Well in the end I did go back to Stitches, accompanied by my very patient husband Nathan (who I managed to loose at one point when he was standing only 2 feet away...) but all that I picked up on my second go-round was another skein of sock yarn. This time it was Lisa Souza Sock! (the same yarn I used for the Pomatomus socks I made for you) in a light sage green. What can I say, if I am going to make a project using lots of yarn I tend to plan and plan and plan my purchase for ages in advance, so I didn't succumb to any of the big bags of yarn on offer. And I know from past experience that the single skeins of luscious $30-a-hank yarn can be hard to find a purpose for after the fact.So instead I settled for browsing and making notes and comparing colors. (I think I have come up with the perfect combination of Lisa Souza yarns for the twisted float shrug from the 2005 Holiday VK that someday I will actually put on the needles - once I actually order the yarn, that is). I also briefly browsed the new pattern books, including Victorian Lace Today which was being heavily touted all weekend - the author was on hand for the show and book-signings abounded. I think I want to pick up a copy for myself (if only to use up all the single skeins of laceweight I've bought at past Stitches!) but it will be for the knitpick's price, not the full-on retail price.
I glanced through the new Interweave briefly - I have to say nothing caught my eye - but still need to check out the new Rowan. My last stop was at Black Water Abbey yarns, a shop that designs patterns sold by Afghans 4 Afghans (based on traditional Afghan motifs). I fell for one of their cabled sweaters, which may be a project for next fall. It is the cable & lattice pattern, which can be found by following the links to worsted weight patterns, then pullovers (it is the fourth one down).
I also visited the knit doctor (my first-time ever!) to see if she had any insights as to why, with my entrelac, the squares on the knit side pull at the edge where I knit my working stitches together with the square below. My purl-side squares are perfectly beautiful and even; the knit-side squares have this odd ladder-like gap at the second from the last stitch. I've tried ever decrease imaginable to get rid of it to no avail. The knit doctor didn't have any ideas either, so I've decided to just shut my eyes to it and continue knitting away. Besides, I have made it to the 1/3 mark (12 rows down!) so at this point, even if I did find the answer, I'd still have a large portion of the shawl with this problem in place that I am not keen to re-knit. Hopefully your Lady E is behaving better! It really is a simple but beautiful pattern - and truly addictive to knit. I am also looking forward to the fringe, for some reason - it really seems to finish off the scarf in the pictures I've seen. If only my extra Handmaiden would arrive so that I can be sure I'll actually have enough to finish it with!
Now that my Lady E has gotten too big to travel well (and the ball of t-shirt yarn is even heavier to hoist now that I am 1 1/4 shirt from the end of the cutting stage!) I have succumbed to the lure of another project. I do seem to be on a square theme as I cast-on for Argosy, from the winter Knitty. This consumed me for most of last night as I tried to rework the pattern to suit my fancy. I decided after starting 
it the first time that I didn't like using the row of purl stitches called for to divide out the sections along the horizontal axis so I substituted a row of yo's instead (not easy over an odd number of stitches). This meant that I also had to switch around the order in which extra panels are added on the left and right (since the yo's didn't look right place just after the cast-on row and I needed some extra rows in between). In the end this altered the overall balance leaving me with one 'big' foot at the bottom but I think I can live with that. In the end the yo row doesn't directly balance out the vertical spacing between the rows but it does bring in a matching sort of lacey effect so I'm going to say it works! This project is also going quickly for now - we'll see if all these squares (more squares!) starts to drag after a while. I'm working it in the leftover Silk Garden from my Klaralund - of course, I had to buy an extra ball to get the correct yardage, which sort of negates the leftover part of it but I'll ignore that for nowThe 'murder' on your deck sounds thrillingly gruesome. I can just picture Dad watching the whole thing from the deck, shouting out his commentary! I am sure it is all the chatter among the creatures living in and around your house - you have developed quite a community, raptors and all. I also saw the pictures of Clay's new 'do. I don't know about investment banker, but 80's teen sitcom star comes to mind for me when viewing the 'after' shot...
Oh, and I'm sure that you do get quite a few comments when you go about town with your lobster mitts on!
Hope you have fun at your rug hooking course this week,
Megan
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