Here’s what I’ve added to the stash recently:

I’m embarrassed to say there’s a lot more stashy goodness coming in the next few days, so I thought I’d better start photographing it in batches. You see here the oft-lauded Knitter’s Handbook, by Montse Stanley, which joins Katharina Buss’s Big Book of Knitting and Priscilla Gibson-Roberts’s Knitting in the Old Way on my reference shelf. And of course you see yarn. It’s all destined for praaasents, as we say in my family. I shall tell you what it is: two skeins of DZined hand-dyed wool/hemp blend in a lovely harvest-y colorway I couldn’t resist at Yarnivore last week; two skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Designer’s Choice Silky Wool in a pale blue; and yes indeed, that is sock yarn on the top of the pile. And only the finest sock yarn: it’s Cherry Tree Hill merino Supersock in ‘Blueberry Hill’, and those are some absurdly wee Brittany birch double pointed needles on which to knit it up. Yes, my friends, it seems I am about to overcome my natural disinclination to knit socks.

Stay tuned for materials for two summer sweaters and a top from Vogue: I’m going to be knitting like a fiend this season!

The wedding stole did its civic duty today:

Here we are, reporting to New York Supreme Court for jury selection. (And now I see why the Yarn Harlot favors a sock for tourist activities.) I must say, jury duty in Manhattan is not at all onerous. Firstly, the stole and I were never even called in for questioning, so we spent a pleasant three hours in a big wood-paneled room with tasteful cityscape murals. Secondly, the city fathers quite thoughtfully positioned the seat of government within walking distance of Seaport Yarns. Thanks to an absurdly long lunch period, I passed a blissful hour and a half in that delightful Xanadu of fibers. Thirdly, after lunch we waited only thirty minutes before they dismissed us for the day. Yes, we’ll be back tomorrow, but who cares? Seaport Yarns awaits, and this time I’m bringing my checkbook so I can make off with my new Montse Stanley knitting Bible, several skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, and whatever other temptations I give in to. I did some good work with the stole, and dashed off a number of rows on Lara, too. Dare I hope that she’ll be done by Memorial Day? It begins to look possible…

After jury duty, I met Lisa at The Point. She’s been having some difficulties with her new Bamboo Ballerina top. Fortified by much chocolate sinning and moral support from yours truly, she frogged and whipped the Ballerina into shape:

Look for stash enhancement pictures (I know, I just posted some!) in the next few days. I can’t come close to finishing one project without plotting to start three more…

Lara is my kitty’s favorite sweater yet:

Since he’s completely obscuring every bit of it, I shall simply tell you that I’ve finished the ribbing for the left front and have cast on for the right front. The right front ribbing will probably be done by the end of the day, since I have a number of long and rather dreadful manuscripts to slog through at work.

But here’s the exciting news: I’m reporting to Jury Duty for the first time ever tomorrow! You know what that means – pure, unadulterated knitting time! What to bring? Definitely the wedding stole. I should be able to finish this week’s chart repetition. But I’ll certainly need to take breaks from the lace, so what else? Lara? Clapotis? I don’t know if I’ll have room to lay out a pattern, so probably not Lightning. My fellow potential jurors are going to laugh at me when I show up with an enormous suitcase full of all my unfinished projects.

Thirty-five days from now, I’ll be walking down the aisle (well, really down the grass between some chairs overlooking the ocean), and hopefully I’ll be wearing this:

The Baltic Sea Stole is probably three weeks from being complete, not including finishing. I’ll block her when I get home so as not to let the helpful airline baggage handlers undo my good work. I had to set up this nice photo shoot because my sweetie bought me these beautiful peonies. And then I figured, why not let my latest stash enhancement take advantage of the set up?

I hope you weren’t looking to score any Rowan Cashcotton 4-Ply in “Seafoam” at The Point’s 20%-off Spring Sale, because Whack Garter Lady busted in there and snatched up their entire stock. Here’s what I have in mind for it:

Pretty, isn’t she? It’s Fern from the new Classic Garden book. My size requires 8 balls, which is exactly how many The Point had. I figured it was serendipity, and besides, it was 20% off, darling! And they let me take it home in this cute little plastic suitcase:

I haven’t actually bought the pattern book yet, and I don’t expect to turn my attention to Fern for some time. After all, I still have to finish Lara and Lightning, and then Frost Flowers and my father’s gansey are in the queue, and I have to reknit Charlotte. I also have lovely chocolate Magpie Aran wool for Breeze from the Yorkshire Fable book, but I’m not sure when I’ll get to that. Besides, Fern is knit on US size 2 & 3 needles, and I’ll need a good break from tiny fiddly knitting after the Baltic Sea Stole is finished. But you know how I am – the Cashcotton is so utterly luscious that I’ll probably dive in far sooner than I ought to.