You may recall that I began the Odessa hat with much excitement, but now this cute little pattern is kicking my butt. If I lose concentration for a second, all of a sudden it's all gone to hell. Although I've been getting a lot better at fixing mistakes and righting wronged stitches, I can't seem to repair a misplaced ssk or a lost yo. So I'll have to find a quiet time to sit and rip and salvage this thang before the weather turns warm.

Yes, I finished the Go With the Flow socks! Awesome. Here they are, drying.

According to The Economist, this is the year of the sock. I tend to believe them. Behold, my Waving Lace socks, in some nice Lorna's Laces. I used to be a scarf knitter, but as my closet is now FULL of scarves, I had to find another outlet. Here's why socks are better than scarves: 1. Sock stitch patterns tend to be memorizable, with maybe 2-4 different rows. Scarves can have very long pattern repeats, so you're tethered to the pattern. 2. Socks give you something to look forward to: leg, heel turn, gussets, foot, toe. Scarf progress is measured in inches, inches, and more inches. 3. Twenty pairs of socks take up less space than twenty scarves. 4. Socks wear out faster than scarves, and can be thrown out. Depressing, but makes room for more socks! 5. In my opinion, wacky colored socks are more wearable than wacky colored scarves.

Yay! Valentine's Day is over, and everything is on sale! I heard on the radio that the average American couple spends $500 on Valentine's Day, including $85 for a dozen long-stemmed roses. Well, if you spend $85 on roses at Trader Joe's, you'll get 120 of these babies: Loverly. And, if you try to buy conversation hearts after V-day, you might find yourself needing a translator. I have never seen Spanish conversation hearts before, but I love them! They still taste terrible, but which is cooler, "Fax me" or "Guapo"?

I used to carry my double-pointed needles in a zippered pouch, but it gets a little annoying to separate the #0 needles from the #1 needles, so I decided it was time to imagineer a little needle roll. I started with the instructions in Stitch 'n Bitch, and ended up with this: Hey, wow, too big. Sure, the pattern was meant for a straight needle roll, so I shouldn't have been surprised. So, I tore it apart, and started anew. Here's a smaller version: That's better. It has pockets for both long and short dpns, and a cool flap to keep everything from sliding out. Even though I can't sew a straight line to save my life (note to self: buy tailor's chalk), I think it turned out pretty cool. It even has a cute little sheep charm: And, when rolled up, it looks like something a seventh grader made at summer camp.

"You know, the thing I like about professional snowboarding is the juxtaposition of the stereotypical snowboarder image - slacker, pot-addled, anti-establishment, whatever-dude - with the fact that these crazy tricks require incredible amounts of concentration, dedication, determination, practice, and physical intelligence! It's pretty cool." Some dude in a baggy ski suit does a "fakie backside rodeo" on the TV screen "But you know that whoever came up with the names for those tricks was totally high."

Hey, didja know that this week is Through With Chew week? And today, February 16 is the Great American Spit-Out? Yeah, you probably don't think about smokeless tobacco that much, which is a good thing. But in some places in the U.S., over 20% of teenage boys use spit tobacco, which we all know is linked to oral and pancreatic cancer. And in some places that have enacted smoking bans, spit tobacco use is on the rise. So it's important to remember that smokeless tobacco is worth worrying about too. And you thought this post was going to be a tacky Brokeback Mountain joke, didn't you?

I dare you to look at these without laughing. Hysterically.

Just in time for V-Day, here's a link to "How Much is Inside Conversation Hearts?" (on Cockeyed). This is priceless. I want to repeat the experiment, especially the message tally. An excerpt: ... All mine 3 amore 2 Angel 6 anger mgmt 0 ask me 4 baby daddy 0 bad rash 0 Be good 5 Be mine 2 ....

Martha is coming to Seattle! I may just have to go to this! After all, I learned to knit from an old issue of MS Living. (via Viv at Seattle Bon Vivant)