Forgive me, Cyberspace; it has been far too long since my last post. Hemi has grown and gone off to college.  Seriously, Hemi is doing well. The little guy is nicknamed "Brinks" because of the $$$ investment we've put into him, but he's more than worth it. What a treasure. And guess what, world? His sister is going to join our family which means, of course, that there is yet another Kitty Pi in my future!

Until then, I just finished up this pair of socks knit from Zitron Unisono wool yarn with aloe and jojoba.  Not sure where the aloe and jojoba come in but I can tell you that the yarn is a silky pleaure to knit and the finished result is nice. One pet peeve, however.... This self-striping yarn skein had a knot in it joining two completely different colors.  Man, I hate that. For $25 for a 100g. skein, I would have hoped for no knots at all. Add to that frustration over the fact that the flecks of color are inconsistent (note the flecks of darker color in the light blue stripe of the right sock versus lighter flecks in the left sock.) But such are the imperfections of life. My work as a Contracts Administrator does not allow many imperfections, so accepting them where they fall is a good thing.

My little love, Hemi, has arrived at long last to fill the Kitty Pi I made for him months ago. May God smile upon this sweet creature, who has problems to overcome. And may God lead me to do only what's best for Hemi.

I'm delighted to have finished my first (1 of 2) toe-up sock, Lacey Ribs by Wendy Johnson. This was a wonderful exercise in firsts with few frustrations. Thanks to Wendy's instructions,  Knitty.com, and the exquisite teachings of Cat Bordhi via YouTube, I was able to learn and execute the Figure-8 Cast On and Jenny's Super Stretchy Bind Off without a hitch, not to mention doing it all on two circulars. In fact, the only "hitch" was unbinding off after figuring last night that I could do a regular loose bind off and be happy with it. Nope.  Note to self: Don't make decisions like this late at night. It almost always ends in a clearer head prevailing the next day and having to undo what you've done to take the more challenging but satisfying route.

I base this success on the accessibility of information both from Wendy's book and from the Internet. Granted, I would far have preferred the joy of being able to sit down with a learned friend or neighbor to reap the benefits of their experiences, but in today's world I sadly find those opportunities few and far between. So, Wendy, Cat and all the rest of you experienced knitters in cyberville... I'm glad to be your neighbor.