It was kind of a push, but I finished the green Garter-Stitch Prairie Shawl:



And here's the Cheryl Oberle-esque shot, even though it would take at least two of her to make one of me:




Pattern: Garter-Stitch Prairie Shawl from "Folk Shawls"
Designer: Cheryl Oberle
Yarn used: JoAnn's "Rainbow Boucle" in "Green Print." 100% dinosaur* fiber
Pattern mods: Used a larger-gauge yarn (it's called a bulky on the label) and a bigger (6 mm - US 10) needle. Didn't count rows, just kept knitting until it was big enough. Didn't do the last 12 rows of plain garter - I thought it would alter the symmetry I had set up and frankly was sick of knitting on it by then.

(*Acrylic. okay, okay, I know petroleum is more likely to have formed from prehistorical sea critters than from dinosaurs. But I grew up playing with Sinclair Oil Company's plastic dinosaur toys, and besides, "dinosaur fiber" sounds a lot more romantic.)

I also shuffled things around a bit and threw the Booga bag pattern, the blue wool, the furry brown yarn, and the newly-freed-up needle in my suitcase. I'm hoping that maybe I can get the bag done this coming week - then I could felt it up there, and my mom could send it to "Mrs. D." along with HER Christmas present to her.

I still have a few minor packing and house-preparation related tasks to do but I figure if I'm on the road by 1 pm, I'm ahead of the game.

Oh, and K.: People around here always talk about how it's possible to get pinworms from walking barefoot on the soil. Don't know if it's true but it's not something *I* would risk. There are also all other kinds of icky parasitic things that can be picked up from walking barefoot. (And if you're not careful, you can get athlete's foot on your butt.)