Camera back!

DP has been using the camera so much that I haven't been able to get pictures of much of anything (or get pictures off that I've taken).  However, I got it back, so I present my Love Actually cowl:



My Baba's Fence scarf:



My Plump Mitts:



and my Grackle (for the Volsung KAL):



More pics and descriptions later, but I really wanted to get these up!

It's done...now what?

I finished the Love Actually cowl - it actually keeps me warm, though it could be warmer :)

I have two pairs of slippers and a cowl to finish, and then I have to make a decision.  What next?  DP asked for another pair of fingerless gloves in fingering weight.  Colorwork if possible.  I don't know if I have the patience to make another colorwork project so soon after the cowl...I like to be able to buzz along in a pattern, and colorwork doesn't stick in my head as well as texture or cable patterns do.

In order to finish the cowl (which I have not yet actually started), I need to finish the yarn.  I'm spinning a bulky two ply from the Foxfire cormo silk alpaca, my absolute favorite spinning fiber of all time.  I finished the singles last night, so tonight I need to ply, soak, and spin out the yarn.  It's so dry in the house, the yarn will be dry by Friday, and I'll be able to start the project, which needs to be done by Monday night.

Then onto the slippers - the Non-Felted Slippers have become my go-to pattern.  I can make a pair in a day, and it's pretty easy to tweak the sizing.  I'm going to use Knit Picks Wool of the Andes bulky and worsted for these two pairs:  one Wallaby/Silver and one Jam/Avocado.  I need to double the bulky to get close to the gauge and fabric that I like, so I'm planning to quadruple the worsted.  We'll see how it works out, but I bought enough yarn so I'm not too concerned!

Cast on extravaganza

I can't stop casting on new projects!

I have the socks for DP, a pair of fingerless gloves for my sister, a scarf for my mom and now I want to cast on this.  I don't know if I even have the colors to make it, but I don't care.  Must create!

In that vein, I also made some tasty date whole wheat bread yesterday - the recipe from Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book.  It tastes great, but I didn't finish it until 12:30am.  It rose so slowly, and I had to retard it in the fridge when I went to my mom's house.

Off to knit!

Gosh

It's been a long time.

Christmas knitting took up a lot of my free time, and work took up the rest.  Tasks expand to fill the time one has, I guess :)

I'm currently working on a new pair of socks for DP, since I haven't gotten around to darning his old ones.  I need to keep a closer watch on thin spots, so I can catch them before they become huge holes, which is where we're at right now.

The socks I'm working on are red heels and toes and a tan body.  At first I was annoyed, because the tan was much darker in real life than online, but now I kind of like it.  It's kind of an older, ancient looking tan.

I'm also working on a crochet afghan and the beekeeper quilt.  Little by little, they grow.

LG had her doctor's appointment and rabies shot, and once again had a reaction to it.  The reaction was milder, but still there.  Sigh.  Also, she is a little bit overweight - eek!  I guess it's the huge amounts of treats I keep feeding her.  Just a few ounces, but we'll have to work on it.

Work is work - that's all I can say for now.  It also seems like everyone else is leaving but me...maybe I'll get a raise because no one will be left :)

I've been trying to work on my spinning, particularly spinning textured yarns.  I'm going through Spin Art and trying to work on one of each of the yarns per chapter.  I got the book for beehive yarns and tried those first.  Eep.  I was able to make some beehives, but I didn't anchor them correctly, so they kind of slid around the yarn and un-beehived themselves.  Yesterday I decided to start over and did the racing stripe yarn.  That worked out much better, and it's soaking now.  I really want to make the deeply textured, lumpy bumpy stuff, but I need to walk before I can run.

Gloves are done!

Huzzah!  They are done!  I just need to get a picture for the experience to truly be over :)

I'm trying to decide which Christmas present to start on next...I'm taking a bit of a break by doing some granny-style motifs.  I just made a hexagon, and I can't believe how much I enjoyed it.  It's been a long time since I crocheted motifs.  I'm using Noro silk garden, and I think I have a bunch of skeins of it lying around, so I can keep on making them to unwind. 

I have the pattern for the next pair of fingerless gloves written out, and I think I figured out what size needle I need to use, so it's really just a matter of making them.  They should be nice - I'm using Madelinetosh :)

I had a scare earlier this week - I thought LG had eaten some poison.  It looks like she didn't, but I was so scared, I was shaking.  The problem is that she's so curious about everything, and her way of exploring new things is to chew on them.  Sigh.  I wish that she wasn't allergic to chicken, because I'd love to give her chicken bones to chew on, but she gets so sick that I don't want to try.  Interestingly, she doesn't get sick from eating her dry food (we use it as a treat or snack when we have to have dneph watch her)...does that mean that it is so processed her body doesn't even recognize it as chicken? 

In other news, I've reading Michael J. Sullivan's Theft of Swords trilogy.  The books are not the best in the world, but they are eminently readable, and they really make me want to play Skyrim!  I wish that I could find more books like these:  no sex, high adventure, lots of fun, characters that I want to be :)  I have to say it:  I wish I was Hadrian.  One of the greatest sorrows of my life is that I have no children, and one of the things that I wanted to teach my children was how to fight.  I've always thought that if I knew how to fight (box, martial arts, anything), life would be a lot more enjoyable.

Gonna make it, gonna make it

I'm on the last repeat of those blasted gloves - maybe I'll finish them before the week is over.  I just want this albatross off my neck!

I cobbled together a pair of crocheted fingerless gloves for my brother, but the yarn is a bit too scratchy.  I may use them myself, or as an over-pair.  I haven't decided.  I worked out the pattern for yet another pair, but now I have to knit them!  I've been having trouble getting the correct needle size for the yarn I'm working with, but I will persevere.

I started the KSH gloves for my mom, and almost immediately pushed them into a bag and stuffed it deep into the ottoman.  KSH is glorious when knit up, but a bear to actually knit.  I'll have to wait a bit for a less stressful time to work on them.

Once a month

Set the bar low, and maybe I'll trip over it!

I'm still working on the gloves for dneph...for some reason, I have not had the time I'd like to work on them. I have so many other things I want to do, but these are my current albatross.

I wanted to make a little sweater for my niece, but that too is not happening :)

I have my present list, and I need to get started on it.  I think I need a day of organizing projects, with yarn and needles, and then just busting through them.  

I saw the new posters for The Hobbit today, and several of the dwarves have knitted fingerless gloves!  Even Gandalf looks to have a stockinette pair.  The others seem to be in seed stitch, and one looks like it's actually crocheted, or possibly sideways garter stitch.  If I could get my yarn together, I think I could recreate them.  One pair looks like my pair of "this and that" mitts, so I should probably write that up asap.

That's pretty much my life right now.  I work, come home, wash dishes, go to sleep, go back to work.  I'm really only getting knitting done on the bus, which is just an hour a day.  Ack!

Lady Grey is doing well.  She's 13 months old now, and getting so big!  She's also growing her winter coat, so I have to be vigilant about matts.  She has two that I haven't been able to cut out because they're right under her front legs and I just can't get to them.  I still take her out for her walks, and she's progressed to walking in the front yard now too.  She loves chasing rabbits and squirrels (though I don't let her catch them), but she also just likes to sit outside, with her tail wrapped around her legs, and look at everything.  She's such a wonderful kitty.