Me, Penny, Bluto, and Candy Hearts

Good evening!  Here is your newest Knit Tips Tuesday, about twisted stitches:

http://www.examiner.com/knitting-in-chicago/knit-tips-tuesday-twisted-stitches

Apparently, you can plus-one all Examiner.com articles for Google now, so I plus-oned my latest article and then I googled "Knit Tips Tuesday."  Sure enough, almost ALL of my Knit Tips Tuesday articles appeared below the search box.  And not just with examiner.com...I saw places where I didn't know the link was picked up.  Score!

Again, I thank the...ahem...dozens of you who read my little column.  Much appreciated.

My boss was fawning over the Filatura di Crosa again today, and I actually had one more project in my bag that I took out.  Remember the Lion Brand Thick n Quick sweater with the Rowan pattern?  Well, I am actually halfway through the front now.  After finishing the back, I didn't really pick it back up.  I hate when I do that...it's counterintuitive to the whole "I want to finish projects and get ahead" mentality.

Speaking of which, Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent is coming up.  I feel sort of obligated to be a good Catholic and give something up, but here's the thing:  I can't give up knitting or anything knitting-related (except not buying yarn for forty days, and even I could do that without much sacrifice).  It's really more of a business decision, since it would set me too far back on my scarf project.  On the other hand, I don't eat meat as it is, so giving it up on Fridays doesn't scratch the tip of the iceberg.  I could give up irrational things, like being married or being employed or being a lefty or being a non-smoker, but that's just a flat-out mockery of the Catholic religion so it's not even very funny.

Lent needs to be like anniversaries, with the thing you give up based on the time you're Catholic.  The first year, you give up paper.  The second year, you give up wood.  And so on.

I don't know...I have some time to think about it.  Maybe I should do something "green!"

Here is a teaser for the February Scarf Pattern of the Month, which the subscribers have but will not be released to the public until the 20th of the month.  Of course, Bluto had to make an appearance:

Even when I don't dress him up, he's an embarrassment to his breed (and so am I, since I can't spell "embarrassment"):

Excuse me, while I move the couch to sweep it for pit bull toys...