Swallowtail the second. Stage, that is. Not the second shawl.

But first, above find my car on Friday night. This is after a harrowing trip north to Charlotte, NC. I thought I was going to be killed on I-77, going 25 MPH, trying to get to a friend of mine with fingers crossed for a chance at love. Let me say, in case you were wondering how THAT went, that Valentine's Day sucks big ones. Draw your own conclusions....

Other than a drama-filled conversation of catharsis that was probably long overdue (and a strangely fascinating trip to the NC Aviation Museum), I did manage to finish the Swallowtail Shawl. I love this thing! It looks really tiny to me right now, but I am a believer in the power of blocking. The Reese's Cup is for scale. Not that I won't eat it later.

Here is a detail shot. I have conquered the legendary nupp. They aren't so bad if you use a tiny little crochet hook to do the P5 maneuver.... I don't see how anyone could pull a loop of laceweight yarn through five entire stitches with a stick with no hook on the end. Apparently, they have superpowers that I do not possess.
Though, seriously, right now I wouldn't be surprised to hear someone has superpowers that I don't possess. I am feeling extremely deficient in the realm of personal superpowers right at this moment.

To console myself, I am now going to watch Amazing Race. And not have Valentine's Day sex.

I'm sorry, did you say something?

Say it again. Steve and I were reading and didn't hear you!

The only kind of Nook-e I have gotten recently!

The Nook E-reader, that is. (That name seems well-thought-out, don't you think?) My Nook came! I have decided to call him Steve. (Over the Hedge. Anyone? Anyone?) Anyway, I madly love him, and he has become my constant companion. I read the latest Sookie Stackhouse in less than 24 hours! You just can't stop turning the pages!! Gadget love.

Now I just need to figure out how to upload a PDF to the thing and I will be in gadget heaven!

Here is what knitting at my house looks like recently:This is Buttercup, perched in her very favorite spot in the entire world, my left boob. I love her. She is the sweetest cat you would ever want as a knitting companion, but I swear, that boob is sitting a little lower since she took up residence.... She is absolutely relentless when she wants to be someplace, too, and she can make biscuits (as I have heard the kneading called) for two straight hours without a break. There are times when I think she has fallen asleep and sheer momentum has kept her going! I just hope that Julie doesn't mind knitted-in Buttercup hair in her wedding shawl!!

Take a moment to admire my restraint....

... and take a gander at what I am working on rather than a new sweater for me! (Jennifer thinks longingly of the Peasy sweater from a recent post....)
It is the Swallowtail Shawl in the previously blogged Butter Peeps. I LOVE IT! So far the pattern is very easy to understand and keep track of, thank you very much for a legible chart. The yarn is softer and less contrast-y than it looks in photos. The orange and other colors are definitely there, it is just an overall softer, yellow-er impression than I can capture. I am feeling good about my choice here!

Except, MAN is this a heavy laceweight.... Much more like fingering. That doesn't bother me, per se, I am just worried that it will affect the required yardage.... We shall see!

Yarn Paralysis, a new epidemic.

Today I am featuring a guest post of a sort from one of my favorite people on the planet. Her name is Courtney and she is a new knitter and a new mom. Words can't convey just how awesome she is, but HER words might just convince you. Visit her blog when you get the chance at Simple in'Stead. The following is an email I got from her, reproduced with her kind permission:

heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee... i have yarn paralysis!
(i'm also not going to capitalize anything in this email, since it's
easier to skip it when you're typing one-handed while nursing...)
what, you might ask, is yarn paralysis?

yarn pa⋅ral⋅y⋅sis  /j'ɑːʳn pər'æləsɪs/: (n) the state that results
when one who is accustomed to being poor suddenly has money to spend
on yarn, but not enough money to shop indiscriminately, which, coupled
with the rarity of this occurence, leads to the inability to make any
decision whatsoever concerning yarn purchases; often accompanied by
sweating, palpitations, insomnia and excessive consumption of gin and
tonic.

i have some money i got for xmas and a gift certificate from a local
yarn shop, and there is so much that i want that i can't decide what
to buy - at all. i'm so obsessed with spending it wisely that i'm
having trouble spending it at all. ack. i already spent part of my
gift certificate last weekend on some malabrigo, and i braved slick
roads and shin-deep snow today to go back and spend the rest of it. i
had an hour, while robert and harper were running other errands, and i
about had a nervous breakdown. the easy part was grabbing a set of
dpns to finish the hat i've got going on a set of circs... but then,
the yarn. oh, the yarn. they had some cascade pastaza in teal that
was swoon-worthy, but i didn't want to buy it because i'm thinking of
ordering some berroco ultra alpaca light in essentially the same color
that i found a good price on. i want to make a lacy scarf with it,
and the cascade is too thick, and do i really need two teal yarns
right now? i could get a lot of bang for my buck with cascade 220 or
lamb's pride, but i keep gravitating towards the sexier stuff. like
noro silk garden sock weight. i l-o-v-e noro - that stuff is so
gorgeous, but one skein would pretty much gobble up my remaining gift
cert value, and what in heck would i do with one stinkin' skein
(besides pet it)? i could, of course, get more and pay the difference
with cash, but $20 a pop seems too outrageous to spend "real" money
on... they had a baby surprise jacket knitted up in the silk garden
sock and it was too beautiful... i've been wanting to make a bsj for
harper, but... *sigh* so then i get sucked into the zitron sock
yarns... trekking xxl? zomg... gorgeous. and also $20/skein. (i
have developed a fixation with sock yarn lately, but oddly i want to
make things other than socks with it. hmmmmmm.) lorna's laces
shepherd sock? zauberball? does any of this stuff NOT cost a small
fortune? i think it was about this point that i started
hyperventilating - only 15 minutes left until robert was set to pick
me up... i tried 5 minutes in the book section with my head between
my knees to recover since books always calm me down, but one step back
into the yarn and the twitching returned. then, robert called to say
he was waiting in the parking lot... so i grabbed 3 skeins of noro
kureyon and bolted. i'm sitting here now staring at it and thinking
that while it is undoubtedly breathtaking, it a) is pretty (too?)
similar to the malabrigo in color and texture and b) it isn't sock
yarn. i can exchange it, so it's not a done deal, but geez. i feel
like such a putz to be agonizing so much over... yarn? hello? one
word - haiti. this is yarn. yarn. *sigh.* thank goodness they
don't carry koigu - that might have pushed me over the edge.

Isn't that funny? I love it, and I know I have felt it before!! I have only one bit of advice for my friend: Yarn shopping list. Project shopping only!!

Love you, Courtney! Thanks for letting me share your way with words with my tens of readers!

Oh, and by the way...

When I told my mom this morning that I had decided to grow soybeans this summer, she snorted milk out of her nose. I take that kind of personally.

Brought to you today by the color green.

So, I bought a new pattern last night. I am apparently giddy with my new computing power! I just fell madly in love with the below sweater, which is Peasy by Heidi Kirrmaier. When I read it was worked all in one piece, I was in love.Then I read the magic words "DK weight," and I knew I had to have it!! I have a bag of Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool just waiting to be this sweater.... It is navy blue, which does not break my heart! I can barely wait to get started.

Let's see, tonight I will finish Citron (two rows to go!).... I am still waiting on needles from Webs to work on the wedding present shawl (backorder).... I can finish the front of Cosima in like a day (as you can see from the progress made so far, right?).... I should be able to get started this weekend! Whoopie!!!!

And now, to further green up your day, I have decided to grow soybeans this summer in the back yard.I was completely sold on the idea, which I thought was a good one to begin with, when I heard that they only have to be watered once a week. Sounds like an ideal plant. Tomatoes have to be watered every stinking day! Now I just have to find someplace that will sell me less than one whole pound of seeds... That is around 1700 of the little buggers! I have a YARD, not a FIELD!!