There WERE 9 projects going.

Last time we chatted, there were 9 projects on the go. Yes, 9 projects. Me of the one-at-a-time mentality. It does stretch one's mind, trying to figure out which project to work on next. At the store, there's no problem. I just switch every day and so the Mosiac Tee and the Reversible Vest progress nicely. The alpaca mitten will just have to wait until I finish these two, and THEN it'll get to come out to play. Same for the Great American Aran Afghan.

At home? Well, that's an entirely different story. Carrie's afghan is so large it can only be knitted on at home. Doug's hat? Well ... there's just not a whole lotta love there right at the moment, so it is kind of shoved down to the bottom of the bag. Besides, we weren't home much last weekend. Driving to and from Orangeville, and then Doug and I took a day trip.

So what DID I knit on in the car? Just this:

My neighbours are expecting a bouncing baby girl in early March. Since he sometimes plows out the end of the driveway, it seems only fitting that I make a little something for the new arrival. This will be a hooded sweater from a very old McCalls baby magazine. 8 hours of driving time equals 5 inches of fabric. In my defense, this is a knit-one-below pattern. If it had been straight ribbing, it would've been 10 inches long. Or more. (That's what I keep telling myself, anyway.) Another half an inch and I get to work the armhole shapings!

Aside from the 4 hours for the Orangeville trip, where did Doug and I go? We headed off on Sunday morning (OK. It was 11:30 so technically it WAS still morning!) to Dorset. The goal was to have a ski at the Leslie Frost Centre. Perhaps the conditions would be ski-able, perhaps not. If not, we'd have had a nice scenic drive. Fortunately for us, the conditions were passable. (This means that although the trails were somewhat icy, they weren't completely glazed. And there was a skim of fresh snow.) The most exciting news of all is that I actually skied the BEAR TRAIL! 8.1 kilometres of trail altogether! And a warm-up hut to which I'd never been! And new hills to challenge! The even MORE EXCITING NEWS--I successfully skied down two hills that I'd never conquered before! YIPPEE! YAHOO!

A note to folks who hate winter -- Doug and I are doing our snow dance every night now so that I can go ski again at the Frost Centre! Just don't you be doing your sun dance until I get one more ski! Please!

Monday is generally a day off for me and the store is closed. This week, however, Carrie had to be at school at the unholy hour of 8:00 am for an Improv rehearsal. After dropping her off, I went back to the shop and cleaned. 3 hours worth. The behind the counter area looks amazing and well organized. Of course, the challenge will be to keep it that way.

Monday evening saw me off to the Uxbridge Library to teach a class on knitting socks. Of course, if you are teaching how to knit socks, one must have a pair of socks on needles for demonstration purposes. Really! It is a necessity!

Which means that I was forced to start another pair of socks. Forced, I say. No choice in the matter whatsoever. Well, a choice of whether to use Magic Loop or double-pointed needles. Since the majority of my students were using DPNs, I decided to use them too.

The yarn is Briggs & Little sock yarn which I hand-dyed many moons ago. Now that I've started, I'm way curious to see how the pattern works out!

Stay tuned -- Let's see if I can manage to stop adding new projects! (Hmmm ... the new Crofter yarn from Sirdar is pretty insistent ...)