New Kittykats

That's what I brought home from Ithaca: five skeins of yumminess, rescued from the sale bin. My husband took on calling skeins little kittykats (WIP projects are, as of this week, our kittens. Please note the plural: our kittens, our kittykats), so here they are, the latest addition to the kittykat bunch:

The Malabrigo lace yarn wants to become a Swallowtail Shawl (if I understand kitty language correctly. I may have misunderstood, and it actually wants to grow into the Children of Lir Rectangle Stole I found in Martha Waterman's wonderful Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls book). The trio of Colinette Parisienne, Colinette Tao, and Rowan Kidsilk were first excited about turning into a normal-sized stole-type-of-creature. However, I think the Colinette siblings went off on their own and decided on a very skinny, diagonal stripy something that could potentially look like this (imagine several feet of it):

In any event, the trip to Ithaca was a success, and not just yarn wise! My grad school business went surprisingly well and the pats on the back that I received motivated me to finish that dissertation ASAP and get on with life. More importantly, my lovely hubs completed another revolution about the sun, and we celebrated with cake, candles, and--it was his wish--plenty of BBQ. (And ice-cream. And flowers. And bubbly. And presents. And all the good stuff.) We were in the company of good friends, which made the day (and the weekend in general) all the more special.

The long six-hour drive between Boston and Ithaca was less boring than normally, thanks to a mystery novel on CD and: knitting! I finished Wendy's lace socks:

Love 'em! I'm eager to cast on another pair of socks, but first I want to make some progress on the Icarus Shawl, which is growing, slowly but steadily.

When I went to the library to pick up the book on CD, I discovered the knitting section for the first time (which was totally bent out of shape. I'm certainly not blaming library staff for the lack of reshelving, but instead I imagine hordes of enthusiastic knitters who passionately pull books off the shelves and, out of excitement, leave the area a bit of a mess. I'm guilty!). I'm just sharing this with you because of the good finds I brought home with me: aforementioned Traditional Lace Shawl book is just the beginning! I also checked out Meg Swansen's A Gathering of Lace and, probably my favorite, Kari Cornell's For the Love of Knitting (not a pattern book, but full of great stories and wonderful pictures). Oh--did I mention that in Ithaca I found Marianne Kinzel's second Modern Lace Knitting for an unbeatable price of one dollar? I was quite pleased with myself. While I'm in love with yarn kittykats, I can't deny that I also love pattern books (and books on knitting). It's 'cause of my love for all things made of paper, books in particular.

And now off to bed (with a good book!). Sorry to have been rambling. Had such a terrific weekend, is all.