I'm rolling in green

Yarn, that is, not so much the cash :)

My Knitpicks order came in with the yarn for Jake's sweater and his slippers. 19 balls of Mainline, 7 of Wool of the Andes. And, uh, mainline, REALLY? 82 friggin' yards? Couldn't make some meatier balls? That's a WHOLE lot of ends in a sweater, which may force me to learn how to effectively do a Russian Join! I'm trying to work up the motivation to swatch ASAP because he really wants the sweater and will pester me whenever I work on something else now that the yarn is here.

Sticking with green, I started working with the Malabrigo lace I wound up on my fancy new nostepinne. The color is Vaa and it's becoming a Leaf Lace Scarf, which will be for me :) It's a super simple pattern and is going along pretty well so far. I'm trying to work on my backward knitting to avoid the purling back - recently my right elbow has been sore while I knit and avoiding purls helps it not hurt. Unfortunately, no matter how many times I trace my purl steps and repeat them on the knit side of the fabric, I keep getting the stitch oriented wrong. It's driving me bananas! I am pleased with myself for re-training my knit stitch to be fully left handed so I can keep my right hand/elbow stationary. I think it's even possible I'm a tad faster that way!

All this green needs to not distract me from my Dog Days Socks, though. I REALLY want to finish the pair before the next woolgirl shipment going out 10/13! The 2nd sock is fully knit, I just need to do the lace cuff, but I HATED the lace cuff on the first sock - a whole lot of fiddliness for not much visual effect IMO (you can't much see the flower lace in the varigated yarn!). Jake is going away fishing this weekend, so maybe I can force myself to do that rather than clean while he's gone!

My gift cowl is complete, but not blocked. It's Oh so pretty :)

Along with a box from Knitpicks, the mailman braved the downpour (literally, it was too much for the box so he had to bring it up to the house!) to bring me my Amazon order, too. Jake & I both got a book for reading, and I got Sensual Knits. I've been wanting it for ages since I saw the Transparency Sweater. Unfortunately, it appears even the cheapest yarn to make it will cost me over $60 (to keep it silk/mohair - elann has a nylon/mohair). So it will have to wait, but I really love the book. There are a lot of really pretty patterns. They all are a bit crazy on the yarn, though. I mean, who is going to use 16-23 balls of this Cashmere to make a sweater?!

Tomorrow is Jake's birthday, so today is officially his last day of his 2nd decade on the Earth. (I'm being technical here, he's turning 29, but that means he's starting his 30th year on the planet). He has requested white cake with chocolate frosting. The frosting will be homemade, the cake will be from a mix :) He also requested the cake be decorated with a chainsaw - no joke! It's his gift from his parents, my mom & I (who knew one could cost so much!) and not a surprise. We'll see how my artistic skills work! I'm also making spicy Chicken Parm (spicy sauce from this recipe) for dinner with a few of his friends coming over. Should be a nice day! I'm taking the afternoon off of work to clean the house and shop. Unfortunately for me, I'm not the cleanest baker, so I suspect additional cleaning will be required after the cake is done :)