Done swearing. Commencing waiting.

We made a quick trip to Austin, staying overnight Sunday so I could be at the swearing-in ceremony for new lawyers. This is not, in fact, the final step to actual lawyerdom, though. I still have to wait for my license to show up before I can legally practice. I'm now checking the mailbox obsessively for the license, which will be here, uhh, when it gets here. I've paid all the fees, but this is the government we're talking about. I hope the mail person doesn't lose it. (Our mail person is daffy, and regularly puts mail in the wrong boxes. No one supervising seems to care much.)

While in Austin, I visited Hill Country Weavers, met some nice people, and petted some nice yarn. I bought yarn that may be socks for me (it might also hang out in my stash looking cool), and yarn that will be striped socks for a friend of mine who has requested striped socks. I bought a t-shirt that I eventually need to post a picture of, too. The shop was delightful. They're set up in an old house, and they have a huge selection. Everyone I met there, both the staff and the other customers, was friendly and nice. I will definitely visit again next time I'm in Austin.

I also finally picked up more size 6 DPNs. The only ones I had were this tacky aluminum stuff from back in the 60's (I think I got them from someone else's estate sale haul), and when I thought I bought some from Woolie Ewe it turned out that I didn't have my reading glasses on and I got 8's instead of 6's. Getting old sucks, have I mentioned that?

I finally made some actual progress on the Earl Grey sock. I knitted all the way there and all the way back, and I finally divided for the heel last night. The rest of it hopefully will go relatively quickly, and I'll start the second one right after finishing the first one. (This is how I have avoided second sock syndrome thus far. I don't wait to cast on the second one, and once it's cast on I'll work on it. It's really about the knitting to me, not the product at the end.)

I took two balls of the Arwen yarn with me, and didn't cast on so much as a gauge swatch. I'm thinking after the Earl Grey socks are done, I'll start the sweater and the striped socks for S. That way I have one complicated thing and one easy thing to work on.

Oh, and don't ask about Muir. I frogged it back again, and I'm just going to let it rest for a few months. I'll probably find a nice triangular shawl for a first lace project. It's not the pattern, it's me. I just can't seem to keep my concentration good on a 125-stitch-across lace pattern right now. I still want to try, but I might do better after I have a few more months of chart reading experience. For now, it just makes me throw things. So Muir is hanging out in the corner of my stash glaring at me like an accidentally kicked cat, and I'm leaving it alone until it doesn't hate me anymore.