This morning I sent Gus upstairs to get ready for school while I puttered around downstairs. It usually takes him a matter of a minute or two to get dressed and brush his teeth, but I found this morning I had time to clean the dishes; I fed the cats, I straightened up the living room, I put a snack in his backpack, I endorsed a check, I organized my planner.... finally, I realized that a lot of time had gone by. So I shouted up the stairs, "Hey, are you dressed yet?"

And he appeared at the top of the stairs, still in his pajamas, and said calmly, "Oh, no, not yet. I'm still trying to see if I can lick my elbow..."

Huh. I see. How can you argue with that?

Good morning and happy Cinqo de Mayo to everyone. O frabjous day - Blogger fixed whatever was wrong with it and here is the post that's been percolating for a week:

Ooooh! Finished Objects! Finished Objects!

First, the Paisley Shawl from Folk Style.

I was carried away by the beauty of friend Neeta's version of this, even though she made some cautionary noises about the knitting of it when I first saw it. I used Berroco Ultra Alpaca (bought at Purl by the Sea in Montauk, NY). Neeta had used Ultra Alpaca Light, which is the weight that it called for, but I forgot that. This turned out to be a serendipitous mistake.

Back in January, I had an email conversation with Kate Gilbert, the designer of the shawl, about a different project. In the course of our conversation I mentioned that I had bought Folk Style solely for this pattern and she emailed back, "Oh I hated that Paisley Shawl!" Wow. I never found out why, but now I think I know. Because the paisley eyelet blobs are irregular in shape, there's no symmetry or rhythm to the knitting. I spent hours - HOURS I TELL YOU - counting the stupid little spaces in the graph on every row. Ugh. I finally got so sick of it that I just bound it off where I was. Because I used a heavier weight yarn, though, it turned out to be the size it was supposed to be. Fine. Done and DONE.

Next I finished the Marianas Pullover from Valley Yarns.

This was a stash-buster; 5-yr-old Jaeger Chamonix that had been lurking forever. It's a great yarn - very soft and smoochy - but I think if I were to make this sweater again (which I would in a heartbeat) I'd use a stiffer yarn. It's a great shape and a quick knit (love those top-downs), but it's a little floppy in this soft yarn. Modifications: I made the ribbing much deeper on the cuffs and I used garter rib on the body. Next time I'd use the garter rib on the collar to make it lay flatter. Great pattern though.

Finally, this is the Calla Lily Bag from Knitter's Book of Yarn (awesome book). This pattern had me completely kerfluffled, but I finally figured it out and here it is:

More stash-busting! Red and orange Cascade Pastaza. I think I'll teach this as a class this fall.

Hrmph. Blogger is experiencing technical difficulties with uploading photos, so I can't post my brilliant post about all the many beauteous finished objects that I have lying around. Oh the color! The stitches! The finished object-y goodness of them all! But alas, we'll all have to wait.

In the meantime, the young and valiant Sixers finally lost to the Pistons, but it was great to watch them develop as a team this year. I'm looking forward to next season with more anticipation than I have in years. 

The Phillies have been chugging along, led last night by Adam Eaton - yes, I said Adam Eaton, and Ryan Howard, whom I hope is emerging from his funk. I haven't thought of switching the flag in days!

That's all for now. Have a beautiful weekend!