Blogtoberfest.

Yup. I'm doing it. I need something to kick me into gear on the blogging thing. Normally I can't shut up, but since this move I've been crabby and bitchy and wanting to spare my Beloved Readers the bitchfest. So, I came up with a plan. If it's a day that there's nothing to report, or I'm too cranky to want to talk about real life, you're going to be stuck with plants. And ancient history. And possibly art. We'll see. (For those not in the know, Blogtoberfest is a festival sort of thing where people vow to blog every day. Normally this would be a breeze for me, but lately? I need a kick in the pants. I'm listed as JulieT, if you're curious.)

For now, I thought a roundup of what I'm doing would be in order.

Lustkofe En is about seven inches in. I should take a picture, but by tomorrow I'll have started the lice and I'll take a picture then.

I made ribbon barrettes for little girls today. A royal pain in the fingers, but it's good physical therapy and makes them happy. Perhaps a photo of those tomorrow, too.

But the Auntie Starf? I'm all over that. Yesterday I went out and bought some beads for the edges of said scarf. I had this great plan, a bunch of SMALL faceted stones, until I walked into the V Rock Shop and spotted something else.

These are teardrop shaped, faceted beads made from rainbow moonstone (also known as spectralite, also known as white labradorite). Rainbow moonstone is one of my favorites, and I knew they'd look fabulous against the dark yarn, and, well, I bought them. You know you're in deep shit when you're buying things by carat weight. (They came out to about a buck apiece. With luck there'll be two or four left over for earrings for moi.) Since they're too delicate to string onto the yarn, I bought some black silk thread. I'll string the beads on THAT, then use it as a knit-along-with dealie as I knit up the yarn.

Oh, the yarn? Yeah, finished it, too.

252-odd yards of alpaca/silk blend. The only word I can think of for it is 'luxurious'. You know you've got a great gift on your hands when you want to keep it for yourself.

So now all I've got to do is come up with a pattern. I think I need to do something original. This is an original kind of woman I'm making it for. But the pattern? Maybe I'll give it out free. The last scarf I knit for Auntie has become my most popular design. (Almost seventy projects, all over the world! EEE!) We'll see. Right now I'm thinking of sideways-knit ends, with a center of a basic lace stitch, like the scarves in Victorian Lace Today.

For now, I'm gonna go read pulp fiction and knit on Lustkofe En.

Tomorrow (unless someone fucks my routine again), the Barbara Walker treasuries. Of course I packed them in a box and brought them with me on this move. Wouldn't you??