FO!

The big green blanket is now about 85% done. Maybe this weekend....

However, I did start, and finish, a little project this weekend.

That's my head behind Vinnie's - see my hair sticking out?

Okay, so, no matter how cute he is, Vinnie isn't the best model. Actually, it's probably because he was happy to wear the hat as long as he was sitting on my lap, leaning against me.

The pattern is Sweet Pea, and it's for my hairstylist, who is due in about 2 weeks and doesn't know if she's having a boy or a girl.

The yarn is Mission Falls 1824 Cotton, (colors Frost, Lemongrass, and Wintergreen), which I'm not really crazy about - too cottony! And if I were to do it again, I'd use size 6 needles, rather than size 7.

I do like the peas in the pod, though.

My other FO of the weekend was Rachael's book, How to Knit a Love Song. Even though I pre-ordered it from Amazon, just because it was Rachael's book, it's been lying on my table ever since it arrived. I just don't read romances. But Friday night, I wanted something light to read, so I picked it up -- and I loved it! It's well-written and has a story full of people I really liked. I'm not giving up my murder mysteries for romances, but I'll certainly read Rachael's next one.

Isn't it odd...

that I live in Iowa but have never been to Minnesota?

visited 31 states (62%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

Anyway -- I am still alive. Within a couple days I should have one - and maybe two - FOs to show you. I'll admit that the knitting has been a little sparse for the last couple weeks, but my excuse is my new toy.

It's a miracle!

Apparently all it takes to bring peace to my kitty-kingdom is a pouch of Friskies Gravy Sensations, split three ways and doctored up with a little Pro-Pet Skin & Coat Care Formula (soy bean, cod liver, and wheat germ oil, plus vitamins -- it works wonders on dry kitty skin).

Yes, that is a snow boot next to a sandal there in the corner.

That's Vinnie in front, Dolly in the middle, and Harley at the back. While they were waiting for me to get it all divvied up, Harley and Dolly huddled together, then at the same time, turned toward Vinnie and hissed. It really looked like they were discussing their options, and decided a good hiss was the best answer!

Vinnie has been getting much braver, exploring the whole house. I really think it's just a matter of time before they're all getting along -- or at least tolerating each other.

In knitting news, have you seen Snowden Becker's pretty Larkin (rav) baby blanket? After I admired it, she asked me if I would like to test-knit it. I explained that I have to finish the big green blanket, and that I'm a really slow knitter. She said that was okay, so Saturday evening, I cast on for it in KnitPicks Comfy Sport in a wonderful shade of grey called Whisker. Actually, I tried to cast on Friday evening, after the yarn arrived, but realized that I didn't own any size 4 DPNs, so I had to work on the big green blanket until I could get a set of DPNs the next morning.

Even though this is supposed to be a baby blanket, I think I'll be keeping it for me!

I'm still slogging along on the big green blanket.

Miss Me?

I realize that you don't expect a post from me more than once every week or 10 days, but this time, I was really out of town!

With my mom, brother, and niece, I went to San Antonio to visit my sister and brother-in-law. I'm really lucky they still live there, because it gives me a good reason to visit the city I lived in for 23 years! Our visit, which was timed to take place during my niece's spring break, also coincided with my sister and BIL's move to the house they just bought. I'm sorry to say that I didn't take a single picture of their new-to-them house, which is adorable -- built in 1959, hardwood floors throughout, built-ins in every room, original tile (and not ugly colors!) in both bathrooms, big trees in the back yard -- you would love it!

I did get a chance to meet up with some of my knitter friends. We went someplace new to me - a great Chilean restaurant called Chile Lindo (that's a Yelp link - I thought they had a website, but can't find it). The empanadas were great and, of course, so was the company!

The family also made our usual pilgrimage to Rudy's (the original one, in Leon Springs). There, I only managed to take pictures of the meat (turkey and brisket) and the remnants of the amazing creamed corn, although I also ran into some former co-workers. I also had lunch with some co-workers at Thai Taste, one of our favorite lunch places for years. (That link goes to CitySearch, where it seems to be one of those places reviewers either love or hate. I have to say that I love it - the food is great and the service is excellent. It's not fancy, but then again - it's also really cheap. It's also always busy at lunchtime, so it's fine with me if those people who don't like it stay away!)

I also had Tex-Mex at least four times (breakfast tacos twice, Taco Cabana for lunch, and Perico's for dinner). And when not eating, I was yarn-shopping! First I stopped by the Yarn Barn, where I bought Alisha Goes Around sock yarn (merino/bamboo/nylon) -- Alisha is from New Braunfels, just north of San Antonio --

and a skein of the very decadent Hand Maiden Casbah (merino/cashmere/nylon) in Midnight, which will be a thank-you gift for my cat caretaker.

And then, at the insistence of all those knitters up there, I made a trip up to Comfort to The Tinsmith's Wife. Wow! What a great place -- well worth the 90 mile round trip! There I met Bill, the owner's father who holds down the fort, and Laurel and Noro, who are extremely laid-back cats. The shop is very cute (as is, frankly, all of downtown Comfort) and they have a wonderful selection of yarn. I came out with three skeins of Mission Falls 1824 Cotton destined to become a baby hat,

two skeins of Kollage Creamy (80% milk and 20% cotton!),

and a skein of String Theory Caper sock yarn (merino/cashmere/nylon) in Bowmore, which will make a beautiful shawlette.

And -- I finally finished the Bougainvillea socks! Love them! The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in cranberry.

Bullets and No Pictures

• I'm exhausted. "Spring forward" always kicks my butt, and this Saturday night was particularly bad. Due to multiple airline-induced delays, I was up until 4:30 Sunday morning.
• Those airline-induced delays were because I was in Albuquerque for a conference last week. I've been to ABQ four times, always for conferences, but I'd really like to go back for a real vacation some time. It reminds me of San Antonio.
• Speaking of San Antonio, my family and I leave for a visit there this Friday. It probably means I'll be up until about 4:30 Saturday morning; I'm really too old to do that twice in 8 days.
• My San Antonio knitting project will be the incredibly boring blanket, which has been languishing at 40% complete since the Olympics.
• Before I leave, I want to finish my Bougainvillea socks, which have been a focus in the last couple weeks.
  
• And speaking of the Bougainvillea socks -- they are one of Anne Hanson's amazing designs, and last week, I won a copy of this gorgeous book in a contest at her blog!
  

Harbingers of Spring (and a knitting-related question)

The snow is melting slowly, which is a good thing, as it helps minimize the possibility of flooding, and it's actually gotten above 40 for a couple days. This week's predicted precipitation is rain and fog, not snow.

Yesterday, a few geese returned to the pond.

Click to enbiggen

The pond is creek-fed (and in fact, the creek continues on beyond the pond), so where the water is flowing in, the ice has melted. Notice the goose standing on the ice, though!

I am very ready for Spring. This is the time of year when I really miss San Antonio, where it's already Spring and, if the wildflowers aren't already blooming, they will be soon.

Knitting-wise, I'm forcing myself to keep working on the blanket. I'm 40% done - it's easy to keep track of when you've got 10 skeins of yarn and plan on using them all! It's reached the bulky and non-portable point and is boring knitting, which is a deadly combination for me. Occasionally, I take a break to work on any of the several pairs of socks that are on the needles.

I need baby-knitting advice. I have a friend who is due in May and is not going to learn the sex of the baby. Although she's not a knitter, she always admires my knitting, so I want to knit something nice for her. However, the fact that I don't know whether I'm knitting for a boy or girl has me stumped. I do NOT want to knit another blanket - I'd rather do a sweater or maybe a hat and booties. Any gender-neutral suggestions, not just for patterns but for colors and yarns? (I think I have problems with this because I'm such a girly-girl...)

I promise knitting pictures next time!

From the Mail Lady

It's always exciting when the mail lady brings goodies. Actually, sometimes it's the library's delivery guy (his name is Ron), since I have a fair amount of mail delivered to work instead of home. Either way, whether it's Ron or the anonymous Mail Lady who delivers my home mail, it's always exciting.

There have been some undocumented knitting-related deliveries lately.

Here's the February shipment of the Mean Girls Yarn Club.

Both times that I have joined yarn clubs, I've told myself that it would force me to consider yarn not within my usual colorways. However, not surprisingly, this month's shipment is my favorite, because it's definitely within my colorway comfort zone!

The shipment also included a heart-shaped lollypop and a tiny key-shaped stitch marker.

Speaking of stitch markers:

That's two sets of stitch markers from Lynette's Etsy shop, Passionknit Pieces. I'm a sucker for stitch markers, and she's got lots of cute ones!

Red Nuggets

Black Cats

At least six weeks ago, my friend Melissa asked me if I wanted some old knitting patterns she had gotten somehow. I said sure, so she put them in the mail to me.

The first few looked like the typical pamphlets I remember my grandma having back in the 60s and 70s. Most of these didn't have dates on them but the two that did were dated 1974, which is the year I graduated from high school, so I remember it very well!

The last one in the pile had a note attched.

I have to say that I don't remember guys wearing aran hats tilted to one side like that. I also don't remember any dressing like this!

Note the same tilt to the hat. Maybe he's got a scar over his eyebrow.

I'm not one to criticize the styles from the past - I'm old enough to know that fashion is circular and if you're laughing about it today, there's a good possibility you'll be wearing it tomorrow. However, I'm pretty sure I'd remember guys dressed like this!

And those knee socks? They're actually leg warmers, years before the leg warmer craze of the '80's!

The Last Christmas Gift!

This weekend, I finally finished my brother's flip-top, flip-thumb mittens. I could have had them finished a couple weeks ago, but really needed my brother's thumb handy, to make sure everything fit.

He had tried on the prototype at Christmas, so knitting the hand/mitten part was easy. The thumb still puzzled me, though, so I knit two variations. After he tried them both on Friday evening, I cut the thumb tips off, and redid both.

So - in the end, I knit 3 mittens and 5 thumbs, but ended up with something we both liked.

It was raining outside, so we couldn't take pictures with snow.
I should have at least made my brother put on his coat!

Details
Patterns:
Construction of hand: Nuttinbutknittin's Glittens
Final thumb: Glenna C's Podster Gloves
Colorwork patterning: My own, but nothing fancy - 2x2 squares and some straight lines. The fanciest thing about them is probably the twisted rib cuff!

Yarn: 4 colors of Cascade 220, which is my favorite mitten yarn. I like it for color work, and it makes nice, warm, water-resistant mittens.

Needles: Size 4 DPNs for the cuffs, glove insert, and mitten and thumb tips; size 6 DPNs for the stranded work.

Olympic Knitting

Although I'm not participating on a team in the Ravelympics, I did sign up for the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics. I did this not because I think I will finish a project and "medal," but to force myself to work on this lap blanket, which I promised to knit by May for a charity.

It's a free pattern from the Bernat site, called Cable Blanket and I'm using Knitpicks Swish Bulky (color Honeydew, apparently no longer available and greener than this picture shows) and size 10 needles. Some of you know how I dislike big yarn and big needles, but I had 10 skeins of the yarn in stash (and no idea how it got there!) and it seemed like a smart use of it. I'm making it slightly narrower than the pattern directs, partly because I wanted a more "lap size" blanket but also because I'm not sure I've got enough yarn. I think it's going to end up around 45" x 42" - sounds like "lap-size" to me!

My brother's flip-top, flip-thumb mittens are basically finished, although they have different thumbs. I'll see my brother this weekend and we'll decide which thumb works better. Then I'll rip out the "wrong" thumb and re-knit it. Luckily, thumbs knit up fast! Hopefully, I'll get a modeled shot once they're done.

I mentioned a while ago that I really wanted to make a Boneyard shawl. After starting it in a couple other yarns that were of a more appropriate gauge, I decided to use the Malabrigo Sock Yarn in Stonechat, for which I had been having trouble finding a good project. Although Boneyard calls for a heavier yarn, I have two skeins of the Malabrigo Sock Yarn, so I think I'll just keep knitting until it's gone!

Looking at my Ravelry Projects page, I realize that the last thing I actually finished for myself was by October Lady Sweater, which I finished at the end of September. I think maybe the reason I have such a case of startitis is because I want to make something fore ME!!!!

I did make some cupcakes for me - and for my co-workers - for Valentine's Day....

Black Cats

I've had this little black iron cat for years. I believe my mom gave it to me one year for Christmas. I use it as a door stop -- notice the hinge in the photo. Black Kitty is quite small!

For reasons I don't understand, Harley has always been terrified of Black Kitty. Whenever she walks past it, she stays as far away from it as possible and eyes it suspiciously!

Dolly ignores Black Kitty. Her favorite place this winter is hunched over the heat register in the kitchen. Poor cold baby... I'm tired of winter, too!

Knitting

Thanks for the comments on my last post. Unfortunately, no one seems to know anything about my pendants. Oh, well... they're still pretty!

My knitting mojo seems to be waxing and waning, practically on a daily basis. I've finished another fliptop glove for my brother, and have started on the second of this pair.

What you see here is the back of the hand, with the 'fliptop' pulled back.

I'm still not thrilled with the fliptop thumb, but it will be easy to rip out and re-do. I've considered the thumb from the Podster mitts, but I still feel like there must be an easier way. However, her method does seem to prevent the "flaring flap" issue I'm having with my method!

I also started the second of my Bougainvillea socks. I started the first one last February, and although I absolutely love everything about this sock, other projects seems to constantly take precedence.

That's the second cuff. My camera wanted to focus on Vinnie!

While digging around for an empty project bag, I pulled out one with the beginning of Gale, which, like Bougainvillea, is an Anne Hanson pattern. It's a wonderful patten, but it and the yarn - Malabrigo Sock Yarn in Stonechat - just didn't seem to be working. So I frogged. Now I have two skeins of this pretty pretty yarn. It would make beautiful socks, bu I'm still not sure that's what it wants to be.

I've also knit a few rounds on my Hedgerow socks, which I started back in October.

I need to get some of these project done. I'm itching to start a Boneyard scarf/shawl (rav) and a Myrtle cardigan (rav). Boneyard looks so nice and cozy, plus, it's named after the Boneyard Creek, which flows through campus in Champaign/Urbana. I haven't decided on a yarn yet. However, I have invested in the yarn for Myrtle: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Solids in Nantucket Red, which I got on sale at BargainYarns. Pretty!

And one more thing, having nothing to do with knitting! Have you seen the T-Mobile commercial with Eric Clapton? I'm a huge Clapton fan (one of the good things that came from my marriage - my ex was--still is, I'm sure--a huge Clapton fan, and his good taste in music rubbed off on me). I was appalled the first time I saw it, but I have to say that I smile every time it comes on now. It's just nice to see EC, even if it is on a commercial! I also realized that, among the 80+ Clapton/Cream/Derek & the Dominos/Blind Faith songs on my ipod, I didn't have the song playing in that commercial, "I've Got a Rock'n'Roll Heart." How can that be??? (I have it now, thanks to iTunes!)

Not knitting

ETA: Oh, yeah - I changed my blog's background. I like it, but I'm not so sure about the header. More changes may be coming.

Actually, I am knitting - I'm about half done with my brother's first real fliptop mitten (as opposed to the prototype) and I've also worked some on my Hedgerow socks, which have been languishing since before Christmas knitting began. I really need socks - all of my handknit socks seem to have self-destructed simultaneously.

But tonight I need to tap the collective knowledge of my readers.

Do any of you know anything about these?

Here's the background: As I'm sure I've mentioned, my ex-husband was military - Army, to be exact - and spent a year in Korea. He brought these pendants back for me. I know he was excited about them, and thought they were really cool. My impression was that they were some sort of classical or traditional Korean jewelry.

Here are closeups of each of them. They are each about 1.35 inches high by 1 inch wide. The brown one, with the swans, is more teardrop-shaped, while the purple one, with the geese, is more egg-shaped. Both are convex on both the front and the back.

I had totally forgotten about these until I found them today while looking through my jewelry for a couple of rings (which I didn't find). I, of course, tried googling for more information about this style of jewelry, but didn't find anything. Anyone know anything about it?

Extended Christmas Knitting

I mentioned the Fliptop/Flipthumb mittens I'm (still) knitting for my brother for Christmas. I'm using these rather loose guidelines for the fliptop portion, but am winging it for the 'flipthumb' (needed for iphone use, of course!) I also wanted to make the body of the mittens stranded colorwork, because that makes them so much warmer.

By the time I started knitting the inner half-fingers on this, I knew it was a prototype and that I would have to knit two more. I'll be going up a needle size for the hand portion of the mitten and down a needle size for the half-fingers. I'll also be using a sock-weight yarn forthe half-fingers rather than the Cascade 220 that's used for the rest. I'm still not sure the flipthumb is going to work!

This would be my hand modeling the mitten, not my brother's. No red nail polish for him!

However, I couldn't start work immediately on these, since the size 6 dpn's I need for the mitten portion are just about the only dpn's I didn't already own! I didn't get to Crazy Girl to pick up a set until Tuesday evening, by which time I had already been distracted by the fact that one of my co-workers was in desperate need of a hat. I waited at the bus stop with him one evening and watched the snow pile up on his head!

So I spent a couple nights cranking out a Marsan Watch Cap, also in Cascade 220. If you're looking for a simple, quick, warm hat, I'd really recommend this one. I may even make one for myself!

The recipient promises to wear it, and seemed really excited to get it. I think this means I have to make hats for the rest of the staff now, though!

So tonight I came home, ready to work on the mittens - but was distracted by the Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Candy Girl that has been sitting on my coffee table for months. It's been in may stash for years; when I saw the Feather Duster pattern last summer, I knew they were meant for each other! And I just couldn't help myself...

Happy New Year!

I didn't really plan on being gone for almost two weeks, but you know how this time of year is! The library was closed Dec. 24-27 and Jan. 1, and I took Dec. 28-31 off. The original plan was to go to San Antonio for Christmas at my sister's but circumstances got in the way and instead, we had Christmas at my mom's house in central Illinois. My sister even came up for a week (yay for Southwest Airlines and affordable airfares - and free checked bags, too!).

I got Christmas knitting mostly done. Beside the Grove mittens for my niece,

Rav link

there was a Traveling Woman shawlette for my mom

Rav link

and a small-sized Bitterroot for my sister. I didn't quite get this done before Christmas, but I did get it done before I left Mom's. I didn't use beads on mine - that would have slowed me way down! As it is, I'm impressed that I got this done in just over two weeks -- work really gets in the way of knitting!

Rav link

There was also the "not quite Jayne" hat in Tennessee Titans colors for my brother-in-law, shown here modeled by my mom's dog Blackie. In reality, the colors aren't quite so eye-searing but this is the only picture I have of it.

Rav link

There's also a pair of flip-top, flip-thumb mittens for my brother. I've finished one prototype mitten, and will be making a pair based on that, with adjustments based on my brother's actual hand size as well as things I learned while making the prototype. Photos will follow. In the meantime, here are a few more pictures from Christmas.

Kitties

I had a post all written about how I spent today worried about Vinnie and Dolly, because they both seemed a little under the weather, but then I decided you might not really want to hear about it -- especially since Laurie wrote a similar, and much better, post today.

So let me just say that everyone is fine this evening, and wondering why I was worried.

Dolly says, "It was just a little hairball - and I'm always grouchy in the morning.

Harley says, "I spent the day licking Dolly's head. I'm sure that's what made her well."

Vinnie says, "I don't know about head licking, but that mineral oil stuff you gave me yesterday seems to have done the trick! Also, I just licked the powdered sugar off the cookie you left laying on the coffee table."

Stuff That Makes Me Happy

• That Christmas is 50% off at Hobby Lobby.
  
• That, despite that fact, I still only spent $8.56 at Hobby Lobby!
• That my neighbor shoveled the 3 foot high pile of snow off the curb in front of my car, and shoveled a completely clear path to the driver's side door. He likes to shovel, plus he's a nice guy.
  
• The new Knitty! (especially this)
• That I may actually finish all my Christmas knitting!
• That this year's Illinois basketball team seems to be much better than the football team.
• That the simple act of wearing fingerless gloves and a cowl makes my chilly living room more comfortable. (I know - why did it take me so long to figure this out?)
• That although the high temperature tomorrow is predicted to be 10ºF (-12ºC), it's supposed to be 30ºF (-1ºC) by Thursday.
• That the US still uses Fahrenheit, because those Celsius temps look so much colder! ;-)
• That two of my kitties love each other, and the third loves me!