Sunday, January 17, 2010

Train Wreck in Lillehammer



Insert sound of screeching brakes here followed by the sound of me smacking myself in the head.
See that section that clearly states MAIN PATTERN? Hard to miss isn't it?



So how did I knit merrily on for so long without realizing my sweater would end up being only about 8 inches long from ribbing to neck without repeating the frickin' main pattern for 10 and 1/2 inches AS CLEARLY STATED IN THE DIRECTIONS?



Insert the sound of me saying every bad word ever uttered as I frog back a month's worth of knitting after a visit to some Ravelry project pages that made me realize that everyone else's Lillehammer actually had the snowflake/horsey things up in the boobage area and NOT on the belly. At midnight no less. On a Tuesday.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Big Plans for Little Babies



I am on this baby sweater kick and I can't seem to stop. I just received another big bag of baby weight yarn from Mary Maxim. Now I need to find more babies to knit for.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Help

I need to take a minute or two away from my silly blog to remind everyone that Doctors Without Borders has been in Haiti for many, many years providing emergency medical care and at this moment they are in trouble and need our help. Their operation is in a shambles and many of their dedicated staff members have become casualties. I am a "field partner" and have made my donations to this Nobel prize winning charity for many years through their monthly direct withdrawal program which makes it easy for lazy old me to give without having to do anything special. If you have an extra dime or two laying around they could really use it right now.

Damn You, Knit Picks



I am on a very STRICT budget but when I saw this kit for only $14.99 I totally caved. I can't even buy a vest this cute for that. Right?

Monday, January 11, 2010

Rescue Me



In spite of little in the way of progress with the knitting stuff this week, I have managed to come up with an idea for a post. Here are some of my previously knitted things that are helping me cope with this unusually cold winter. First, my Phentex slippers are the most amazing things EVER. I run across the snow covered icy ground all day long chasing after two very bad little dogs. They are warm and waterproof because they are made out of a yarn that is normally used to make fishing lures. These are several years old and have no signs of wear and tear at all. I bought tons of this yarn to knit them with but have no reason to make more as I think these are pretty much indestructible.

Peeking from under the slippers are a scratchy pair of handspun socks that I gave up as hopeless over the summer, only to find that Columbia fleece makes pretty darn warm socks that lose their itch as soon as the thermometer drops below freezing. I am glad I still have a ton of that fleece in storage out in the shed. All my ugly sheep to sock experiments of the summer have been a real pleasure to slide into every ridiculously cold morning.



I sing the praises of Lopi all the time here, but really, any body part covered with it is going to stay warm and dry in spite of whatever Mother Nature throws at you. My mittens are the first things I pick up before heading out. I can survive without a hat or scarf but cold hands are unbearable. If you have never knit with Lopi, trust me, it's worth the itch. I sneeze and itch the whole time I am knitting with it but the minute snow hits the ground I am digging it out of the winter boxes as fast as I can.

Yes, that is my ginormous Knit Picks Palette Cardi over the mittens and laugh you may, but it is a terrific substitute for a bathrobe when the weather is below freezing and the heat pump has no idea what to do about it. Those often criticized bright colors are the perfect antidote for cabin fever-and by the sound of this post it seems like I have a pretty bad case.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

More Information Than You Probably Need



Daughter's Noro bag needed felting and this is still my favorite way. The wash machine is too risky and standing by the sink all that time is boring-so sloshing around in the tub on a cold winter night was a prefect solution. I DID give the bag a really good rinsing afterwards so there is NO danger of cooties.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

No Stitich In Time



Besides the holiday quilt that I had intended to work on over the winter break, I also had planned on putting a few stitches into the Christmas sampler I started last year. I am sorry to say that not a stitch went into anything this year. I need another blizzard, one that snows me in ALL BY MYSELF.