We’re back from a quick (and safe) trip over the mountains to Eastern Washington. I took the camera, but we were so busy, we took very few pictures! We did stop in the great city of Washtucna:

The name of this little town has always intrigued me, so we took a little side trip off the highway to explore. That’s about it folks! No town to speak of, but at least three nice little parks.

We visited family and I attended some events and a seminar at WSU. The seminar was an introduction to operant conditiong in general and “clicker” training for dogs specifically. The teacher was outstanding and I am really looking forward to the practical application. We had a chance to see it in action and I was pretty impressed. Beyond training dogs, the whole field of operant conditioning has a great deal of application in other areas. The basic premise is to “catch” people doing good and reward them for it. It’s not bribery – bribes are offered to entice someone to do something. A reward is something positive for a behavior that already taken place. I’ll keep you posted.

Rather than take one of my existing projects, I cast on a new one – a baby surprise jacket for a shower gift. My goal was to see if I could complete it during the trip (about 14 hours of total driving time). The verdict?

Close, but no cigar. Daylight and my fingers gave out about the same time. It won’t take long to finish – it’s just a matter of finding the time. The next two months are going to be pretty intense. I spent several hours this afternoon studying statistics. At the same time my husband was watching a nature program that profiled a lizard that, when threatened, builds up pressure in its head until blood squirts out its eyes. I told my husband I could identify because that was going to happen to me any minute. This stuff is crazy. They take you through all these complicated formulas, rules on which formulas to use, double talk like crazy and then tell you it really doesn’t make a difference anyway because you can never prove or disprove anything. My goal is just to get through the next two months and then we will never speak of this again!

Before I left, I did get a nice package in the mail:

I enhanced my Options needle collection, plus some Wool of the Andes just in case I run out on the CIC gansey, some merino sock yarn for some fingerless mitts (winter’s acomin’ and my office is cold in the morning) and various patterns. Only one complaint – The pattern for the Rona lace shawl is WRITTEN – no charts!!! In this day and age it would seem to me that the standard is charting and if a pattern is not charted, it should say so in the description. I will write to Knitpicks to complain, but for $1.99 I don’t feel too cheated. Just a warning to anyone else contemplating buying the pattern.

And – thanks to all who commented about my “10 Knitterly Things.” Usually I try to reply personally to every comment, but time is crunching me, so please accept a group “Thanks”. Although I will try to respond to comments, please be patient with me until December 1st, when life will presumably get back to normal.