Not much to report on the knitting front. Plugging away on the back of the SFH (Sweater from Hell) aka the Aran Cardie -- stopped last night right at the point of starting the armhole shaping. I'm *hoping* to finish the back by Saturday, get this baby blocked by Sunday and start the neck/buttonhole band by Monday. Then a quick spritz and reblock of the neck, sew on the buttons, and send it up to Mom by her birthday on July 5th. Say a rosary for me, folks! Hmm, the mention of rosaries reminds of me of my childhood and the many years I spent in parochial school. Good old St. Stephen's in Southeast Portland. Climb in the Way-Back Machine to the year 1972. I had the last of the "old school" nuns -- the ones that nightmares are made of! Think of "The Penguin" in The Blues Brothers movie, and you're not far off. Which brings us to:

TOYS BANNED BY NUNS!



Many of these little jewels ended up in Sister Elizabeth's desk drawer, never again to see the light of day. When a toy was confiscated by a nun, you never, ever got it back. Clockwise, from left: Klackers (glass balls on a string that you clacked up-and-down against each other -- "you'll put your eye out!"), Wacky Packages Bubble Gum (gum was absolutely verboten, and this brand had these awesome product parody cards that the nuns thoroughly disapproved of), Candy Cigarettes (nuff said), and Wizzzers (a high-speed spinning top -- boys loved to run up behind a girl with long hair and shove this mega-RPM toy into her hair and get it so tangled that the only way it could be removed was to cut her hair). Ah, memories!