Tower of Yarn

I have made progress on my shrug, of course, and I'm getting close to knitting the back. I've heard such bad things about trying to purl and strand at the same time, that it's really putting a crimp in my confidence. Should I go ahead anyway? Or should I make a note of where the hole starts and ends, and then steek the body (using this technique)? This will require some thought.

In other knitting news, my mother has now become an enabler. Temporarily. Because it involves making her a sweater. The sweater? Bianca's jacket from Interweave Knits Fall '06. The yarn? Sir Galli, the 100% silk tweed that is on deep discount at Little Knits. Yeah, we'll have to see if I can even size up the darn thing, and if I can get the same dyelot when I buy a bag and individual balls.

Lately (as in since Monday), I've been listening to Cast On, the knitting podcast. I just finished the first season, and will be starting #2 today. I know everyone else has already been listening, no doubt since the very first episode, and that I'm so far behind, the dust has settled, and I'm following fossilized footprints. It's very fun to listen to Brenda, and I occasionally find myself zoning out because her voice is so calm and relaxing. In truth, I'm not really interested in sweaters, but those entries are more storytelling than description. I also particularly enjoy the essays- Brenda's are so eloquent, and the guest essayists are often engaging in a humorous way that I find refreshing.

No progress to be reported on Cable Net. (I'm being a bad girl.) I hope I don't allow this to become a UFO, because I like the pattern, and I like the challenge, but my heart has been captured by my tapestry shrug.

I leave you with a tower of yarn cakes that I rigged up when I was making all my skeins and balls into cakes. I checked, and none of this has been dyed or spun by me (I did make a tower of my own handspun, but I guess I failed to capture the rickety glory).