Checking in

I have a new best friend. It is a "Compact Wireless-G USB Adapter with SpeedBooster." Can you see that little green light? That means I have a wireless connection on this big old Dell laptop. I am mobile, baby.

My sweet mother is doing pretty well. Thank you for your kind good thoughts, everyone. I'm carrying all of them around with me, and they make a huge difference -- the load feels a little lighter.

I am also ensconced in a pretty comfortable hotel room in Potomac, Maryland. The Bolger Center: it's an oddball sort of hotel, but they take good care of you.


A quiet, comfortable place to sleep is the best thing to have when you're on the road. Good knitting helps, too, especially when you're spending a lot of your time watching your mother do walker laps in the physical therapy room.


I didn't get very far on this sock today because I forgot to bring the smaller needles with me so I could begin the heel flap. Lucky for me, ten minutes down the road from my mom's temporary abode is Knit + Stitch = Bliss. They had just the needles I needed, and they were having a sale to boot.

Well, it's time to climb under the covers of the bed someone else made, after I wash my face with the cloth someone else washed and put out. In the morning I'll go downstairs and have a cup of coffee that was brewed by someone else. If it didn't cost actual money, I could get used to this hotel thing.

Not exactly "springing" forward

I'd call it "falling" forward, myself. That was quite a week...

At least I finished the Monkey socks for my niece.

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A, Winter 2006 Knitty
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot, "Thunderhead"
Needles: 2.5mm/US 1.5
Modifications: I ended with a regular toe.

And I made one and a half Bird of Paradise socks. This is the current Petals Collection offering. I'm using the pattern that came with the yarn, and it is striping perfectly. They're a simple, happy knit.


While I was knitting I still had that terrible cold. I missed two days of work and was minimally-functional for the other three, but I lived to tell the tale. I couldn't have done it without the help of a wonderful friend. Rho answered my bleating call on Monday and made a trip to the store for me. She delivered enough soup and comfort food to get me over the worst of it, and she included a few sweet treats, too. Thank you, Hon!

I'm still dragging a little, and I've been sleeping a lot, but I feel lots better. Thanks to all of you for the get-well wishes!


I couldn't resist casting on these pretty new socks. It's Ann Budd's Diagonal Rib pattern, which was an Interweave web offering in 2004. The yarn is from Sundara, "Magenta over Grey-Violet." A little purple is a cheerful thing.

I need some cheer now, because while I was so out of it my mom, who has already been in and out of the hospital a couple of times this year, was in again. She had one or several small strokes, which weren't devastating (we've already been down that road) but require some rehab, so she's back in a nursing home temporarily. After an anxious day of not knowing when she'd be moved, hearing no news, and being so far away, I was relieved to finally hear that she was okay. I started the socks to make the waiting bearable.

I'm going to drive down and visit her this week, which is the only open window of opportunity at work. There are so many staff trips, appointments, store events, etc. going on that my next chance would be sometime in the middle of May. Footloose and fancy free, I'm not.

I'll take knitting, and my computer (I think I'll show my mom some of the pictures I've been taking), and I'll have a few nights in a hotel while spending the days visiting my little mother while she has physical and speech therapy. If you have any GoodThoughts hanging around, send them her way, would you?

On the way home I'm going to stop at K's house for a knitting playdate. We've been planning a little sock stash leftover swap for a while now, and I'm dying to see all the socks he's been knitting. Oh, and the alpaca sweater he just finished, and there's something in cashmere, I hear...

A little whine

These are my constant companions this weekend: tissues, cough syrup, water, lozenges, M&M's. I haven't had a cold in years, or at least not more than a few days of sniffles. I have been attacked and laid low this time, though. I might even need a sick day tomorrow, and I never take sick days. Of course I'll live, but I guess I'll have to suffer a little more first.

I could barely knit yesterday, even though I wanted to. The Monkey socks are this close to being finished. I think I spent the day watching Miss Marple and the Food Network, but I'm not sure.

There's some pretty springtime knitting waiting for me. The latest Petals Collection package arrived the other day. It's called "Bird of Paradise" and it's bright and cheerful and beautiful.


Once again, Sundara has created a yarn which has incredible depth and that reflects her inspiration perfectly. When I can rouse myself I'll wind the yarn and cast on. I'll probably even use the pattern for a change ~ I like the stitch and the heel.

Oops, gotta go. Paula Dean is making soup or something. Either that, or she's solving a murder.

Cat toes

Chris posted about La's DeFeet of Cuteness contest, and I can't resist, of course. Kitten toes are one of my favorite things, and Annabelle's toes are the best. This is the picture I posted for my A in the ABC-Along last year, and her toes are just as sweet today.

I was hoping that soft cat toes would distract you. No, eh? I don't have any knitting to show. I've been knitting, but just a little.

Our inventory went well, but we are tired and our hands need pampering. Flipping books over to scan their bar codes is part of my work life. Flipping hundreds and hundreds in one day is another thing. I have nearly enough self-discipline to rest my hands. Nearly enough.

I'll finish up the second Monkey sock in the next day or so. I already have an idea for my next pair, and more ideas are percolating beneath that. Right now, though, it's time to go to work!