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Here’s a shot of Elm Bank in Wellesley, where I went swimmin in the Charles. Can you imagine anything nicer?

And a little bonus, here’s a funny sign I saw on the door of the Children’s room at Cambridge Public Library:

I’m almost done with the test log-cabin. This is basically a cat-sized throw I’m making to test the pattern. I’m going to do one more round with blue, then another round of grey, and I’ll be done. You can compare the pic to the design I posted below. I think it’s pretty close, aside from being a messy beginner piece, and the fact that I made the test rectangular instead of square. Which shape should the final version be?

A basket-weave scarf I’m working on for myself:

A chunky rib scarf for M:

An easy Suar-N-Cream hand towel with braided loop for hanging that I just bound off:

Am I reading my stats aright? Do I have German readers? Are you native Germans or ex-pats? As a 5/8 German myself, I offer a shout-out to you in the form of some traditional German handcrafts:

Image curtesy of Black Forest Gifts, where I’m hoping to do a lot of shopping soon! My family collected tons of Wendt & Kuhn and other Erzgebirge when I was a kid, so I have a real soft spot for it.

Anyways, greetings, Germans, and how the heck did you get here in the first place?

In reading news, I finished Maisie Dobbs early this week. I liked it! I’m hoping for good things in ensuing books. I started Three Bags Full next, and I’m enjoying it so far (I’m about halfway through). We’re doing a read-along over on LT, which makes it more fun. I’m still undecided about the fun the author’s having with theology and ontology. Sometimes I’m really into it, then sometimes I’m like, “I get it, woman, we’re all sheep! OK!” More pages will tell…

So I picked the Plymouth Yarns encore for my log cabin throw, and I’m almost done with the sample version, which will be about 20 x 24″. I’m liking how it’s coming out! I had some moments of real doubt when I’d done the middle patch and two rounds, but now it’s really coming together. And it’s good that I made a sample, because it took me a few rounds to get the picked up knitting neat and clean (enough). I’ll have pics of it soon, but for now here’s my concept “sketch” of the deisgn:

This is my current take on my favorite “Amish” colorways. The thing looked all wrong when it was just the grey and green, but now I’m working on the grey round between the violet and the blue, and it’s looking closer to what I imagined. Isn’t it nice when that happens?

AND, I broke down and ordered the Knit Picks Options needle set, and I’m liking it a lot. I’m looking forward to getting a set of loooong cables and jumping into the full-sized version!

Obviously I revealed my email address somehow and now, oh now, I’m deleting dozens and dozens of penis-enlargement emails a day. I can’t stand it any more! What does this? Was it Craftster, some retail site, what? For a while my favorite subject line was, “I practically choke on my boyfriend’s penis”, or, “my mouth is tiny and my boyfriend’s pecker is HUGE”. My God, this is supposed to sell penis enlargement pills? The fact that you can choke someone with your dick?? GOD. I’m so sick of the whisper-level misogyny in this culture.  

At least I’ve picked up a new term for the male anatomy: banger. As in, “my banger is so huge now, thanks to these marvelous pills”. 

M, if you read this, can you help me figure out a solution (using Squirrelmail) that will not involve me changing my email address?

I swam the Charles River on Saturday! I went to Elm Bank, and the only issue with swimming there was that there were people fishing. The water was clear and cool and seemed totally clean. It was a really beautiful day for it; there were yellow leaves falling into the water and drifting down with the current, and a tree overhead kept dropping acorns into the river. It was a perfect “last day of summer” day.

People, this is not a big deal! I can only attest to where I’ve swum so far, but the river in Wellesley is clean and begging to be swum in. Jump in!

How do you spell ho hum, anyway? In any case, that’s how I’m feeling. This morning for the first time in a while I only read on the train, no knitting! I started Maisie Dobbs, and I like it so far. I’ve had the first Maisie book on my list for ages, and have never been in quite the right mood for it. But this seems like the right time. I bought it on Saturday along with Three Bags Full, the mystery with sheep sleuths. I’m excited to start that one, too, but I’m hoping to get some of my LT pals into a read-along.

Craft-wise, this is a time of execution, not inspiration. I’m getting close (please, God) to finishing my monkey shawl (so named because a monkey could have made it), and it’s driving me nuts. The rows are loooong, I’m not loving the cheap plastic circs I’m using, and I keep dropping stitches, not noticing, noticing three rows later, having to frog three looong rows, and then put a looong row back on the needles. In the wrong direction, inevitably. I’m hoping to power through within the week, though. And I’m liking the Lion Wool-ease pretty well too. It’s soft and lofty and easy to knit with. If there were more colors, I’d seriously consider it for my log cabin throw. And as for that damn log cabin throw, I’m still auditioning wools. I have a swatch of the Plymouth Encore worsted that’s OK, but I’m working up a swatch of Cascade 220 superwash that lovely!! It’s winning me over. So expensive, though! And to put a monkey wrench in the works, M now says he thinks maybe I should use bulky and not worsted. This might become an issue because, no matter what brand I look at, there are not enough colors in the bulky weight to please me. So then we get into the idea of holding two strands of worsted together? Aargh!

It’s when I’m thinking about things like this that my brain starts running around like a rat on a wheel. Phew. I’m trying my damnedest to keep knitting FUN. In side projects, I’m doing periodical paper crafting, and also working on a bar sampler.

Busy fingers, people- they keep the devil away. =) Coming up: failed crafts, or: why I have two pie tins nailed to my wall.