This morning on the train I turned the heel of the first Alana sock. Now I’m merrily knitting up the leg.

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This sock is knit from Tempted Yarns “Glam Grrl” sock yarn, as I’ve previously mentioned. This is a very cool yarn base: 63% Superwash Merino, 20% Silk, 15% Nylon, and 3% Silver. It’s quite fun to knit — it’s a very “meaty” sock yarn, if you know what I mean. It is solid and firm and very pleasant on the needles. It has the tiny thread of silver running through it which ups the fun quotient of the knitting. And if sunlight happens to hit the knitting, does it ever sparkle!

And I love the way the yarn knits up — no striping, no pooling.

I’m still knitting columns of simple eyelets, but there will be a lace pattern around the top of the sock — I’m looking forward to getting to that point.

And here for Johanne, an Alana sock glamour photo-shoot.

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Right. Today is St. Patrick’s Day, no?

Lucy is celebrating with a green beverage.

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And I’m having corned beef and cabbage.

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On an Aranware dinner plate!

I’ve put in some solid shawl knitting time over the weekend and have made some progress.

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I’m at the point where I’ve got a whole lotta stitches on the needles so each row takes a long time to complete. The wrong side rows take a particular;y long time because for each double yarn-over I am doing a purl 1 knit 1 on the wrong side, and I have to sort of pay attention.

Still, it is a fun knit, so I’m not really complaining.

The results of the shawl naming poll sorta surprised me. I didn’t think that “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” would be the favorite. It’s a good name, but I’m not going to use it. If I want to sell the shawl pattern, I hesitate to use a well-known song title for its name.

I’d also not call it by the second choice: “Diamonds With a Bunch of Crap in the Middle,” because some people might find it offensive, as evidenced by complaints in a couple of comments. Not that I really care if other people don’t “get” my sense of humor (it wouldn’t be the first time), but for a pattern for sale, it needs to not offend.

So the name of the shawl, from this point forward, is a conglomerate of a couple of the choices: “Kay’s Diamonds and Purls.”

Hey, I never said my blog was a democracy!

Here’s what Lucy will be doing all afternoon:

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There was quite a nice spontaneous outbreak of shawl name suggestions in the comments to yesterday’s post. Time for a poll!

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(Poll is fixed! Vote away! ETA: Argh — the poll doesn’t seem to be working. We’ll try again at some point!)

I am, of course, including “Diamonds With a Bunch of Crap in the Middle.” I am also including the name I was thinking I’d give it: “Kay’s Shawl,” because the recipient is named Kay.

So have at it!

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Speaking of naming projects after their recipients . . .

Lookie here at my new sock-in-progress.

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This is my lovely Ragdoll Diva sock yarn, dyed by Stacy of Tempted Yarns. The resulting socks will be called “Alana’s Socks” because I will be giving them to — you guessed it — someone named Alana.

I had fully intended to keep them for myself, but my coworker Alana saw the first sock in progress and her eyes lit up and she gasped because she loved it so much.

This is the yarn that’s got a tiny silver thread running through it. When you knit this in bright sunlight, boy, does it ever sparkle. Right now the sock just has three lines of little eyelets running up the front. But there will be some crap around the top of the sock.

Which brings us to the question: shouldn’t I call these “Socks With Crap Around the Tops?”

Lucy sez:

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“She who has the remote controls what we watch on television!”

That does have a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? I hadn’t thought to name my shawl pattern thusly, but it is tempting.

However, I designed this shawl with a recipient in mind. The recipient is a genteel lady (and I do mean lady) for whom I have the utmost respect and admiration. I’m not sure I can bring myself to give her a shawl called “Diamonds With a Bunch of Crap in the Middle.” She does have a warped sense of humor, though, so I may rethink this at some point before the giving of the shawl.

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For now, it’s “working” name will indeed be “Diamonds With a Bunch of Crap in the Middle.” And here, for your viewing pleasure, a close-up of a diamond with a bunch of crap in the middle.

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December’s Rose

And now, because it is Random Wednesday (and because I have a migraine), a guest entry from L-B. The other day in the comments, MaryO asked for details about L-B’s new puppy. So here is L-B’s response:

Heidi left a huge hole in my heart and life that had to be filled, so I’ve been looking at the dogs on several rescue and humane society sites, sending each link to Wendy. I humor her over expensive purses; she humors me over adorable dogs — what are friends for, right?

So many wonderful dogs needing homes — how do you ever choose one?

One day in January, December’s Rose appeared on Petfinder.com and my heart skipped several beats! But as I read her story, I told myself she may be more than I can handle.

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(That’s the first photo L-B saw of Rose!)

Rose is an Australian Shepherd (which are surely the inspiration for the Energizer bunny), solid white on her left side and splashes of red merle on her right side, totally deaf and with some visual impairment, all the result of unfortunate merle-to-merle breeding that, in a perfect world, should never happen.

But, she survived and was rescued by a wonderful woman with ARPH who cared for and socialized Rose with her own Aussies until I made the decision to adopt her.

Rose is already learning hand signals and showing off in her class and teaching me what it means to live life fully beyond any physical limitations!

She won Lucky’s (L-B’s boy kitty) heart first — they’re pretty good pals now — and Molly cat and Clancy beagle are coming along.

I think Rose came with a bit of Heidi’s spirit — she was born within weeks of Heidi’s passing and I first saw Rose 15 years to the day I first saw Heidi!

The torch of love has now passed to Rose! I am totally smitten with her! Wendy, have you noticed?

Um, yes I have noticed! And I don’t blame you. A couple more pix of the adorable Rose:

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She is confident, with the world at her paws!

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And she wanted Lucy to see her bunny thumpers.

Lucy Sez:

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“She’s pretty darn cute, even if she is a dog!”

Thanks for all the nice comments on my Agatha Shawl. I’m pretty pleased with it myself.

Last night I wound the first skein of my Dream in Color “Punky Fuschia” yarn and started a new shawl.

Here is my progress thus far:

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I’m using a 3.75mm needle for this, and I am using an Addi Lace needle this time. It was within reach, you see.

I worked up the pattern myself, based on the basic shaping of the Agatha shawl. I really like the more-than-a-triangle shape. It sits on my shoulders very nicely without threatening to slide off.

The lace pattern itself is sort of a diamond motif, with a bunch of crap in the middle of each diamond. I’m doing double yarn-overs in this pattern, which makes bigger holes, of course. (On the wrong side you purl 1, knit 1 over the 2 yarn-overs in order to maintain the two separate stitches.)

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Lucy’s Toy

A couple of you asked what Lucy’s toy is called and where to get it.

The toy is readily available at most drug stores. It’s a Hartz “Birds of a Teather” toy. Here’s the product detail: http://www.hartz.com/Our%20Products/browse.asp?SkuDetail=3270002223&ActionID=2

Lucy Sez

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“I love when my momma comes home from work so I can lie in her lap!”