Hello, again, Hello . . .

I have no idea what possessed me to use a Neil Diamond quotation for an intro, but what the heck.  It's been a while, and I've been somewhat busy.  But more accurately, it's been stinky nasty hot since I last posted, so sitting with a lap full of wool hasn't been exactly a thrilling proposition.  The heat broke this week, though, so I have some successes to report!  Let's recap what's been going on since 7/5:

The Pirate Party in San Francisco was a tremendous amount of fun.  Got to meet a lot of wonderful Looterati and others, and see some of the basic sights of San Francisco.  The Argent is a wonderful hotel, and I can recommend it highly--they put up with a lobby full of pirate-costumed people as though it happened every evening.

Of course, flying back from the West Coast means a late night, so I was practically useless at work on Monday.  Came down with a cold on Wednesday.  Stupid aluminum tubes full of germs that they call airplanes.

Didn't knit a whole lot on the plane--got totally sucked into Astonishing Splashes of Colour instead.  A very compelling plot made the plane ride just fly past--I finished it before we got home--but talk about a book full of damaged goods.  Sheesh.

I made my first eBay yarn purchase--a bag of Kureyon color 95 is on its way to me.  Whee!  Enough for a Booga Bag and the sleeves of a Lite Brite sweater--though instead of Kureyon/Black, I'm going to do Kureyon/Acid green.  Because I'm an acid green kind of girl.  And I'm in good company. (Scroll down to July 14th.)

Well, let's just cut to the chase now, mmmkay?  Here's the news:

Finished: Fiona is a done deal.  Wheee!  Finished the applied i-cord this evening, sewed on the button, and called her done!  Took me a few tries to figure out the i-cord application, but once I had it figured out, it was a cinch.
On the Needles: I'm trying to be strict with myself.  I wasn't going to start anything new until something came off the needles.  And now that Fiona's done . . . we'll see what strikes me as fun tomorrow.  In the meantime, progress on the other WiPs:
Skully: I'm about 10" up the back side--9 more inches to go, then the shaping starts.
Colinette Throw: Is just about ready to come out and play again.
Party-Time Apron: Started the pattern stitch, and I'm not quite sure I'm doing it right.  We'll see how it looks in a few more rows.  If it's still funky, I'm pulling it all out and starting over.
In the hoop: And, because I'm a born cross-stitcher, more WiP news.  I don't actually use a hoop any more--either a Q-snap if I need tension, or I just stitch in-hand, but I need to get these projects on the radar as well.
Drawn Thread Birth Band sampler: Gotta get moving on this one again--there's a due date around the corner.  But 40-count linen.  Aigh!
Merry Cox Sailor's Huswif: The front-side basting is in, and I'm working on the back basting.  I need to have the pre-work done prior to a class in early October.  I hope I make it--there are a lot of Queen stitches on this darn thing. 

Obligatory Cultural References
Reading: Just finishing up the first volume of Complete Peanuts, 1950-52.  The books are well-designed, and I just LOVE the old Peanuts cartoons.  I checked them out of the library obsessively as a kid, and am looking forward to owning the complete collection.  I lost touch with Peanuts in the latter years, but the older ones are genius.  Next up is Lolita, then Reading Lolita in Tehran, for next book club.
Listening to: Nothing right this very minute, but I went on a retro music kick at iTunes--it's been nothing but Dead Milkmen and the Communards since.  (Yeah, that's kinda schizo--don't ask.)

Where does the time go?

Yipes. Has it really been nearly two weeks since last update? I've been simultaneously very busy and not very busy at all. When last I wrote, I was bound for the Magnetic Fields, and that was a wonderful time.

Work has been work--lots of turnover, which means fewer people but the same number of projects. I'm so snowed under at this point that it doesn't matter--40 projects or 60, I can still only do 5 or 6 at a time.

Super-short week this week, thanks to today being a holiday, and I'm bound for San Francisco on Friday. There's a big old Pirate Party there, and I need to get my costume's skirt hemmed, so I'm going to keep this short.

In knitting news . . .

Finished: The piratey baby hat is all finished as of this afternoon. It's adorable. The acrylic yarn looks a little bit cheap, but it's non-allergenic, which is the important bit. It's also a little bit big for a newborn, but being an August baby, he/she likely won't wear it right away anyhow.
On the Needles:
Skully: The back is cast-on, and the bottom "hem" area of garter stitch is just about done. This will make a most excellent plane project for this weekend.
Fiona: So close it's almost criminal. The pocket is knit-up and sewn on (couldn't quite figure out how to attach it as I went by picking up stitches--next time, next time)and the flap is complete. Now it's just applied i-cord city.
Colinette Throw: Has stayed in its lovely hand-knit bag quite nicely, thank you.
Party-Time Apron: Knit one more row of seed stitch to straighten out my stitches that got all wonky from the tear-out experiment. This one's going to require some concentration, at least for a while.

Obligatory Cultural References
Reading: Still Quicksilver. Though it's a bit heavy to take on the plane. I'll take Astonishing Splashes of Colour (the next Book Club book) to CA if it arrives on time, otherwise, I think I might take The Little Friend on the plane.
Listening to: Nothing at present. Except for the bratty kids next door who have firecrackers left over from yesterday.