Isn't this the loveliest yarn? I got a surprise package from Janine the other day with her very own beautiful handspun. It was so unexpected, and a very welcome surprise to have rubberbanded to my doorknob when I came home from school. Thank you, Janine! Now I just have to decide what to make!

There hasn't been a whole lot of knitting excitement around here as I've been spending a lot of spare time reconfiguring my computer. It sure feels good to have things working again, and fast! Instead of installing the Japanese Photoshop program that I got at school, I've started to use Gimp, a free photo editing software. So far, I'm really happy with it! It's fast and easy to use (and having the commands all in English really can't be beat). Now I just have to do some knitting around here and I'll get to use it. I've made it onto the sleeves of my Sesame cardigan so I'm considering letting myself start a swatch for some fair isle mitts this weekend. Would I be crazy to jump into 3+ colors on my first project?

And in personal news, I'm into week three of my new caffeine-free lifestyle. I'm drinking hot water at tea ceremony, decaffeinated tea when I get to work in the morning, and the other day I was at Starbucks and I didn't cave. I feel great! I did, however, have to let chocolate back into my diet. It doesn't have THAT much caffeine, I told myself, and the kids in my ESS club handmade chocolates for Valentine's day. It would have been cruel of me to refuse. If I just stick with dark chocolate, I can still feel good about my new "healthy" living.