Habit-kicking is kicking my ass. I'm so happy to be hearing from former smokers - ya'll are giving me hope that I won't feel this crazy forever...
So, since I'm feeling remarkably random anyway, here's a remarkably random post.
Random 1: An interesting fact we learned over the winter: basil will root from stem-cuttings. I dug up and brought in the last surviving basil plant last fall. It got pretty rangy and leggy over the winter, and I was afraid that I would have to pitch it out (after plucking it of its few leaves. Not enough for pesto, but enough to graze on...) Then we read that basil was rootable. Had to try it!
The plant had three branches - we cut one off, stuck it in water and waited. Sure enough, roots appeared. We potted it up, then amputated the other two branches and popped them into the water.
(Note to self: wash kitchen window.)
On the left is the pot containing the original plant (the stem briefly showed signs of growing new leaves, but they dried up before getting more than 1/8 in) In the middle is the first branch we rooted, growing happily in its own pot. On the right in the red vase are the two other branches, rooting away. We'll pot them up shortly and have plants to set out in the garden once all danger of frost is gone. (Which is June, up here. Damn this Zone 3.)
Since we have time, we may even chop up that first plant and start even more plants. We've always had a hard time growing enough basil - we may have stumbled on a system for growing these tender little plants!
Random 2 - I finally finished (I hope) the pattern for the thrummed mittens. I've got it in PDF form, but don't know yet if I can put that up on a photo site (Like Picasa or Flickr). So, in the meantime, anyone who wants it, please leave a comment or email me, and I'll send you a copy. I'm particularly hoping to get some test-knitters who can give me feedback. I'm used to just dashing down a couple of notes on the back of an envelope and winging it from there, so any help you can give me on writing an actual
pattern will be deeply appreciated!
Random 3 - still trying, but had a setback yesterday. Had the Customer From Hell at work. He ranted and raved and swore and stomped and was Generally Unpleasant (a euphemism for Total Asshole), and all because he couldn't understand that the "Store Credit Card" (which he didn't have) and the
receipt for the Store Credit Card (which he had) weren't the same thing. He expected us to give him a $50 credit with only a receipt, but not the actual plastic card that the money had been scanned on to. When we (the asst manager and I) tried to explain it to him "It's like buying a gift certificate - the gift certificate is redeemable for merchandise, the
receipt for the gift certificate is not", he started screaming about what rude f-ing bitches we were being and that he wasn't a f-ing sleazebag and we could cram that f-ing store policy up our asses and this was a f-ed up store with f-ed up merchandise and this f-ed up store must be f-ing proud that rude bitches like us were out there f-ing over the customers, etc, etc, etc. All at the top of his lungs. He finally made his purchase and left, still shouting and throwing things, and generally behaving like a homicidal 5yr-old.
I was so rattled I ended up outside, smoking 1/2 a cigarette, hands shaking and trying not to cry. Really really didn't need that kind of stress when I was feeling particularly vulnerable to stress anyway.
Random 4: There is no Random 4.
Random 5: I'm on row 5 of Maplewing. Step by step, inch by inch...
(Note to self: wash kitchen window.)
I got a bit of knitting done, anyway. The other women on the jury lamented not bringing their knitting and crocheting...
Item 4: I bought Maplewing. And yarn. (I lusted for the red/orange of the original shawl, but knew I would never have anything to wear that color with. So I wimped out and got a neutral sort of tan. Though I may go back to the LYS and get the deep evergreen laceweight they had. Or that dark purple. But since everything I make lately seems to be green or purple, maybe I should stick with the tan just in order to break it up...) I'm trying to resist the urge to cast it on Right Now. Because I have a feeling that if I cast on one more project, my house will explode. Critical mass was reached long ago...
Stay tuned...
Here's a closeup of the roving. The color is more true on the bobbin above, but this pic shows the lovely striations of color in this roving. I was at the LYS a while back and spied this on the shelf. I only picked it up to look closer at the color. I swear. Seriously. But when the time came to set it back down, I couldn't make my hand open to release it. My fingers had a will of their own - Not. Letting. Go.
So, I took it home with me. Clearly, what other choice did I have? It was either buy the roving, or amputate my hand...
Hallelujah! That's a little better...
Here's an inside view of the thrummy goodness. I pulled some of the fiber aside near the top of the mitten so the backside of the colorwork shows.
And.....
Notice the yarn barf at the bottom of the picture. Argh...
This pair is for ME!! (Yeah, it's purple. What can I say...)
I worked out what I did wrong on the thumbs and fixed it. The ends are woven in, and they're ready to present to WGS.
Recap:
So, flush with this victory, I sat down to work on Thumb 2. I was happily knitting away, chatting occasionally with Madman, who was working on his plans for remodeling the chicken coop.
Someday my spinning will be better and more consistent, I hope. Until then, I just keep practicing. 
And cast on a third. I'm shooting for a glove that will match the first one, but I admit I'll be happy as long as it matches either of them... Two half-pairs I can bear, but THREE half-pairs would probably send me right over the edge. I'll be watching this one with great paranoia...
Madman liked it a lot...
For some strange reason, every time I say elderberry buckle, I hear "Buckleberry Ferry" in the back of my head. 
Our poor rooster has lost most of his tail feathers. Lucky for him, he has a big enough ego to convince himself he's still the best looking rooster alive. 
The pattern would show better if my spinning wasn't quite so lumpy. I'm still having a consistency problem, especially when I'm not spinning laceweight.
I'm thrumming with the alpaca fleece, too, which is harder than using wool, since alpaca just doesn't have the "grab" that wool does. But I promised WGS alpaca mittens, and alpaca mittens she shall have.
The main part is just plain two-color knitting. The orange dots represent where the thrums go. I wrap the stitch normally with the white yarn, but before I pull it through, I add the thrum, then pull both through together, completing the knit stitch. On the next row, I knit the white yarn and the thrum as if they were one strand, and give the thrum a little tug from the back side to make sure it seats itself. 
