Heartbreakingly Cute - And Finished

Guess what? I can't believe I knit this thing in only 5 days - including finishing!!!!!

Here it is, the finished kimono. I put snaps on the front to hold it closed and I made little short sleeves and a picot bindoff.

Here's a closeup of the picot edge bindoff treatment to the sleeve:

Whenever I get discouraged with knitting, my dear knitting friends, remind me of why I like to knit okay? You see, I've been having a lot of worries and feeling kinda the summer BLAH feeling. But early this morning, I decided to get up early and work on the sleeves which I hadn't started yet. I decided to venture out and play around with a brand new knitting technique (for me) - the picot edge bindoff. I got out the Nancie Wiseman book and followed her instructions. Guess what? I did it! Without any hands-on coaching from anyone.

I can't describe how good I felt all day from that - triumph!!!! Yes!!! This sweater isn't perfect, it's far from perfect, and frankly I don't even know if it will fit a newborn. Not sure of newborn sizing. This might be too small?

But even if it never fits a baby, it is making me happy for these reasons: 1) I finished a project quickly. 2) I enjoyed every single minute of it - I was in a zenlike "process" state every moment while working on it; 3) I learned a brand new technique that I will be able to access forever on other projects. 4) I feel confident. 5) I can't control much of anything in my own personal universe or the universe in general, but I can make a baby kimono that is perfect in it's imperfection and I did it - yah!

Absolutely Adorable Mason Dixon Kimono

I think that's what they call this thing - oh no, I checked and it's called "Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono" from the Mason-Dixon gals. Anyway, here is the beginning of mine. I started it last Saturday.



The photo you see here is of the back only - there are two pieces in the front which I have knitted since the photo was taken. I don't have a photo yet of the nearly finished garment, because I left my camera over at Grammy's house the other night.

And even though I'm a slow knitter and have had VERY LITTLE (very very little) knitting time this week, I've managed to nearly complete it as of my lunchbreak at work yesterday. I've only got a few more rows to go and then sew up two side seams and a snap or ribbon and I'm done. Amazing! So this project is not only cute, but fast. I need "fast" because I'm making this tiny kimono for a tiny client of mine who is having a tiny baby in about - 2 days according to her due date. Now I just need some tiny booties to go along with it, in lime green me thinks. Anyone know of a really easy cute bootie pattern they could suggest?

I will take one more shot of this kimono in a day or two, when it's all seamed up. I'm also going to attempt to pick up stitches around the short sleeves and make some kind of picot border or something. We'll see.

For you Sip and Knitters, I won't be at the meeting on Saturday because I'm scheduled to take a class on crochet edgings/borders at the Studio from 1-4 on Saturday. Speaking of which, I need to knit up some swatches to use for that class. I haven't taken a Studio class in a while and am really looking forward to it. The class is called "Crochet for Knitters" and it's supposed to be taught by a really good teacher. This class is designed for frustrated knitters who need to join knitted pieces together as well as learn how to do edging etc.

Saturday's are just a really BAD day for me to meet with my knitting group, because I try to work in the morning at the office for a couple of hours before then running my errands. And then things like this class come up in the afternoon . . . oh well, all things in balance, right?

This kimono starts at the back, you knit up, then knit each side of the kimono one at a time. Next one I make will have sleeves and I may try a larger size for my 8 month old niece. The pattern only has directions for newborns, so I'll have to improvise a bit.

Added Note: Hey, Mom just called and corrected me! I'm wrong the class is NEXT Saturday, July 8th, not this Saturday. Never mind!

Sit Sip and Drip - And Where Is Everyone Lately?

Though we got together Saturday at Sip N Knit, not ALL of us were there by a long shot. Missing this time were (Roll Call) . . . . Jen, Laura, Carolyn, let's see anyone else??? Hmmm. Oh Kay but she is a once-a-month soujourner. We still haven't seen hide nor hair of Phoebe, though we hope she'll join us too. So it was kinda quiet sitting around the old Sip Circle. And it was hot. We were mostly drinking tropical tea instead of coffee. We were knitting on cotton instead of wool. Mary wasn't knitting here,
but most of the time, she did. Typical hot and boring Saturday. But it was pretty fun anyway. Who can be bored with even a handful of knitters around?

One thing I've been meaning to mention and keep forgotting, is my new love affair with the Mason Dixon knitting book. Though I initially thought the book was kind of not-worth buying, I'm starting to really like it and am SO GLAD I did. Usually my knit book buying runs the opposite way. I buy a book thinking I'll really like it, but then I never knit anything out of it and eventually lose it or store it away (forgotten)with the others in my collection.

Well, as we are talking Saturday, I happened to bring my Mason-Dixon knitting book along, and I mentioned how wonderful it is and how I am now having an unusual desire to knit perky dish cloths, baby kimonos, bath mats and maybe even a whimsical looking mini curtain in my kitchen? Maybe even some hand towels for the bathroom. And for the super ambitious, maybe a Log Cabin blanket or two? What in the world has come over me? Maenwyn promptly informed me that she was bitten by the Mason-Dixon book euphoria for a while now herself. She's secretly got a Log Cabin baby quilt in the works. Am I allowed to say that, M, or is it a secret?

Then Carol shows us that she's THIS VERY WEEK been knitting a Mason-Dixon baby bib and her project of the day was a baby burp cloth from the same book. I, in turn,cast on for my pink and lime baby kimono from the book.

Our knitterly get-together, ended rather abruptly when it started to POUR DOWN rain. I nearly swam to my car.

I don't know if anyone made it to the stash blowout at the Studio's stashbuster exchange. Personally, I didn't make it. Instead, the daughter and I trekked over to Beauty Brands to get her hair styled in an updo to look like Audrey Hepburn.

Hope you all have a good week ahead, and don't make too many pot holders or cotton baby drip cloths will you? I'm still shaking my head in wonder. What in the world has come over us????? Will you sane members please return to the circle and dispel the spell cast by Ann and Kaye - the Mason Dixon designers? Thanks.

Back to Where I Started From

Okay, you folks were right. I needed to rip. So I did. Bit the bullet and ripped. Used size 0 needles and have achieved the 3 1/2 inch cuff diameter which is the right width for my leg. Still, what a hassle to get to the right gauge . . . finally. Why don't I just automatically assume that I'm always going to need to go 2 needle sizes down on any given project and call it good, huh? Well, mainly because I have bad eyes, and I don't like tiny needles.

Gauge is my Achilles heel. I always knit loose, and it drives me crazy. If I weren't such a loose knitter, I could use larger needles and not go blind trying to pick up a stitch when I inevitably drop it. You know how tiny a size 0 loop is? I do, because I've dropped those stitches. Several times. Picking them up is an exercise in both dexterity and patience.

Now tell me, has anyone figured out the magic of knitting tighter? If there's ever a class given on that topic, sign me up. It's not like I don't try to tension my yarn, I do, honesty. Wrap it between my fingers - once around my pinkie finger, above the ring and middle fingers, then around the index finger. A year or so ago, I even switched to being a Continental knitter for the primary purpose of knitting tighter. It helped, a little. But not enough. Gauge is still loose. While you can no longer read a newspaper through my knitted swatches, it's still not where I want it to be.

There's that theory going around that a "Type A" personality usually knits tight and that's why so many beginning knitters are tight knitters, because they're up-tight about the process. But I'm a Type A person, and I knit looosy goosey. I'm not laid back at all, so why do I knit loose? Do I need to clinch my fists and frown when I knit, yank the yarn into submission . . . . what? You tight knitters, go ahead and give me your tightest knitting tips.

That's why I like to knit things where gauge doesn't matter. Give me the afghan squares, the socks (they're bound to fit SOMEBODY, right?) - that's Jen's "Cinderella" sock theory, except she knits tight. Give me the bath mats, the scarves. And best of all, the felted purses. Because then the felting covers up both your loose knitting gauge AND any mistakes you may have made along the way.

After three days of working on the sock, I'm finally back to where I started from on Saturday. That's typical of my progress in life, take 1 step forward and 3 steps back, but I'm finally back to 3 inches along on the cuff. Back to where I started from is suddenly looking like progress. And the sock is pretty. That's what counts.

Today will be better. They are promising rain. Ah . . . maybe a relief from these hot temps. Happy day everyone, and keep knitting. Tight. Loose. On gauge. Whatever.

To Flop or Not to Flop?

This is the floppy sock I was speaking about below. It's made from Trekking in the lovely colorway #135. It is orange, light orange, green, lavendar and blue. Very pretty. But the calf is too wide. I probably need to knit it with size 0 needles instead of 1s. That's why I usually don't knit with fingering weight sock yarn, because I don't enjoy size 0 needles. I find them immensely tedious and tiny. But here is the photo of the current socks in progress:



















This cuff measure 4 inches across and should only be 3 1/2 to fit correctly and not be "floppy." Since they are too large should I consider:

1) ripping it back to the ribbing and switching to size 0 needles for the stockinette cuff; 2) staying right like I am, but adding ribbing in the middle of this cuff to "cinch it in" (of course this may create an odd looking puffy part). 3) Continue knitting and gift the socks to a person with a larger calf?

Advice appreciated.

On a lighter, happier note, I did actually make something that turned out well over the weekend - a pot of Vegetable Soup from my crockpot. Easy, delicious and diet-friendly soup composed of: carrots, celery, onion, zucchini, green beans, 3 cans of low-fat chicken broth; green cabbage diced and oh - the tomato broth is: chopped can of tomatoes, 1 can tomato paste and liberal doses of garlic, onion powder, basil. My husband woke up this morning thinking I'd cooked a roast. He's not very vegeterian oriented, so I think his hopes crashed when he discovered it's "just vegggie soup." But it really is delicious. I'm taking some to work today. Soups on - it's going to be 90 degrees, but I love soup and coffee no matter what the weather. They're year-round staple foods for me.

A Bad Batch of Soup - I Mean Knits?

Okay, I thought my vest knitting problem was solved. Here is a photo of the Gimme 5 Vest in progress. And first of all, this vest has taken WAY MORE than the suggested five hours. That's not surprising. I take a long time knitting everything and have some major problem with almost every project. I think I'm like Grammy Ferne, I don't like anything I knit.

Do you notice how short it is? It's hard to tell from the photo, because it's lying flat, but I think it's way too short and will fall on me in mid gut level, which is not a part of my anatomy I care to emphasize. Hmmmm. Big hmmmm. I like the yarn, I lOVE the color, I love the buttons I selected. But I hate the way this is going to look on me. I should have used larger needles so the drops would be longer. I'm in the "previous investment trap" that the writer Harold Brown used to speak of. I keep feeling like I've got to plow ahead with this monstrosity because I've already invested so much time (and money) in it. Especially now that Laura has also invested about two hours as well. But I don't like it - at least not "as is." Grumble, grumble, grumble.

Next on the half-baked agenda: we have the summer hat I made - it actually turned out pretty well, but it's a little large on both my head and Em's. I was thinking about trying to shrink it. Either that or put a drawstring through the loops so it will be a bit tighter. That might work. I also need to knit a big flower for the front of it in ribbon yarn. All in all, I think this hat will be okay when completed. It was a pretty quick knit and turned out okay.



Finally, over the weekend I began knitting a cute little sock out of Trekking Color #135. I love this color! It has yummy summer shades of orange, light orange, green, and blue. I love the oranges. But I knit loosely, so doing these on size 1 needles is making them too wide for my calf. I usually aim for a 3 1/2 wide cuff and this is a 4" cuff. Darn! I either need to rip it back to the ribbing and switch to a size 0 needle (which I HATE to knit with) or else I even considered adding some ribbing halfway down the cuff to cinch it in a little. Would that look goofy or cute? Not sure. Will have to post a sock photo in another entry. Blogger has frustrating photo limits.

Stone Soup

Do you remember the story of stone soup? One of my all-time favorites as a kid!

Description of Story:

From Publishers Weekly
Forest and Gaber revisit this oft-told tale to demonstrate the pleasures of collaboration and mutual generosity. Two hungry travelers, denied food by the inhabitants of a mountain village, publicly declare that they can make soup from a stone. Only they need a carrot... and a potato... and a few more ingredients to make it taste really good. Everyone in the town contributes something, pronounces the soup delicious and learns the magic behind it: sharing. Gaber's bold acrylic paintings emphasize the big black soup tureen and the brightly colored vegetable ingredients. As each member of the town speaks up to offer a contribution, a speech bubble appears showing a picture of the offering. Forest's jolly prose simmers with energy: "Bring what you've got! Put it in the pot!" cry the travelers. Flavorful and nutritious, this classic tale is served up with a smile. A recipe for stone soup tops it off. Ages 4-8.
------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, today in knitting group was "Stone Soup Day." This means that I brought my abandoned Gimme Five vest and I turned it over to Laura's expert advice. She not only urged me NOT to rip it out, but she also ended up working on it through quite a bit of our Sip and Knit session. I didn't bring a camera with me - but she turned a stone into soup stock.

The reason I call it a "Stone Soup" knitting was because a lady in a knitting class I once took had a funny habit of constantly asking for help on her socks in progress. Only she rarely worked on them herself! She just would knit a row or two, then ask advise of the teacher and every single student in there, urging us to "help me knit a row or two so I can get the hang of it." Yeah, well, by the end of the sock class, her sock looked better and was farther along than anyone else's!!! She finished hers and then said, "But I may need your help starting the second sock, because I don't remember how I did the first one." Ha! So I labeled that kind of knitting "Stone Soup Knitting" - where you get everyone in the group to contribute.

So today, I pulled that same trick with my friend Laura. Didn't mean to have her do so much, but she really helped. So if this vest becomes salvaged, it will be to her credit, and she's put in a lot of stitches on this thing herself. Sorry to do that to you, Laura, but I appreciate the kind help. And I think Maenwyn took a photo of her working on MY vest. Maybe I'll get a copy of that photo later and post it here.

Note: I fixed the comment setting on here now so that everyone can comment, and not just those who have a blogger account. Sorry about that, I didn't realize it was set wrong before someone mentioned it today. So feel free to comment to your heart's content.

Happy Father's Day to my husband, who is a fantastic husband and father. Love you, honey. And thanks for putting up with my knitting. Yeah, that too.

Summery Red Hat Project

I needed something - a new project. I'm bored with absolutely everything, especially myself. So I started this cute little summer cotton hat that I first spotted and tried on at the Knitter's Corner store in the Ozarks the weekend before last. For some reason, whenever I'm feeling kind of "eeeennngggg" there are a few sure-fire things to cheer me up 1) listening to 70's music and singing along in the car (preferably when I'm alone so no one can protest); 2) wearing cheerful bright colors; 3) reading a good book; and/or 4) wearing a fun hat.

Remember, here's the hat I'm aiming for:

And this is where I am at - just finished the brim and am into the straight section of the hat.


I hope this turns out! I need something to turn out for a change.

The Great Outdoors

The weather here in KC this past week or so has been miserable - and remember, it's only early June. What are we in store for during July and August? In the mid 90's with high humidity, and no air conditioning in my car. It's an almost-10-year old car, so when we had nice Spring days in May, I hadn't yet seen the wisdom of replacing the on-the-fritz air conditioning evaportator unit. But, this past week of miserable high temps has made me re-think that position! Especially when, in my line of work (the funeral business) I have to wear a hot black business suit.

My poor daughter has been taking PE in summer school, trying to "get it over with" so she can take Theater next year as an elective. She's been baking and sweltering in this heat while they have her do outside exercise for two hours a day. Poor kid!

With these hot days, we decided to stay home and watch some movies this weekend. This "oldie but goody" has been my favorite so far - 1988 - John Candy and Dan Ackroyd.

John Candy is such a fantastic comedian! It's so sad he died at a young age. One of my all-time favorite comedies is PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES. In THE GREAT OUTDOORS, Candy and his family are trying to have a relaxing vacation in the North Woods of Minnesota at a cabin resort when his annoying brother-in-law and family invades their peaceful escape, creating hilarious family dysfunctional havoc. What a wonderful comedy.

Watching that movie makes me wish to escape to a northern Minnesota cabin with my family. I hate, hate, hate summer. Fall and winter are my favorites. But unfortunately, we can't escape for a real vacation because we both started new jobs this year, and alas have no vacation time. What I wouldn't give to take an autumn vacation sometime. Wishful thinking. Now enough complaining about the miserable weather.

Better to face reality - yes, it's summer. And I have the knitting attention span of a fruit fly. No big major projects being worked right now. Are you kidding? Knitting has not lost it's appeal for me, but knitting large or challenging projects definitely has! I want to work with cool, small and EASY projects. So bring on the summer socks, the afghan squares, the simple things I can theoretically complete in a few hours, or a few days.

Yesterday, I tried to work with the hat that I discovered last week. I got to thinking, "Will I look like one of those Red Hat Society ladies in this hat?" Not that I have anything against looking like an early-onset senior. Remember I said I feel like an old lady inside already? Yeah, but I'm not a Red Hatter either. Nope. I tried to start this hat yesterday and guess what? After knitting about 4 or 5 rounds of 200 stitches, I discovered that I made the ultimate "beginning knitter" mistake. The darned thing was twisted. Rip. Rip. Rip. Once again, not much accomplished. Maybe I'll start over today, or maybe switch to something else, who knows?

A Little Old Lady in Disguise?

Again, I'm still thinking about that Antique Memories shop from my lake trip last week. It was such a fun shop. Here is a photo of a hat I purchased while there. It's a 1920's hat from a lady in St. Louis who was a hat affectionado during her flapper days. She was an old maid with a 3-story house and she collected hats. I love hats. Wish I could collect them (no room in my small house). Isn't this hat just adoorable?



I think I can wear it with a vintage winter coat I found at a thrift store. I am a thrift store junkie. I'm also a purse addict, as evidenced by yet another bag I bought from Antique Memories. Here it is:



I also found a really CUTE pair of black cameo earrings - the crank kind - that are adorable. Cameos are my trademark. I think I've been a "little old lady" all my life. I have strange taste - I always am a throwback to another age and never quite fit into my own time. Oh well, there are worse thing than being an internal "little old lady." Little old ladies are pretty fantastic. Maybe that's why I so often work with them, and enjoy the rich stories where they share the fabric of their lives with me - an eavesdropper who is enthralled and wistful about their past. The current times we have here don't always seem so nice, but maybe then again, their times look more quaint, charming and sweet with the passage of years. I don't know.

Knitter's Corner and Antique Memories

Okay, because Blogger was being uncooperative today in a major way, this essay is actually Part II of Lake Effect. For the sake of continuity, please read the entry below this one first. In order to post my photos, I had to do it this way. Don't ask why. Blogger is either really peevish or I'm more technology challenged than I care to admit. We'll blame it on Blogger.

Continuing on with my story (Remember we left off with the frustrating vest making experience and we stopped short of ripping it out (:

On a more pleasant note, we found two LOVELY shops. One is Knitter's Corner near Lake of the Ozarks. Here is a link to their shop for all who care to explore - (coming from Camdenton) Knitter's Corner, just over the Grand Glaze bridge and across from the Happy Fisherman. It's a charming shop with really nice folks, and they have a lot of their items knit up on display to tempt you. Several of their projects were knit by customers instead of manufacturer's samples. This shop is so cute - they even have knitted curtains in the windows.

The ladies Knitter's Corner are very sweet and encouraged our Sip and Knit group to come down for a visit. They even offered to give a class of our request - a mini-workshop of sorts, if we'd care to suggest something we'd like to do together. Any ideas ladies? It's only a two-hour drive. What if we drove down some Friday night, then stayed overnight at a cabin, attended a knitting workshop on Saturday, then came back to town afterwards. I think it would be a blast!!

At that shop, I saw this lovely hat, knit by a customer, and I bought the yarn for it. Here's me trying it on.

Finally, we polished off our trip by disovering a really lovely shop called Antique Memories at Osage Beach. We milled around there for quite a while. I love hats, and so does my daughter, as evidenced by her hat find:

Lake Effect

Well, we went off for the weekend to Lake of the Ozarks. We took Mom. Didn't go boating or swimming, unfortunately we ate a lot and shopped a lot. I sure feel it in my expanded waistline this morning. Eeeks! Can't do many of those kinds of weekends. My wallet is skinnier and my body heavier and sluggier. Can you say Ozark fudge? Ugggh. I'm having a sugar hangover. All that home-cooked restaurant food is weighing me down. A person can only eat so many country fried steak etc. before you go into comfort food meltdown.

At any rate, we're back. Over the weekend, I finished my toe-up socks and am really pleased with them. Nice socks!


Next, after admiring Laura's Take Five vest from afar, I cast on and tried to make it. Ewhhhh!!! Well, that was an exercise in frustration. I've probably already spent 5 hours on it, and I've completed the bottom 8 inches of the vest. You don't start doing the armholes until 10 inches, but I'm already not sure I'm doing this right. It looks gnarly and weird to me. The drops aren't straight, lovely and even. Because the "wrapped" stitches tend to wrap themselves around and slide UNDER the regular stitches, it's not a pleasant knitting experience (to me). I was ready to rip it out in frustration, but Laura coached me over the phone, convincing me not to tear it up yet, but to hold off a couple more weeks until she sees me so that we can either rescue it, fix it, start over or whatever. Here it is - a camera's eye view if you can tell anything at all from it:

Gimme 5 - Or Seven - or Ten Hours - Vest?

This entry might also be called, "Why a Supposedly 5-hour vest turned into a Four Year Dilemma."

It is downright uncanny. My knitting bud and co-Sip N Knitter, Laura, had me really FLOORED last night when I came home from work at 9 p.m. and read her blog post. Reason why? Remember that 41-item list of projects I made a few months ago and divulged in confidence to fellow SNKers? Well, guess who ELSE had the same project on her list? Yep, Laura. And how do I know? Because she finally made the darned thing, in a lovely green (I adore green)and she'd bragged . . . err . . . posted about it on yesterday's entry. She whipped it up the other day after having it on her "projects to do" list for the past 3 1/2 or so years. And I'm outing her only because I've been intending the same thing. Here's her story - go read it then come back, 'kay?

Believe it or not, when I started knitting EXACTLY 3 years ago (Mom and I took our beginner's class at Knitcraft in May of 2003) - well, right around that time, I was feverishly hitting every yarn store within driving radius and buying up every kind of yarn and accessories to go with any project that I found remotely knittable for the foreseeable future, up until retirement maybe? Yeah, during that feverish interval, I went over to the Studio and found a Fall 2002 issue of Knitters Magazine with this lovely vest on the cover - and they temptingly called it "Gimme 5 Vest." It was supposed to be one you could knit in 5 hours, yes 5 hours. I was further enthused by the fact that the editor said that nearly everyone on their staff and knit this thing up, even rank beginners sported this drop-stitch vest in super bulky yarn. Sounded easy, right?

So why did I never try to knit it after that? It just got shoved away in my closet and I kinda, sorta forgot about it until last spring, when I created that defunct project list. Only by then I wasn't sure that 3 skeins would do it. I had enough knowledge of yarn requirements by then to question whether I'd really be able to make it with that amount of yarn - only 228 yards for a large vest? Hmmm, not sure. So the yarn, buttons and magazine had just sat in the bag idle while I angsted in "indecision" mode.



Here are the 3 skeins of the yarn in Hip Hop #7232, I even bought the buttons. See?



Here's a closer view of the buttons for the really button obssessed readers . . . what do I have now, 2 readers? Yep, I think so.



Excited, even though it was 9 o'clock at night, I immediately called Laura and bothered her, demanding to know details, details. She suggested that the vest does indeed knit up quickly. Not five hours, but maybe 7 if you were doing other things at the same time. Now that she's become a co-instigator, I'm blaming this craziness on her. Normally I would have exercised self-restraint and waited to start this project only AFTER I had completed the socks already on needles. (I am so darned close to being done with those). But Laura BEGGED me, yes BEGGED me ya'll, to immediately get out the circular size 19 needles and cast on. She said we could be twins and wear our vests to the Sip and Knit right before she gifts it away to her Mother, whom the vest is really intended for.

In a frenzy, at 10:30 p.m. by then, I realized that I didn't have any circular 19 needles, and I was worried I hadn't bought enough of the now 4-year-old yarn in the discontinued colorway. But she did her math and believed I'd still have enough, with (3) 76 yard skeins - (barely enough but probably enough).

So what's a gullible, highly influenceable (is there a word "influenceable" - no but it fits) girl like me supposed to do but fall under the spell of the Grand Enabler? I brought out my biggest guns, err needles, size 17 circular and cast on. Knit row 1, 2 and 3 of the pattern. I'd already used up 1/2 skein of yarn. Scary. Then I started to drop those stitches. Let me tell you, they don't drop easily. I'm already having trouble. Going to unravel this and start again on straight needles. What happens in that once you shove your yarn past the fat part of the needle, and you slide it onto the skinny cable? It doesn't want to fit back up again on the fat part. So I'm starting over.

Also, for safe measure, I found an extra skein of the yarn on eBay and I ordered it. So hopefully, even if I start to run out, I may have enough. Fingers crossed! Will update you later on the grand vest caper. Laura, it's all your fault. Again, you unleashed a latent 4-year desire of mine to knit this silly vest, which probably won't even be flattering on me and I'll wind up wondering WHY??? Oh well, here goes nothing. I will probably start it again on the weekend, or maybe this evening, I don't know. I'm not sure when I'll do it since it's morning now and I have to go to work. But I'll report back later. I wish I could just stay home and knit today. See what you started, Laura?