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Computer Woes
I have had a virtual cornucopia of issues associated with my computer, and as a result, I feel like I'm walking around on crutches.

I won't go into all that's gotten me to this point of computer turmoil...mostly because much of it makes me look way more stupid than I care to look in a public forum, but suffice it to say, I don't have access to all my regular blogging tools, most specifically, my ability to professionally edit photos. Hopefully, that will be corrected by the end of the week, but I'm not holding out tons of hope.

Current Knitting/Crocheting
I didn't get a photo, but I was able to add another three big stars and a couple of little stars to the table cloth. That makes 67 stars down and 73 more to go. I will have a photo of my progress in the next blog post.

I also started a new project.

After making about 10 different swatches using Mel and David's alpaca herd yarn, I finally settled on an overall design and stitch pattern for the main body. I've got my gauge, and I started knitting what will be a very warm alpaca jacket this past weekend.



The bottom hem is a simple cable design turned sideways, and the main body stitch pattern is a simple diagonal motif that shows subtly against the ragg color changes in the yarn.

Here's a closeup of the fabric if it helps any.



Readers' Comments/Questions
A number of different readers in Grand Rapids, Portland and Cleveland have been incredibly nice, and offered to meet up or show me a local yarn store or two.

Unfortunately, the time I will actually get to see any of these places is almost nil. I will fly in to arrive at night, sleep in a local hotel, attend an early morning breakfast meeting, present to a group all day, take that group out to dinner, sleep in the hotel and leave early the following morning.

Thank you to all who offered, both in comments and in e-mail. I will be back out to these three locations, but I'm not sure if future visits will be equally as brief.