The luna moths have returned! This is the second year a luna moth has claimed my front door as its home. They only live for a week or so, but what a glorious sight while they're here.

Speaking of things that have returned, the Knitting is Better than Prozac is back in action throughout Blogspot. More a pitch for knitting than for Knitter's Review itself, the ad should provide welcome comfort to those of you who are sick of looking at those "Free Credit!" and "Low-Interest Home Loans!" ads.

Things in blog land have changed considerably since the first version went up many moons ago. Hundreds of new knitting blogs have emerged. The New York knitting maven behind : : w w w . d a n g e r o u s c h u n k y . c o m : : has moved her stash across the country to Seattle, where she and Beth, the woman behind Homemade Slice of Chaos, are now raising quite a storm.

Dare I admit a sense of loss and thinly veiled envy? What are we East Coasters to do?

One option is to gang together at the first-annual Knitter's Review retreat this November in Virginia. Ironically, while it is being put together by an online entity, the event itself will take place in a rather rustic lodge where phones and TVs don't exist. Even cell phone coverage is sketchy.

The idea is to indulge in knitting, knitting, and more knitting (with an ample dose of tea and the lodge's homemade sweet rolls, which I hear are deadly) without any of our daily distractions. There'll even be an on-site yarn shop for extra supplies. Already 10 people have registered, so this should be great fun.

May I present the newest member of our team. Her name is Flo, and she sits in the mail room. Actually, she is the mail room. She arrived just a few days ago and has already demonstrated the speedy confidence and finesse for which her alma mater - Pitney Bowes - is known. Please take a moment to welcome her aboard! Our offices were closed on Monday while I drove a batch of cards down to our first retail customer, the Cape Cod Lavender Farm. It was absolutely beautiful, with field after field of blooming lavender surrounded by rambling roses and tall ornamental grasses. I also stopped by Adventures in Knitting, a fantastic little yarn shop in Harwich Port. There I discovered a cashmere boucle unlike anything I've ever seen before. It's imported by Joseph Galler, costs a pretty penny, but it's pure succulence at its very finest. Yes, one skein found its way home with me.

There's been much talk lately about the high number of knitters who also have cats. Not just have cats, mind you, but pretty much shape their lives around them. I do my part with my beloved Casey, shown here on his Colinette blanket (which used to be a sweater before I took all the pieces apart). What can I say, it looked better on him anyway.

My, my, my, Clara's Window has been silent for longer than I thought. I've been consumed by a combination of total overwhelm and summer bliss. After months of still silence, the rich sounds of crickets and birds and the rustling of leaves is pure intoxication at its best. It's putting me to sleep just thinking about it. Then there's been that little issue of packing up the KR Cards (all 20,000 of them) into their tidy, attractive little boxes. Let's just say I'm getting verrrrrry good at counting from one to ten. And THEN we had to scrap our original shopping cart system after six weeks of trying to fix it for the vendor. We're starting from scratch with a fine group of folks in Australia, of all places. The software is beautiful, as are the knitting-themed Limoges boxes that just arrived from France. Oh yes, did I mention that the boutique will also have a "items you don't need but are dying to have anyway" collectibles section? Enough about that boutique.

A few weekends ago I went to the Maine Fiber Frolic, a small but endearing affair here in black fly country, and came home with bags and bags of delicious angora blends. As you can imagine, it was necessary to throw aside all other obligations and whip up a test skein, which you see here, freshly plied, on my favorite niddy noddy. I like this stuff so much that even my cat - yes, the mighty Casey - was starting to get jealous.

And finally, on the knitting front, I discovered a half-finished pair of Lorna's Laces socks in one of my yarn baskets (pictured here) and have been enjoying the instant gratification of finishing them. Proof once again that leaving projects unfinished can actually be a wonderful thing. It may take a few years, but you'll eventually rediscover them with great glee.