Tomorrow morning will see me flying out of Portland in the dark, winging east. I’m making a little weekend jaunt back to New York City. I’d only go so far for so short a time to see people I really love: New York holds a great many of them! The reason for the trip is a bridal shower for my sister-to-be, but since I’m coming in to town on a Friday afternoon, I also have a chance to knit with my Spiders and visit my dear former colleagues in one Hudson Street swoop.

There’s much to be done – gifts to gather and wrap, laundry piles to dominate, New York-worthy outfits to assemble (life as an early morning dog-walker can relax one’s standards to supine insensibility), knitting projects to choose among, work to organize. At least I had the foresight to sew the buttons back onto my winter coat last weekend while watching the Paris-Nice prologue time trial.

The lace stole needs to come for a progress report to the bride and some quality time on the airplane; I’m thinking the Drifting Pleats scarf for Knit/Purl will make good Spider-knitting, plus I want it finished so I can allow myself to cast on something else. This version is in a DK weight, so I’ve got 10 extra stitches on to keep the dimensions right, and somehow they’re making the knitting process feel interminable. (Or maybe it’s just that I’ve knit this pattern three times in as many months.) Oh, and the second secret red sock should come, too – its April 15 deadline is going to sneak up on me otherwise, and there’s still a third sock I need to knit before this pattern is done.

The real question is how long I can hold out before casting on a pair of Vinterblomster mittens. (Ravelry link) There are so many beautiful pairs taking shape on the blogs! But a person really oughtn’t to knit three pairs of mittens at once, right? Especially when there are already three other pairs in her queue, and therefore the potential for no less than six mateless swingin’ single mittens? Half a dozen bachelor mittens could get up to an awful lot of mischief.

See you after the weekend – I’ll be sure to report on any bachelorette mischief in New York.