Happy Easter. Last night's Easter Vigil was lovely. The choir sounded amazing, the church looked so beautiful, seven priests on the altar, the fire, the Paschal Candle, the blessing of the water, the herd of Shiny New Catholics took forever to be "inducted" and the service went on more than 2.5 hours, it was very energizing and positive and wonderful. My husband's former hospice nurse and her husband are sponsors in the RCIA program, I think I'd like to do that too. I'm always amazed by the variety of people coming into the Catholic Church - I'd say the average age last night was early-to-mid-20s, but there were people in their 50s and older, and teenagers, and just about every race and ethnic group was covered, too. And that's just our parish. I love my church, it's so alive.

My cold meds wore off about an hour into the Vigil and I snuffled and coughed quietly for the remainder - I hope everyone around me washed their hands afterward, because I'm afraid they got a little bonus with the Sign of Peace. I felt guilty touching anybody, but people were grabbing my hand (and they heard me coughing) so it wasn't like I went out of my way to offer my germs. I'm staying home today, not visiting my parents as planned, my dad's health is too fragile, he doesn't need an upper respiratory anything from me.

Re the garbage disposal - I have half a functioning kitchen sink and no dishwasher until the new kitchen is done. Yes, I could either pay someone to rig something in between or do it myself, but I can't really see a need for it. I live alone and I don't cook full meals very often unless it's outside on the grill, so I can easily live without a dishwasher for a few weeks. I'm going to be so glad when this kitchen is done and the yard is done, but it's not like that's the end of the projects. I also must paint.

I cast on a Bottoms-up Bucket yesterday, but the Cotton-ease really hates those Denise needles. It's like knitting through quicksand, I have to shove and tug until my hands ache, and my wrist is finally feeling fine again, so that's the last thing I want to do right now. I can't believe I don't have a 16 inch Addi Turbo or Inox teflon needle on hand - I feel like I own a gazillion needles (because I do) but apparently I don't. My size 6 needles are all 24 inches. The Not-So-Local-Yarn-Shop is closed on Monday, and I have a lot of tasks to accomplish tomorrow anyway so a new needle isn't in the cards. I will conduct a house search for a 16 inch Addi - I really do believe I own one, I just can't figure out where it might be - but if I don't find it I'm not going to bucket-along after all, at least not right now.

While I was being all domestic and efficient yesterday my mind kept wandering to the subject of crochet. I learned to crochet as a child, at around the same time I learned to knit, and for a long time I preferred to crochet. For the past few years I have focused on knitting, but the urge to grab a hook is getting stronger every day. I've joked for years that I'm sort of a trend early warning system - I don't know why, but if I get the urge to start doing something, six months or a year later it is touted as the "hot new thing." It's certainly not because I am doing it and people want to be cool like me, I think it's more like I'm plugged into some sort of trendoid overmind on a subconscious level. I'd just as soon not be, thanks. But I've noticed that crochet is turning up in a lot of fashion sources - Spiegel has crocheted dresses and jackets and accessories galore this season. It's staaarrrrtttinnnng.... I fear that two years from now we will be suffering through "Celebrity Crocheting" stories until we want to scream, and Darryl Hannah will be on the cover of a magazine, but of course she will only know how to single crochet and make nothing but scarves. I should slap myself for that.

I'm going to follow the call of the hook for a while. I'm not abandoning knitting (not while I have three unfinished projects on needles) but I'm really intrigued with doing more interesting things with crochet. I find it's easier for me to make up my own designs when crocheting - I think it's the "one stitch at a time" aspect, it feels more flexible to me, plus, as I've said, it's easier to rip a mistake, it rarely requires a complete frogging. Standby for crochet updates from the Bossy Doghouse. If it takes, I guess I'll have to add my name to the new crochet blog ring.