Things to come, a teaser post

A quick view at Ravelry shows that I have been knitting for 10 years come this fall.

A decade of fiber and creating.
One hundred and twenty months of making things and sharing them.

Some of that time includes spinning.
Some of that time includes designing my own patterns.

Most of that time has been making things and not writing down how I did what I did to make what I made.

The good news is that a new pattern will be written up soon! The first prototype was finished and soon a second test will be done. And then a document and some photos put together. Finally, the results will be published.

The Hoodie Scarf. Coming soon!

In other news I finally went to a local fiber event. I got to attend the Back to Back Wool Challenge.
An annual get together of spinners and knitters to see if they can beat last year's record of time from raw wool to sweater.


The participants used spinning wheels and supporters had drop spindles, wheels, looms, hooks and needles in use all around.



Watching them go has reminded me of my own spinning wheel, terribly neglected as it has been. Soon, it will come back out for use. I will make a new attempt at using all those rovings and batts that I have been collecting.

Sooooon.....

Learning by Doing

Practice often offers its own rewards.





In this case, the idea is to practice knife skills. Particularly, chopping onions.

Have you seen Julie and Julia?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYc2gemLrbY

Practicing knife skills is very important, but what do you do with the mound of onions?

Slow Cooker Sauteed Onions!
3 lbs of onions filled up my cooker. As cooker sizes vary, I suggest not over committing to the number of onions.




I then melted a stick of butter, poured that on top and tossed to coat. BONUS: You can put your cooker on warm and melt your butter as you are cutting onions, reducing the amount of dishes.

 

Here you see the onions after 6 hours of cooking on LOW.

I would go in an stir them every so often, but honestly you can set this part up for while you sleep. They don't need any attention. As you can see, 3 lbs of onions cooks down a lot. 

I did add a pinch of kosher salt to the mix, roughly 12 hours into the cooking time.

Disclaimer: I don't actually like onions.
To make the onions more tasty, I cook them a complete 24 hours. I even prop the lid for a few hours to reduce the juices and really brown those suckers.

Because I started my recent batch during the day, I set them to WARM overnight and then resumed cooking on LOW as I made my coffee.

Yes, your house will smell like sweet onions.
Yes, the onions will be sweeter as they cook.

No, you don't have to eat them as is. But if you want too.... I mean, I guess... if that is your thing and all. Not judging.


Today I will portion up the onions into an ice cube tray for frozen small portions that can be added to any meal (thus, cutting down on future cooking time) and slightly larger resealable bag size for bigger dishes.
These things are very usable and much loved.

I say that because last time I made this I had taken a full 3 cup plastic tub to a friend's house as my contribution to thanksgiving dinner. An event I did not even get to attend due to other events, but when I did show up to collect any leftovers, it turns out there were none.
All my friend did was thaw them and set the bowl of onions out. Every shred was consumed.


So, knowing that this is a recipe that doesn't go to waste I will continue to make this every so often. Which means I will continue to get practice at my knife skills.

- - - - - - -

So, I have decided to move toward advertising on this blog.
This will start with a link for signing up for Amazon Prime.

Why go Prime?
My personal reasons include getting a discount on a lot of stuff, FREE 2 day shipping (on prime items) and the movies.
Honestly, the selection of instant watch movies and shows on Prime is worth the cost of the annual membership. If you break it down, it is $8.25 per month to watch things that other streaming video sites often don't have.

That is why I signed up.
You can try it out for free and check out the streaming selection or just enjoy discounts and 2 day free shipping.

30 Day Free Trial for Amazon Prime 

Damned if it didn't happen again.

Sorry about that.....
So, how about an update?


First, the cooking side:

Pictured on the left, two pounds of strawberries sliced up and I-don't-know-how-much frozen berry mix from Trader Joe's, covered with about a quarter cup of honey.
This was placed in the slow cooker, put on low and stirred occasionally over a 4-6 hour time.

The result is a tart and tasty fruit compote that can be added on top of anything.
It is even better warm, but you can chill or freeze it to keep it around.
Bonus: Add some cream cheese and use it as a spread on biscuits.

It has been received with much love by my partner. Often, with a quick request for more.

During the time I have not been blogging (or knitting), I have been studying photography.
I have a facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MariMixedArts
There is an etsy page for signed prints, as well as other sites for direct ordering prints.

While I have not been knitting, I have been moving (again).
And happily, I have acquired a new bed that has drawers attached. And those drawers fit all my yarn with room left over.

I believe this means I need more yarn.
You agree, don't you?

Another post about FOOD!

Even though I do have knitting projects I am working on (as well as other bits of creating), I find myself inspired to post recipes right now.

I blame Pintrest.

And now for one of the most favorite dishes in my household:

Cheesy Noodle Mix
(It is so loved, that it has to be made in a double batch, but I am posting the original recipe)

Software:
2 cups medium shell pasta
1lb Spicy Italian Sausage(1)
2 cups FINELY(2) shredded mild cheddar cheese
1 can Rotel; Drained
1/2 cup sour cream

Hardware:
1 large pot for cooking pasta
1 skillet for browning sausage
spatula for breaking up sausage and stirring it
spoon for stirring pasta

Step 1: Get that water boiling for the pasta.

Step 2: Remove sausage from the casing, break it up and get it good an brown in the skillet.

Step 2.5: During the sausage cooking, water should be boiling, so add the pasta. Timing usually works that when the pasta is done, so is the sausage.

Step 3: Drain Pasta thoroughly, then add Sausage to Pasta.

Step 4: Add Cheese and mix in.

Step 5: Add Rotel and sour cream and mix that in too.

Step 6: Once it is good and mixed (looking like the picture below), dish and EAT!

Step 6.5: If you made a double batch like I do, remember to get the extra into your storage tubs pretty quickly. If you don't get lunches dished up, even the extra may get picked up for extra helpings at dinner.

(1) the emphasis is placed because I tried it once with a thick shred and it was lumpy. Learn from my fail.
(2)- we have been using spicy Italian turkey sausage, to avoid pork. You can find chicken ones in most markets at the meat counter.

Recipe: Easy Feta Chicken Bake

An easy meal that usually makes more than enough for dinner and a lunch or for the next day.

(I used to make it, when I was single, for work lunches for the whole week.)

Easy Feta Chicken Bake

Prep time: 15 mins 

Software:

1lb skinless chicken tenderloins (or breasts that have been cut to be thinner/longer strips)

1Tbsp lemon juice, divided (or, like me, just grab one lemon and know you will be squeezing it twice)

Salt and Pepper

1pkg (4oz) ATHENOS crumbled Feta Cheese with Basil & Tomato

2 or 3 standard tomatoes diced, or a package of grape tomatoes halved (or quarted, your call)

Lots of fresh Basil leaves

2 cups of rice, your choice of style

Hardware:

1 Casserole dish for baking in

1 knife for dicing tomatoes and shredding basil 

1 Oven; preheated to 350

1 Rice Cooker

Whatever Bento box or resealable containers you want to use for lunches

Process:

Step 1: Arrange chicken in casserole dish

Step 2: Sprinkle with lemon juice

Step 3: Sprinkle with Salt and Pepper 

Step 4: Put Feta on top of Chickens (might need to press pieces into chicken to make them stick, but it doesn't have to be perfect)

Step 5: Place Tomatoes and Basil between chicken

Step 6: Drizzle the rest of the lemon juice in (sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper onto the tomatoes if you want)

Step 7: Bake for 30-40 mins at 350 (until chicken is cooked through)

Step 8: Start rice in the rice cooker

Step 9: EAT!!

Final Steps include dividing up any remaining chicken onto rice into travel containers for lunches.

It is very easy to do.

Not terribly expensive (depending on chicken prices in your area)

It is fairly quick to make.

And it makes more than one meal.

All my favorite things!

Catching up with the times

After a lot of kicking and screaming, I have joined Pintrest.

As such, I have decided it would probably be a good idea to revamp this blog, just a bit. Which is to say, I will be posting cooking and recipe things now as well as knitting things.

Stop laughing.
I expect this will help increase posting frequency.

Seriously, you are going to hyperventilate if you keep laughing that hard.

Anyway.....

I have been knitting lately. In fact, the weather is cooling off and I am itching to start more projects. Alas, I am afraid to let the current project get any downtime. It is a blanket. These things usually take years for me to complete because I get too bored. I am tying myself down to finish this one before starting anything else.

Laughing yourself to tears, now? Really?

Stop laughing and admire the blanket:

And now for something different

In a take away from the normal (although far between) knitting posts, I shall now post a recipe of my own design.

I call it, Rattlesnake Bake (based off of Rattlesnake Pasta from Uno's)

1 box Penne pasta (I used wheat); cooked to box directions
2 15oz jars Alfredo sauce (or 30 oz home made sauce)
1 lb chicken, cooked and cubed
1 can Rotel
1 small can diced jalapenos (add as much as desired, I did not use the whole can and pickled are better than fresh for this dish)
2 cups or more of shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups Panko bread crumbs

In a large casserole dish, place cooked penne pasta, add Alfredo and stir. Then mix in cubed chicken and a mostly drained can of Rotel. Add diced jalapenos as desired for increased heat. Top with cheddar (the more the better) and then add panko on top of that. Bake at 400 or so to brown the panko.

Eat for a week.

Enjoy!

Test post from phone all

Being as I tend to spend more time away from home (and therefore the computer) I am testing a phone app for posting.

So, this is a test.

Earlier I made a real post, so you might want to skip to that one... Or not as it wasn't much of a post really...

I have included a random picture of yarn. Just to stay on topic.

Dusting off the pages

Boy, life can sure run away with you sometimes.

In this case, I got all caught up in social events and other things...
I barely even remember what yarns I have in my stash.

But, with the overnight temps dropping into the 30's (seriously cold for SoCal), the siren call of the yarn is clear to me.

Soon, very soon, I will be going to purchase more yarn. Increasing the stash seems to help the motivation.
Personally, I have my eye on the Mimi yarn from Lotus Yarns (an offshoot of Trendsetter). It is all mink.

It will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine!

``````````

In other news, my new partner was sporting some of my No Wrong Way Gloves at the office and requests have started coming in.

This is my main excuse for buying yarn. (yay!)

For now, I must rush off to the office!
Tata!

Dear goodness, but it has been a while!

Well, moving and living life has put a bit of a cramp on my blogging, but I am back.

Time to dust this off and give it a new go.

I have knit a matching hat, gloves and scarf set with diagonal stripes on them all. I knit a lace shawl and a teddy bear (the bear still is being stitched up). I have started a very lace scarf and a couple of simple scarves for gifts.

Absolutely no spinning has occurred. At this point my spinning wheel is no more than a decorative accent to the living room. My stash of raw fibers sits in a drawer waiting for some attention. I still believe that I will get back to it. In the meantime I try not to look at it too long, I don't want the poor wheel to get it's hopes up too soon.

I have been fairly successful at my stash management. Which is to say that in nine months I have only purchased about 7 skeins, of which three have been knitted and sent out already. Go me!

My last stash check looked a bit like this:


And now I must be off for some hiking, which is very not knitting related.

A confession

I recently took up several scarf projects.

Three scarves of the same pattern, same needle size, and in the same color but different yarn (so not *really* the same color, but still...).
I am done with one, half way on the other and have already wound the skeins for the third.

This project, which has the side benefit of showing off how different yarns handle cables, is so that I can having something to work on at work. The shawl I am working on has reached a point in the pattern that interruptions by customers could have a dangerous outcome. Not that I have been knitting the shawl at home either. I figure I just need a little break before tackling the next section which has nubs (a new technique for me).

During all of this, I decided I should make a scarf for an old friend. You know, a light something to knit when watching TV, because the shawl needs no distractions, you see. So I asked him what his favorite color was. I picked a super simple pattern that had a great texture and would be just fine for a guy. Then I settled on a yarn from my stash, because knitting from stash is very important and makes any project justifiable.

It is a very nice yarn. Soft and thick with layers of color qualities! Absolutely gorgeous! I had two skeins in the requested blue, two in brick red and two in bright red. In two days I knit up the scarf. It is perfect. The pattern, with one adjustment for knitting without turning, came out even better than I could have hoped for in this fluffy yarn. The scarf has already received acclaim for those who have come in contact with it. This scarf is everything one could love about a non-lace scarf.

Well, almost everything. The one thing it is not, is mine.

I have already promised it out. It ships this weekend. Soon it will travel 1500 miles away and hopefully be appreciated and not regifted. (I will hunt him down and do serious damage to him if this scarf ends up in the possession of another.)

So now I have four skeins of this yarn in colors I dare not wear. They can not fix this problem.

There is a fix though. A very simple one. One that even comes with a bonus of the words "SALE"......

So yeah. Yarn diet? That was so last year.... right?

Addictions and their many forms

I have often read about people who are addicted to sock knitting.
Some are hooked on crocheting blankets. (See what I did there; hooked, crochet... why are you covering your eyes?)

I think I might have an addiction. Well, one besides collecting yarn and making scarves. I do so love the ease and adventure of scarves.

Now, I think I might be a bit caught up on lace shawls.

I have several books on the subject. My queue is heavy with them and my yarn collection has an obvious leaning toward lace weight and such.

In fact, while I am currently working on one shawl, waiting for blocking wires for another shawl, I have already started sorting out shawl patterns for some stashed yarn.
Currently, I am leaning toward the North Roë Shawl or the Aeolian Shawl (both are listed in Ravelry).

We shall see if this last through the part on my current project where I have over two hundred stitches and more for each row. (The next to the last row is 323 stitches across).

Starting over, at least on some things

A mere five days ago, I took some beautiful Malabrigo Sock yarn and settled down with a pattern for it.

I had completed the cast on and the 9 setup rows, as well as 4 repeats of Chart 1 of 4 (I do not count the setup row chart, I don't think it needs a chart number).

Then I dropped a stitch. A stitch that was actually part of a decrease and may have taken out another stitch with it.

I did try to pick it up, but it was no good. The stitches got away from me and I had to start over.
So I did what any sane woman would do.

I reset the project start date in Ravelry, bullied through to the first of fourteen repeats of the main pattern chart and then walked away from it.

Tomorrow it will look smaller but not terrible much different from before the accident. I am glad I was only so many repeats in. Had I been farther along, some nearby bystander might have been injured.

Dusting off and restarting

Well, hasn't this been another long silence.
Here it is only hours away from August.

The good news: I have started knitting again and have even finished a couple of items!

The promising news: I have become away of a lack of photographs or decent upkeep on the tracking of my yarn stash on Ravelry, and there for in life, and I have a desire to correct this.

The it-could-go-either-way news: I finally ordered my first ever set of blocking mats and blocking wires (and the Knitted Lace of Estonia book, but that was because I was only $5 away from free shipping and it was on sale). So far only the book and the blocks have arrived. The eventual blocking of my first full size lace shawl is still a future thing.

The not-exactly-bad news: I have no idea where I am going to start from to pick back up on the blogging, or really the writing in general. Currently I am undergoing 'blank white page' syndrome. Hey, at least I got this post out, right?

So now I will write up a few teaser points.

1) I am on the third part of a matching three piece set. That is a hat, a scarf and gloves (the gloves are the part I am working on casting on currently).

2) I got some new yarn. Always a bonus!

3) The writing up of patterns is going to happen. Some free, some not. Interested?

4) I will be studying up on and doing some beading work soon. Technically, the project is very much past due, but the technical skills have not been actually acquired yet.

Ok, so that was more than a few points. Not bad for someone working on getting back in the knitting-and-blogging saddle, eh?

A brief update

I have actually accomplished a lot lately.

For one, I can say that every project I have been working on since I moved to Virginia and learned to knit has been completed!
And just in time too! That is to say, my current job is closing the local office and I will be moving back to California at the end of May. I have accepted a position with my current employer at the location in Orange County. I will have new yarn stores to find and knitts to meet!

I am so very, very thrilled about this! Meanwhile, though, I have had to box up all of my stuff and get rid of many things. As this is a 3 thousand mile move into a furnished room, there has been a lot of letting things go, packing and repacking and so forth. It has been a series of decluttering attempts. And of course the other hassles of moving. Ugh!

In other good news, I will be getting a desktop computer when i get out there. This means more and better posts!
It also means I will probably begin getting some new designs up too!

So please, just bear with me a bit longer. We are almost back to having a good knitting blog again.

Secrets to a happy knitter

I recently had the opportunity to become an ecstatic knitter.

Way back in May of 2008 I happened across a large selection of Berroco Chinchilla yarn in several corresponding colors. Some months I got a long US 13 circular needle and eventually cast on a project named the Autumn Blanket. Also known as the Wavey Throw and often called 'oh, yeah, I had forgotten you'.

After three long years of knitting and storing and then knitting some more, I finally finished it! In fact, it was January 9th that the cast off occurred. I had started taking the blanket to work (as it has been very slow lately) and after a few days of nearly eight hour shifts I made it through the last few skeins.

I have not taken any new pictures of it and it really needs a gentle washing, but that can wait. It waited this long just to be off the needles, it can wait a bit more before it is really presentable.

-----------------

In other news, I have some projects I will be posting the patterns to soon. There will be a cabled scarf pattern and a knapsack. Of course they will be entered in Ravelry as well, for easy downloading of PDFs.

See, I still make plans for the blog. I just am slow about getting them going.....

----------------

Next week the local Knitting Meetup group is having a Spin In meeting. I will be taking my lovely travel wheel and attending. This will be fun as I haven't really played with my spinning wheel in a while. I got a bit discouraged by the speed/thickness issue. I have enough fiber that the willingness to be daring should be present, and yet I am treating it as if it were a special skien of yarn that I don't want to touch until I know what I am doing.
Spinning does not really work that way. I know I must practice or I will not get anywhere with it. So this next meetup will be the perfect chance for me to do just that!

----------------

I am down to one UFO right now, which is the shawl. The weather has started to show signs of warming up, which means lace knitting will be where I will be focusing again. Of course, the fact that I have been knitting two other projects that are using worsted and super-bulky yarns respectively will also help. I think I will have the shawl wrapped up before mid-summer!

After that I can start a whole new set of long term projects.... or I can try to keep my knitting to more manageable arrangements. We shall see, we shall see.

Where are they now?

There are many things I have been knitting on over the past while.



There was the super secret project, also known as flamingo.



It is done. I used two small yellow buttons and some black yarn for eyes. It is pretty good sized and I look forward to giving it to the planned recipient.


I had to redo the body a few times do to lack of enough fluffy yarn.



January last year I made a hat to match a scarf I had made years before that. Last month I decided to make matching gloves. So now he a full set. The pattern for the gloves will be posted later.



Also, I got some yarn and needles from a friend who had tried to take up knitting but had given up. So I took the yarn and the needles and designed a new scarf.



I will also be posting the pattern for this, but not on the blog. It will be a Ravelry exclusive.
I sent it to my friend to be a holiday gift. She was happy to see the yarn again.







And there there were the two hats I made, which I then sent off as gifts for the niece I met earlier this year for the first time. I have been told she wears it to bed and is and very thrilled with it.







The holiday knitting was kicked up further when a coworker made some requests. She bought the yarn and I did the knitting.












Add to that the progress I have made on the blanket from a few years back and "Whala" (or however you spell it) you have the signs of a busy knitter!

A quick free gift pattern!

Having taken a long vacation from the blog, I now return with the gift of a free gift knitting pattern!



Behold! The Scrap Yarn Bags!

First step, find scrap yarn. You don't want a large ball, but you want more than a yard of it.

Next, figure out what needle size is recommended for the yarn. If you can't find this information, don't sweat it, just grab a size US6.

Next, cast on.

You can cast on as few stitches as you want.
On average, I am not casting on more than 20 stitches for a dk weight yarn and no more than 15 stitches for worsted weight.

Knit 1 row.

-Now, if you want to do a drawstring closure, a bit of math is needed. You are going
-to want 4 holes. So divide your number of stitches by four. If you end up with a
-left over stitch, save it for the end of the row. If you have two left over
-stitches, add a "k1" to the beginning of the row. Your final number, minus 1 stitch -becomes X.

*kX, k2tog, yo*; Repeat four times and knit any remaining stitches.

-For example, on my 15 stitch bags the yarn over row was: *k1, k2tog, yo; repeated 4
-times, knit last 3 stitches.

From here on we will stockinette until we are nearly out of yarn!
-If you would like, you can change between two different yarns every two rows.
-So you will knit two rows of yarn A, then switch to yarn B and knit two rows, then repeat.

Once you are nearing the end, you will repeat the yarn over row.
Knit one more row.
Now cast off!

The easy part is complete and you should have a rectangle.

Fold the rectangle in half so the yarn overs meet up and the purl side is facing out.
Now you have a choice, you can whip out a needle and thread and sew up the sides, or practice some crochet and seam the sides with a chain using any remaining yarn you have or maybe even some other yarn of a complimentary color.

The last part is finding a ribbon or taking other scrap yarn to make an i-cord for the drawstring.

These can be whipped up very quickly and make great use of left over yarn. Each one will make a different size. Sometimes you will think the bag is at risk of getting too big, so you just move to the last steps, cut off the remainder and save it for another bag. (Note that I made three in the picture and they are all the same yarn, but different sizes.)

What do you do with the finished bags? Why make gifts of them!

* Put gift cards in them and hand them out.

* Put some change or small amount of money and give them away.

* Fill them with potpourri or some cotton balls that have been dipped in scent or sprayed with perfume, then stick them in a personals drawer, or in the boxes in storage or give them to friends who need to freshen up closets, drawers or storage.

* Write wishes or dreams or what-have-you on to some paper, put the paper in the bag and set it free.

There are lots of things little bags can be used for, but remember these are little HAND MADE bags, so are great for gift ideas.

Enjoy!

Two years and some erratic postings

It is hard to believe that I started this blog two years ago, and yet as of next month, that will be exactly the situation.

Admittedly there has been a great reduction in posting here, and over at my regular blog as well. I have my reasons but they sound suspiciously like excuses when put to paper or else wise shared, so I will keep them safe and strong in my mind.

I have been knitting.
Really!

When I haven't been doing other things.

I think that I am having an issue of only knitting for other people right now, having really large UFO's and not knowing what I would knit for myself if I was going to.

I did finish the purse. When last you heard of it the knitting was done and the sewing had yet to be started. Last month I cut the fabric. Last week I did the sewing and attached the handle (incorrectly, it turns out). Then, having decided that 1.5 skeins of left over Rowan Summer Tweed was a bit much, I decided to make an accessory. So I made a simple necklace. I might still make a bracelet, we shall see.


I am happy to report that the mittens got made and, while huge amounts of unwanted snowfall prevented the hand delivery, they did make it to my friend's mom. Thrumming was easy enough, though there was a bit of a learning curve before I found how I wanted to stick the thrum into the stitch. Plenty of online sources about how to make thrums, but until you do it yourself it is just a vague bit of fiddly pictures and words.

Shortly after the gloves I made the matching hat. I can post a picture of the scarf that the hat matches, but not the hat as I have unfortunately developed the habit of giving away the finished product without taking pictures. In most cases I have been able to arrange a photo later, like the situation with the purple scarf for my other friend. (See, I have more than one!)

In even older knitting news, the Surprise Stuff Toy is down to the body section which requires making more stitches and therefore more knitting than just what is there. The airy scarf and the drop stitch scarf are unmoved from their current stage. I think the airy scarf may have frogged itself, but I haven't gone looking for them and they haven't come looking for me and that is just how it is with them right now.
The Icarus shawl received a bit of attention back in February, but then I realized I had no idea where I was in the pattern and I am going to have to rip back so that I can move forward. This idea is not pleasant and as such the shawl is being treated to the silent treatment until we can get some couples counseling going on.

In the meantime I have been working on a stripped scarf for a coworker. He picked out his colors and said he wanted stripping that wasn't too plain. So I worked out to vary the stripes in a spectrum style. It is over half way done and if I really put myself into I could get it down this week or next. The scarf has the advantage of being sized to take to work and be knit. The Surprise Stuffed Toy is very large and the stuffing has a tendency to make fly aways that spread like milkweed seeds upon the breeze. This would not be appreciated in the office.

I have been able to maintain not buying more/new yarns. Excepting of course the $60 skien of light fingering weight silk in gorgeous colors of purple, gold and green. That totally doesn't count.

So, that is our catch up for today.
See you again next post (which hopefully will be sooner than later this time).

And I bet you thought I forgot you....

Well, that was a long hiatus.
I was not really knitting, so I was also not blogging about knitting. In fact, I had gone so far as to stop visiting Ravelry and was filing off my emails from knitty rather than even read about craft related stuff.

Why?
At first I blamed the weather. It was slow to get cold this winter, but then we had this very unpleasant cold snap and weather was no longer an excuse.

The fact is when I come home I watch TV and I don't do anything. This is a bad, bad habit. My only knitting has been at work.
Because of my work schedule, I can not attend any knitting meetups. This means I have been rather lacking of chances to play show and tell and have people asking me how things are coming along.

I mentioned before about Christmas knitting and I figure I can give you some updates at this point.

First, the Pillow. See the completed glory:



The sewing for the back was a hurdle that caused much procrastination, but eventually the whole project was tamed just in time for delivery. Unfortunately I had to work on Christmas day, so I missed the presentation of the gift. I am told it was claimed as a wonderful example of my crafting skills. (I am guessing she wasn't looking too closely at those seams.)

As for the purse/clutch, well that has taken even longer and has not only missed the Christmas presentation, but also missed the birthday just a couple of days ago. It took me forever to settle on a pattern. When one as finally resolved it was canceled because it didn't work. A second pattern was selected and discarded after several rows. Wash, rinse and repeat with two more pattern selections and finally my desire to get the stupid thing started overrode my desire to make a stunning piece of knit-work. I settled with a simple moss that was expanded into a vague checkerboard type style. The knitting part is complete. I have only to sew on the lining, seam the piece up and attach it to the handle/closure-thingy. This might take some time.

Currently there are no update photos for the purse.

In the midst of all of this, I decided I needed to make a scarf for a friend. So I cast on some rather fun purple yarn and did a nice entrelac pattern with some finishing fringe. It was relatively quick and is being enjoyed by the recipient. Pics to come eventually. This project was finished after its intended birthday due date, but because the birthday girl in question was sick that day, the truth shall just be our little secret. Okay? Good.


After the scarf, but before the purse was really going, I got fidgety for some knitting that wouldn't join the ongoing UFO pile. I took some left over Mountain Colors Mountain Goat yarn (left over from making a child's knit cap), and did some quick and dirty no pattern fingerless gloves.
They are actually rather nice and if I lose one, I have just enough yarn to make another. They are interchangeable and there is no wrong way to wear them (unless you mistakenly try to put them on some body part other than the hands).





Just recently I decided I could continue this forward momentum and finally cast on the matching hat for my friend's two-row scarf. I pulled up the seaman's watchcap pattern. I went out and found some more Galway Paint yarn and set aside the correct needles.
Then said recipient of planned hat called me to remind me that I had promised to knit some thrummed mittens for his mother after her husband had passed away. Specifically he called to ask if I still planned on making them. Of course I did. Great, he said, she will be in town with in a month and they can be hand delivered then. Absolutely, I said.
After I got of the phone I thought about all the mittens I have made before, which is none. Can I do a pair of thrummed mittens in less than 30 days? I don't know and honestly I didn't even have the yarn for the project. Yesterday I picked up some yarn and hopefully today I will be able to get started. These will be my first mittens and my first bit of thrumming. Boldly onward and all that.

Meanwhile, his hat will just have to wait.


So that is where we find ourselves now.
I have started poking around the knitting blogs again, made some posts on Ravelry and have even thought about catching up with my knitting related email. Small steps to getting back on the knitting horse. (How is that for a mental image?)