Robert at Pureland Mountain brought this group to my attention. If you know me personally, you know that I've been going through a "crisis of career" and have been struggling to find a fulfulling occupation that pays enough to keep ME off of welfare, all the while working a drone job, making money for "the man." So, to sublimate, I've been donating what I can to girls and women around the world, trying to give them a tiny boost. What's special about Kiva is that your money is a loan, not a donation, so when it is paid back you can reinvest it. Just a small contribution can make a difference in many lives over time.

Melvis' story appeals to me on many levels, the most in that she's 44 and single. We spinsters need to stick together! She got the store from her parents (like I was given a great education by mine) and now she's trying to expand on what gifts she's received from life. I think about these things a lot. Especially on my birthday.

Which is tomorrow. Tomorrow I am 38. I've moved from "mid-thirties" to "late-thirties" and I'm sure I could handle it more gracefully than I am, but so be it. As long as I can do some good, a birthday is worth having. I'm making a contribution, and I ask that if you can, you send a little something her way.

UPDATE: As of October 1st (just 2 days!) Melvis' loan has been fully funded! Thanks to everyone for helping this woman achieve her goals! What a fantastic birthday this has been. Below is another Kiva loan requester who could use your help. This link will always display a person who has an open loan request. If you've donated, check your portfolio at Kiva or this link for the status of Melvis.

A comment letting me know that you'll consider helping her or someone else at Kiva would be the best birthday greeting I could receive.

Only an inch of progress was made on the Cabled Coat last night, so I'll spare you the visual. So why the title? Lookie what my Mom picked up for me at a flea market for $1. Mom has no idea how big a deal this is....

Yeah. Zimmerman booklet for a dollar.

Whad'ya'know. There's a KAL that matches what I'm working on, rather than the other way around.

I might just finish a second KAL. No jinxing please.

The defense would like to remind all welcome and beloved mockers that I did work on one solo project from beginning to end once before. Clapotis (the first) was cast on when I got home from London in '05 and finished 2 weeks later. Just sayin'.

Here's the visual update (just 3 inches longer.)

That's 6 inches. In three more I get to decrease 6 whole stitches for the armholes, then knit for another 6 inches. I hope you all are feeling my pain. It doesn't get interesting until I learn how to place pockets on the front. I might show up at the Knitting Guild Knit-Out this weekend in search of some assistance. Will anyone else be there? Someone is taking me out to lunch on Saturday for my b-day, but other than that I'm free all weekend. Sometime soon I'd really love to go to the wineries and soak up the atmosphere, knit some, work on the NYT crossword, drink sweet and forgiving wines, but that's boring when it's just me, not to mention the drive. If anyone feels like a Knit-Out at the wineries this fall, please count me in!

I'm going to try to knit this - WAIT. Put down your beverage. Take a deep breath. OK. I'm going to try to knit this and only this until it's finished. There. I said it. Let the mocking begin.

I never really got a good plan for what and when I'd be knitting from now until Oct. 20th. But it doesn't matter - I wouldn't have stuck to it anyway. I spent all weekend knitting Clapotis. So there. Though everyone says Bobble Hell is finished, I can't help but think it needs 3 more balls. The charity scarves are OK for home, but I've become such a yarn snob that I can't knit with eyelash yarn in public, so the red scarf spent some time in Starbucks with me yesterday. And the baby afghan? Fogeddaboutit. I picked up the yarn for this cabled sweater today. But now I'm wondering if it was a good choice, because they only had 6 balls of the Lilac color which means I can only make the 3-6months size, which means this kid won't ever sit up in it and look that cute. Or will she? When do babies start sitting up? All that cabley goodness would be wasted on a kid who just lies there. (Can you tell I'm childless for good reason?) Please, you knitters with kids, give me some advice!

Pssst.

Mitsy!

Mindy thinks you're beautiful.

I think that's her demure and flattered pose. I think so. I lose track. Could be her don't-wake-me-up pose. Dunno.

I first heard about Gather through BzzAgent, and I've been checking it out over the last couple weeks. It's been hyped as the MySpace for Grownups, but I think it's more like a LiveJournal with more interaction. Anyway, they're advertising on NPR, so I've been exploring as much as I can. The first thing I looked for, of course, was knitting content. And over the last few weeks it is growing like crazy. Knit-a-longs, blogs, pictures, communities - it's all there and it's all growing fast.

Wanna join? Click this link. I'm on it as SpinsterJenn, so find me if you can, and I'll check out your content too. I think I was the 9th member of one of the knitting groups, so it's a new and developing place to express your creativity in lots of ways from the beginning! What I really like is that you can just post pictures without having a blog, so I see it as a great way to show off your FOs and to ask questions about stitches and things without the pressure of blogging. Please let me know what you think of it, too!

It would appear that everyone is doing entrelac with Trekking now. I was channeling the materials, perhaps, but not the full potential. Check out the fishy mittens. And when Eunnie's are done, you know they're going to be amazing. Some one. Please. Stop me.

Here it is - The Probability Scarf! I love the feel, the look, the drape, the lack of pattern so it's really and truly mine. There's no other scarf exactly like it and that makes me happy.

For your further viewing pleasure, this is Bobble Hell. It's big and heavy and I think it should be about finished. My mom wants it loooong but I think if I say something like, "Mom, you don't want people to think you're wearing an afghan" she'll agree that it's long enough. It starts from my waist, goes up, around my shoulders and over the next one, but doesn't hang down my back. However, I am a lot bigger than mom - taller, wider, etc. I think it's done. I'm getting a final vote from Anna tonight, who I trust to be completely honest and if it needs a couple more balls so be it. And if it is finished, should I work on Fletching or Clapotis II?

While I was taking these photos, I was reminded why I never go on my balcony anymore. Not since I got the kittens 8 years ago, anyway. Bad kitty!

I know. But at least I actually TOOK the pictures of the Probability Scarf. They're just still sitting in the camera. Tomorrow. I absolutely promise. May my dpns snap when traveling if I don't have pictures of that scarf up by tomorrow.

It was a pretty productive weekend. I knocked out a whole ball on Bobble Hell. Did 2' of one of the donation scarves. Watched 6 episodes of Veronica Mars, 12 episodes of Gilmore Girls, Cruel Intentions, Lost in Translation, and some Japanese stuff that I can't translate into English. And I started a scarf.

Shut up. I heard the name of my first great college love, the first man who truly devasted me, mentioned during an NPR thing and it was either start a new project or eat a whole pie. It's for the Red Scarf Project, and I've had the yarn for a while, so I started it yesterday. It's a quick knit, so far, but I think it's going to take 6 balls rather than 3, so I have to order more. It was really hard to find a unisex AND reversible pattern, so I just gave up and did my beloved entrelac again. (Oh, the yarn for the Entrelac Scarf is in from England, too. I've hidden it from myself until Bobble Hell is finished. Yes, it works, because I still can't find my own Gameboy.) The red yarn is Swish from Knitpicks, a superwash worsted-weight wool. It's very comfy and springy. It has too much of a look and feel of acrylic for me to use it for a sweater or anything like that, but for a donation scarf that should be washable it's great.

I'm also thinking of doing a square for Grandma Purl's blanket. As a spinster, the likelihood of ending up in a nursing home with no one to visit me is very probable, so I'm trying to aquire some karmic credits ASAP. And I really like Laurie, so an 8" square is being contemplated. Probably cables, but we'll see.

But what about the baby blanket, you ask? Here's the status:

Is it just mine, or do RAZR phones take the crappiest pictures ever? Anyway, here's the current progress. The sketch isn't really to scale, but you get the general idea. I'm in love with it, very proud of it, and seriously thinking of not giving it away and keeping it for a future State Fair entry. Seriously. Dad doesn't know about it, so I could do a baby sweater or finish Sunshine like I was originally going to do and no one but you all would be the wiser. Is it wrong to want to keep something I knitted that was meant for someone else? What are your thoughts?