A traveling salesman stays overnight with a farm family. When the family gathers to eat there’s a pig seated at the table. And the pig has three medals hanging around his neck and a peg leg. The salesman says, “Um, I see you have a pig having dinner with you.”

“Yes,” says the farmer. “That’s because he’s a very special pig. You see those medals around his neck? Well, the first medal is from when our youngest son fell in the pond, and he was drowning, and that pig swam out and saved his life. The second medal, that’s from when the barn caught fire and our little daughter was trapped in there and the pig ran inside, carried her out and saved her life. And the third medal, that’s from when our oldest boy was cornered in the stock yard by a mean bull, and that pig ran under the fence and bit the bull on the tail and saved the boy’s life.”

“Yes,” says the salesman, “I can see why you let that pig sit right at the table and have dinner with you. And I can see why you awarded him the medals. But how did he get the peg leg?”

“Well,” says, the farmer, “a pig like that–you don’t eat him all at once.”

Ahem. I told an abbreviated version of that joke when I was in Oklahoma a couple of weeks ago. It was at the end of the day and we were being silly. Keri decided it would be a good idea to cast on for a three-legged pig (using as a base the nose-up catnip mouse pattern I provided in the handouts for my Leftovers class).

Okay, maybe you had to have been there.

Anyway, here is that pig. Keri sent it to me and I got it yesterday.

I love its three little legs.

And curly tail.

Keri included in the package some treats for Lucy from her kitty, Slick, and this:

A limited edition Petite KIP Bag in my favorite Dala Horse fabric.

And check out the handle!

Thanks, Keri!

(Psst! As I write this, there are a couple of Dala Horse Petite KIP Bags in Keri’s etsy shop.)

Tomorrow I’m off for a fun weekend in the mountains with friends. I’ll return home Sunday, but it’ll be late enough so that I’ll not feel like blogging, so I’ll talk to y’all Monday.

Meanwhile, Lucy is in a post-treat state of bliss.

See, on the first sock, I knit 99 rounds for the leg after turning the heel. I am currently on Round 80. I am averaging 26 rounds per day on my commute (to and from work), and I have 19 rounds  rounds left for tomorrow. Piece of cake. (Mmmmmmmm, cake!)

Did you see what I did there? Math. Please hold your applause.

I almost always count my rounds when making socks. I facilitate this by attaching a row counter (via an 0ld stitch holder) to my sock in progress.

When I knit socks for myself, I know that to get the foot the proper length I need to work 56 rounds after completing the toe before I start the gusset increases. Then, after the heel turn I keep track of how many rounds I knit for the leg, so that my second sock will match exactly.

Now, if I am making a sock with easy-to-count pattern repeats, I don’t bother with the stitch counter.

Speaking of socks, there is a fabulous, comprehensive entry on short rows over on the TECHknitting blog, here.

Speaking of socks, I have jumped the gun and written up the pattern for the Bamboo Socks. It is a pdf download, here. It is also linked to from my Free Patterns page.

And now for something completely different. A photo of part of my desk at work.

The following important items are present in this photo (and easier to see if you click on the photo to enlarge it, if you really care):

• a plastic hair clip
• a rearview mirror
• birth announcement for my brother’s grandson
• photos of Lucy
• headphones
• my Stitch-a-Day calendar
• the label from a skein of Alchemy Juniper
• the list of Wollmeise colorways that I own
• a post-it note with my Mega Millions lottery numbers on it
• a letter from the Professional Hockey Players’ Association that I just responded to but am too lazy to file away
• headphones
• a postcard with a giant Dala horse on it
• my coffee cozee
• water bottle w/ filter
• phone charger
• ipod charger
• coke bottle caps

among other things.

This tells me I need to clean my desk.

Lucy is happy — her Momma will be home this weekend!