No tangible updates right now on my own knitting. The two projects I started out recently (Katharine Vest by Eunny Jang in the most recent Interweave Knits and the free Jellyfish by Iris G at MagKnits) are going less-than-swimmingly.

Let’s just say it’s a bad sign when I can’t stay focused enough to correctly follow the lace pattern during the SWATCHING phase of the Katharine Vest. I don’t think I’ve completed one successful 4×4-inch section of the darn thing yet. After a few attempts I’ve decided to supress my stubborn tendency and just let it go for a while… Need to get my hands on some stockinette. I’m completely distracted by my job right now because of the crazy long hours I’ve been working lately. However, convert my overtime into a more tangible (yarn) form and suddenly I don’t feel so worn out.

My latest lust: Hand Maiden Silk Maiden in the colorways Peridot and/or Smoke – 50% silk 50% wool, $29 for a 300 yard skein.

There is also the Handmaiden Sea Silk which is 70% silk and 30% seacell, a cellulose fiber made from seaweed. Intriguing! Here it is, also in the Peridot (but, curiously, very different tones than the top Peridot example…)

I WILL own this yarn.

So here’s something you need to know about:

Sweaters for Penguins.

Made for penguins rescued from oil spills. I checked it out on Snopes, and it’s the real deal.

Purpose (besides being cute): 1) When their feathers become coated in oil the penguins lose their ability to retain heat and be waterproof 2) Prevents the penguins from trying to clean their feathers & ingesting the oil, which is of course toxic.

The request for the public to knit the [cute] sweaters was initially sent out because of a real oil spill that occurred in Melbourne, Australia in 2000. And it wasn’t just an effort to rescue any old penguin species- oh, no. It was to rescue the Little penguin (Eudyptula minor – I kid you not), the smallest penguin breed in the world. The call went out, and knitters answered. They hoped to collect 100 [cute] sweaters, and according to the Tasmanian Conservation Trust website they now have a stockpile of 15,000, ready for future disasters.

My question is: why are the world’s penguins not CURRENTLY wearing these [cute] sweaters? I mean, really. Need I point out the stripes??? And why stop at penguins? I believe I’ve seen a giraffe or two wearing a turtleneck sweater in picture books.

It was summarized best at adorablog:

PENGUINS = CUTE
SWEATERS = CUTE
PENGUINS = TINY

By the substitution and transitive properties of adorableness,

PENGUINS + SWEATERS + TINY = CUTE X 3

CUTE!!!! (factorial factorial factorial factorial)

If you need to make your own [cute] sweater, directions can be found here. Know that I will not judge you if you choose to make an object that for all practical purposes will almost certainly never be worn by an actual penguin.

I wonder if the people I work with truly understand the extent of my weirdness… It does seem to be never ending.

Just a quick post to show my most recently finished item.

A close-up of the bodice.

I finished it just in time for my sister’s birthday on Sunday. Started blocking it Saturday morning and had it hoisted up over an oil spaceheater with fans blowing on it all day. Let’s just say it was a tropical paradise in my apartment through the day and on into the evening – practically a sauna with the humidity level. I kept finding excuses to leave for extended periods.

It is the Romantic Cable and Lace Vest by SweaterBabe. Used the recommended yarn (Brown Sheep Company’s Lamb’s Pride Worsted) in cream and size 10.5 needles. Super fun to knit, a nice chunky lace pattern that keeps you from pulling your hair out. Had to add a crochet edge at the bottom because it seemed like it might still curl under after blocking.

It has been so hectic lately – last Monday I had a work-related trip come up which meant leaving on Tuesday and returning Friday. Longer trips like that mean lots of knitting time – this one had a 4-hour flight, so that’s 8 hours of uninterruped knitting right there. Am I the only one that gets giddy about that? Will be going for another short onsite at the end of this week, so there will be plenty of car time.

Left my camera behind during my trip last week (one of many casualties in the carry-on luggage war). Kicked myself the entire time since I just had NO idea how amazing the mountains would be in Salt Lake City. “What in the world would I take a picture of on a business trip?” I thought. Perhaps this?

Oh, THAT’S Salt Lake City. Oh right, people SKI there. It made me miss Switzerland so very much. I like to think that nearly all of Katy’s sweater was knit in such a setting – seems so very appropriate.

My weekend was filled with many delightful things.

Melissa came to visit, which is wonderful enough.

On Saturday morning she & Merritt & I went to the High Museum. Right now they continue to rotate the much-hyped Louvre exhibit (eh…), however I’m often more captivated by the other exhibits. Surprisingly, the works that stuck with me from this past visit were from the “Street Life: American Photographs from the 1960s and 70s” collection, Susan Meiselas’s photographs in particular.

In the early 70’s she did a series on traveling carnival strippers. She had the following to say in the introduction to her book: “The recognition of this world is not the invention of it. I wanted to present an account of the girl show that portrayed what I saw and revealed how the people involved felt about what they were doing. …If the viewer is appalled by what follows, that reaction is not so different from the alienation of those who participate in the shows.”

I think her photographs hit this dead on. So many perspectives are examined, from the individual girls, the audience members, potential ticket purchasers, managers, pre-teen boys & girls passing by the tent.

If you live in Fulton County, residents get free admission to the High on the first Saturday of every month before 11:00 a.m. Normal adult admission is $18… I’m just saying.

So then we went and had lunch at the Flying Biscuit and visited the Lake Claire Land Trust, a community garden in Chandler Park. It is truly one of Atlanta’s greatest hidden treasures assuming you can see through all the peace signs & yard art.

Saturday evening I started this while we watched The Graduate:

The Endless Loop Scarf (the name does bother me a bit… endless loop… what other kinds are there?)

Finished it up Sunday evening. It has randomly placed rows consisting of k2tog/yo holes, which I adore even though no one will ever notice them but me. I used Suss Yarn’s Crunch, currently discontinued and on sale in Knitch Atlanta’s online store. Made M listen to me drone on and on for two days about the prettiness of the yarn. I have two more skeins of this stuff left now – what to do!?

Sunday afternoon we went up for my niece Miss Lark’s birthday – a glorious 3 years. She received several dresses, which she rotated throughout the party. How fashionable.

I gave her a set of My Little Ponies (reproductions of the 1982 versions, thank you very much.) I was a little too pleased to see her and Miss Amelia walking around with them.

On a completely unrelated note, I’m not sure if you know it, but aside from the Peony, the Ranunculus is the most wonderful flower in existence. This is indisputable.

Also indisputable:

Katy’s Rowan is one of the cutest babies ever. Please do not try to argue this fact. You’ll just end up looking foolish.