, none of them the electric blue one that I fell in love with. And a post by another knitter who's just as excited about the blue one as I am. I guess it's a gansey. I've got gansey patterns in that set of needlework books up in the sewing room, so once I can buy blue yarn, I'm all set. I would like to find the magazine, though, because I've got yarn for the little blue toddler vest. And a toddler!

I pulled out the Cotton-Ease and looked at my patterns, and it looks like it's going to be Trellis after all. The size poncho I want to make only takes two skeins and I've got this thing about making the largest size possible with the yarn I've got. There's enough for the largest size Trellis, which would give me time to knit it. And I think I've maybe got a better idea for poncho yarn.

I was going to add a picture of the running water, which will be hot running water as soon as the hot water heater works its magic, but the camera wouldn't turn back on. Please please please let that be the low batteries and not a new thing to stress about.