Proposition

I was reminded that it was time for me to write my monthly blog post. Seems to be about the pace I'm keeping these days. And just to show what a yarn/knitting slut I can really be, I am propositioning anyone who still reads this to complete some random stranger's (but she's a knitter, so how bad can she be?) survey and then leave me a comment (or an email if you have that info) with the random number you selected and the sex/gender you entered so I can steal your effort and get myself better odds at winning Ravelry swag.
Of course, if you want your own Ravelry swag just take your own info and email it to her and steal my lock on the prizes. If this is all nonsense to you, just go take the survey and let me know your secret random number. Please.

For Knitters Only

If thrums are supposed to be a "gateway drug" to spinning, I think I am in no danger of developing a spinning addiction. Making thrums is a pain in the ass.

Yay!

"Awwwwww!!" enthused the girl. "He's wearing the hat you made him for Christmas! That's so cute!"

So said my girl as we drove home from school and she spied my 13-year old nephew walking down the street with a bunch of friends on this cold sunny afternoon wearing the hat I knitted for him for Christmas. He did look cute in it and I was happy to see that I had made the right choice for his hat.

Christmas Crunch

I thought I had it all under control when it came to knitting Christmas presents this year. I started before Thanksgiving and had a few gifts done even before December rolled around. And yet, here it is, less than a week before Christmas and I have four projects that need to be finished. It's not impossible to finish them all in time, but it would help a lot if I stopped wasting hours doing things the wrong way and then re-doing them the right way. That would definitely help.

Yummy Yarn!

I should totally be in bed right now, but the debate was pretty blah and my camera battery finally recharged so I'm uploading photos of my yarn wound into cakes.

Last Saturday I did something that I haven't done on a weekend in quite a long time-- went out and had fun with a group friends. (Wow. The simple fact of writing that and realizing it's true kind of makes me sad.) Anyway, we all gathered at our gracious hostess' house to dye yarn. If you aren't a knitter or other yarn junkie that probably sounds just plain weird, but it was actually a blast. It takes quite a bit of time and the actual dyeing is messy and definitely best done outside. I never got around to researching techniques or planning out what kind of color combinations I wanted to use so I ended up being pretty spontaneous with it. Of the four skeins I dyed, I am pretty happy with three of them. The fourth, a sock blank, came out kind of stupid looking but I'm hoping once it's wound into a skein it will look better.

Knitting Meme

"Mychawd", who possesses mad knitting skills and devotion, tagged me for this meme.

1) Bold things you’ve done,
2) Green thing you are currently doing
3) Red out things you’ve abandoned or will never attempt
4) Italicize things you want to try

Afghan
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Baby items
Bobbles
Button holes
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Cardigan
Charity knitting
Continental knitting
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Darning
Designing knitted garments
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Drop stitch patterns
Dyeing with plant colors
Dyeing yarn
Entrelac
Fair Isle knitting
Freeform knitting
Fulling/felting
Gloves
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Hair accessories
Hat
Holiday related knitting
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
I-cord
Intarsia
Jewelry
Kitchener BO
Knitting a gift
Knitting and purling backwards
Knitting for a living
Knitting for pets
Knitting for preemies
Knitting in public
Knitting items for a wedding
Knitting socks
Knitting to make money
Lace patterns
Long Tail CO
Machine knitting
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Moebius band knitting
Norwegian knitting
Olympic knitting
Participating in a KAL
Pillows
Publishing a knitting book
Purses/bags
Rug
Scarf
Shawl
Short rows
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Slip stitch patterns
Slippers
Socks: toe-up
Socks: top-down
Steeks
Stockinette stitch
Stuffed toys
Swatching
Sweater
Teaching a child to knit
Teaching a male how to knit
Textured knitting
Thrummed knitting
Toy/doll clothing
Tubular CO
Twisted stitch patterns
Two end knitting
Writing a pattern

The only other knitting blogger I know who springs to mind is Heidi, so I'll tag her. But feel free to join in if you're a blogger who hasn't yet "come out" about knitting.

Woo Hoo!

Just got my invitation to Ravlery. Because you know I need to belong to a website that will feed my obsession with yarn and pointy sticks and surround me with a community of people who take it way farther than I ever could.

On the Needles

Now that the weather has turned chilly I am back to knitting regularly. I finished an entrelac scarf yesterday and after much careful deliberation have decided I'm keeping it for myself because I don't think anyone else will love it quite the way I do. (It's been blocked and is drying right now. Suppose I can put up a picture once it's dry.) I have decided to just go ahead and give up on the sweater I have been trying to knit for the past three years (using two different patterns, even) and to salvage the yarn for other, smaller projects. The yarn is a nice cranberry colored merino wool from Knitpicks. It wasn't expensive but it just doesn't want to be a sweater. I know. It told me so. So now one or two random balls are on their way to becoming cabled mittens for my girl. Once I get my hands on some size 5 double point needles it may also become other hand warming type garments. Anyway, it has clearly let me know, it will never be a sweater.

Red Scarf Project

redscarf.jpg,
originally uploaded by bassbot.

I'm probably too late in mentioning this to anyone else who wants to participate, but today I finished my scarf for the Red Scarf Project. Since I work with college students I see how hard the adjustment to college life can be sometimes, even for the kids who have families to give them support. The Red Scarf Project is a way to offer a little encouragement to young adults who have aged out of the foster care system and are attending college without the family support so many others are fortunate to have. I think this is now becoming an annual event, so if you'd like to participate but missed it this time around, keep an eye out for information about the 2008 project. I think the announcement comes out in August or September. (btw, the awesomely cute wrapper for the scarf was courtesy of Melissa, who has many wonderful things related to this project on her blog.)
(ps: don't tell anyone, but I didn't even block the scarf after I finished it. It's made with a machine washable wool blend and I think it looked ok even without blocking. sshhhhhhh.)