Ack - so much work & school, so little time! My knitting has been neglected this week, and I haven’t made much progress on anything.

I did find a handy new knitting gadget last week - a Timbuk2 clear zip pouch.

Finding it was totally random. I had lunch with DH at his company’s headquarters last Wednesday (fun!), and after lunch we went to the company store, where I found this nifty pouch. It is the perfect size for my knitting tools - stitch markers, point protectors, scissors, tape measure, gauge, etc. And it fits perfectly into my sheep-less felted sheep tote.

Timbuk2 also has some neat tote bags that look like they would make good knitting bags. And I’d love to get a messenger bag for my laptop. DH got himself one, and it is really nice!

Over the weekend I managed to get the back of my seed stitch shell nearly done. I’ve got a couple more inches to go, and will post pictures this weekend. It is coming along nicely so far.

I also started swatching for a baby blanket that I plan to knit for one of my friends. Her baby shower is in mid-May, and the blanket will not be done by then. Hopefully I can finish it by July, when she is due! Baby blankets aren’t much fun to knit, but I wanted to make a special gift that would get used. I’m using Plymouth Encore, because I thought it would hold up well to wear & tear. I like the yarn a lot so far, for a 75/25 acrylic/wool blend. It is fairly soft and the swatch is looking pretty good. I’m just going to do a simple stockinette/reverse stockinette/seed stitch block pattern (from one of my knitting books…) with a garter stitch border.

And in not-so-fun random events, the electricity went out this morning before I could blow dry my hair. Argh. I don’t remember the last time I left the house without blow drying my hair. If I don’t straighten my hair or dry it with a diffuser, it is not a good situation. Children and small animals are frightened of me. DH’s suggestion: wear a baseball cap to work. Um yeah, to a law firm. With my slacks and sweater set. Riiight! Thank goodness for ponytails!