This and That

I'm running out of time this morning, and I'm running out of things to talk about this week, but I won't have time to post tomorrow morning, so I thought I would pop in and relate just a couple of things from this week:

1. A few weeks ago, I mentioned sending a patron home with Doris Chan's book, Amazing Crochet Lace. Well, on Tuesday my patron came back in with her first FO from the book. She had also made the "Blue Curacao Shawl" but in a white sport yarn with a little sparkle to it. It came out a little smaller than my shawl, but it was just beautiful. I wish I had a picture to show you. It was another really nice moment at work. I really do have quite a network of knitters and crocheters going at the library!

2. I started the Lucy bag yesterday morning. Yes, I know, I have plenty of WIPs to work on. But I really want to felt something else, and I need a good traveling project for tonight and this weekend. I have to say, though, that starting this bag is one of the hardest things I have ever done! You start by crocheting 8 stitches in a circle, leaving each stitch on your hook, and then transferring the stitches to 4 dpns. Just keeping the stitches on the needles while you knit your first row is an incredible challenge. However, you increase in each stitch in the first row, so by the time you are finished and have 16 stitches on the needles, it all looks a little more familiar. It should be a fun and hopefully fast project. I'll post pictures when I have more done and it looks like something besides a dreamcatcher!

3. DH is going out tonight, so I signed up for a "sit and knit" night at my LYS. Part of me can't believe that I actually paid a nominal fee for the privilege of sitting and knitting - something I can do for free almost anywhere else - but I really want to encourage the store to do things like this. And I do have a couple of questions/problems that I am bringing with me for advice.

Finally, for those of you who aren't Scottish, today is Robert Burns's birthday! This is a big deal for those of us who are Scottish, and even if I'm not celebrating tonight I will be this weekend. For some reason, my in-laws, who are not Scottish, love haggis, so we are having a family dinner on Sunday in honor of Scotland's most famous poet!