Thank You Judy!

I got a package from my International Scarf Exchange Pal, Judy! (Sorry for the delayed post, Judy. Just think of it as creating suspense!). Here's my gorgeous new scarf:
It's a lovely dark green triangular scarf made with Elann alpaca. It even came with an extra ball of this yummy yarn! That's so thoughtful! But wait, there's much much more...There was this cool ladybug bag:
Plus all these amazing goodies:

That's handmade vanilla soap, folks! How incredibly lucky am I to have such a talented and generous pal? Thank you, Judy! Oh, oh and guess what? She loves BSG too! I tell you, those ISE hostesses are totally psychic :)

Green Light

After a 5 hour install and a lot of furniture moving, the FIOS connection is up and running. I've had cable internet for a few years, and I was pretty happy with the 6Mb download speed. But holy crap, fiber blows that right out of the water, and it's cheaper too! So I have a new pet router (I'd show you a picture, but still no camera). It's pretty big as home/soho routers go. Maybe I'll get a chance to tinker with it.

I finished another long stripey scarf:
Yarn: Patons SWS (alternating strands of Natural Geranium and Natural Earth)
Needles: Boye aluminum straights, size 8
Pattern: Broken 2x2 rib (aka Child's Rainbow Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts)
Alterations: I made it narrower by a few repeats.

I really love the colors and silky feel of this yarn. It is pretty loosely spun, so splitting was a bit of a problem. Michaels sells it, and Joann.com (though I don't think the the bricks and mortar Joanns carry it). On the whole, very nice, and I've heard it felts like crazy. Now there's an idea...must felt stuff!

Next post: some seriously spectacular scarfage (I'm stalling until I can post pictures - words just wouldn't do it justice!)

Day Off

Verizon is coming to the house tomorrow to install fiber, so I'm taking the day off. I'm so looking forward to having a great day: no commute, lots of knitting time and, oh yeah, fiber optic internet by the end of the day! That's 15Mb down/2Mb up, assuming all goes well of course (this is Ma Bell's offspring, so what could possibly go wrong??)

I'm still working on the striped Paton's bag, plus I've got a bunch of holiday scarves to work on during the installation.

More About Me

Since I can't resist opportunities to talk about myself, this is my response to YarnYenta's blog contest:
1. Where is your favorite knitting spot?
The right-hand window seat of the last row of the last car of the red line train to Glenmont. I look something like this, only much fatter:
I've found that I can prop my bag on my feet to keep it off the possibly gunky floor.
2. If you suddenly could never knit again (shudder) - what would you do instead?
If I could still use my hands, I'd probably start spinning in earnest (sadly not a practical train activity). If I couldn't use my hands, I guess I could read more.
3. If you could travel anywhere in the world - where would you go and why?
Venice - before it sinks.
4. When you were little - What did you want to do "when you grew up?" Are you doing it?
I wanted to be an astronomer. A year of high school trig got that out of my system. In college I studied medieval English lit, then switched to computer info science (I really wanted to be gainfully employed). Now I'm a secretary. The better question might be, "Have you grown up yet?!"
5. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Rocky Road, preferably either Baskin & Robbins or Edys (aka Dreyers). I like the kind with whole mini marshmallows. Marshmallow ribbon just isn't the same.