Hi! I would like to say this is a post from your foreign correspondent - which is technically true since I am on vacation. However, I didn't get quite far enough away, so when the choice was to come home for a day or so and keep the dentist appointment or to reschedule it, I decided to come home. My two older children joined me - to help get some house cleaning done or to see their friends - who can say for sure? and it is sort of nice to have the level of chaos cut in half for a day or two. So pretend I am writing this next to a lake in New Hampshire. If I had not left the digital camera there I could even provide a photo, but you will have to use your imagination.

Hope that imagination is up to the task, because the projects I have for show and tell are many rows past the photos I happen to have available (that digital camera thing again). FIrst we have my first pair of Monkey socks ( a Cookie A pattern found on knitty. com - I would make this a link but I have not yet learned how).

Since this photo was taken I have finished the cuffs and turned one of the heels. For this part of the operation the socks are each getting their own Magic Loop, since I couldn't figure out how to make it happen any other way (there's always something new to learn ,eh?).

The other item I have to show is my fledgling MS#3. There are a number of mystery shawl series floating around out there. This one is the (once a year, I think?) design work of Melanie of "pinklemontwist.com" (once again, it would be a link...) I have actually made it to row 103 since this was taken. Still hopelessly behind those who have time and knit fast and finish each Friday's clue by Saturday morning, but I am making some progress. I am learning something as well - that I would rather knit pattern stitches (meaning things that occasionally repeat) than something that reminds me of filet crochet - knitting a picture using solid fabric and space. I guess the hard part for me is keeping my place across the row as I read the chart (I don't really mind reading the chart at all). I am sure that when all is said and knitted I will love the fact that I have something lacy and beautiful with little bright beads in it (could be the coolest thing of all, those beads!). I just might not try it again for a while.