I think because I’m knitting now (well, this actually started in the fall when I started crocheting all those hats and scarves) I’m paying attention to fabric more. And designs on sweaters, etc., because now I know how difficult they could be to make.

Went to Goodwill. So much for the “no sweaters” policy, because that’s *all* I bought. *sigh* But then again, I have been kind of moving in a different direction with sweater styles, and I could get rid of five or so sweaters I really don’t wear any longer to make room for the new ones.

I’m fond now of straight hems and v-necks. And that’s pretty much what I got today. Best buy: a pale green Ann Taylor cashmere sweater. (See, I told you I would look for cashmere!) Second best buy: A button-down periwinkle blue cashmere sweater. (haha!)

I will admit that I take a certain perverse pleasure in buying cashmere at Goodwill. Not that you couldn’t tell.

But in all seriousness… the Ann Taylor sweater had an almost invisible stain on the front. I washed it, and the stain is gone. No pinholes, no nothing. Voila! I now have a second-favorite sweater. (And yes, you can wash cashmere. Delicate cycle, cold water. But don’t put it in the dryer unless you want a baby sweater.)

I picked up two other button-down sweaters in very difficult knitting (intarsia?) patterns. They really look nice, though, and I needed a color break from black and gray. (which is what I usually wear.) I also picked up a third cashmere sweater, but this one’s for unraveling. It’s bright red and very 80s. But at least after I unravel it, I’ll have some nice yarn to play with.

Let’s see. I got a couple other ones, two from Old Navy and one from England, and one from Target. I should be set for sweaters now (at least until I visit Goodwill again.)

I mean, who can pass up cashmere for $3.50?

And I got my $10 gift certificate, and filled up another card halfway. Whee.

Trying to figure out a demon’s motivations is very difficult. I’m not quite sure what it wants, but it’s talking to Michael at the moment.

Goodwill is having a 50% off all clothing sale today. Guess where I’m going? (I don’t really need any clothes, but I could get another pair of jeans or something. No sweaters, though, unless they’re cashmere.) After all, since it’s double frequent shopper stamps and I only have three left until I get a $10 gift certificate, I might as well.

Oh, and I’m going to unravel the second cashmere sweater I got and knit a hat out of it, I think. Sure beats trying to buy cashmere yarn. Although I might make it into a hat liner, and do a reversible hat or something. Hmm.

It was 1 degree F when I got up this morning. Brrrrrr. Supposedly, it got down to -9 last night.

Nine Lives and Three Wishes got a great review from Romance Reviews Today… here is the link!

It’s snowing. 1-3 inches by tonight. And it’s beautiful when reflected in the outside lights… the ground is sparkling and the snow is sparkling as it comes down.

I love that kind of snow.

Since it’s a full moon, tonight should be especially pretty. Unfortunately, much too cold for me to enjoy anywhere else but inside.

I started a shawl. It’s a rather lacy stitch, and very pretty in purple mohair that is shot with pinks and reds and greens if you look hard enough. Figuring out how to yarn over was the hardest part. Now that I know what I’m doing, it’s easy.

The stitch creates a hole in the fabric, and the end result will look quite nice. I got the pattern from a book at the library. I can see this stitch being used as a blanket, even, in a different yarn. Perhaps I will try it with the Lion Brand Alpaka. Hmm.

Oh, and I have no idea where I will wear the shawl… if worse comes to worse, I will make two and have mohair curtains. Or hang them as a door across my doorway. (My bedroom is doorless.)

SCR is going well. Sarah’s currently having a conversation with Jordan, and realizing why the Council doesn’t want to have anything to do with a telepath.

And Hildy’s fine. She ate four lima beans last night, so there’s another vegetable to add to the very short list of ones she will eat.

Here’s the text for the second library program I’ll be participating in:

Saturday with the Scribes – Amelia Branch

Saturday, 02/21/2004 , 10:00 a.m.

A question and answer session from local authors Alan Cupp, Kay Horning, and Jennifer St. Clair as they share their writing experiences.

Please visit the library or call (513) 752-5580 to register for this event.

So if any locals are interested…

When I quit my job at the library, I swore I’d be back. Well… guess what! It finally happened.

Purple Hat.

Note: There are only three animal faces on the hat. Unfortunately, I had only five buttons, so I had to improvise and make one winking. But you couldn’t see that very clearly in the third pic, hence the fourth picture.

So I don’t think it looks *that* bad.

I think I caught the bug that’s been going around the family, although I feel better now. Not better, better, just better than I felt this morning. So I stayed home from work today. Luckily, the meeting I had scheduled for today was cancelled. Whew!

Hey! I feel like I’m reporting on my kid or something when I write stuff about Hildy.

But it’s true… hedgehogs are litter-trainable! She is using the “litterbox”!! That makes clean-up a breeze. And all I had to do was put some poo in the box, and she used it! Wow. Second day in a row, so I think we’re okay now.

Hildy turned her nose up at bananas, apples, and broccoli. However, she scarfed down a piece of chicken last night, and five zipper peas. (This is a good thing, ’cause I was beginning to worry about feeding her veggies if she wouldn’t eat them. So I can chalk one up for the zipper peas…)

She also has this habit when she’s ‘tubing’. Her sleeping box is a one gallon rubbermaid container with a hole cut into one side. She will maneuver around with the tube on her head until she gets inside the box, and then spend the next 30 minutes trying to knock the box over. Ok. It keeps her busy, I guess. But the box isn’t very big in the first place, and if you add on a tube plus the hedgehog, there’s really not a lot of room to move around. I guess it’s a game of strategy or something. Whatever makes her happy…

And she is still not used to me yet, but we’re working on it. My hands are getting quite used to prickles.

Did not make it to 35k this weekend, due to the hats. But that’s ok. I’m not on a deadline for this book, after all.

Okay. Today I designed and made yet another hat, and this time… well… I have to take a picture.

It was intended to be a cat’s head, but it looks more like a koala bear, or maybe one of those Japanese-style animals. Honestly, it looks like something my sister Emily would wear. It’s cute. The face ended up being a bit too fat for a cat head.

I’m designing these things on graph paper, and I think that’s part of the problem. Knitting stitches aren’t square, after all; they’re more rectangular. Now I know I saw knitter’s graph paper as a download somewhere, but it might take me a bit to find again. We’ll see.

But what fun!

I also finished Ethan’s hat… which spells his name. You can read it once you figure out where the ‘E’ is, but I had the same problem I had with the ‘J’ before. Not all of the bumps ended up on the correct side. It’s really weird. I’m going to take and post a picture of it as well, and try to get a good picture so his name can be read. It might take me a bit to figure out how to do that, though.

I’m calling it textural knitting. Although I’m sure what I’m doing has a proper name, that sounds better to me.

I thought I should put new pics up top to winterize… that’s my green hat from last night.

Updated the bio page as well, with a new picture and some new content. And the archives now work, although I wouldn’t recommend clicking on February 2004.