Ten Computer Science Based Pickup Lines

1. Can I be administrator on your box?
2. Wanna help me optimize my inner join?
3. Hey baby, you pass my Turing Test.
4. Can you help me find Big O?
4a. I think it's asymptotically bound.
5. I've got a really big DTS package. Wanna see it?
6. Is your code tight enough to rebuff my SQL injection?
7. I'd run a bi-directional Dijkstra algorithm on you any time.
8. I'll call-by-name if you evaulate my closure.
9. In my BNF grammar, HOT := YOU.
10. So, how big is your hard drive?

Delaware

Greg and I went to Delaware this weekend. We ate at Waffle House, where our waiter had a really awesome mustache, and we bought Discount Liqour and on the way there the guy at Dunkin Donuts gave me a free donut.

We did not go to Space: The Lounge, but I bet it's really awesome inside there.

In addition to Space: The Lounge, Delaware has a chain of pharmacies called Happy Harry's. They are not as exciting as their name would lead you to believe.

Overheard at the Discount Liquor store next to the projects, where everything was behind glass and I did not buy anything because the only wine they had was that crazy sweet fruit wine crap:

Cashier: Two thirty packs, huh? Guess I won't be seeing you again today.
Dude w/ Thirty Packs: Eh, I'll probably be back later.

Also, I think Greg is nifty. That is all.

Oh, What A Good Girl Am I

I totally deserve a gold star for today. Well, except for the part where I woke up at noon, and then only because the UPS guy was ringing the doorbell. (Did I sign for that package wearing my bathrobe? Yes, I did. The UPS guy didn't seem too shocked, they probably get that a lot.) (Or maybe he was shocked I couldn't tell, because I didn't have my contacts in yet.)

But! Then I did my laundry, and cleaned my kitchen, and swept up about a million pieces of cat litter, and cleaned up cat vomit (Thanks, cats. I would love you 25% more if you would stop vomiting!), and removed the huge mound of empty beer bottles from the kitchen, and folded all my laundry. And I hate folding laundry! I hate it so much! And after all this totally virtuous activity, I went straight to work.

The fact that I haven't spilled anything disgusting on myself yet is totally pure karma.

Blue Striped Socks

Behold! It is the Blue Socks of Stripeyness!

The deets:
Yarn - Lion Magic Stripes, Regatta Blue Stripe (Aptly named!)
Pattern - Based on the sock pattern from The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns (Also aptly named!). An inch of k1 p1 rib, and the stockinette for the body.
Gauge - Approx. 6 stitches per inch, on size 3 needles.

I have been knitting up a storm recently, but haven't been posting pics because it's been Top Secret Knitting. (Also, I am sort of being a Project Harlot and keep starting things and getting halfway through them and then starting other things.) I knit these socks mainly at my weekly movie night, which is perfect sock knitting time. This is the sixth pair of socks I've made, and I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. I really want to make the lace socks from Weekend Knitting, but they require too much concentration to be good Movie Night knitting.

Knitters, I need some advice. My slip slip knit (ssk) decreases always seem to cause a funny little gap next to them, like this gap. Do I just need to tug my yarn harder or something? How can I fix this?

Linky Linkerton

Sometimes I email myself interesting links. Here are some:

Gummi Bear Seven Deadly Sins. Mmmmm, gummy.

Sneaky Amazon Images Tricks. I thought this was neat.

The Kim Hargreaves Winter Collection. I love Flourish, and like Dew as well. Fantastic use of Kidsilk Haze.

Dirty Girl

It's beginning to look like spilling foul substances on myself is becoming a disturbing trend. Taking the trash out this morning, I shifted it to get a better hold, and dumped some sort of trash juice all over my pants.

Hi! I smell like garbage! Want to go shoot rats out by the dump?

They were my only pair of clean jeans, too, since yesterday's jeans were soiled by the Cheese Incident. Looks like tomorrow is laundry day for sure.

At least this way if I can't find a place to live in San Diego, the transition to Hobo will be easy. My next step is learning to make mulligan stew in an old boot.

Cheese Dummy

I got a Egg & Cheese on a Bagel for breakfast this morning, and almost immediately dripped melted American cheese all over myself. The cheese then instantly dried into a crusty substance that was impossible to get off. The most obvious manifestation of it was a crusty white stain near the crotch of my jeans, which I think made me look extra classy. Plus, what do you do about that? It's not like I can be all, "Hey, don't worry, that crotch stain is totally just cheese. I'm not a pervert or anything. Well, at least, not in this instance." It gave me sort of a Hunter S. Thompson look.

It also lead to this conversation:
Coworker: How are you?
Me: Um, covered in cheese, actually. (I discover some on my arm and attempt to get it off.)
Coworker: Well, that certainly wasn't an answer I was expecting.

Hooray for Clouds

The weather this week is cloudy and overcast with a slight chance of rain, and I am loving it. I hate actual rain, but my favorite kind of weather is when there's a lot of cloud cover and it's a little bit chilly and damp. Who needs the sun? Not me, that's for sure. I'm totally dreading the transition to being god awful hot and humid that I know is going to happen any day now. Let's just keep it at 65 forever, okay?

This is also the best possible weather for mornings when you're hung over. Not that I would know anything about that.

Star Wars Snark

How much do I love this New Yorker review of Revenge of the Sith? More than I can fucking say. Here are some particularly choice excerpts:

"What can you say about a civilization where people zip from one solar system to the next as if they were changing their socks but where a woman fails to register for an ultrasound, and thus to realize that she is carrying twins until she is about to give birth? Mind you, how Padmé got pregnant is anybody’s guess, although I’m prepared to wager that it involved Anakin nipping into a broom closet with a warm glass jar and a copy of Ewok Babes. After all, the Lucasian universe is drained of all reference to bodily functions. Nobody ingests or excretes. Language remains unblue. Smoking and cursing are out of bounds, as is drunkenness, although personally I wouldn’t go near the place without a hip flask."

"The general opinion of 'Revenge of the Sith' seems to be that it marks a distinct improvement on the last two episodes, 'The Phantom Menace' and 'Attack of the Clones.' True, but only in the same way that dying from natural causes is preferable to crucifixion."

"I still fail to understand why I should have been expected to waste twenty-five years of my life following the progress of a beeping trash can and a gay, gold-plated Jeeves."

"Deepest mind in the galaxy, apparently, and you still express yourself like a day-tripper with a dog-eared phrase book. 'I hope right you are.' Break me a fucking give."

"I keep thinking of the rueful Obi-Wan Kenobi, as he surveys the holographic evidence of Anakin’s betrayal. 'I can’t watch anymore,' he says. Wise words, Obi-Wan, and I shall carry them in my heart. "

So snarky! Cannot take it! Anthony Lane, you're my new hero.

In Which I Squabble With My Ex Boyfriend In A Childish Manner

Really, Ro, your comment on the last post was just ridiculous. I am quoting it here so that everyone can bask in its utter foolishness:

"Ummmm....somehow, I'm reasonably certain that you don't actually want to be 'excused from baby-making.' There are parts of the process you seem to enjoy."

Which, thanks, dude. I like to keep thick mental walls between the "recreation" and "procreation" aspects of getting it on, because nothing is less sexy than small children. Oh, wait, except for passing a small child through your vagina. You're totally harshing my mellow here.

Now, granted, I do own a t-shirt that says, "Babies: Fun to Make, Fun to Eat." And yes, I do like some parts of the baby-making process. But saying I want to make babies because I like fucking is like saying I enjoy performing open-heart surgery because I like washing my hands. It's crazy talk.

Biology is not destiny, dude. Which is something you should be grateful for, because other than me, Heather and Allison (The R.x. Club, as I like to think of us.), you are drawn to the crazy girls as moths to a flame.

Plus, I don't think it counts as baby-making when it's with girls. Or with men who aren't neanderthals and the advantages of modern technology.

Attn Philly Geeks

Does anyone have a Laptop to IDE adapter I can borrow? The dudes in Staples & Radioshack look at me like I've got two heads the second the word "IDE" comes out of my mouth. ("No, it's a cable for inside the computer.")

(Note: It's one of these dohickeys.)

(Edit: I bought one at my local computer store that I had forgotten existed. Also, don't y'all love how I've started to use my blog expressly to ask the internet to save me from being a total spazz? Later, I plan to buy a lot of shoes and then put up a paypal button and ask you guys to pay for it!) (Okay, not so much on the shoe thing. I still have self respect around here somewhere.)

Memory Lane Amnesia

The new found popularity of Myspace means that suddenly all of these people I went to high school with are finding me and sending me little Myspace messages. Since I've sucessfully eradicated all of my high school memories, I'm not really good at holding up my end of these little nostalgia conventions. I'm all, "Do I know you? I'm sorry, but I did a lot of drugs in college, and now when I think of high school all I get is a sort of vague sullen feeling."

Also, they all have children now. I held a baby at a coworker's "Hey, We Had A Baby!" party today, and I was all, "Um, it's wiggling? And making little goat sounds? What does it want? I think it's plotting something." My feeling on children is that I am going to be getting a PhD, which is like a child that you are pregnant with for five years. Thus I would like to be excused from the baby-making, please. Have I mentioned recently that it really weirds me out that my peers are beginning to marry and procreate as though these are normal, healthy activities, and not terrible foolish mistakes? It makes me feel as though I've missed some sort of memo. I'm all, "What? We're getting married now? I'm not ready to get married. No one told me we were doing this now. Go away and come back in ten years."

Scarfus Interuptus!

GARRRRR! I'm halfway done knitting a scarf, and I've run out of yarn. It's like my life is currently cursed so that lots of small, annoying things happen to me and I'm unable to get anything done. Stupid dumb-ass yarn. (Clearly, this is not my fault for not planning in advance. It is the yarn's fault for running out unexpectedly.)

If anyone has a skein of Aura Trendsetter and a skein of R2 Paper, both in pink, I would trade you something nice for them.

(Edit: The totally awesome Stella is hooking me up with the R2 paper. Hooray for the internet!)

I Live In The Past Now

Hey kids, this is coming at you from the very best technology 1998 had to offer! (Okay, I'm exaggerating. It's hardware from 1998, with some extra ram thrown in at some point, and software from 1998 - 2002.) (PS. Doesn't the word "exaggerating" look weird? I had to look it up to make sure I was spelling it right. I mean, how many g's does one word need?) I'm rocking the Windows 98 and the Netscape, hardcore.

The first thing I did was reset my resolution from 800 x 600 to 1024 x 768. Seriously, how did I live like that?

Holy crap, I have a 5 GB hard drive on this thing. That's the size of an iPod mini. That's insane.

The cat has discovered that since the computer is no longer on my lap, now she can be on my lap. I think she's also mad at me because I took back my desk chair, formally known as the cat napping chair.

I miss Firefox.

Technology Update

Well, I got the new AC adapter, hooked it up, and . . . nothing happened. Shit.

So I called HP and I'm sending it back to them, but first I have to back up my hard drive. Hey, that would be easier to do if my computer could turn on! Right now it's at work, waiting for the tech guy to pop its hard drive into one of my work computers. My top secret plan is to hook up my old Gateway desk top and take advantage of that sweet, sweet 1998 technology.

Man, screw this whole computer thing. Forget grad school. I'm going to move to New Mexico and start a goat farm. I'll get a golden retriever and tie a bandanna around its neck and wear a cowboy hat and drive my pick up into town to drink at the bar with the old timers every Friday. It's going to be awesome.

Rotunda

If you live in Philly, or even if you don't, you should read this article about The Rotunda.* The Rotunda is a really excellent venue for things like free concerts and craft fairs and apparently many other things, and it also happens to be about five blocks from my house. I was just at a free concert there on Saturday. As the article mentions, it's one of the few things UPenn is doing right - so right, actually, that I had no idea it was associated with them.

*article gets bonus points for mentioning True If Destroyed

Makes Me Squeal

The Baaaaaby Animals livejournal community is like the crack cocaine of cuteness.

State Fossil

For those of you who are anti-trilobite: California's State Fossil is the Saber-Toothed Tiger.

It doesn't get more bad-assed than that, in the State Fossil realm.

Green Sweater

I mended my favorite sweater yesterday. My favorite sweater is a cabled apple green cardigan, and I bought it from a thrift store some time in high school. (When I wore it in high school, the guy who sat behind me in Spanish class called it the "Baby Puke Green" sweater. Man, I hated that kid.) While I was sewing up the latest holes yesterday, I discovered that there were at least three different colors of green thread hiding different holes. One of the prior mending jobs is a perfect matching shade of green, and I strongly suspect that those holes were sewed up by my mother, who has thread to match any article of clothing. There's a dark green color that I think was me, and a tanish color that I think may have come with the sweater when I bought it.

The sweater is acrylic and machine knit, and was probably never very expensive. I'm sure I paid less than five dollars for it. The sleeves are too short, and it's missing a button I never bothered to sew back on because I never button it. But it makes me happy, with it's excessively bright and acidic green and it's old lady style. And so I sew it up and wear it again, even though the seams are more patched than not.

Fun PA Facts

Apparently, the Pennsylvania State Beverage is milk. I think we should start lobbying to get it changed to Yuengling. (Fun fact for out-of-staters: The Yuenling runs so plentiful here that when you order it in a bar you just ask for "lager." But really, you should ask for the Black & Tan, because it's better.)

Also, the State Fossil is the Trilobite.

I Suck At Being A Geek

So, the site was down on Sunday.

Long term readers will remember last May, when I accidentally let my domain and hosting expire and it was a huge debacle.

Long term readers will realize that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and this is exactly the sort of lesson I am very bad at learning.

On the plus side, everything seems to be sorted out now, and I should have a new AC adapter by Thursday, and hopefully technology will stop hating me.

Observed On 9th & Chestnut

1. The delivery guy sits on his bike, waiting for the light to change. He is carefully rearranging his apron so it will conceal the can of Budweiser in his pocket.

2. Across the ass of the woman's sweatpants is written, "Legends Never Die." "Legends" is on one cheek, "Never Die" on the other. There are also rhinestones. On the ass of her sweatpants. I want to tell her that her pants are making promises her ass can't keep.

Technology Fails Me; I Am A Dork

Well, my AC Adapter is now totally dead. My computer just sits there on my coffee table, like some monument to technology and how it likes to hurt me. I've ordered another one from HP, and it should get here within three to four days. In the meantime, I will probably not be available via the internet this weekend. (I know, people will have to call me. Shocking!)

I forgot to tell you guys another Maryland Sheep & Wool story:
Interweave Press had a both there, and when I discovered that they were the publishers of ReadyMade Magazine as well as Interweave Knits, I got so excited I accidentally hit Kirsten. I don't think normal people get that worked up over crafty magazine publishers.

iPod Tarot

I decided to try the iPod Tarot reading.

My Question: How will my week go?

1st Track: The Significator.
Broom People, by The Mountain Goats. This song is about John Darnielle's life being really crappy, and also he's dating some girl who makes him feel better. I think. Anyway, the part that I would like to focus on is the line, "in your arms, I am a wild creature," which I am choosing to interpret as meaning I will get laid this week.

2nd Track: The Opposing Forces.
Golden Boy, by The Mountain Goats. "There are no pan-Asian supermarkets down in hell, so you can't buy Golden Boy peanuts." I was planning to go shopping at the Asian market around the corner from my house this weekend, I hope this doesn't mean that I won't be able to.

3rd Track: The Past.
Dinu Lipatti's Bones, by The Mountain Goats. "We smelled of hair dye and ammonia." Well, I have done. Further into the song, he talks about being broke. I've certainly done that. There's also a certain fucked up relationship vibe to this song, which is apt for my past.

4th Track: What May Be.
Kate Moss, by Rasputina. Oh, great, a Rasputina song. That's not going to be cryptic or anything. I look up the lyrics and get this:

"If you think real hard about the aches, the card, the blackboard that you've drawn on for so long. You realize that it's gone, and with it that swan song, the mirror of your life has turned to shards. If that means broken glass, you won't have the chance to laugh at those who always laughed at you. Think back, yes it's cool, to jump up and be through, when even worser things have come to pass. "

That's just great. Thanks, Rasputina.

5th Track: Sum of All Track Readings.
14 Cheerleader Coldfront, by Guided By Voices. "Stay close to locker rooms, and waving(?) close to where you will hold them dear to something queer and stare(?)." Your guess is as good as mine, man.

Did I ever tell y'all about this girl I dated briefly my senior year of college who was a tarot-obsessed speed freak? She would do coke and compulsively do tarot readings for herself. Eventually she stopped with the tarot, not because she realized it was nuts, but because she thought that the cards were telling her that they were angry with her. We broke up pretty fast, but it was mainly because she wouldn't make out with me unless she was drunk. She later accused me of stealing all her friends.

Froggy Part 2

I completely forgot (or didn't think of) the funniest part of the Froggy Went A Courtin' Line, which is that really the sample conversation should go like this:

Person 1: How did your date last night go?
Person 2: Pretty good. Froggy went a courtin', if you know what I mean.
Person 1: Oh really?
Person 2: And he did ride.

Please Fix My Computer

So recently my computer has started doing this thing where it stops feeding off of the power adapter even though it's plugged in, and switches to battery power (which lasts about two minutes, because my battery is two years old and shot to hell), and then I sort of swivel/jiggle the part where the power adapter plugs into my laptop, and it goes back to electrical power. This is really just sort of an annoyance, but it's a REALLY BIG annoyance, because I don't like having to jiggle my power cord every five minutes. (Although "jiggle my power cord" might also be a euphemism we should all start using.)

So, my question to you, my incredibly smart readers:
Do you think this problem would be solved if I bought a new power cord? Or is my computer likely to explode at any moment in time?

(Aren't you going to get a PhD in computer science? Why do you have to ask the internet about jiggling your power cord? - ed) (SHUT UP)

Suggestion

I feel that we should start using the phrase "Froggy went a-courtin'" as a euphemism for hooking up/messing around/you know, the thing that euphemisms are usually used for.

Sample dialogue:
Person 1: How did your date go?
Person 2: Pretty well. Froggy went a-courtin, if you know what I mean.

Maryland Sheep & Wool Redux

Don't you just love the poofy little fro on this Alpaca? He had little poofy furry legs, too. Nothing looks funnier than a just sheered alpaca.

I figured that the fair would be huge and I would never find anyone I knew there, but five minutes after Naomi, Michelle and I walked through the gate, we ran into Kirsten and Alisa. I also found/was found by Ella and Anj, and Anj's friend whose name I have totally forgotten. (Ella, Anj and Kirsten all looked far less tired than I did, even though we had all been up late watching Kirsten kick ass as Mad Cow Billy in the Mr. Drag King Philadelphia competition the night before. Totally unfair!) Oh, and I saw Christina for the first time since probably college!

Kirsten, Naomi, Michelle, Alisa and I all immediately set to work looking at & petting all the gorgeous yarn. We also got to see tons of adorable bunnies, llamas, sheep, alpacas, and goats.

I really loved people watching at the festival. People had on really amazing hand knit stuff, some of which I recognized. (I saw a clapotis and a Mariah.) Plus, it was just a really awesome mix of people. Since it's a sheep and wool festival, you had farmers and Amish people mixing with older wealthy lady knitter types mixing with the knit-bloggers and the younger knitters. Way more guys and kids than I expected were there.

I saw Stephanie from Yarn Harlot and geeked out at her in a sort of unfortunate way, but she was very gracious and signed my book despite my being all, "HiIreadyourblogandIthinkyou'rereallycool." I don't really care about normal celebrities, but put me in a room with a knitting celeb and I'm the geekiest fan girl ever. I also spotted Claudia, Theresa and Rachel, but did not geek out at them.

Most of my friends ended up picking up drop spindles and roving to start spinning, but I remain afraid of the spinning process. (That way lies madness, and a house entirely filled with fiber.) Which, thank god, because I had enough to process just looking at the yarn. Before lunch, we had looked at all of the vendors in the tents, and thought we'd gotten sort of a handle on things. Then after lunch we discovered the vendors in the barns. Overwhelming doesn't even begin to describe it. At one point at around five, I had this conversation with Kirsten:

Me: Do you think this is enough sock yarn for two socks, or one?
Kirsten: I don't know, you could ask the vendor.
Me: But then I might have to buy it.

Also:
Kirsten: Oh crap, I think those other barns are full of vendors too.
Me: *whimper* No, they're not!
K: No, Cyn, they're not. No more yarn to look at.

The cell phones definitely came in handy, as we managed to lose each other amidst the barns full of yarn. We had conversations like, "Where are you?" "Barn five, where are you?" "We're in the fried dough line," "Okay, I see you now."

All in all, it was an amazing and overwhelming experience, and I'm very glad I went. I'm already scheming about how I can plan my vacation around it next year.

As we were leaving, I had to take a picture of this bumper sticker.

The Yarn

Clockwise from the green skein on top: Sock yarn from Tess Designer Yarns, Fingering weight Alpaca yarn, Jaggerspun Zephyr yarn (laceweight 50% Merino Wool 50% Tussah Silk), an old issue of Interweave Knits, some handmade soap (you can just see it's corner sticking into the picture on top of the magazine) and laceweight yarn from Morehouse Farm Merino.

Here are close-ups of the Tess' Sock Yarn and the Morehouse Laceweight. I saw some of the most amazing hand dyed yarn ever at the Festival, and both of these venders had truly beautiful things.

Maryland Sheep & Wool

I am way too exhausted to write a real entry, so in the meantime, here is this photo.

Mini Me

Apparently, an Icelandic children's television show features a small version of me.

I am frightened.

Drunk Dialing

I love having friends on the West Coast. When I call them, it's like I'm dialing back in time, to a place where everything is happier and more innocent and they're not mad at me for drunk dialing them at 1 am, because it's only 10 pm for them. It's even better when I call Adam, because he is a prince among men and lets me drunkenly babble at him for an hour about whatever pops into my pretty little drunk head. Some things I told him about last night while rather drunk and very excited:

• The fact that his copy of Colin Meloy's tour only Morrisey cover EP could apparently fetch around $200 on eBay.
• How Mike Watt still lives in Pedro and we should hunt him down and be like, "Hey! Mike Watt! You're cool!"
• Old bands we're just starting to get into. Me: Sebadoh, Minutemen. Him: Sonic Youth.
• The thirteen year old girl in Florida who won the right to have an abortion and how totally smart and bad-ass she comes across as in her quotes.
• The Star Wars line.
• Colin Meloy's old alt-country band, Tarkio.
• How moving across the country solves all of your problems for three to six months, but mainly because you have no friends.

I may or may not have described myself as "obsessed" with most of the above items. Adam, thanks for putting up with my rambling ass.

I've Got Lance In My Pants

In case you can't read the writing on that snack ad, it says, "I've Got Lance In My Pants." It was on the back of a "Lance Snacks" truck I passed on my way to the bus this morning.

I seriously want to know what was going on in the meeting for this ad campaign. What was the runner up slogan? "Like gay porn? You'll love our snacks!"? My basic response to this ad is, "I'm sure you do, buddy, but keep it to yourself, okay?"

Also, Freud would have a field day with that salacious back pocket shot.

A Womb of One's Own

Look, it is a small pink sparkly uterus! I knit it with the womb pattern from Knitty. It's all tiny because my gauge was way off, but I think that just makes it extra adorable. I used R2 Paper and Trendsetter Yarns Aura, double stranded. I really like the way they look together, and may use them together again. If I wasn't sick to death of drop stitch scarves, I would totally make a drop stitch scarf with the two of them.

Anyway, back to the womb. (Hee.) I like that the Aura makes it all sparkly and fuzzy, but I feel like it sort of obscures the shape of the cervix, so I probably wouldn't use it again.

Here is the womb from below. Note that I made the cervix "pouty" as specified in the pattern. Also, I think that from below it sort of looks like the alien on the front of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galazy.

Short & Random Wins the Race!

• ATTN KNITTERS: I will be at Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival this weekend. If you see someone there with pink hair, it is either me, or a very skilled imposter. If they are holding a lot of lace weight mohair, it is definitely me.
• I have scientifically determined that goat cheese makes everything better. Go ahead, name a food that is not better with goat cheese! It's not possible, my friends.
• Half Squirrel is still there. I think maybe he's mummified or something. Or magic.
• I am beginning to worry that perhaps moving to San Diego is a huge mistake and that everyone will be much smarter than me and hate me and possibly throw things at me. Why did I decide to move? Things are great in Philly! Everyone loves me in Philly! The streets are paved with gold here!
• Speaking of Philadelphians who love me (a little too much) when I was buying my bus pass on Sunday, an elderly gentleman stopped to ask me if I was "pink all over." In lieu of answering him, I chose to run away and take a different bus.
• I think I spend half of the time in which I am awake and at home doing my dishes. The other half of that time is spent getting dishes dirty.
• Am I addicted to the list format? I just might be. Friends o' mine, I will expect an intervention if I do not stop soon.

The Flower Basket Shawl

Q: Didn't you just knit a green lace shawl?
A: Shut up.

Since I'm moving back to California, I've decided the only practical thing to do is to only knit lace from now on. I really like knitting lace. It's complicated enough to stay interesting, and I'm constantly amazed that I can make beautiful things out of sticks and string. The only downside is the amount of unknitting that goes with it.

True to my weekend plans, I finished the Flower Basket Shawl from the Fall 2004 Interweave Knits. I actually ran out of yarn binding off the last ten stitches, and was about to gouge my eyes out, when I had a total evil genius idea, and grafted on some sock yarn in a matching green color to finish binding off.

I used some lace weight yarn I had picked up when I went to School Products on the PhillyKnitters NYC Yarn Crawl. The yarn is 20% cashmere, 50% merino and 30% silk, and I had 405 yards of it. My gauge was much smaller than the recommended gauge, but I did 10 repeats of the pattern instead of seven, and my shawl actually ended up being four inches wider and two inches longer than the one in the magazine.

This shawl totally transformed when I blocked it. Before I blocked it, I was worried it'd be too small, and wasn't sure I liked the lace pattern all that much. But then I blocked the heck out of it, and it turned out awesome.

Here's a close up of the lace pattern.

And here is a picture with my face.

I have 600 yards of a similar weight bright pink cashmere yarn. I was going to make gloves with it, but since I'm moving to California, I've decided it's going to be a lace shawl instead. Any pattern suggestions?