What a mess

Hannah, Justine

It's been a busy weekend here in Kalamazoo, and I have the pictures to prove it. (Just don't ask how the Cabled Riding Jacket is coming along...it's not. Wool and humidity are not a good pair, as any sane person would realize.)

Eric and I housesat for Dr. Bruce Mills, one of our English professors here at K, and it was a truly enjoyable and relaxing weekend. Dr. Mills has a wonderful dog named Gypsy, an above ground pool, and air conditioning, something that seemed so wonderful and new I hardly wanted to leave the house! The Tigers were playing last night, pizza was ordered, and I had hours to dedicate to a new project.

I've been wanting to knit the Mystery Stole 3 since I first heard about it. I signed up for the knit along about 3 days before it closed, picked some lovely red laceweight out of my stash, and then thought about knitting it. I thought about casting it on, I thought about how long it would take, and I thought about how the clues were whizzing by faster than summer seemed to be. It wasn't until Melanie, the creator and designer of the MS3 declared the theme would be revealed this Friday that I got my ass into action. I cast on and spent all weekend shouting "As soon as I finish this row..."

But it was wonderful. I'm on row 140 and clue 2. Almost halfway to catching up, and I couldn't be more in love with this pattern!
It's addicting as everyone says, and as the stole gets larger and the stitch patterns become apparent, the thrill and mystery continue to grow. Stay tuned! I hope to be caught up to clue 4 by Friday, if not well before.


Another project that I have been working on is another R3 bag, this time for myself. My biggest complaint with the last one was how long it took me to cut and prepare the plastic bags, so this time I tried something different. Laying the bags flat, I cut off the top and bottom, rolled the bag into a long roll, and then cut it up like little sushi rolls. I am then linking the bags one by one, and crocheting those. It does mean I will have to use twice as many bags, but so far it seems sturdier than it's earlier counterpart.

It's also made a much bigger mess. The pile of spaghetti bags does not want to be contained, and to be honest, is kind of a pain in the ass. But I'm excited by how the bag is turning out - this one will hopefully be a little smaller and easier to wear and use.

I am a big fan of reusable shopping bags, no matter what they are made out of . Normally, I just take my backpack to Meijer and throw the groceries right into it, eliminating the need for bags all together, but there are always a few things left over, and some plastic bags find their home in my closet. I'm toying with the idea of knitting some of the new Everlasting Bagstoppers from Knitty.com, or following these instructions to use up the rest of my plastic bags. I also am tickled and intriuged by the these. The Morse Bag are part of Craftster's
challenge right now, and I'm glad to see reusable bags gaining such celebrity and wide spread use. Even my mother is thinking of making some!

Oh, one last thing - after last weekend's fiasco, we are all mended. Eric's tooth was fixed on Monday and his wrists are mending nicely. I did suffer some horrible heat rash (seriously, terrible, disgusting, awful and other colorful adjectives), and as of yesterday my arms were covered in tiny water filled blisters. Now they are peeling something wonderful. I do look like some sort of sunburned mutant lobster, but I am also on the mend. Remember, wear sunscreen AND a helmet! Take it from me. This has not been a fun week.

Catherine