Contest - Two Duhs - the Winner!

Some of you knew.

Some of you guessed.

Some of you made multiple guesses - naughty naughty!

Some of you were right.

Some of you were wrong.

Some of you tried to ... gasp ... bribe me.

Some of you sought to curry favour by complimenting me.

Some of you were disqualified for not following the rules.

Some of you shared reminiscences of washing socks.

Some of you were ... late!

Some of you commented on the fact that not only does the label seem to have a "washable" controversy, it also seems to have somewhat of a gauge problem.

Despite having one of the goofiest labels I have ever seen, it's still one of my favourite sock yarns. The colours are beautiful, and it knits up sleekly and softly. I would note that it has accidentally gone through the normal laundry and survived -- perhaps a bit faded, but not felted.

The winner is Harriet, of limedragon fame. Congratulations, Harriet! Your yarn will be in the mail on Tuesday.

Knit Sock Kit Swap Questionnaire

Yup, I joined, and here's my nitty gritty:

What are your favorite colors? Blue. Brown. Green. Grey. No yellow or pink, unless it's in small doses mixed up with blue, brown, green or grey.

Are you a new sock knitter? How long have you been knitting socks? Nope, not new. I grafted my first toe on February 25, 1999.

Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn? Solids for patterns, and multicoloreds for plain. Lately I've been leaning more towards plain multicoloreds and less patterns. Is plain multicolored oxymoronic?

What fibers do you prefer in sock yarn? Wool, with a 65 % preference for superwash over non. A little bit of nylon can be a good thing. I don't "get" cotton socks.

Where do you usually knit socks? At home, in front of either the computer or the tv.

How do you usually carry/store small projects? I have several little baskets that I use. When I run out of those, it's time to haul out the plastic bags. Ziploc Vegetable Bags work great - they have little holes so you can squish the bag :-)

What are your favorite sock knitting patterns? Usuallly whatever I have on the needles at that particular moment, unless it's giving me grief, at which point my favourite becomes the one I'm thinking about knitting about the grief-giving one. I've devised a "fit-my-foot" plan that I use to adapt whatever pattern I might be knitting at the time.

What are your favorite sock knitting techniques? No real favourites, but I can say my least favourite is stranding. Up until a very short while ago, I'd have said top-down. I recently tried toe-up, and it's growing on me, except for ... see next question.

What new techniques would you like to try? I have yet a find a satisfactory bind-off for toe-up. I've only used the EZ sewn cast-off, and although nice and stretchy, it ended up little flarey. More experimentation is required.

Do you prefer circulars or dpns for sock knitting? DPNS all the way.

What are some of your favorite yarns? Regia, Koigu, Lorna's Laces. I can't really say I've met a sock yarn I haven't liked, except for Kroy. I've never had luck with Kroy. I've recently acquired some yummy handpaints that I'm itching to turn into production. I need more arms.

What yarn do you totally covet? Anything with blue in it.

Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object? No.

Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)? Aero DPNS.

If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be? Is this one of those Zen questions? I'm too hyper to Zen.

Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack? I love licorice. And pink popcorn. But not at the same time.

What’s your favorite animal? I've had dogs, cats, birds, lizards, snakes, and various other miscellany at one time or another. I loved them all. Could you pick a favourite child? I think not.

Do you have pets? What are their species/names/ages? I presently have a fish who has no name but usually gets addressed by, "Do you want some food now?" He's a blue Siamese fighting fish that I've had for three years.

If you were a color what color would you be? Blue.

Describe your favorite shirt (yours or someone else’s). Plaid, flannel, soft, warm.

What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature? I love trees.

Tell me the best quote you’ve ever heard or read. If you keep doing what you've always been doing, you keep getting what you've always got. It's not really a quote, but it's something I keep reminding myself when I keep getting what I've always got.

Do you have a wishlist? You mean other than world peace and an end to hunger and disease?

Anything else you’d like to share with the group today? I don't really think there's a group that's still reading this, so I'll pass :-)

Amazing Lace - Challenge #2 - Extreme Knitting

I had the most AMAZINGLY EXTREME post planned and into production mode. Unfortunately, it all fell apart during the photo shoot when the golf cart broke down and the horse absolutely refused to wear the parachute ... sigh.

I'm at row 61.

Do you see it?

Here's a close up of the beginning of the lace section of the tail on the right side:

Here's a close up of the beginning of the lace section of the tail on the left side:
Now do you see it? Yup, it's totally out of whack. Of course, I discovered this just as I decided that it was time to put in my FIRST lifeline. Which means there's no lifeline to go back to. And it's after I joined the two sections of the tail, so the rows are twice as long and go across both sections.

Note to self: When knitting left tail, do * not * look at the chart for right tail.

This evening, I have the distinct pleasure of unraveling a mess of p2tog-b and slip2-p1-p2sso ... fun, fun, fun. It might be quicker just to start over. Hmmmm.

The official team progress photo for this leg of the race -- Extremely Slow.

Contest - Two Duhs

I was trying to get organized (Ha! - I don't believe I just used *that* word) for the Trek Along with Me, which meant that I had to dig through my stash and find my Trekking. And find it I did.

Ha! Are you surprised it isn't blue? I do sometimes use other colours, you know. Kind of reminds me of a campfire. I like it.

Of course, he has a friend.

Unfortunately, they both have friends of their own too.

Duh the first: Having so much yarn that you don't know what you have, so you end up buying exactly the same thing over again. It's even the same dyelot.

As I was digging through the stash, I noticed this label on another skein of sock yarn:

Duh the second: Washable? Hand wash only? Huh? Yes, I know there may be reasons to hand wash a washable wool, but doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose?

The contest: Tell me which yarn has the Duh label and you can win two skeins of the Duh yarn. Simple, yes? All correct answers will be put in a hat and a winner shall be drawn. Entries are NOT to be by comment. Email them before June 20, 2006, to: bearley_there at hotmail dot com under the subject line "Contest - Two Duhs".

Oh, the post title said "two," didn't it. In that case, I'll also send you this yarn ...

... so you have enough yarn for two pairs of socks!

Amazing Lace - Challenge #1 - Meet Team Swallowtail

The first challenge in The Amazing Lace is to introduce the team. Please allow me to introduce Team Swallowtail, starting with myself, the Knitter. Yup, that blurry little photo is probably the perfect self-portrait. Although I have dabbled a bit in lace, I am, primarily, a sock knitter. And yes, just as the picture is slightly out of focus, so too do I lack a bit of focus now and then.

Pro the knitter: Determined to succeed. Has a fairly competitive nature.

Con the knitter: Fairly short attention span. Does not have a good track record of finishing large projects. Have you seen even one of those little project graphs on the side bar grow? Even a bit? Nope. Nary a one, and nary by a smidge. I believe it is safe to say that this knitter will likely be the Weakest Link in the team. (Oops, wrong show!)

The project I have chosen to accompany me on this journey is the Tiger Swallowtail Shawl, designed by Brenda Zuk, available from her website which is chockful of her wonderful designs - Needle Beetle. When I first saw this design, I knew that I had to knit it some day. That day has arrived.

This is not a wispy little shawl - no cobweb, thru-a-ring bit of fluff. This is a project of substance! The pattern calls for a DK weight cotton, so I'm thinking it will come out more like a butterfly blankie.

Pro the Design: Pretty butterfly! A yarn that you can actually see and feel. And charts!

Yes, charts -- readable charts! With nice dark lines every ten squares, like a cross-stitch chart. Bless you, Brenda Zuk!

Con the Project: Charts!

As in -- lots of charts! Big charts! On-both-sides-of-the-page charts! With patterning on both the right side and the wrong side rows! This project will require some planning -- some organization. I will have to -- eek --PAY ATTENTION.

Lace is usually made up of some YOs, some K2togs and some SKPs; right? My pretty butterfly? Umm, no.

That's it - the legendary legend with the decreases all done in purl. Every .. single .. one.

And if that's not enough, there is also this:

See that little tiny part outlined in red? That's the knitting instructions. See that humungous part outlined in green? That's the * crochet * border. ACK! Crochet border? You mean like with one of those hook thingys? My subconscious mind must have conveniently blocked that when I read the pattern description on the website. Because you know what? I don't know how to crochet, other than a provisional cast-on. But that's not real crochet -- it's more like knitting with a crochet hook. For now, I have decided that I will pull a Scarlett and worry about that tomorrow.

The yarn Brenda suggests is Butterfly 10.

Pro the Butterfly 10: Lots of pretty colours! Check out that Nectarine down at the bottom!!

Con the Butterfly 10: Not available locally. I could order it, but then I'd have to wait. And I think I've already mentioned my short attention span.

Maybe I have something in stash that would work -- such as this:

Pro the blue yarn: It's the right weight, I've got lots of it, and it's blue -- my favourite colour!!

Con the blue yarn: Well, there's this:

Denim. Which *could* mean I'd have a really cool butterfly when all is said and done. But this is the yarn that shrinks when you wash it, which * would * play total havoc with my gauge. My butterfly would be the most bizarrely shaped bug you'd ever seen. Unless, of course, there was, well, you know, some way to, well, kind of ... shrink it ... beforehand.

And, a mere four and a half hours later, I have this:

Yes, I am sometimes my own worst enemy. Dudes, I killed it. My carefully tied knots came untied and I have a mass of shrunken, knotted-up, hopelessly tangled blue spaghetti. I managed to fatally wound a potential partner before the race even began!

I was left with no choice. I HAD to go to the LYS and dig through all the yarns there and examine every cubbyhole and pet every single skein and stick my fingers into every ball they had. It was pure torture! :-) But I found this:

The Cotton Classic is a trifle heavier than what is called for, but I'm fine with that. I totally love the colour. It's a very in-your-face green and likely even glows in the dark, although I haven't tested that yet. Although someone somewhere likely calls it Spring Green, or Fresh Grass Green, or even some sappy name like Mountain Dew, it shall henceforth be known around here as Caterpillar Green, and my Swallowtail will end up looking something like this:

The Swatch: The pattern calls for 4.5 mm needles. The Cotton Classic ballband calls for a 5 mm. Good enough for me, 5 mm it shall be :-) Swatch is done! (Did I mention my lack of patience?)

Every team carries a backpack full of accessories. Mine has some bright yellow "string" for the lifelines I am sure to need, some M&Ms for sustenance, some needles, scissors, the standard assortment of knitting paraphernalia. But it also includes a few extras:

Yes, I found my cookie pan, dusted off my old music stand, and dug through a box to find my old cross-stitch magnets. And you know what I found in the box that was supposed to be just cross-stitch stuff?

Koigu!! I have no idea why these two balls of Koigu were in that box. Look at the colours! Brown! Tan! And BLUE !!!!!!!! I'm thinking it would look great as socks with 3x2 ribbing all the way down the leg and the instep and a short row heel. I've got some free needles the right size and could ..... STOP! Please, try to FOCUS!!! Keep your eye on the project at hand:

Knitters Tea Swap

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I had signed up for the Knitters Tea Swap.
After a bit of cryptic "anonymous" correspondence, my package arrived on Friday. It turns out that my swapper was our hostess -- Suzie! This is what she sent me: A tin of Tao, a cush of Cascade, a bite of biscotti, a chunk of chocolate and a beautiful card. Please note what a careful gifter our hostess is ... everything matches in colour -- greys and brown -- absolutely lovely! Thanks so much, Suzie! My mind is already dreaming of what I can do with the lovely yarn, the tea has been brewed and is sitting beside me, biscotti at its side, and the chocolate ... or, what's left of it ... has been carefully put away for another day. Suzie, you done good -- if you decide to have a Round Two, count me in!

SMAK May - done!

(Edited to replace totally crappy pictures with somewhat better but still semi-crappy pictures ... rain, rain, go away!)

My socks for the May Sock-a-month are done:

These are the Denmark socks from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road, done in Novita 7 Veljesta Broder, colour 7173. They are actually a nice, warm, heathered brown, but for some reason they are insisting that, photographically speaking, they are grey. I won't argue, because I am tired of arguing with them. I like them now that they're done, but I didn't enjoy knitting them.

Cabling on socks really slows you down, and it's hard to get a nice, smooth rhythm going. But the end result, in my opinion, is very handsome. I changed the heel flap to Eye of Partridge, and modified them a bit to fit my feet, but other than that they are as written.

Would you like fries or mashed with your ribs? Neither, please -- I'd rather have nupps.

A nice little detail at the top of the ribbing. But see? Grey again.

On another topic, whenever I've used Koigu before, I've always used a different yarn for the ribbing, heel and toe. So I wondered: Can I get a full sock from one skein?

Yes, I can :-) Despite about ten years of sock knitting, these are my first ever toe-ups. These are Koigu PPPM P123. I think they look very happy.

I used the easy and wonderful Magic cast-on from the recent Knitty, further refined to be knot-less by this post by the author, Judy Becker, on her blog. In the Knitty article, under the section on double points, it says, "Work step #9 by knitting ½ of the stitches using one needle and the remaining ½ of the stitches using a second needle." I found it much easier to just work them all onto one needle and then separate them by slipping half of them to the second.

I'm not yet sold on the whole toe-up routine. I don't buy the "cast on enough stitches till they fit" and "easy to try on" drill. You can't tell if they fit when they've got a bunch of needles in them. A toe is, however, an easy and potentially useful gauge swatch. I was paranoid that I'd get the heel on the wrong side, and it just felt weird to see the ribbing grow out of the leg instead of vice versa. I'll do number two and see how I feel then.

June? Yes, June is coming.

These will be finished in June.

Yes, I am a lemming.

Thanks very much y'all (or is that all y'all - I can never remember which is which) for your very kind comments about the Basketcase socks. I hope you enjoy knitting and wearing yours as much as I have mine. And no, you don't have to name them, unless you really, really want to.

There is no progress to report on my Starsky, because I haven't actually touched it since I last posted about it. There is no progress to report on the turquoise cabled cardi either. I have finished one May SMAK sock and cast on the second. However, between the casting off and the casting on, I somehow managed to start three other socks. And I'm not exactly sure how I did that, except I remember a vague yearning for round after round after round of soothing stockinette. Boom, there they were. Two of those socks are ready for heels, which I consider to be weekend work, and the other is beside me right now. The small progress I was making on my Chaos is disintegrating. I obviously have a problem, and that problem is Lack of Focus.

So, as I was saying, I am, or have become, a lemming. I seem to be joining knit-alongs almost as quickly as I have been purchasing yarn. (By the way, I'd like to thank the Income Tax people for giving me back the money that they took from me in the first place - it's all gone now, so please send more.) Oh yes, lemmings. Whither the crowd goest, so go I. I see something that looks like fun, so I jump in. I tell myself the discipline will be good for me. I convince myself that peer pressure and threat of public humiliation will help keep me on track. Of course, it also occurs to me as I type this that none of the knitalongs I have recently joined relate to any current projects, only new ones. I will conveniently ignore that fact :-)

I have admired Sam the Ram for a long time. He looks like a fun challenge. I wouldn't want him to be lonely, so I also ordered the pattern for Sue the Ewe. The knit-along for Sam grew out of a discussion on the Aranknit list. I'm thinking I'll use up some Patons Classic Merino, but the final decision will be made once the patterns arrive.

I have lusted after Brenda Zuk's Tiger Swallowtail Shawl since I first saw it many years ago. I am a member of several lace lists, but so far my lace has been limited to bookmarks and one doily. (I knit a doily several years ago because, well, I just had to -- you know how it goes. I finished it and said, "What the heck am I supposed to do with it now?" I gave it to a friend and thought the lace bug was out of my system. Apparently not.) I have about as much use for a shawl as I do for a doily. Nonetheless, I am now a member of The Amazing Lace, with the swallowtail as my partner. The pattern is ordered, and yarn will be determined at some future point. This knit-along sounds like a lot of fun, but I am also scared like I ain't never been scared before. Send good vibes - I think I'll need them.

Oh, and if you'd like to join in, there's lots of room on the edge of the cliff. Come join the lemming trail ... you know you want to.

(I thought that if I peppered this post with links, you wouldn't notice the total absence of pictures. Did it work?)

Basketcase Socks - revisited

Since the Basketcase Socks pattern is now only available through archived web pages, I thought I'd put it up again here. I've made a few modifications to reflect the way I knit socks now - and I spell-checked it :-)


Basketcase Socks

A medium-sized sock with a stretchy-clingy woven rib design along the leg and down the instep. This sock was originally designed to provide some cling for a wool-cotton blend yarn but should work equally well, or better, with other yarns.

Materials:
DK weight yarn - three 50 g. balls
4 DPN needles size 2.5 mm., or size required to meet gauge
Stitch markers

Gauge:
7 sts equals 1 inch in st. st. worked in the round.

Special stitches used:
All stitches are slipped purl-wise unless otherwise noted.
SSK - Slip 1 knit-wise, Slip 1 purl-wise, insert left needle in front of the two stitches and K2tog.

Cast on 60 stitches. Join, being careful not to twist, and divide evenly (20, 20, 20) among three needles. Knit in K2, P2 rib for 20 rounds, approximately 2 inches.

Commence pattern (repeat of 12, pattern will be knit five times per round):

Rnds 1 & 2: K 10, P 2
Rnds 3 & 4: K 2, P 6, K 2, P 2
Rnds 5 & 6: K 10, P 2
Rnds 7 & 8: K 4, P 2, K6
Rnds 9 & 10: (P 2, K 2) twice, P 4
Rnds 11 & 12: K 4, P 2, K 6

Knit these 12 rounds a total of four times, or 48 rounds.

Divide for heel: In order to centre the instep pattern, knit the next eight stitches onto the same needle you just finished. Turn. Slip 1, purl across. Purl the next two stitches onto the heel flap needle. Needle now has 30 stitches. Divide the remaining 30 stitches evenly onto the two remaining needles or place on a stitch holder. Turn and commence heel flap.

Heel Flap (Eye of Partridge or staggered heel stitch)

Row 1: *Slip 1, K1*, repeat between *s.
Row 2: Slip 1, purl across.
Row 3: Slip 1, K2, *Slip 1, K1*, repeat between *s, end K1.
Row 4: Slip 1, purl across.

Repeat these four rows for a length of 2.75 inches, or as desired.

Turn heel (I chose to do a square heel, but you can, of course, choose whichever heel you wish)

Row 1: Slip 1, Knit 19 stitches, SSK, turn.
Row 2: Slip 1, Purl 10 stitches, P2tog, turn.
Row 3: Slip 1, Knit 10 stitches, SSK, turn.

Repeat the last two rows until all stitches have been worked (12 sts remaining). Slip 1, knit across.

Gusset and Instep:

Instep Pattern (18 stitches):

Rows 1 & 2: K 8, P 2, K 8
Rows 3 & 4: P 6, K 2, P 2, K 2, P 6
Rows 5 & 6: K 8, P 2, K 8
Rows 7 & 8: K 2, P 2, K 10, P 2, K 2
Rows 9 & 10: K 2, P 2, K 2, P 6, K 2, P 2, K 2
Rows 11 & 12: K 2, P 2, K 10, P 2, K 2

Pick up one stitch in each of the slipped stitch loops along the side of the heel flap.

Pick up an extra stitch in the corner between the heel flap and the instep and place it on the instep needle. Knit this extra stitch through the back loop. Knit 6 stitches. Place marker. Knit Row 1 of instep pattern. Knit to end of needle. Pick up one stitch in the corner and place it on the instep needle. Knit this extra stitch through the back loop. Pick up one stitch in each of the slipped stitch loops along the other side of the flap. Knit 6 stitches.

You are now at the beginning of the round (the middle of the heel) - if necessary, re-arrange stitches so the heel/gusset is divided evenly.

Knit to the last three stitches on needle one, K2tog, K1. On the instep needle, SSK, knit to marker, knit Row 2 of instep pattern, knit to last two stitches, K2tog. On needle three, K 1, SSK, knit to end.

Instep Decreases:
Rnd 1: Needle 1, knit across. Needle 2, knit to marker, knit next row of instep pattern, knit to end of needle. Needle 3, knit across.
Rnd 2: Needle 1, knit to last three stitches, K2tog, K1. Needle 2, knit to marker, knit next row of instep pattern, knit to end of needle. Needle 3, SSK, knit to end of needle.

Repeat these two rounds until you are down to 15 stitches on each of needles 1 and 3, 60 stitches total. At this point you may wish to move some stitches from the instep needle onto the other two needles to make it easier to knit, but be sure to re-arrange them 15-30-15 before you do the toe. Continue knitting even, keeping instep in pattern, until foot of sock is approximately two inches shorter than required foot length.

Toe:
Discontinue instep pattern and knit instep needle in st. st.

Decrease Rnd: Needle 1, knit to last three stitches, K2tog, K1. Needle 2, K1, SSK, knit to last three stitches, K2tog, K1. Needle 3, K1, SSK, knit to end.

Knit one Decrease Rnd, then knit 3 rounds even.
* Knit one Decrease Rnd, then knit two rounds even * two times.
* Knit one Decrease Rnd, then knit one round even * three times.
Continue with just Decrease Rnds until 16 stitches remain (4-8-4).

Knit the stitches on needle 1 onto needle 3 so you have 8 stitches on each needle. Graft toe stitches. Make another sock exactly the same!

Copyright notice: I am sharing this pattern with you for free. You can use and share this pattern for free. You CANNOT sell this pattern OR the products of it.

SMAK April - done!

My April SMAKs be done.


Both of them.

The pattern is Basketcase Socks, and the yarn is Smart DK, Colour 1042 1093. The socks are great, the yarn not so much. About the best I can is that it's serviceable. The socks are warm and comfy, the ribbing pattern clingy, but the yarn vexed me.
The ball on the right is how much I usually have left over from a pair of socks and three 50 gram balls of DK weight yarn. The ball on the left is what is left over from the Smart. I originally did these socks with a regular flap and turn. When I got to the toe, I looked at what was left and realized there wouldn't be enough. Ripped, did a short row heel, and made it to the end of the second sock. I like these socks, but most likely won't use this yarn again. Smart yarn, maybe not so smart.

This poor unfinished pair will be my May SMAKs.

They WILL be finished by the end of May. And since one of them is already half done, that means I have time to play with Starsky for a while :-)

Beautiful Blues

Many bloggers nowadays seem to be in a bit of a knitting funk. Not quite the blues, but just about. Me, I'm revelling in the blues because .... it's here!! IT'S HERE !!!

What the heck am I talking about? Well, you may remember, and you may not, whatever, that I won something. A Wendy something. Well, Wendy done gone and give me the blues!!

Aren't they gorgeous? A couple of shades of blue plus a couple of shades of grey equals me just tickled pink! That is exactly the kind of colours that would have attached themselves to me at the LYS and followed me home.

And there's more:

Opal. The yarn about which so many sockers obsess, and I have never, I say NEVER, knit with it because it's not readily available hereabouts. Bluesey stripeyness!! I finally get to see what all the fuss is about.

So yes, I'm celebrating the blues today. Thank you so much, Wendy! Dude, you're a peach, and I've had a lot of fun with your contest.

Unfortunately, I can't cast on either of these right now, because I already have two pairs of socks on the needles, and I have been trying to Focus on Finishing Something ... ahem. So needs must that I store them a little while. Yes, they will be joining their brethern in the stash to take a little rest after their long, hard journey. Mind you, their brethern are multidinous, and in order to properly accommodate them in their new accommodations, I have had to do a bit of crowding, squishing, crumpling, squeezing, squashing and crushing. Here I am, in my ever-so-debonair Regia Clown socks, doing just that -- jumping on (a) one of many, (b) one of too many, (c) one of never enough, (d) one of "how the heck are you going to use all that up," plastic storage bins, in an attempt to get the lid to shut.

Starsky's Back ....

I am pleased to report that my Starsky back is finished. At first, it looked like ka-ka. The stitch pattern really needs a good blocking. Using yarn that was frogged from another sweater and not washed before re-knitting added some additional bumps and lumps. He was definitely looking a little .... stressed. After a nice, long, warm bath and a little bit of yoga, he's feeling much better.

I've started on the front. Note: If you're knitting this pattern, check to ensure that you've got the most recent version, as there is a correction on the website. Once again, I have taken liberties with Starsky's ribs.

In other breaking news, the neighbours are getting used to seeing me out on the front step in my bathrobe with a camera at 6 a.m. I don't know whether this is good or bad.

The Best-est Thing ....

The best-est thing about finishing one luscious Fleece Artist Basic Merino sock .....

.... is that you can start on the other one and enjoy the experience all over again.

My two must-do projects are grey. I thought I should take a break and partake in a bit of colour.

That fits the bill, doesn't it.

And in other breaking news, it seems that I have won something. And not just any something, but a Wendy something. The Divine Ms. W held a begging contest, so a-begging I did go. It seems that I done gone a-begging so good that ... well, I won something. A Wendy something. How incredibly splendiferous!! Thank you so much, Wendy. I will now add the postal person to the list of people I stalk.