No knitting for the jurors?

Halloween is over, but the chocolate hangover has begun! Last Monday was my first of three jury duty callings. A whole day of sitting and waiting around. Perfect opportunity to knit! Or not, so it seems, as knitting needles were on a list of "forbidden items" I had been sent months earlier. I had conveniently misplaced that list on Monday, and in trying to pack an "activity" to keep me occupied all day, I figured I would take one of the girls' Velvet Touch sweaters and a crochet hook, so I could crochet my edges. Surely a crochet hook isn't a weapon? After I had waited 20 minutes to go through the metal detector, I noticed the woman in front of me had pulled out some paperwork. I glanced over her shoulder and saw that it was the list of "forbidden items." And crochet hooks, like the one in my pocket, were on that list. I had a bit of a panic attack. Not about losing a crochet hook, but about being stranded in that building all day, with nothing to do. Fortunately the panic attack was over quickly. I stepped up to the guard, whipped out that dangerous crochet hook and prepared to surrender my weapon. I guess the hook didn't scare him. He let me keep it. Long story short: I finished the edging on the Velvet Touch sweaters, did not get picked for the (murder trial) jury, and my goal for next week is to enter the courthouse (legally) with a Denise knitting needle and a knitting project.

India shared some of her knitting projects the other day. She made a great felted ukelele bag for her husband out of Lamb's Pride Bulky. She's working on some legwarmers from the Knit Stitch out of Shepard Worsted. She has modified the legwarmer pattern a bit and is making a second pair out of Malabrigo. She's always got a pair of socks going, too. I don't think I've ever seen her wear a pair she didn't knit herself!

So I guess we're all doing a bit of felting. Last Saturday Rebecca had her felted laptop bag. She used Lamb's Pride Bulky and it's just gorgeous! Michele finished her Malabrigo felted bag, and made a felted flower to cover her snap closure. We are expecting some huge Malabrigo shipments over the next two weeks. It's not easy to keep that yarn in stock.

Betsy has been working on Christmas knitting. She grabbed a few balls of Lang Malibu at our tent sale and made the cutest twirly scarf. We still have some of this yarn, so I'll put it up as a kit in the next week or so.

With trick or treating last night, I didn't get much knitting done. But I did manage to work a few rows of a mixed fiber shawl I started last weekend. I am using 8-9 different Berroco yarns all in the same colorway, and working it lengthwise. I think it will be perfect for the holidays (my colorway is red!) but I've already put together 4 more options that are just beautiful.