Full disclosure.

I close 2006 with the gory details of my SP9 activity. I haven't posted about it for fear of giving away my secret identity to the knitter I am spoiling, but I'm beginning to believe my previous hints have been in vain and she will need much more substantial evidence, so a full disclosure here will help her find me.

I'm delighted to report that my secret pal (Angela, the one I’ve been spoiling) loved loved LOVED the package I sent her last month . After I read her SP9 questionnaire, whenever I went shopping many things just fell into my hands for her. I have to admit I thought it was a rockin’ good haul of knitterly and pampering treats (I would be doing my own Snoopy dance if someone sent it to me), but I’m always a bit anxious that the recipient of a gift won’t like what I chose.

Here's a full breakdown of what I sent her:

The knitterly stuff consisted of two large skeins of cushiony hand-painted merino sock yarn: Forest, shades of blue, green and brown - from Cavyshops on Etsy and the SP9 special ChaCha colourway, shades of sky blue, silver grey, white and black - from to knit perchance to dream. I added some of those cute cable-sweater shaped plastic needle holders from Clover brand, and there were a couple of stitch markers: one with clear and blue crystals & one a small gold bell for the holiday season.

Some nifty soothing green-tea eye-pads jumped out at me because she was also participating in the recent Knitters Tea Swap (I have to get into the next round for that one!) but those tea bags are for external use only, so I sent along some bags of Orange-Ginger Chai to drink if she’s craving a cup.

There was Life Brand Coconut Lime body wash - my own most recent fave (mmm… citrusy and tropical). They also used to have a great Pina Colada scented one, but I can’t find it anymore. I will definitely be going back to the health food store get some of that yummy Jason Organics Cranberry scented hand and lotion for myself too. There’s a small Life Brand hand held glass massager that can be used with or w/o massage oil (that's between her and her hubby). I hope she’ll use the cute foot-shaped foot file and the matching polka-dot toe-separators to give herself a soothing pedicure (or maybe she can talk her hubby into it – I haven’t succeeded with mine yet, but hope springs eternal). And I say a girl never has too many bath scrubbies!

There were a couple of Lindt dark chocolate bars, one w/orange and almonds and one from Ecuador, some seasonally appropriate Balssen chocolate covered gingerbread cakes, and three miniature liquer-filled chocolate "bottles". I also sent some sweet earrings made from lavender shell and beads with a silver leaf accent, a silver-toned butterfly-shaped hair clip with blue crystals, both of which should suit her beautifully, and last but not least a mini teddy-bear with a candy cane – because it’s all about the B.E.A.R. here at casa MezzoDiva.

While I was procrastinating waiting to send the package, I saw a funny little book on the current demise of manners and courteous behaviour Talk to the Hand by the same author who wrote Eats, Shoots and Leaves and it seemed only appropriate to add it to her package, since I kept telling her it was on the way and then only managed to send it a couple of weeks ago week (finally)!

Whew. I’m not ashamed to admit I was more than a little nervous about it. I’m a virgin swapper and she is a much more experienced knitter, blogger and swapper than I am. Hey - even the exalted Yarn Harlot reads her blog! And guess what? I was praised by the Yarn Harlot! Awwww, shucks... Stephanie said I am awesome (if you don't believe me, see the comments on Angela’s blog). I am such a sucker for positive reinforcement. Actually, my other SP (Laura, the one spoiling me) is in awe that I live in the YH’s city - I had to promise her that if she comes to town I will take her to the SnB at Lettuce Knit.

I almost forgot to mention that some beautiful wheel-made and hand-dyed home-spun goodness from Julie arrived in Friday's mail - the last mail received for 2006 (scroll down to the purple and white stuff in the dye pot - it's plied together with some lovely soft green and blue). It is a gorgeous token of her thanks for supporting her Wheel Fund-raising efforts a couple of months ago. I know she has been diligently working for weeks to spin all the thank-you yarns for her wheel donors, and I suspect mine was the last due to some unforseeable dye adventures, but I have to say that I love it! Now it will have to decide what it wants to be when it grows up...

Oh, yeah -saved the best for last: we have a digital camera!!!! DH and I recently purchased a Kodak EasyShare Zoom Z650 with a 10X optical zoom lens, and we got a 1GB SD card & Reader. Now if I can just learn to use the lovely thing, you'll be getting alot more visual payoff for putting up with all my excessive verbiage.

See you all in 2007! Best wishes for health, fulfillment, prosperity and peace, in the coming year and forever beyond.

Haley at my fave LYS Knitomatic is knitting Evelyn Clark's Shetland Shawl from Wrap Style. The pattern is easy, with a repeat that you can pretty much memorize after a couple of times through, and I'm a sucker for these pretty leaf/flame shaped laces. Though I am a lace-knitting fiend in garments, I haven't made an actual shawl per se, so I'm willing to cut my shawl-knitting teeth on a simple pattern.

It's on my list for early next year - maybe in my lovely FA cosmic-dawn Kidsilk? But I only have one skein of that (repurposed from the SKB when the new shipment to my LYS didn't match my older one enough to make a tunic). I'm at least 100m short of the pattern requirements and I really want an even bigger shawl anyhow. Perhaps I'll use one of three huge skeins of Fiddlesticks Country Silk I'm still hoarding.

I really love the pointy edging, too. Hmmm... I still haven't found quite the right finish for 2D-Girl's Leaf Lace scarf and those points could be very nice. Maybe I'll try a swatch of 'em alone to see. Here's my dilemna. She crocheted an absolutely gorgeous scarf for me. I finished her scarf and the Leaf Lace is beautiful, but it needs a little something to finish it off. A fringe isn't quite right and tassles are gorgeous but too heavy for the Leaf Lace. It really needs a somewhat delicate yet funky touch for the edging. I ordered all three of Nicky Epstein's "...Edge" books from the library to look for more ideas, but they haven't arrived yet. I also want to press-block the scarf between a couple of towels using a gently warm iron to help define the lace (in the absence of blocking rods).

While I wait for the books, I continue work on (cue the fanfare, please)MY OWN sock pattern (It's nearly done! I am SOOOO excited!! Does anyone out there want to be a test-knitter for me? Please leave me a note in the comments) and a Manos vest for my stepdad's upcoming 70th birthday on New Year's Day (or for the DH, if stepdad won't wear it). I showed it to Mom a couple of days ago and she reiterated her concern that Manos colour 111 (Navy, Plum, shot through with some Rust & Golden Peach) is OTT for stepdad, after which I had to set it aside for a few days to clear my head about it. I suspect my Mom is mistaken about the Manos being too flashy for him and a mutual friend agrees with me. I also found the grey SRK monkey scarf I started a few weeks ago (bowing my head in shameful admission of a lingering fondness for cheesy fake fur novelty yarns). It was hiding in a bag with music from the show I was working on at the time (never unpacked in my hasty leap into the next gig - you'd be amazed what miscellany I find months later accidentally tucked away with my music) so I picked it up again for a few reassuring "let's get reacquainted" rows.

We went to a terrific Xmas party last Saturday night! There were lots of new and old acquaintances, there was great food and drink, some carols for the kids, more food and drink, hot and cold running laughter. We are generally not party people: though we both play well with others, we each tend to mix best with different crowds. But we both had a truly great time, we both drank just a bit too much wine (mine red, his white), and then we stumbled home on the TTC giggling and cuddling. It was great!

The day after (Xmas eve) was spent sleeping it off, puttering around in our pyjamas, rehydrating with water and herbal tea, and tidying up the house which I swear was clean before we left for the party! And on Xmas day I dug out the crock pot and made a yummy Boeuf-Bourgignon inspired beef stew we are finishing the last of today. I used some raspberry/red-wine vinegar instead of wine for deglazing the pan after searing the beef and caramelizing the garlic and onions, and threw in some extra root veggies found in the larder (turnips, sweet potatoes) because they needed cooking.

I had originally planned to cook the beef on Xmas eve day (the day after the party), but I lost any kitchen-craft impetus when a family friend brought an overwhelming car-full (really, a car full - stuffed to the roof!) of second-hand clothes for me to choose from before it goes to charity. OY! Just what I needed! More STUFF to sort and purge. But she has a great sense of style and the champagne budget I lack, so I'm methodically digging through it all. A diva's gotta look (and dress) like a diva, if you know what I mean.

Too busy to blog, but I have knitting news (and DH weaving) to report later. I'm dashing away (not through the snow, but still) to sing a fabulous Xmas concert in a beautiful art gallery an hour north of the GTA. Recognizing among my many blessings: I am blessed to be willing and able to do what I love for a living!

Meanwhile, I leave you with this: Jen at 144 Inches of I-Cord concluded one of her recent posts with possibly the most elegant expression of the tao of knitting. "This is why I love knitting. Because if you have 140,000 stitches ahead of you or 14, all you can do is knit the next stitch."

Gotcha! Secret Pal not a secret anymore!

I am delighted to report that my Secret Pal (the one who is spoiling me so wonderfully) is the lovely Laura at A Frayed Knot. I've been stalking her stealthily for the last few weeks and finally uncovered her secret identity last week. Actually, I've been reading her blog for a while (before SP9) and always wanted to comment about how gorgeous her baby girl is, but I didn't want to worry the nice knit-blogger about some strange lady ogling/stalking her baby!

How did I track her down? Well, I had it narrowed down to a few potential SP9ers from her somewhat obscure clues.

1. She has a (did I mention gorgeous?)baby:
Q: Now when you say "the baby" (hint one) – is this a real honest-to-goodness human-child baby? I have to ask only because in my blog-trolling so far you would not believe how many people refer to their pets as "the baby" or "my baby" and so on... not to put too fine a point on it, what do you consider to be the age parameters within we can legitimately refer to someone as "the baby"?
A: Yes, in this case, the baby is in fact a baby who was growed right in my very own belly. I do refer to one of the dogs as my baby, but only when I'm talking to him or asking my husband about him. To me, a baby is too young to walk. Once they're walking, they're toddlers in my book. Because of, you know, the toddling.

2. Her Socktober confessions:
Hmmm...I should give you another hint. Okay, how's this: I participated in Socktoberfest and (sort of) finished one pair of socks. No, I won't explain what I mean by "sort of." Tee hee! Okay, lots of folks had their best Socktoberfest intentions fall through the cracks of the calendar (me included), but when I put this one together with the other hints, it really did help me narrow down the list of suspects.

3. She was a square in Rhinebeck Blogger Bingo:
I will be prepared to send your first package after Rhinebeck. (I'm a square, which you would think would be a hint, but I think everyone who has a blog and is going to Rhinebeck is also a square, so let's not count that one). You bet it counts, baby - every little breadcrumb in the forest...

4. And then I received my first package, followed by a note:
So here's the thing. Because you're in Canada (or possibly because I'm in the US, but let's not pick nits here), I had to fill out all this crazy paperwork to send your package to you. The PO dude wouldn't let me put "Secret Pal" for my name. Or Mamie Van Wunderpickle. So all the forms have my real name on them. You can either: studiously ignore the paperwork OR see my real name, Google me, and find nothing interesting (also, there's more than one of me -- I just did a vanity Google and I'm not everyone who comes up). It will not lead you to my blog, or to anything related to knitting or any other fiber(re) arts I may or may not partake of, or anything about me that I've ever mentioned on my blog. So you'll know who I am but not who I am, if you see what I mean. Your choice. Laura's "secret" email address was a play on the transliteration of her real name initials, and I traced it to one of her online photo galleries with some very cute baby pix. I compared these to some pix posted by several of my likely suspects and lo and behold: same gorgeous baby (and some of the very same pix)!

Now, since gorgeous baby girl's lovely face was the key to how I found them, I figure baby and I deserve a little face time someday. Don't you? Not to worry, it's okay, because as the saying goes, she know where I live. I just wish I lived close enough to babysit!

One. Word. Answers. Only.
No. Explanations.

1. yourself: becoming
2. your boy/girl-friend (spouse): amazing
3. your hair: beautiful
4. your mother: learning
5. your father: absent
6. your favorite item: teddybear
7. your dream last night: forgotten
8. your favorite drink: coffee
9. your dream car: chauffered
10. the room you are in: kitchen
11. your ex: irrelevant
12. your fear: despair
13. what you want to be in 10 years? mommy
14. who you hung out with last night? husband
15. what you’re not? weak
16. muffins: carrot
17. one of your wish list items: peace
18. time: elusive
19. the last thing you did: nap
20. what you are wearing: smile
21. your favorite weather: sunny
22. your favorite book: next
23. the last thing you ate: chocolate
24. your life: evolving
25. your mood: sanguine
26. your best friend: husband
27. what are you thinking about right now? knitting
28. your car: bicycle
29. what are you doing at the moment? daydreaming
30. your summer: languid
31. your relationship status: forever
32. what is on your tv? DoctorWho
33. what is the weather like? brisk
34. when is the last time you laughed? today

Benign Stalker and Baboon Brunnhilde.

I am participating in SP9, the current round Secret Pal gift swap and so far I've been beautifully spoiled by my pal. She sent me a first package a few weeks ago that was absolutely perfect: a pattern book I had not mentioned in my SP9 questionnaire but confessed to coveting in an entry some two weeks later, possibly a half-tonne of ab-so-lute-ly mouthwatering to-die-for chocolate truffles (O.M.G! What a way to go!) and some breathtakingly lovely Schaefer yarn Anne, a handpainted merino-mohair (fingering weight) yarn that's too exquisite for socks (darn it!), it will have to be a shawl or something elegant when it grows up. All this came inside a beautiful board suitcase decorated with pictures of painted clay pottery. I was and am suitably grateful and I just want to reiterate to my pal that if this is a sign of things to come: Please, will you adopt me?

Alas, my spoiler pal is avoiding this potentially awkward family expansion (aside from the domestic fallout, there are cross-border issues) by cleverly concealing her identity. I have spent many hours and days attempting to track her down using the meager clues she's been throwing me (pardon while I wipe my brow to the accompanying strains of Stravinsky's Song of the Volga Boatman). Until now, my arduous endeavours have been fruitless, but I believe I may have finally figured out her secret identity! In order to ascertain the veracity of my claim, I continue to accumulate the evidence and once sufficient data has accrued I will be happy to reveal the extent of her subterfuge here. Please stay tuned.

Meanwhile I am happily collecting a massive pile of happy to ship to my spoilee pal. Unforeseen obstacles have repeatedly delayed my trip to the post office for the last few weeks and in order to assuage my guilt I keep adding trinkets, toys and tasty treats for her to the package. I'm also piecing out a few obscure hints for her. In the absence of any solid evidence in her hands, it is only fair to give her some means of tracking me down in the knit-blog sense.

If you've been following the saga, you'll recall that when I first got in touch with my spoilee, I was dismayed to see that my internet provider lists my real name in the header of outgoing mail for all my accounts. I panicked (fearing that I had just spoiled the fun of the chase for her) until I realized that it won’t help her find me in the blogverse (the only one that really counts) because my profile name is an alter ego and searching will not connect my real name to my blogger identity. I suppose she could try hacking into Blogger, but I doubt she'll go that far.

I am told she spent the entire afternoon hunting for me today - to no avail. Whew! I've been having a recurring nightmare lately in which she finds me before I get a chance to send her the package: There will be a knock at the door and I'll open it dressed for my opening night as the Baboon Brunnhilde (it's a concept opera), wearing a gorilla mask, blond braids and horned Valkyrie helmet, only to be hauled off by the Secret Pal Police to God-only-knows what eternal knitting torment, all while yelling on a high C: "no, wait - it's right there, on the coffee table..."

Damn. I'll bet the understudy tipped her off.

Fall Cable Fiasco: Dogfood or when Good Yarn goes Bad.

This was bad. Very bad. So bad that I avoided posting about it for nearly a week. I avoided facing the truth for even longer.

But first, a little history narrative for poetic balance. In our many years of living together one fact has been established: Both DH and I are intuitively very good cooks (owing in no small part to our mutual love of food and culinarily adventurous tastes). We both enjoy discovering new flavour principles and learning to apply them in making delicious and satisfying delights to seduce each other's palates and we continue to seek new and wonderful ways to prepare and enjoy food. We are true epicurean sensualists and proud of it.

However, it is only fair to admit, we have each on separate occasions taken perfectly good ingredients and concocted something so humanly inedible it should only be fed to the dog (if we had one). In short, we have each once (and happily only once) made dogfood. As there was no dog nor other creature present in our household who might be persuaded to consume the results of our horrible experiments, once the painful truth was reluctantly accepted by both chef and diner, these meals were regrettably consigned to the trash.

Well I can painfully report that I have now accomplished the same remarkable feat of ingenuity in a medium which has hitherto brought me only joy (with occasional periods of ennui during long stretches of stockinette, or frustration untangling a skein gone fubar, but I usually find even that soothingly meditative and satisfying).

Hello, my nom-de-blog is MezzoDiva and I have knitted dogfood. (Please interpolate appropriate 12-step program responses here).

I tried to ignore it but it wouldn't go away. I kept on knitting until the awful truth could no longer be denied. It was staring me in the face: a two-foot swath at least four feet long of beautifully cabled and drop-stitched D.O.G.F.O.O.D. I saw it coming after the first twelve inches of growth but I just winced and pretended it would all be okay.

You see, in my naivete I assumed that Beautiful pattern plus Beautiful Yarn plus Got Gauge must equal Beautiful Results. I forgot to account for such things as fibre content and structure, with their predictable consequences for drape or (in this case) lack thereof. A flowing design for a 50-50 wool-silk blend
will not somehow magically work out in a fabric knit from a beautiful but rather stiffish thick-thin single-ply 100%wool. Not. Gonna. Happen.

[... Sorry... I need a moment...]

Four balls of lovely Manos have been frogged into yarn-vomit and rewound. Maybe in two weeks or so I will knit it up into a nice quick scarf for my stepfather whose birthday occurs on New Years Day. The ten remaining unwound unused skeins will be returned/exchanged ASAP, either for very different colours or for other yarns altogether. I cannot bear to look at them. They offend my eyes. They broke my heart.

In happier knitting news, I am now swatching for the curvy cabled cardi using some beautiful Filtes King Extra 100% Merino Wool in Solid Red#2997 - I picked up 7 balls in the sale bin (bargoon) at Knitomatic yesterday, and I'm blissfully working on the scarf for the swap (scroll down) I'm doing with my new friend. We met yesterday at Knitomatic to finalize our plans, choose and purchase the yarns and after a couple of hours of informal SnB we took the materials home and tried not to drool over them.

She's crocheting a scarf for me like this one (scroll down) using three gorgeous colour of Lamb's Pride Bulky: deep fuschia, medium charcoal, and a heavy heathered lime - the colours set each other off beautifully, the soothing effect of the charcoal softening the dissonance of the fuschia and lime, and the brights zinging next to the sombre charcoal. I am knitting a Leaf Lace scarf for her in Cascade 220 colour 9453, a vibrant medium-toned purple with heathery effects of lilac and magenta. We held the yarns up next to her face yesterday and this one made her skin and features just glow! I heard from her earlier tonight and we're both already about 1/4 of the way done.

I'm also excited to report that I am in the early stages of designing a sock pattern (my very first own design, though really I am always tweaking and modifying my projects so much that they might all qualify to some degree). Please stay tuned for further notices regarding my sock-designing adventures. If it works out I will post the pattern here for you to enjoy. I might also ask for a small token fee which will be donated to charity - possibly connected to the walk to end breast cancer I'll be doing next fall. We'll see. It's probably premature to consider fees for a design that is not yet more than a gleam in my eye and has only just arrived on the drawing board.

Whoops – here I am! Sorry, I haven’t posted in almost two weeks and I've been more or less incommunicada. I’m just having a bit of trouble resurfacing after the opera. After a show is over and done, with all that enormous creative and energetic output condensed into a very short time, often I’m right into prep for a new one with my gigs overlapping or back-to-back. Otherwise, I have a weird sort of “after-the-party’s-over” period of adrenaline withdrawal and I get a bit hibernatory for a couple of weeks before returning to my usual sociable self.

I was planning to go to SnB last week, but late in the afternoon I realized that I want to stitch, but not to bitch: I’m just not feeling very sociable in the broad, room-full-of-loose-acquaintances kind of way. If it was just a couple of close pals, sure, but I was’t in the mood for the whole clacking gaggle. Instead of SnB, hubby [hobby?] and I just spent a lovely night crafting together, weaving and knitting, listening to music, cooking together, and then (at midnight) we decided to watch Harry Potter #4 on the Movie Network.

To anyone who has been concerned, I want reassure you that I'm fine. Well, maybe "fine" is not quite the right word, but that's the short answer anyhow. My Secret Pal sent me a few questions and since the answers pretty much sum up my situation right now, I'll just post them here:

Happy December!
I am in complete and total denial - I refuse to believe it is already December. When/how did that happen? I still haven’t packed away my flip-flops! Much as I love both early-fall and mid-winter sweater weather for the inspiration/motivation (both the snuggling and the knitting), I always have a tough time adjusting to the change of seasons in the late fall. I just can't find a way to feel warm. Despite being physiologically, er, very “well-insulated”, I have a bitter aversion to extreme cold and particularly hate the kind of damp wet cold we’re getting right now. I much prefer 20F, but sunny and dry, to 45F and soggy. That’s aside from the seasonal affective (sun-deprived) humdrums and the imminent desperate online search for specifications and materials to build an ark… Is there a kit you can order? (It has to be mail order - I am so not going out shopping in this weather!)

So, I'm shopping for swag for your next package, and I'm wondering...Are you a cat person or a dog person? I don't mean "do you have pets" but rather when you're buying cutesy themed things, do you like things with kitty stuff or doggie stuff or neither? I realize now that it sound like I'm going to send you some horrible coffee mug with a kitten hanging on a branch that says "Hang In There!" or something awful like that, but rest assured we're talking about something useful AND tasteful.
I regret to inform you that I am highly averse to “kitty” and “doggie” stuff both, and anything “cutesy” goes straight into the re-gift/donate/recycle box. However, as an alternative, may I suggest that any variety of “bear” goes over VERY well with both DH and me. We have a belovedly anthropomorphized, adorable yet dignified teddy bear (surrogate child) who sleeps between our pillows and is (sometimes jealously, as in: “don’t Bogart the bear!” or “hey, I’ve been bear-napped!”) shared between us. When he learned that I had been bear-deprived in my childhood (I had other stuffed toys and dolls, but sadly there were no bears) DH got him for me for my 21st birthday (wow – that’s half my life ago!) and he’s become symbolic to us of the love and family we share. I will admit it took three days post-adoption for us to figure out his name, which I am not at liberty to disclose. We both see changes of expression on his face – I swear I’m not making this up. We are a one-bear family. We learned this the hard way several years ago when someone vey thoughtfully presented us with another lovely bear and after several weeks we decided to find her another home as it was unfair to keep her if we couldn't love her as much as we do our cub. Should we ever bring our own human cub into the mix (this topic is still up for debate) we will of course provide them with their own bear. This one is ours.

Also, I'm respecting your wish not to get drawn into the world of spinning, but are you one of those people who says "I really don't want to" and means "I'd love to but I need a little push" or do you really not want to try spinning? I'm more than happy to be an enabler, but I don't want to be a pusher. :)
About the spinning – I admit to a desire to do that someday, so I would not regret being enabled into a very small (inexpensive!) entry-level spindle, and maybe just a little roving to play with, but I make no promises about how soon it might be used: could be on arrival, could be several months. I have numerous immediate knitting hills to climb and I’m a champion procrastinator. If I add another crafty pursuit, albeit fiber related, the potential for distraction is guaranteed to hamper current endeavors... My but you are a sneaky one! I see right through your nefarious plan. I'll bet you think that if (okay, when) you hook me on spinning, I'll have even less time to go blog-trolling and then I'm even less likely to uncover your secret identity. Nice try, MacSly!

How's everything going for you?
As you may recall, I’ve been mucking out the psychological stables to find my own personal pony and I’m making emotional space for that to resume. I'm a card carrying member of the Walking Wounded Society. I've endured the dark regions in my soul for much of my life. Sometimes I felt well and did a remarkable imitation of happy health, but there were times I was sure the light at the end of the tunnel was nothing but an oncoming train. I am fortunate to recognize the demon on my back - so many don't and they succumb to its destructive influence. I am blessed to have a loving personal support system at home and a community of soul-sisters, friends both face-to-face and online, who care for me. It's two steps forward, one step back, but I'm working to shine the light into all the dark places in my soul, addressing the roots and the symptoms bio-chemically, nutritionally and psycho-therapeutically. And I can testify that there are creative and spiritual advantages to a legacy of born of hurt - you can transform it, reclaim your natural joy and vitality, and the hardest-won wisdom will become a profound source of truth, strength and peace.

I saw that you've brought your DH over to the Knit Side...
Well, he is an ardent admirer of the knitting mysteries and now a bona-fide fiber-junky. He’s totally hooked on weaving and his delight is a joy to behold. Since we are both night owls and neither one of us occupationally-afflicted in the usual 9-to-5 sense, we are spending many nights just hanging out until 2 or 3 a.m. with a movie or some music, with me ensconced on my corner of the sofa knitting away and DH on his chair happily teaching himself new woven patterns on the simple kiddie frame-loom.

... wish I could get mine interested. Maybe the handknit socks I'm making for him will turn him...(that's not a clue -- I'm knitting the socks for Christmas, so I haven't mentioned them on my blog. Now, that might be a clue...).
Yeah, I can see how the handknit socks you’re making for your hubby might be a clue. Gee, thanks ever so much. That should narrow it down to about a hundred or two hundred blogs! Sheesh.