Come Play on the Innernets!

Okay, Kat and Liz, I'll play.

A grad student is tracking the amount of time it takes for memes to get around the net. He would like you to go to his blog here, read about his project, type up a description of it on your blog (as I have done here), and then ping technorati.

Easy peasy. And you get the tingly feeling of knowing you have participated in SCIENCE!

Will you play, too?

Thankful

It was a lovely and productive holiday :) Thanksgiving went off without a hitch – everyone’s plane arrived as scheduled and the weather was great. DH’s cooking experiments were mostly quite successful – the turkey and stuffing got an enthusiastic two thumbs up, while the “spiced up” red beet eggs...let’s just say we won’t be enjoying them again anytime soon. MIL brought an amazing dessert wine - apple - and there was pie. Lots of pie.

Because both MIL and SIL are crafty ladies and brought some projects along for the weekend (which I totally forgot to photograph), I had lots of time to knit. Here are the two latest hats for Knit Unto Others:

 

The red one looks small but it is very stretchy. The beanie on the right was the big hit with everyone, especially my kids, so I’m currently making another - that one will bring my total to four. This week will be very busy but I’m aiming for two more hats after that, more if I can swing it. From there on out it’s Christmas present knitting all the way!!

One great thing about this weekend was our annual city Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Residents gather in front of city hall and receive a white taper candle. At 5 pm, the candles are lit and this mass of thousands and thousands of people slowly makes its way down Main Street in the direction of the Christmas tree. The street slopes down slightly, so when you turn and look back it is easy to see the virtual sea of tiny candle flames. There is a countdown to the tree lighting and then it’s off to the different performing arts venues and outdoor ice sculpturing. It’s impossible not to bump into neighbors, friends, teachers, and so on everywhere you go. I’m thankful to live in a city that is so family-friendly and has such lovely traditions.

We also exchanged Christmas gifts, our tradition with this out-of-town side of our family. My favorite gifts?

click here...and here

Hmmm...now where to begin????? 

What's on your Thanksgiving menu this year?

Here are the T-day stats chez YawnOver:

We are having:

-cranberry cream salad
-swiss-style green beans (dh grandmother's recipe)
-red beet eggs (my grandmother's recipe)
-honey-glazed baby carrots
-whipped potatoes
-stuffing, fresh bread, gravy
-pork chops - just kidding - turkey

My turkey is.....21 lbs. (Is he big enough to beat up your turkey?)

Pies: 1 mile-high apple, 3 pumpkin. Yeah, we like the pumpkin. Also a fruity jello salad.

Around the table: just 8 of us.

KUO update: 2/3 done with hat #2.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

KUO - One down, ?? to go...

I finished a hat for the Knit Unto Others KAL:

 

I used the "basic hat" pattern from Knitting for Peace, a simple roll brim affair. Having not made a hat like this before, I'm impressed with how comfortable it is to wear, and how versatile it is to be able to roll the brim up or down over the ears. Ribbing really is overrated, isn't it?

The plain knit was very boring, but luckily I had a lot of kid events this weekend where I could sit and knit and chat without worrying about messing up. I even got a bunch done in the car (passenger seat!!) while doing errands with dh - in the dark. Ah, the beauty of plain knit :) The yarn is Wool-Ease because I got a bunch at the craft store for just under $2 a skein, each one enough to make a whole hat plus leftovers. The 20% wool gives it a decent feel, and it is machine wash and dry, so no worries. I decided to knit for adults, men in particular, because among the needy this group often gets low priority.

Next in line is a cabled hat in a beautiful shade of cranberry.

Margene and Carole, if you are listening, I am loving this project. I always celebrating Thanksgiving with my in-laws who come from out-of-town, and while we're together we also exchange Christmas gifts. Although my shopping for them is usually done early, I am always so tempted to buy or knit "just one more thing" for them, as if this somehow would make the holiday that much nicer or more meaningful. This year, KUO is my way of adding meaning to the holiday. Rather than getting yet more stuff for those lucky enough to truly need none of it, I can throw myself into "just one more" mode in a way that will actually do some good for someone. So thank you :)

Check out this link for even more warm-and-fuzzy-ness, Mutts style (Caution: extreme cuteness will ensue).


 

Kitchenering Toes since 1986

DS socks done - but despite my measuring several times, the feet are at least 1/2" too short! First time I've ever done that with socks. Good thing I have another ds with smaller feet than the first...but now they won't be getting the colors they picked out. *Sigh*

I'm also quite disappointed in the colors - very blotchy with random splotches of color that look like something was spilled on the finished product. It makes the stitches look messy, whereas if you look at the socks up close the stitch quality and tension are actually fine.

 

The Magic Stripes colorways that have the mixed grey and white bands are better - consistent repeats, and much nicer striping overall. I am not a huge fan of this yarn anyway, but my kids like the colorways and it is convenient to be able to pick it up at the craft store rather than hauling the boys out to LYS.

Oh well, we will survive this setback and everyone will still have cute stripey feet, just in unexpected colors :) By Christmas, they may even forget what they picked to begin with! (Oh, who am I kidding!)

And yes, I have been kitchenering since 1986, starting with the undeserving boyfriend socks. (It sounded like a good title for something...)

On another note, I swatched for my Knit unto Others project today. I got gauge, so off I go - just not sure whether to do mittens or hats. Hat will be easier, but now would be a great time to try some mittens. Decisions, decisions...maybe a few of each?

I don't know about anyone else, but I am growing weary of this weirdly warm weather we're having lately. Now, mind you, there is a up side to this in that for the first time (I think) EVER, I haven't had to turn on the heat at all for the month of November. Down side is, I don't have the clothes for a warm November! Everything I wear lately looks dorky. (Hmmm...hopefully that is because of the weather???) 

Knit Unto Others Project

I can't believe it's time for this already! The "last 2 weeks of November" sounded so far away...

My plan is to knit hats and/or mittens for my local soup kitchen. I'm thinking, for speed purposes, I may use the "basic" patterns from Knitting for Peace. I've never knit mittens, though, so I may just stick with hats in the hopes of actually getting something done :)

Before I start KUOP I'd like to get my son's sock toes done, and my other son's socks cast on, and finish the little pink bag, but we shall see...these are some busy times. Thanksgiving is next week - aaakkk!!!

Knit Happens

There's a whole lot of the knit stitch going on at the moment. The Magic Stripes socks for ds have a stockinette foot:

 

(Note the utter lack of coherence in the striping. I looked and rolled and unrolled and rerolled but I could not find a closer repeat than what you see here. This hasn't been my experience with another MS colorway, lumberjack black; however, the child for whom these are intended is a big fan of anything whacky. I'm sure he'll appreciate these.)

Next up - felted bag for my niece, also knitted in the round:

 

I'm loving the girly colors and might throw in one more, possibly a variegated. I love how fast this project goes.

And the Einstein swatch, crochet cast-on mastered courtesy of my friend Lynne:

 

MAN is garter stitch boring. I hope I have the oomph to get this project done! It's probably not a good sign that I am feeling this way after 20 rows of swatch, hmm :) I may have to have a backup project in the wings - this Manos is too pretty to sit in a project bag for long.

To break up the monotony of plain knit I have been working on the Vogue Fall '05 shawl, which has a repeat of 30 rows that takes a wee bit of concentration. I thought people were perhaps exaggerating the difficulties of knitting with black yarn, but I am finding that it really does require good to excellent lighting. Progress is not exciting enough yet to show here, but some has been made nonetheless.

My other project has been designing a new header for this blog. I put something together and have been playing with code but don't quite have it figured out just yet. Soon, though.

Blog Identity Crisis

I have been going through something of an identity crisis with this here blog. I keep playing around with colors and profiles and so on but sometimes I feel like I am going around in circles and not getting things more like I want them to be. Whatever that is. Hmpf....

Good news - bipartisanship! Yay! It feels like Christmas :)

(It pales by comparison, but the other good news is the sock progress - check the 'Meter)

Peace

If you haven't yet done any knitting for charity this year, here is a lovely idea. Click on the button in my sidebar to go to the website to join. Thanks to Carole and Margene for organizing this.

  

Also, have you seen this book? Part of the proceeds go to charity, and it's a great read, so everyone wins. You know you never need an excuse to buy another knitting book :)

I'm watching CNN and biting my nails. Regardless of the election outcomes, I'll be praying for peace. 

Had it with Halloween?

So has this guy; check him out.

Progress on both the stripey socks and the pink felted bag; the Einstein Coat, not so much. I have to sit down and apply myself to the learning of the damn crochet cast-on, which I have convinced myself looks like something I don't want to learn, yet I must.

SnB yesterday was fun, as per usual. There was a whole lot of Knitty going on, with Naomi working a square for the gorgeous Lizard Ridge afghan and abby making Anouk. Both were using the yarns called for in the patterns - a totally yummy shade of Kuryeon for the afghan and the surprisingly soft Cascade Pima Tencel for Anouk. (What is a Tencel, anyway?)

One idea that got bounced around was the whole project rotation thing that's been going around the blogs. For example Kat's been trying out a system of working through a list of projects, item by item, by spending a specific number of hours per item before moving to the next. The idea is that stuff gets done but you don't get bored. I have seen other takes on this idea as well.

I could probably use a little of that self-discipline, but alas, I seem to be stuck in attention deficit knitting mode. Perhaps this rotation idea could be a New Year's Resolution? That, and knitting more purple things for myself.

Channeling Einstein

Signs all around me are pointing to Einstein. He is suddenly a topic of conversation among my children since I bought them a copy of this fabulous book. He (or a reasonable facsimile) is suddenly the annoying little MS Word helper who stands around looking wistful and blocking my toolbar (courtesy of same children.) But most importantly, his name is on THIS:

 

Can’t. Wait. To make this coat! I know it will be many hours of mind-numbing garter stitch, but I absolutely love the way it is put together. I am also looking forward to making it with this:

 

(My LYS gave me yet another reason to love it – 31% off all yarn over Halloween weekend, and “all” I had to do was show up in costume. What’s a little public humiliation when you stand to save almost one-third off? Of yarn?? I went in for purple Lopi and came out with all this gorgeous burgundy Manos.)

So... not much longer, Einstein. You and me, my friend, we’ll be spending some serious time together.

More FOS:

3x3 rib Silk Cashmere Scarf – Trendsetter Kashmir (65% cashmere, 35% silk, color=50)
4-3/4” wide by 52” long

 

Irish Hiking Scarf – Patons Classic Merino (100% wool, color=Taupe)
5” wide by 60” long

 

OK, I'll say it: I Conquered Cables!!! I will make this scarf again someday. It was a bit repetitive, but not overly so, and very satisfying.