Brought to you by the color purple

Oh my, my, the headlines in the newspapers these days are certainly depressing: budget crises at all levels, gas hitting $4 a gallon, global food shortages, and to top it off, BPA in Nalgene bottles might be toxic to humans. I've used a Nalgene bottle practically every day for years in order to eliminate the use of disposable plastic water bottles. So here's a knitting update that might cheer you up, especially if you love the color purple as much as I do.

I finally finished the "pashmina" cowl, a nice scarf alternative, from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. I substituted Claudia Handpainted yarns for the pashmina, since it's 1/8 of the cost. My eyelet wrap is coming along well. I'm almost half way there, but I have to take out a couple of inches due to a small glitch I discovered last night. It's a fabulous pattern for knitting on the subway.





Finally, I cast on for a glamorous pair of purple socks with a baby cable rib. I can't gush enough about Charlene Schurch's book Sensational Knitted Socks. Her level of organization and detail makes my heart flutter, and I'll be able to make an infinite number of socks without becoming bored. She organizes the socks into types, so you can easily substitute any stitch that you want as long as it fits the module she lays out. Oh, and I am rocking the magic loop for the first time and feel that my life has been revolutionized.