Scary cute

Last week I visited my sister Abby and bro-in-law, Chad, in Chicago. Abby and I went to a pumpkin-carving party and carved this kitty pumpkin.

Knitting projects update: the weather suddenly turned fall cool this week, and I thought I'd better get started on Paul's scarf, since the Red Scarf Project took me a lot longer than I expected. I'm doing the same Yarn Harlot pattern, but with four fewer stitches--this seems to make the knitting go more quickly!

I'm knitting the second cuff of the Retro Redux shrug (you knit cuff to cuff, then pick up stitches for the collar and body). I took this project to Chicago, but failed to pack a second ball of yarn--I had knit all the yarn I brought the first night--and sadly I didn't take anything else to work on.

Instead I read a lot in Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul by Karen Abbott, which was just the nonfiction, salacious, Chicago read I desired for my trip. I had a great time!