Trying to Ignore the Rumbling Stomach

I am on a clear liquids only diet today due to an upcoming medical procedure tomorrow - the dreaded colonoscopy. It's a routine-ish screening. I had a perfectly clear screening 6 years ago, but due to the fact that my mom died 2 years ago from colon cancer, it's not quite as routine a procedure as it might be for some folks. I think the worst part of the whole procedure is the preparation for it --- particularly the special beverage that you have to drink. At least this time I only have to force down a total of 3 oz instead of a whole jug, but still . . . It's funny all last week I had no problem ignoring breakfast. I'd be up by 7 and rarely had anything but coffee til about 9:30. Today, my stomach's been rumbling since 6 am!! I realize our meal schedule yesterday was interrupted by a 6 hour power outage but this is further proof that appetite is often a mental state too!

Anyway. We leave Thursday for our big vacation - a trip to England. We've been to Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean, but this is the first time off the continent. I'm excited to say the least. I finished knitting my 2nd Bistro Shirt yesterday, and it's being blocked as I type. I'm hoping to wear it on the trip, so I hope it dries in time! I used Goshen again, from Valley Yarns, in sage this time. I made some minor modifications - a couple of garter stitch rows at the bottom to prevent rolling, a bit longer, and I knitted it a size smaller than my first Bistro.

I wore my lace stole to a wedding on Saturday, and to church yesterday. I received LOTS of compliments on it. Here's a close up of the lace pattern. Isn't it pretty?

I started work on a baby blanket - Debbie Macomber's Baby Blocks. I'm using Plymouth Leader, in lavendar. It's an acrylic yarn with a nice feel to it. This will be a present. I've got 2 more major projects in line - as soon as my yarn order arrives. I ordered some 2/14 Hand dyed Alpaca Silk in Storm Cloud from WEBS for the Mystery Stole 3 KAL and some more Goshen, this time in red, for the Valley Yarns Green River Tunic.

And I still have LOADS of sock yarn!

Stoles and Luggage

My stole is finished and blocked and it's beautiful! I will get a pic up soon, I hope! I'm working on my 2nd Bistro shirt and hope to have it done this weekend so I can wear it on our England trip next week! I also ordered yarn for the MS3 knit along, and for WEBS Valley Yarn Green River Tunic. So many projects . . . too little time. I entered the 1-2-3-4-5 Contest too.

Have you been luggage shopping lately? It's confusing! There are so many choices. I have to mention a wonderfully helpful JC Penney associate name Ally in the Keene, NH store. She spent almost an hour with me, reviewing the plusses and minuses of the various lines. I finally decided on the pieces I wanted, only to discover that I couldn't get all of them in the color. She searched the stock room twice to be sure there wasn't one more blue case in back. I ended up changing color which meant another trip to the stock room. I purchased 2 black bags. I wrote up a commendation for her for her supervisor because she really was helpful and friendly. This morning I got a call from her from the store. A new delivery of luggage had been made, and there were now 2 blue cases, if I wanted to exchange. Since we had to back to that area anyway, (a bit of trek, but not terrible) we went in this afternoon, exchanged black for blue, and bought 2 more blue pieces!!

Blocking

I'm finished at last with the knitting of the Lace Stole. I borrowed a blocking board from a friend to block the stole. What a great tool! It's so much easier to use the board than a towel on the table and the measuring tape! I knitted the stole a bit longer than the pattern suggested, and it came out a bit wider. This despite getting gauge on my swatch and a couple of gauge checks as I knitted. It doesn't really matter for this project thought so I'm fine. The fabric is doubled for the blocking so it will fit on the board. It will be 72 inches in length and 16 inches wide. It's 100% bamboo - Plymouth Royal Bamboo. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out!