Oh yeah.  I pinned out the front of St. Brigid last night and had myself a little peek this morning.  Someday, I’ll buy some better pins and a Spaceboard; in the meantime, I work with what I’ve got:  a motley assortment of regular sewing pins and a cardboard thing that I bought at a rummage sale for $1.00.  It’s big, folds up like an accordion, it’s gridded in both inches and centimeters, and I haven’t perforated it to death yet.  It’s getting a little warped because I have even used it for wet-blocking.  I had concerns about odor from wet paper, but so far so good (nothing’s ever sopping wet).  For the front of St. Brigid, I blocked in the manner instructed, using a freshly washed towel, spun on the "max extract" cycle, to lay atop the knitting.

Kristi has finished her St. Brigid!  Go see!  Inspiration…

I finished the back last night and got one of the sleeves back on the needles.  Today, after I do our taxes run the vacuum and do a little dusting — okay, maybe I’ll do our taxes organize (or even put away) paperwork the mountain of knitting books and stuff that’s accumulated around my chair — I’ll do the taxes saddles.  Why put off ’til tomorrow what you can do today?  Taxes.

Okay, now that I’ve set my priorities and have a plan…

Ali has a clay class for art.  Second semester has just begun and the pottery is already flowing.  I might need a whole new cupboard or something just to display her stuff.  Katie had an aversion to the wheel; Alison has taken to it like a duck to water.  The morning sun is streaming into my kitchen this morning — just the kind of day I like for doing the taxes cleaning and knitting.

Nothing too special for Valentine’s Day going on over here.  The kids don’t have school today, for some reason, and there was a dance at the high school last night.  One of Ali’s friends raided her grandma’s closet and they wore matching, lime-green bridesmaid dresses, ca. 1975, from the friend’s aunt’s first wedding.  They’re halter-style with a separate cape — pretty funny, but really pretty cute on them!  I’d have pics if Ali hadn’t run off with the camera.

We had a good weekend.  The weather on Saturday was nothing short of gorgeous for this time of year; we took our time and had a nice drive down to my sister’s.  We had just enough time to hit a couple of second-hand stores before heading to the cabin.  There’s a little more snow in that part of the state and I learned about Yaktrax, but not before I slipped and fell on the half-assed path between the parking area and my sister’s cabin (my whole butt feels like one big bruise).  Thankfully, the fall doesn’t appear to have affected my back (knocking on wood).  Anyway, I’m thinking about getting some Yaktrax for myself — they made a huge difference.  The kids think I’m nuts, but it can be treacherous just walking the dog.  They’re young, I’m old — I am more fearful of falling every year.

I didn’t get as much knitting done at my sister’s as I’d have liked, but more than usual when I’m on the road.  As of last night, the front of St. Brigid is off the needles (after ripping and doing another repeat) and I’m so much happier with the length.  I had to rip the back only a few rows to get it back on the needles and I’m about half-way with that additional repeat.  They’re not actually extra repeats; the sweater will be just as written.  No, Katy, it ain’t no fun.  Mary Beth shared her Aran-ripping tips, and I think I do it similarly.  I only tink if there’s just a short way to go — a row, maybe two.  Otherwise, I rip it to the row before the one I want on the needles.  Then I kind of tink, but I do it on a right-side row — it’s easier for me to read the stitches on that side and know where I’m at — putting each stitch on the needle as I rip.  I, too, fix twisted stitches when I come to them while working the row, rather than worrying about them as I get them on the needle.  If I pull a stitch out or feel like I might drop a stitch during this endeavor, I stick a cable needle into a few of the upcoming, yet-to-be-ripped stitches to keep them from dropping, too.  It is painful to rip, but really not as bad getting it back on the needles as I was anticipating.

So, I will likely have the back finished tonight.  Then I’ll be getting more stitches back on needles so I can adjust sleeve length, if necessary, and do the saddles.  I don’t know when or if I can get the book back from the library (interlibrary loan) and I didn’t copy the page with the blocking directions.  Grrr.  I can’t imagine that there’s anything too special there — can someone clue me in?  Damn, I wish they’d reprint that book.

Abbey of my new favorite chili recipe, Chili All Day, tagged me for the music meme, which I did a little while ago (it can be found here.)  I found that after I’d finished thinking up 100 Things, I couldn’t stop, and it’s the same with this thing.  So, I’d like to add "So Happy Together" to my list of favorite songs — I know I thought of many others, but that’s at the top of the list.

Pansies and pugs mean springtime!  There was a wonderful promise-of-spring surprise waiting on my doorstep yesterday.  A present from a pug-loving, Onslow-owning, Blue Plate Special-knitting, east coast knitter!  Thank you, Ann!  These very sweet plates will easily find their place in my collection.  The pansies used to be pretty much confined to the living room, but a good number of things have found their way to the upstairs bathroom and now, with the pansy wallpaper in the upstairs kitchen, there’s plenty of room for more!!

I have it on good authority that Onslow may be back on the road today — will be keeping my eyes peeled for an update.

There’s St. Brigid’s neck version 1.0 — a completed left shoulder and a start on the right.  This will all be ripped so I can add another repeat.  The woman in the mirror last night didn’t like what she saw.  The Oatmeal comparison and the "you’re fat" consultation aside, I’ve got to go with my gut on this one and my gut says to do one more.  That means one more added to the back, too.  It’s not so much that I think it’ll be a teensy bit shorter on me than I’d like — I could live with "teensy" — it just looks unbalanced, even incomplete.  A minor setback about which I am very zen and process-y.  So, perhaps I’ll finish the front and back over the weekend instead of by the weekend.

Speaking of the weekend, the girls and I are heading south for a cozy overnight in a one-room cabin — they are very excited to visit their auntie.

I’d like to spare you the blow-by-blow, row-by-row, got-a-ways-to-go finishing of this sweater; maybe wow you by starting Clapotis or some Latvian mittens (maybe I’ll win a pair to ease the pressure), or tell you that I’ve succumbed to the Must Have KAL or started Rogue or joined the Fisherman’s KAL, or cast on for the sweaters I’ve promised Katie and Ali (the yarn for these mocking me daily, I should just put it out of sight) — knowing that Maddy is waiting in the wings, wanting only a single Natalya mitt, and DH wants a sweater (but he doesn’t know exactly what kind), or that I dusted off Cromarty (languishing since September, when I actually thought there was a chance I’d finish by Christmas?).  All these are among the things that float through my head whilst I work row-by-row to finish this sweater.  Alas, none of the above.  I finished the last full repeat for the front of St. Brigid last night and tonight will commence with the neck shaping.

In other news, I am not in jail.  There were two incidents last night that could easily have led to incarceration.  The first was when I stopped to pick up Kate’s paycheck.  I have been picking up her paycheck since September when she went back to school.  Last night, the young buck assistant manager was flexing his scrawny muscles by refusing to give me her check without written consent from Katie.  He went on and on, as I felt my face get red and the steam come out my ears, finally calling the "real" manager (who I’d missed by 15 minutes) who, of course, told him to give me the stupid frickin’ check.  I did manage a "Thank you," but I really wanted to break his skinny little neck and that would surely have led to the first arrest.

The second arrest would probably have been only for assault rather than murder.  As I neared the end of that last full repeat, I thought that I really ought to make sure that the length was good — it’s last call for pattern repeats!  DH was already handy, but I wanted Ali’s opinion, too.  I called her in from the kitchen and her friend Patrick, over for a quick visit, followed her.  There was a moment of silence as I "modeled" St. Brigid and DH & Ali contemplated all there was to comtemplate.  That’s when I heard Patrick say, "You’re fat."  Ali looked at me, her eyes wider than mine, and we turned toward Patrick with a "Whhaaa??"  That silly little boy was smiling at, talking to and petting the dog.  So, saved himself from assault and me from a second arrest.  Good one, Patrick!

Oh, and the decision was to leave it as is — seven repeats.  It will likely block just a bit longer than Oatmeal, hitting right about the top of the thigh.  To fringe or not to fringe…