Our trip to Kansas City for Thanksgiving was an uneventful one. The seven hour trip wore us out. Note to self, in the future don’t drive seven hours the day of Thanksgiving and then attempt to be social for several hours. On the way to Kansas, I was working on sewing up the Hobo sweater all so that I could wear it at Thanksgiving dinner. About two hours into the trip, I’d finished the overarm seams and it was all ready to wear. What a delightful sweater to wear, the cashmere silk blend was so nice against my skin. (Sorry no photo yet, I didn’t take my camera to Kansas. I promise one soon.) I was so relieved to find out that this yarn hasn’t been discontinued because it’s so lovely for scarves. Thanksgiving dinner was small for our family, there were only 11 in attendance. We’ve had over 20 some years. Eleven was just right. Friday, we had the family day-after-Thanksgiving lunch at Winstead’s and then shopped a bit on the Plaza. I bought buttons for the Cider House Rules vest and a cardigan that I finished several years ago but never put buttons on. Friday evening, we had dinner with my dad’s family. Then Saturday we headed back to Illinois. It was a quick trip but nice to get away for a few days.

While we were in Kansas, my mom gave me some cat toys for George and Chloe since her cats wouldn’t touch them. Bryan found them in my suitcase in a plastic bag and asked what they were, as he said that both cats were looking at him as if he’d just brought in the most interesting thing. I said, “Ask the kitties, they know.” The toys were little fuzzy egg-shaped toys with feathers sticking out of one end. He took one of the toys out and Chloe immediately went crazy playing with it. By the end of one day of playing our living room looked like a bird had blown up in it.

In the car, I’d planned to do so much knitting. For some reason after finishing sewing the Hobo sweater and realizing that I hadn’t brought an extra yarn ball with me, I just wasn’t in the mood to knit. Sunday and Monday, I worked a lot on the Cider House Rules vest for Bryan. I love this yarn so much, as I’ve mentioned before, that knitting this vest was a real pleasure. It was such a pleasure that the entire vest is blocking as I write this. Monday evening, I started the edging for one of the armholes and managed to knit about 9 1/2 of the 20 total inches (50.8 cm) required for just one armhole band. Once I get to the neck/button band, I know it’s going to take me a while because I have to knit 60″ (152 cm) and it’s a 13 stitch band on size 3 needles.

The idea of the Cider House Rules vest being finished has me so excited to start another sweater. Yesterday, I finished reknitting Bryan’s Christmas stocking and swatched for the Bianca Jacket from the Fall 2006 Interweave Knits. Since I’m feeling a bit adventurous, I’m also tempted to start the Martha sweater from Rowan Magazine 28 in deep red Felted Tweed. Hopefully, I can exert a little self-control and make myself only work on one sweater at a time.

Now that Thanksgiving is over I need to get into full swing with the library school application once again. This year, I’m finding it hard to work on because it’s my third time through. I think once I get going on it, things will come together pretty quickly. My letters of recommendation this year are very good and I think my library experience will help. If I don’t get in this time, I think I’ll have half the staff of the library at the school demanding an answer.

I just realized I haven’t posted anything about the new yarn that I’m spinning. I started spinning it about two weeks ago and am slowly making headway. I decided to try using my wheel’s double-drive capabilities and just see what I can do with it. The tensioning seems to be a bit more precise with double-drive, that’s just my opinion after using it for a little over a week. The fiber is one of my Maryland Sheep & Wool purchases from Stony Mountain Fibers. It’s so beautiful when it’s actually plied together, it looks like fluffy neopolitan ice cream.