Things I've Done

I'm sitting here waiting for my pumpkin pie to bake, and could be doing lots of other more productive things, but instead, I stole this Top 100 Things I've Done meme from Bezzie.

Things I've Done (In Bold)

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (I doubt they mean the high school band, but I'm going to count this one anyway.)
4. Visited Hawaii (Not yet -- but I've got a ticket to go in May for a conference, plus an extra couple days)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo (oh, good lord, no!)
11. Bungee jumped (also, good lord, no!)
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightening at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables (never very successfully)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train (what about an overnight bus?)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language (not that I remember the German I used to know but I did learn on my own, mostly from listening to people around me)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (but they won't take my blood anymore)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (Ted, the Bear)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt (a tiny one)
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (but I've watched my mom and grandma kill turkeys and chickens)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person (repeatedly!)
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant (as a child at the Illinois State Fair)

Where'd that hat come from?

Yes, between the time I posted yesterday and bedtime, I knit a hat to match the cowl!

Pattern: Foliage (version 1) from the Fall 2007 Knitty
Yarn: You have to ask? About half a skein of the same Dream in Color Fatty in Ruby River!
Notes: I followed the pattern exactly. This is an incredibly quick, easy pattern. You need one, too!

I have a little less than half a skein of this yarn left. I'm wondering if I could get a pair of fingerless gloves out of it....

Stop Me Before I Cast On Again!

Since I last blogged I have knit a warshrag to match the Toto for my mother

and a cowl for me!!!

Did you know that cowls are the new scarves?
And does anyone know if that Strivectin stuff works?

I love this and am looking forward to wearing it tomorrow morning while waiting for the bus! I'm now looking for a hat pattern to make use of the remaining 90ish yards of yarn.

Pattern: Dolores Park Cowl
Yarn: just a little over one skein of Dream in Color Fatty (a sort of slightly-thinner-than-bulky yarn, which is apparently no longer produced) in Ruby River

• I cast on 70 stitches instead of 60, but really, probably would have been fine with 60.
• Because I was hoping to only use 1 skein, I skipped one plain knit row in the middle, but I still needed to dip into the second skein for the last round and a half and the bind-off.
• I used the Russian Bind-off, which I think is just as beautiful as it is stretchy. It takes longer to do, but I think it may be my new bind-off.
  
• This picture doesn't do justice to the yarn's color, which actually has a lot of purple in it.
• The yarn is wonderful -- soft and squooshy and gorgeous!

I'm not sure why but small projects on big needles really attract me at the moment, which is totally, totally not usually me! But really I think this cowl needs a matching hat of some sort... (Sorry, Helen, I promise to get back to Daedelus soon!!!)

Toto

I managed to miss my Mom's birthday earlier this month. I mean, I knew it was happening, and saw her the previous weekend, but the cookbook I wanted to get her wasn't published until the next week. I'll take her the cookbook at Thanksgiving, but figured I should add something else. She really likes warshrags, so I've started one (no picture!). On Monday, though, I was suddenly overwhelmed to knit her a Toto the Extremely Useful and Cute Potholder (Ravelry link) from the new(ish) Mason-Dixon book. Although it was a rocky start -- my size 8 DPNs are metal and extra long and heavy (and I have no idea how I came to own them!), so midway through, I switched to two circs. However, all of my shorter Harmony cables were in use, so I ended up using a really long cable on one side. Those needles swinging around were almost as annoying as the DPNs! This afternoon (before a dental appointment), I stopped by my LYS and picked up some normal, short, bamboo size 8 DPNs, and finished it this afternoon.

Yarn: Lily Sugar'n Cream in Red, Sage, and Warm Brown

I'm so please with it that I started another!

Settling in for the Winter

I know winter is coming. We've gotten a couple of snow flurries, although no accumulation, and just today I put the flannel sheets and electric blanket on my bed. (I also sealed my drafty bedroom windows with the trailer-trash plastic film, but I'd prefer not to think about that.)

But the real sign, I think, is how much I've been cooking, especially with the crockpot. This weekend, I used it to make risotto. I don't know about you, but I've always thought of risotto as something you ordered in a restaurant, because it's such a pain to make at home -- all that stirring! I was a little skeptical about this recipe, but tried it anyway. The only change I made was to add some sliced mushrooms with the parmesan.

It wasn't exactly perfect risotto, with those separate but creamy grains of rice, but it was pretty close and incredibly easy!

I made focaccia bread, using my favorite pizza crust recipe, with a little olive oil and Italian herbs.

I had a glass of this with it.

Yum!

Stonewall

I was in Chicago yesterday and today for eight hours of meetings. Part of that time was knitter-friendly, so I got through two repeats of Stonewall. I love this pattern, I love this yarn (although Jessie apparently out of the Merino/Tencel) and I love the color, which is actually pretty close to what I see on my monitor -- maybe just a little deeper in real life.

ETA: And over the weekend, I took Bezzie's suggestion and finished the second Illini sock. Yay, FO!!!

Startitis

I have a serious case of startitis. This despite the fact that I've finally started the last chart of Daedelus and am back to beading fun:

You might remember that I've recently started a pair of socks, and a Christmas stocking.

Red Velvet kit from Judy's Colors
Nail polish: Boris & Natasha by OPI

Apparently, though, that wasn't enough.

A couple days ago, I cast on another beautiful Anne Hanson design, Stonewall, using Jessie's A Piece of Vermont Merino/Tencel in Long Time Gone.

I love Anne's designs and Jessie's yarns -- together, they're even better!

Last night, while digging through the knitting bin next to my chair, I pulled these out.

These are my Illini socks, begun over a year ago, right after I moved here, when I thought I'd be able to knit on the bus (nope, too crowded). It's Wendy's generic toe-up sock, knit from Scout's hand-dyed sock yarn in the Illini colorway. All that's left is a couple of inches of stockinette leg, a little ribbing, and a bind-off. So.... I knit a few rounds tonight.

And all the time, there are four skeins of Malabrigo Silky Merino, begging to be knit into a hat and small scarf....

Really more of a blue-green...