Wouldn't it be great if this had a title?

Here's the yarn that's up for grabs in the naming contest:



So far, the only (legitimate -- Kit, I know those first three were you) entrant is Aidan, which I do like, but that's no reason not to get your own suggestions in! And remember, if we choose your entry as the actual name (whether it's my favorite or not), you'll get additional goodies. There may even be more yarn in it for you. So get namin'!

In case you need more inspiration, here's the ever adorable Becky Jayne taking a quick break from wreaking havoc on her very own Daddy pillow.



Aren't they just sweet?

Now for some not-so-sweet stuff. The knitting. Erg. I was doing so nicely on the Ring Cycle socks -- I had a problem, but I was fixing it and everything was coming out just lovely. And then, somehow, I managed to eff up the ribbing pattern. Which meant that it didn't match up with the rest of the pattern, which was the whole point of using Criminy Jicket's setup. To be clear, CJ's setup is perfectly fine. It is I who cannot follow directions. Sigh. So I ripped back and am now just about done with the ribbing again (I haven't done much knitting at all this week). Double sigh.

I've been avoiding my stepmother's socks -- which, ooooo, did I tell you? have a name now: Inflorescence -- because I was stymied about what to do with the pattern on the heel. See, on the toes it has this pretty start so it doesn't look like it just starts in the middle of the pattern, and I kinda want that on the heels, too. But how to accomplish it? Do I introduce yet another chart? Should it start above the heel or have a portion of the pattern on the actual heel? As usual for me, I'm doing the Turkish afterthough heel from Lucy Neatby's Warm Feet, Cool Socks rather than the more traditional heel flap (we hates the heel flaps!) and my concern is that other people would prefer to switch heels and do the flap, which they won't be able to do as easily if the pattern extends on to the heel. And then I decided it would be much prettier with the pattern on the heel, so that's how I'm doing it. Now I just need to find the sock, which I'm pretty sure is lost somewhere in the black hole we like to call "the loveseat."

In other unhappy news, I found The Perfect Bag. I know, right, that doesn't sound unhappy. But I lost The Perfect Bag. I don't know why I didn't order when I had the chance. I had it up in my browser for days. Then I closed the browser, and now I can't find it again. The first one I saw was on someone's blog -- obviously someone who I don't read regularly, because I have now been through months of back posts by everyone in my Google Reader and can't find it. It's someone with kids, and it was referred to as their new favorite bag. The store they linked to (a kid/mom store) didn't have any designs I liked so I Googled and found some other sources, one of which had exactly what I wanted. I have been through my browser history and past Google searches and have come up empty. Here's a description, just in case: the bag is long and short (think 15x4in, though I'm not sure of the exact dimensions) and made of canvas. It's a Japanese designer, and a lot of the designs have French phrases on them. They retail for $25-30. Sound familiar to anyone?

posted by Laura Y. @ 3:03 PM