You know you are suffering from very dry skin

when you look down and see blood smeared on the leg of your tan slacks and check the Bad Digging Boston's paws for wounds (because he was Bad and had been Digging) before noticing the blood oozing, with somewhat more vigor than a decent finger should ooze, out of your right index finger. And this is why, though I bitch mightily about Florida, I fear I am stuck here. It's better for my skin. We have to turn the heat on, I develop lacerations while doing dangerous lacerating things like sticking a frozen food product into the oven. I have to live in Florida because I need the humidity I bitch about regularly. The dry artificial heat is actually causing my skin to scale, despite enough moisturizer to improve the skin tone of a mummy. I have lived too long in the sub-tropics. Thank God today it was 76 and moist. My finger will recover quickly.

Try to think of me as an orchid, rather than a mold spore that can type. Large clunky bandage on wounded digit just took the evening's knitting on the black sweater off the agenda.

National Delurking Week has already wrought some magic - lurkers have delurked and said such nice things, I wonder if they're commenting on some other blog. (I did note the request for more dog pics and I will oblige post-haste.) The Usual Suspects also checked in, and Hey to the Usual Suspects. But what about the rest of you?

Shamelessly whoring for comments? Not really, okay, maybe sort of. I'm just curious about the disparity between hits and comments. Because if this is a normal proportion then damn, those popular knitbloggers must get 5 and 6 figure hits every day! You can lapse into lurking silence whenever you want, this isn't a commitment. An anonymous Hey will do. I'm just wondering if my hit counter is screwed up.

So, no knitting to report. I like the Knitting Pure and Simple pattern, it lives up to its title. But a loose-fitting-top-down-cardie does make for long rows early in the game and yesterday I think I managed Four Whole Rows before I had to get into the shower and off to work. Maybe tomorrow morning I can manage another four rows. At that rate, the sweater should be done in time for my retirement party. I'll be 97 years old when I can afford to retire. I need to stick to socks. And baby knitting for charity. My knitting is mostly about blood pressure reduction, I don't live and work in a world where handknits are all that useful (except a nice office sweater, and I really will finish it before I retire).

So much going on, not much blogworthy. But things are good and 2006 is going to be a really good year.