Beware of dpns! Wednesday night I was laying on the couch, and when I tried to prop my feet up on the armrest, my ankle suddenly felt very weird...because there was a size 2 dpn sticking out of it. With the sock-in-progress still hanging from the needle. So I pulled the needle out of my ankle. It seemed to take a particularly long time to remove. It didn't bleed at all, and it was only sore for a few days--but GROSS!!

But here are the socks, finally finished:


Woot! They actually fit! Though I couldn't tell how long they would be from the photo in the book...I could've finished much sooner. And I've started Helen's pillow--which is turning out to be more difficult than I'd imagined:


That's my second try at the top of the envelope flap. It does look pretty cool, but it's really slow going!

Also, I have to retract on my plans to make the Monkey sock for Grand-ma-ma while on the Mystical Trip of Destiny (which begins in a few hours!!)--I completely misread the instructions, and it calls for size 2 needles (the same ones I impaled myself on! maybe they shouldn't allow them on a plane, hmm?) instead of size 5's. So I did some serious research on Knitting Pattern Central, and am going to be making these instead. It calls for size 4's, but my gauge is working out almost exactly--I'll keep an eye on it, though. No saggy socks for Grandma!

So yeah, the Mystery Trip of Destiny starts this afternoon. I'm less worried about the "Destiny" part than the "Trip" part, though...there's been a bit of drama regarding the seat assignments, but hopefully Mark and I will be able to persuade one of our neighbors to switch seats so we can spend the (long) flight together. At least I have the sock to amuse me. Plus I just got a new MP3 player (from many hours of Harris Interactive surveys), and am looking forward to listening to Boys for Pele over and over again. (Eleven years ago that came out! "Hey Jupiter" was my breakup song for Davin!! For some reason Tori Amos in general brings back particularly strong memories...) Anyway, wish me crazy good luck. Hopefully I'll be able to explain my mission when I get back Thursday!

Two more tidbits:

**Knitting made the New York Times Thursday--Debbie Stoller is quoted, and the article even mentions Etsy! Coolness.

**Um, ew. No. (possibly NSFW)