Distractability--100%

Only a few days ago I was excitedly extolling the knitted dishcloth. I still love them, and intend to do many more. BUT

I frogged a pair of slippers I'd started (actually just the one I'd finished), put away that yarn and started thinking about the knitted slipper pattern I'd found on the internet many moons ago, and whether my tea-dyed wool from The Spun Monkey wouldn't make just the loveliest pair of cozy slippers.

And they do! I'm about halfway down the foot, and during this stage, the bottom is knitted with a double strand. I decided to make the second strand some heavy crochet thread for extra durability.

I hope this turns out to be a good choice.

Got a second shoe organizer at Target while I was at it, and while they were on sale, and now the study is really starting to look as if it could stay organized.









Now, I still have a bit of stash in a set of drawers, but I see organization transpiring. "See" being the operative word for me. If I don't see it, I don't possess it, mentally. So it's always good for me to be able to visualize what yarns are available to me.

Here is a cool gadget that may remind you of something I showed you in June. I gave my mom a keychain with a tiny crochet hook on it, a metal one. Well, as so often happens when I gift something to someone, I covet the gift and have to be a big girl. But then I ran across this:
It's very tiny, so not always helpful. But then my small-size crochet hook (from the regular set) works for those larger gauge disasters that need a crochet hook. I've already pressed it into service to fix stitches on my slipper pattern. When I increased, things got wonky and this did the trick!



I've been working on this drapey scarf/shawl for Vegan Daughter, who asked for it. (This mom, when asked to knit something, is ALL OVER IT!) I'm using (at her request) some lovely Ella Rae Shibu silk, and it's hard to take a photograph that shows the flashes of shine that this raw silk yarn brings to the knitted stitch. But I persevered.

I think it's going to be a great success. It sheds a bit as I'm knitting, sort of little silk bits, not fluff, but after it's washed, I'm thinking that might not be a problem.

Speaking of problems, sometimes a knitter has an emergency. So I have decided to prepare myself for just such a contingency and plan to keep this either in my car or at school. With a set

of needles and some oddments, I can knit up things to felt, or small booties, or ??? whenever I have just such an emergency situation--must sit still, cannot escape, and so will knit for relaxation.

Cancer Update: DH had chemo #5 yesterday and is doing fine today (from outward appearances). He needs less time in the treatment room than originally because they now administer one of his medications at a much faster rate, now that they know he won't react to it. He's started his five days of monster doses of Prednisone, so it may get rocky for the rest of the week, but he refuses to give in to tiredness. Pain is harder to ignore, but he makes himself keep working even when his body wants him to lie down. No worries--he's getting sleep and does occasionally take a liedown, but his tenacity in the face of that feeling is something to admire, from one who goes to bed and takes a nap whenever she is remotely capable of it.

Funny moment: At the end of chemo, the nurse removed DH's IV line, and then as usual, DH held a cotton ball on it with a bit of pressure, since his platelet count is a bit low and can lead to excessive bruising. He was finishing up a paragraph on his laptop at the time all this occurred, so after a second of holding down the cotton ball, he asked me if I would do that for him. Which I did. And did. And did. And after a few more minutes of this, I asked him, "Could you finish that at home?" and he looked up at me and said, knowing I would totally understand, "Just one more row." :^)