The pillow is officially lunch work only. I got a few rows of the intarsia done today and it looks ok. I may not have to rip again. I've only ripped it 4 times, I think.

Painted desert is going pretty well. I'm up to 16". Doesn't seem like much progress, but Molly's been needing attention a lot lately. I hope to get more done in the next few days. Only 44" more to go!

I got a bit of work done this weekend. I had managed about 3 rows in the intarsia of the pillow, which I then ripped out and have re-started. It requires a lot of concentration, so I haven't been doing too much on it.

Painted desert is cruising along. I'm in the 39th row, with 19 cluster rows completed. It's just about 15 inches high. I'm into the third of 10 skeins. I'll definitely have enough yarn. I sure hope it's wide enough for two people.

I really need to finish that pillow. At this rate, the blanket will be too big to carry and the pillow will still be hanging around. I promised my husband I wouldn't buy any new yarn until I finished something. Must work on the pillow!

Not a lot of progress on the pillow yesterday. I had a hard time starting the intarsia. I did get a couple of rows done, but it's not a good train project. I might be leaving it at home for evening work. Now watch, the dog won't let me work in the evenings. I'm also thinking of bringing it in on Monday and leaving it here all week for lunch hour work only. I'll see how much I get done over the weekend.

I brought the painted desert blanket with me today. It is a good train project. I got a few clusters done before the PATH got really crowded this morning. I haven't worked on it since Monday, so I'm really looking forward to lunch today.

Got my Needlemaster kit finally. I can't wait to start using it. I was looking at the needles I inherited from my grandmother and there aren't a lot of the intermediate sizes. I really think that there have to be others at the house still. I can't imagine that a knitter as accomplished as she was would have so few tools! I feel guilty sitting here and thinking about looking through her things to take needles and yarn, but no one else in the family would use them. I also feel closer to here when I use her needles and the balls of yarn she wrapped. Hers look so much nicer than the ones I do!

I joined the Crafter's choice book club. There was a flier in my Herrschner's package. I ordered Vogue Knitting, Vogue Knitting Quick Knits, and The Complete Guide to Sewing (or similar title) for a dollar each plus shipping. I also got The Knitters Stitch Bible (or something similar) for half price plus shipping. I know they'll kill me on shipping. My husband doesn't understand. I was also scaring him mentioning the Berroco pattern books I want. I promised I wouldn't order them until I checked local knitting shops first. I also promised I wouldn't get patterns or yarn until I'm ready to start a new project. Gee, I hope I get that pillow finished soon!

I'm just over 4 inches into the second side of the KG pillow. I got a lot done on the train and at home last night. I decided that I'm very bored with doing stripes, so I'm going to try intarsia again. I've designed a pretty flower and I'm sticking it in the middle of this side. I'm going to see how it will look if I do the flower in stockinette inset in garter stitch. If that doesn't work, I'll just make a stockinette panel. I'll be starting on that at lunch today. So, of course, the morning will crawl....

No news on the blanket still. I'm much more enthused about the pillow because there is a light at the end of that tunnel.

My next knitting project is going to be a tank top for myself. With a lot of walking on my commute and an office that's on the chilly side in the summer, I really like to have a few sleeveless layers. I'm going to do Jenna from Berroco. Now, I need to find a yarn. I'm thinking Lion cotton, but I don't know what color.

The KG pillow is up to 11 1/2 inches. I was able to do a few rows this morning on the PATH. I should be starting the second half this evening.

No movement on the blanket. I didn't get to work on anything at home last night.

The blanket is now just about 12 inches high and sitting on my dining room table. I managed to work on it a lot last night.

I brought KG's pillow today to help forestall any developing hand/wrist/elbow problems. No opportunity to knit on the train or PATH this morning. I did start to re-wrap a ball of yarn my dog had made a mess of. Now, I only need to get the dog hair off it!

Okay, by the numbers:

nearly 1 1/2 skeins used
just over 9"
23 total rows done
11 cluster rows done
8" into 12th cluster row

A long way to go (approximately 154 rows). But, not bad for starting the foundation row four days ago.

I neglected to mention that I developed a sore elbow over the last hour of crocheting. I may be picking up the KG pillow tomorrow. She could use some cheering up, anyway so the sooner I get that done, the better.

The blanket is up to 8 inches. I got quite a bit done in the car yesterday between driving to the Newark Bears game and riding down to Woodbridge where my husband picked up three new suits that had been altered. And the dog crashed pretty early. The fingers on my left hand are a little sore. I may have to switch back to knitting for a few days if they stay like this.

Looks to be another slow day in the office today. Going to be hard to wait and not pick up the project until lunch.

I've made some good progress on the painted desert blanket. I had to bribe the dog with a new bone, but I got a few rows done last night and nearly two more done this morning. I'm just about finished the ninth row with four motifs completed. It's about 3 and a half inches high. It's not a full 60 inches wide, it's 56 or so. My parents are thin people, it should still work for them. My husband decided this morning that he likes the colors more than he originally thought.

I have a sneaking feeling that it's going to be a very slow day around here again today. It's going to be tough holding off on crocheting until lunch time!

I did not bring the striped pillow in today. It's officially being neglected.

Reading KnitDad, all I want to do is open a yarn shop. I'd have classes and get to knit samples. I'd love to be surrounded by yarn and knitting and crochet tools all day. And the books and magazines! What a joy to sit and knit or talk about knitting all day! There really isn't one in my area, as far as I can tell.

But, here I am with a knitting project and a crochet project in a bag by my feet and I can't even look at them, much less work on them. I have to remember to get a new bone for Molly on the way home tonight. Just so I can watch tv and maybe crochet in peace.

I worked on the painted desert afghan at lunch and I'm just loving the colors and the way they show off the pattern. It's going to take forever to make, but I just adore it!

I do feel kind of bad that I haven't touched the KG pillow since I got home, but her birthday is the end of July, so I can take some time off.

I told my husband yesterday on our walk home that I had been a very good girl yesterday. Lion Brand is having a clearance sale and I didn't order anything. He said he doesn't mind me spending the money as long as I'm going to use the yarn. So, he'd prefer I didn't order any more yarn until I finish with what I've got (my most recent order I assume and not the scraps in my stash). Evil me was thinking this morning that I could order whatever I wanted and just have it delivered to work and keep it here until I could take it home and use it. Although, since he does the books, it would be hard to keep purchases from him.

Mind you, I don't ask for his permission to buy things. I only ask him when would be a good time to spend money since he handles our books.

Oooh, my Joann.com package came last night. I had to, had to, had to open in up right away. Even before I let the dog out. The painted desert is beautiful. I couldn't wait to start working with it. During the Devils game, while the dog chewed her bone, I swatched a couple of stitches from my 101 Crochet Stitches for Afghans book with an I hook. I didn't like the way a waffle pattern looked (3 fpdc, 3 bpdc), but found a cluster that looks absolutely fabulous. So, I measured my little swatch and calculated that I needed a 210 stitch foundation chain for an approximately 60" blanket. Gee, I must love my parents. I've started on the first row and have a long way to go. The Blue Hex was about this size, but since it was worked in the round the size was deceptive. This blanket is always going to seem like a huge project! I hope I bought enough yarn. Needless to say, I've got both projects with me today.

I also held KG's pillow against the 14" form that I had ordered and it will be fine.