I Never Learn

 Even though I have all those weaving kits piling up in the craft room, I decided to go rogue once again and design my own Valentine's Day towels for February. I had a lot of red and white leftover from Christmas so why not? I ordered some pink to go with what I had and set to work warping a pretty checked pattern I found on Pinterest.

The problem is (and isn't there always one) that I still can't estimate how much cotton it takes to make a couple of simple dishtowels. Once again, I have half a warp done and I'm waiting for the rest of the cotton to show up in the mail. And Once again, I've paid as much for shipping as I have for the materials because I was too cheap to spring for the bigger cones in the first place.

Home Away From Home

 Daughter and her hockey playing hubby are off to a tournament this weekend in Lake Placid, the lucky ducks. I'm at her house kitty sitting and commuting back and forth to the outdoor rinks to teach my LTS classes.

 I've packed some of my mindless projects to keep me busy in the down times. All the new sock projects are proceeding nicely.

My Very Warm Hat is almost ready for the big adventure of picking up and knitting that second hat onto the first for the lining. I'm not going to mirror the colorwork as so many do because that would make it too thick and that would be too warm for these parts. We can't get a good blizzard going around here even when it's aimed right at us. Juno, I'm talking to you.

Care Package

 Yesterday I was having a bad day-a very bad day. Everything was going wrong from the minor (dead laptop) to the major (95 year old MIL in hospital) and things in between (cat abscess). Daddio also had a dreaded late afternoon doctor's appointment so I was rushing about when I dropped a giant container of his favorite bean soup all over the floor. At the very moment that I was looking at the mess in disbelief, The Mister came in with a package.

Blog friend elns had sent me a big surprise. Inside were seriously fabulous bandaids...

 ...and things for pampering.

 The biggest surprise of all was this precious Felici. Who could part with this hard to find, now discontinued favorite? I have no words.....

As for Daddio's doctor's appointment, I took Olaf along for the ride. I do a lot of knitting in the waiting room and it was fun to look down and see him smiling back. It made all the difference.

Thank you elns. You are simply the bestest!!!!!

Rekindled Love

 I was rummaging around in the sewing room when I came upon my beautiful basket of kitchen cotton.

I was powerless in the face of my dishrag obsession. I did limit myself to pet dishrags. Mini size.

 I also stumbled upon my old sewing basket with a piecing project in progress that I had forgotten about.

Now it's on the  kitchen table with the goal of one block a day-or maybe every other day. I'm not sure what my plan was for them but I do know I need a pile before I can figure it out.

A Few of My Favorite Things

My new cocktail obsession is Pimm's with ginger ale or cherry seven up. I cram a small glass full of whatever frozen fruit I have on hand in place of ice cubes and it's a glass of heaven while it lasts.

 I eat bags and bags of chopped salads. They come in lots of varieties and I love them all stuffed in a pita. I firmly believe all this salad I'm putting away balances out all the fruitcake I'm still eating, right? I have to confess that I just made four more little fruitcakes in order not to waste all the leftover ingredients I had cluttering up the cabinets.

 Where have you been all my life? Ice cream and I are not on speaking terms anymore so a bowl of this when the bedtime munchies hit is perfect. Just perfect.

 The Mister gave me a Shark for Christmas and it's my new best friend. It really eats up the cat hair. I can actually sit on my couch again and knit without having an asthma attack. I used go through a bottle of Benedryl a week.

Last but not least, I gave myself a new mini crockpot for Christmas. The old one was too big for just the two of us. This one holds 2 quarts and it's just perfect for two nights of whatever is in it. Right now it's lentil soup. I'm all about small these days even though The Mister gave it a serious eye roll when he saw me making chili in it. In spite of it's small size, he had enough for three dinners. Three. Someone's eyes are bigger than their tummy....

This Is Why

 Do you know how everyone always says to read through a pattern before you begin? I"m sorry to say that I never do. I am sorrier to say that it finally caught up with me.

 This is my Galliano vest-with THREE BALLS OF YARN ATTACHED. Yes, you read that right. THREE BALLS OF YARN. You divide the fronts and the back and work them on either side of the bound off arm opening AT THE SAME TIME. Those are the four most hated words in all of knittingdom. AT THE SAME TIME. I HATE doing things AT THE SAME TIME. Two things is bad. Three things is a horror.

I know I could have adjusted the pattern and worked each side separately but that felt like cheating and I'm sure I would be punished for it in the end. I know, that's crazy talk but right now this whole thing is crazy. The tangle factor alone is enough to drive you mad. I've got to keep all those balls in control or I can't even get the project out of the bag without a major disaster- and I've got no one to blame but me.

Hot Off the Wheel

I just finished plying four more ounces of BFL.

 It is destined to join these other BFL buddies one day in a colorwork project I've had in mind for a long time. I've got skeins and skeins of crazy multicolored handspun that's good for smallish projects but what I want to make now is something big. I want an important Fair Isle thing that I spun. Yep. What that will be. I have no idea. I'm working on it.

I have more of the overdyed green BFL in the stash to spin in case I run out-which you know I will. I'll also be looking out for more colors to add to the stash at this year's MDSW. If I can't find any, I just may have to consider buying more of the natural color and getting out the dye pots which would sound like fun if the potential for disaster wasn't so high. Me and dye....we have a history. It's best left to the experts.

Startitis Con't.

 In the midst of the Clipper, I also cast on Daughter's thrummed mittens but the real adventure had begun a few days before.

 I had lots of white fiber for the thrums but she wanted mittens in her skating team colors which are black, white and red.

 I had black yarn so I needed to come up with some red fiber. I used my dyeing crock pot and hoped for the best. I've never had any luck with it and red is hard in the best of circumstances.

 Well, look at that. That white knife is in the rinse water with the newly dyed and fiber and nothing is bleeding. That's a first.

After a spin in the salad spinner, I had some pretty red Corriedale that needed to dry for a few days before I could turn it into a pile of thrums.

 I'm using the red and white on every other row and I'm trying to do two thrum rows a day. I might not have these done for her by this winter but next year's a lock.

Startitis

 Yesterday's mini blizzard made my inner knitter go slightly mad.

I couldn't resist the urge to cast on new things. It didn't matter that I already had things on the needles. I needed more. This is a Very Warm Hat by Elizabeth Zimmerman that has been "unvented" by Elise Cohen. The deal here is that you knit one hat using a provisional cast on. After that hat is done, you pick up those provisional stitches and knit another entire hat onto the bottom so that you can push one inside the other making a double layered hat. I really don't need another hat. I just want to see if I can do it.

Then I had to start another sweater for Pup who gets hers wet every time she goes outside. She needs a pile of sweaters to get her through this crazy weather-and by spring she will probably have one.

Another Clipper

 

It's been a roller coaster of a winter here. One day it's mild and sunny and the next day it's an Alberta Clipper dropping a dusting of snow.

Since my latest thrummed project was done, I took them out for a trial run in the latest white stuff.

 I am more than happy to report that although they are mighty goofy looking, they are warm. Very warm.

I love these things. Now I need some real snow not this *mood snow we keep getting.

*Mood snow: what the local weather people are now calling snow that is not a disruption or a nuisance. These are their exact words. Seriously.

Leftovers

  Daddio had a bucket of these different sized  hexies from when we made Valentine table runners for the sisters a few years back.

 I always meant to make one for myself so I dug them out and started stitching on a snowy afternoon. It's a small project that should easily be done by February.

Sewing down hexies to be machine quilted is a favorite activity of mine so the whole time I'm sewing I'm thinking that those buckets and buckets of spare hexies we have stashed could be all sewn onto strips and then the strips could be sewn together for something totally wild and crazy. This could be fun.

Lopi to the Rescue

Pup's new Lopi sweater worked out just fine.

 I finished it the night before our last snow. Whoever commented about weaving in all those ends was right. It was a real slog.

It was still big but it fit nicely over another sweater keeping her dry and warm for a chilly romp with The Mister.

I did do some homework and her next sweater will be much more of a fitted affair. I should have figured that there should be decreases happening to get rid of those tummy bulges. Now, if only it was that easy to get rid of mine.

Baaaaa....

I ran out of handspun Shetland for my Galliano vest at just the right time.

 I had just plied the two partial bobbins I had leftover from the TdF.

 It still tickles me to no end that I know how to turn these dirty locks....

 ...into this.

It also tickles me that I am at the point where this thing is starting to decrease at the neck. The pattern describes itself as a quick knit but nothing is quick when you start with the sheep.