Knitting Milestone

I think it was about six years ago that my little sister taught me to knit. It might have been longer, my memory is faulty, but it's been at least six years. And this past week I finally crossed a milestone, at least in my mind. I made something wearable. Now I've made accessories for years. Hats, mittens, and scarves don't take much thought anymore. I've even made a pair of almost socks. But this is the first true piece of clothing that I've made. And even better, it fits.

It started when we were up in Minneapolis at a cute little yarn shop and I found this variegated purple yarn that I loved. I bought two skeins with no idea that they were going to become. It was too much yarn to make a hat and scarf but not enough yarn to make a sweater. So I went looking for something to try. I wanted something simple but big. And it had to be clothing. So when I found Tank Girl, a pattern in Stitch and Bitch, I knew what I was going to make.

This is made from the bottom up, with two different sides. You make the back first. The neck is a bit higher in the back than in the front but the arms are the same. The straps are joined using a three needle join, something I had to study before trying. But they worked like a charm. And once the ends were woven in, I had to try it on, even as the snow flew outside. I was excited to see that it fit. It's a bit more stretched than I would like but it fits. Now if only I could do something about those arms. I'll have to knit more. That's good exercise, right?

The Risk of Cables

I'm a non-risk taker by nature. I'm not a fan of failing so I tend to be slow to try things. And I often overthink things, meaning that more often than not I won't even try things because I'll decide that they are too difficult before I even start. It's a flaw that I keep working to overcome. My hobbies are no exception. I'm slowly learning a lesson about knitting. For years I've been overcautious in my knitting. I work on projects where I know most of what I'm doing. I like projects that are mostly mindless knitting. I've learned a lot over the years but I tend to stay mostly within my comfort zone.

In October I taught a friend how to knit. He was visiting and had been interested in trying so on the day before he left, I taught him the basic knit stitch. He went home and worked on his first scarf. Then he got bored and knit a little hat for his niece. Then some mittens. Then a belt. Then a cowl. Then...you get the idea. He taught himself how to bind off, how to purl, how to yarn over. In six months he's tried techniques that I hadn't tried within the the first three years of knitting. I'm a bit in awe of how willing he is to take risks and how good of a knitter he's become.

And I'm learning that nothing in knitting is as hard as I make it out to be. I learned how to make tiny fingers for a sackboy doll I made. I learned how to pick up stitches for mittens. I learned that I can read some pretty scary looking patterns. And this week I learned my holy grail of knitting, cabling. I had been terrified to cable for years. I just didn't think I would understand it so I didn't try it. This week I started this cowl which happens to have some cabling. It took me a bit of coaxing from Jeff but now I can say I know how to cable. And it's way easier than I thought it would be. Everything in knitting is easier than it sounds. That's my lesson. It may take me a few times to get things, but everything is learnable. It's a good lesson for knitting...and really for life. Everything is learnable.

New Yarn

Sorry I've been gone. Two weeks ago I was done in the dumps and didn't feel like writing. This past week I've been on vacation from work and didn't feel like writing. So I took the time off. After all, I don't want this to feel like a job. So I apologize but I'm back and feeling better.

Today I met some of the ladies of my knitting group and a couple husbands and we had breakfast and then headed out to Heartland Fiberpalooza, a fiber convention in Winterset, Iowa. Imagine a room filled with yarn, rovings, and knitters. It was loud and colorful and a lot of fun. I'm not ashamed to say I loved every minute of it.

Breakfast was at a local restaurant that mixes Lexus drivers and farmers and hunters. It's out in the country but the area is surrounded by half a million dollar homes. Overalls mix with prada bags. It's a great environment and even better food. It's also right on the way to Winterset (yes where the covered bridges are). The convention was down at the fairgrounds and was really only one building. There were less than a dozen exhibitors but it didn't matter. The focus of the show was on spinning and dyeing but there was plenty of hand-dyed yarn. I wandered the show and then started the spending spree. Jeff and I had set aside some mad money and I managed to spend all of it.

After the convention, we all went to a local Mexican place for one of the best mexican lunches I've had in a while. Mi Pueblito offered a ton of vegetarian fare and the potato burrito and cheese enchielada were some of the best I've ever had. Add in some good salsa and a great cheese dip and I was in heaven. I'll be heading back. After lunch we hit the local yarn store, the one that had sponsored the festival. I bought more yarn (I might have a problem). After the money was gone and we were tired, we each headed home where I sat and knit for hours. It was wonderful. I walked away with five total skeins of yarn and no money leftover. It was well worth it though. A great day with yarn and friends.

Sorry this one is so washed out. I loved the mix of brown and blues. I just couldn't capture how beautiful it is with the camera. Here is a better picture. 

Eye Can Juggle

I know I posted this up on Facebook already but I figured I would share it here as well. I just finished my newest knitting project, a set of juggling balls. More specifically a set of juggling eyeballs. I'm pretty excited about them. We have a juggling convention in February up in the cities and I'm excited to show them off there.

I decided to make one of each color although you could knit all three the same if you'd like. I modified a Ravelry pattern to make them and then stuffed them with some small round pasta that I keep around the house. They aren't perfect (particularly not the blue one) but I'm excited to juggle with them.

I'll plan to post the pattern later tonight in case anyone wants to make a set. They are far easier than I expected.

Special Olympics Scarf

For the last couple years, Jeff and I (along with others in my knitting group) have been making scarves for the Special Olympics. The idea is that the scarves will be handed out to all the athletes at the opening ceremonies of the games and then they can take them home. When the program was conceived in four years ago, the call went out for 5,000 scarves. Knitters all over the US and world responded and donated over 60,000 scarves. A huge effort. The Special Olympics says what colors the scarves will be but the pattern is left up to the knitter. I've seen some really cool things done. One of the girls in the group did a double knit scarf with the alternating colors making blocks. Jeff is making one that will have the date imprinted into the scarf (I will have to post a picture, It's incredible).

And here is my scarf for the year. I like the red and blue far better than last year's blue and turquoise. I knit it lengthwise to create the stripes. I'm a slow knitter so I started it back at Thanksgiving and just finished it now. But I figured I'd share. I hope that it makes some child very happy. I need to do more knitting related charity. The ARL is always looking for knitted things for the animals. Soldiers are always in need of hats and gloves. Babies are always in need of caps. And the poor worldwide are always in need of warm woolen things (like mittens...these are a few of my favorite things). So I'm going to try to be more active in 2012 as a knitter for charity. I don't need everything I make and although I give away most of my knitting as gifts, more of that should be for those less fortunate.

Cthulhu-less

When we were at Gen Con I walked past a man wearing a knitted Cthulhu hat and thought about stopping him to ask for a picture. Now I wish I had. It was one of the best ones I've seen and I would have loved to try to find a pattern for it. And honestly I was just so excited that it wasn't a Jayne hat (we saw plenty of those). I LOVE Firefly but seriously, those hats were everywhere.

Since we've been home I have been looking for a good knitting pattern for a similar hat. In a fit of insanity I went out and bought the perfect dark green yarn to make it out of. And that's when I got stumped. All of the patterns I've found so far are either for sale (I was hoping for free), crochet, or not the style I'm looking for. I've been to hundreds of sites looking at them. Years ago I found one where the tentacles rolled up into the brim. I'd love to find that again.

And to make things worse, I'm not excited about starting anything else until I can do my Cthulhu hat. I'm obsessed. The one pattern that was close, turned out to be crochet even though it was listed as knit. So I'm stumped. But I think I'll just start on that sweater I've been meaning to knit. By the time I finish that I'll either have found the perfect pattern, or forgot that there is such a thing as a Cthulhu hat.

This one is the closest I've found

Socks!!!

At long last I've finally finished my first pair of socks. They aren't real socks (no heels) but comfy tube socks that I plan to spend the entire winter in. These are the perfect around the house socks. They are by far the warmest socks I've ever worn. Acrylic apparently wins out over wool, at least in this case. They are soft and comfy and warm and mine. My first homemade socks and I made them. Can you tell I'm a bit excited?

A close-up on the pattern. It's actually really simple. And boring.

Knitting Night

Wednesday's are knitting nights so I don't have a ton of time to post. I have so many knitting projects going right now that they're taking up most of my free time. I have a couple projects that I'm working on for Christmas or right after so I've been a bit rushed. But I'm not complaining. I've been a knitting fool recently and loving it.

And I'm incredibly excited to announce that I have a new niece or nephew coming. Congrats guys! So I'll have a baby project to work on as well. But that's not until June. I'm thinking a hat and booties might be out at that time of year. Baby swimwear anyone? :-)

But I figured I'd share my winter weather gear since the below zero temps today made sure I brought it out. About a year and a half ago I ended up out at this amazing yarn store and picked up some gorgeous blue merino wool. It was the nicest wool I had bought for myself at the time. I decided to celebrate by knitting myself mittens. My first pair of mittens to be exact. They came out...strange. Kind of wonky and odd, but they are warm and soft and I still wear them. I took the leftover yarn and knit myself a hat. It's a bit big but I love it. And when I still had most of a ball leftover I knit a lacy little scarf. The pattern doesn't come out perfectly in the picture but it's a great (and easy) pattern. That's the great part about knitting. Even if the pattern seems hard, most of the time with a little patience, you can learn anything.

Bluegrass Picnic

Tonight will be my first evening at home in almost two weeks. I've been out of the house a lot lately and am looking forward to being home and getting some cleaning done. Isn't that sad, that I'm looking forward to cleaning?

Last night was my knitting night instead of our typical Wednesdays. There was a bluegrass band I wanted to see playing down in Indianola (for Bluegrass Tuesdays on the Square) and one of the knitting girls figured we could take our knitting outdoors for a change. I raced home after work to change clothes, grab my knitting, and pick up some snacks. After a quick bite to eat with Jeff I headed to our meeting spot and the group headed south to Indianola. We arrived at the town square just as the band was getting started.

We were there to see Mr. Baber's Neighbors, a local bluegrass band that has developed quite the following. And with good reason. These guys were good. We found ourselves a shady spot, spread out Jeff's old army blanket, and had a wonderful picnic. We had two types of cheese, crackers, fresh bread with yummy spreads, grapes, carrots, kettlekorn, and cider. It was far more food than any of us needed but we did a great job polishing it off (I should not have had that quick bite with Jeff. Stuffed!!!). We sat out with tons of other local residents, knitted, talked, ate, and listened to great music. There was something so relaxed about the whole evening. I loved the people watching, there were tons of families and couples and older people. It was a wonderful feeling of community. After my hands got tired of knitting I just sat back, relaxed, and people-watched.

The weather was perfect and when the band wrapped up at about 8:45 I don't think any of us were ready to head home. We were some of the last people on the square. Once back in Des Moines, we stopped for Dairy Queen and then separated for the night. A great evening filled with good friends, good music, and good food.

Learning to Love the Accordion

There is a phrase I never thought I would write. But life is funny and after spending a couple hours last night with an Irish band that included two accordions (one piano, one button) I've developed a greater appreciation for the most maligned of instruments. I'm still not a fan of the polka (the music most often associated with an accordion) but in Irish music the sound can be awfully sweet.

I'm being offered a slow musical education. One of my knitting friends, Lee, has a husband who plays in an Irish band. We've had our knitting nights correspond with their jam sessions a couple of times but last night was one of the few times where it's really been just Lee and I (and her husband and Jeff). We knit for an hour or two at the coffee shop before the musicians arrived and then settled in to knit and listen to some music. Lee sat next to me and pointed out all the instruments. I learned how different tippers make different sounds on a bodhran. I learned how an accordion can sound exactly like a harmonica. I learned how there are accordions with make different noises on expansion or contraction. And I learned that the sound of a lone fiddle can produce one of the sweetest, saddest sounds known to man. In short, I had a fantastic time.

The group is made up of whoever wants to come. Last night there were two fiddle players, a guitar player, two accordion players (one who's a local politician), a dulcimer/harmonica player, a bodhran/whistle player, and Lee's husband Connor who is a mandolin player. I got introduced to most of the musician and then just sat back and listened while Lee and the other wife there explained the pieces played and how the instruments worked. Most of the time one player would just start a tune while the rest quickly joined in. Lee's husband was the only one reading music, while the rest played by ear. It was clear that they were having a good time and playing for the sheer enjoyment of it. One of the fiddle players is just learning the songs and spent most of the night either kidding or being kidded about her slower playing. She seemed to have a blast. At the end of the night she wowed all of us with a rendition of Niel Gow's Lament For the Death of His Second Wife (a very nice rendition here with some wonderful images of Scotland) which left the musicians and the listeners speechless.

My plan had been to leave at 9:30 after about an hour of playing. Jeff headed off about that time and I thought about it. I haven't been to bed before 11 in well over a week. But I stayed. I simply couldn't pull myself away. I stayed until the musicians began to put away their instruments and I still wasn't tired. Home by 11 and in bed shortly afterwards. I'm a bit tired today but it was worth it. I'll be heading back for the next jam session. I've always loved Irish music and I'm slowly learning to love the accordion.

Yarn Harlot

This next statement may seem like an oxymoron but I swear to you that it is true. Last night I was reading a knitting book and laughing so hard I was crying. Over the weekend I picked up a copy of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter and breezed through it. I literally sat down on the couch at about seven and was almost finished by midnight. I devoured this book and with good reason...it's hilarious and oh so true.

I had picked up McPhee's At Knits End a couple years ago and had been reading periodically through it. That book is mostly little snippets (less than a page) about one aspect of knitting along with some great quotes. Yarn Harlot is a series of personal essays about projects McPhee has worked, letters to fictitous designers, and yarn stash related stories. One letter to a designer was so hilarious that I had tears rolling down my cheeks. When finished with the letter, I handed the book over to Jeff who laughed as well (non-knitter that he is). It was a fake apology to the designer for all the names she had called her the previous night while trying to knit a sock. Things like "colossal waste of time," "out of your everloving mind", and my favorite "a few jalapenos short of a zippy salsa". The whole letter was hilarious and I could easily see myself cursing a bad design in far less hilarious, but more colorful words.

Any knitters in the group will know the pull of a good yarn store and the practically standard purchasing of yarn you don't need. I myself own an entire cabinet full of yarn, some of which I freely admit will never be knit into anything. And remember I've only been knitting for a little over three years. McPhee talks about all of this, telling us with humor and a bit of horror the stories of her knitting life. One of my favorite essays is one on how to properly stash your yarn when it fills you closets. She suggests freezers (mothfree even), rarely used baking pans, sleeves of coats and suits, and tucked into the couch cushions. She talks about her family's response to her obsessive knitting and yarn collecting. Then again, this is a woman who buys yarn with cash so she won't leave a paper trail.

I loved the stories in the book and I still have two or three essays that I couldn't finish last night. I pushed until midnight to finish but finally had to go to bed. I would have been done sooner but when I was about half way through the book I had to set it down (hilarious as it is) and pick up my needles. I suddenly just wanted to knit. I consider a book about a hobby successful when I can't even get through it and already want to be working on that hobby. I did the same thing with Writing Down the Bones. I was writing even before the middle of the book. Yarn Harlot just made me laugh, made me appreciate the beautiful (and sometimes frustrating) hobby that is knitting, and more importantly it made me want to knit. A must have book for any knitter in your life.

Knitting Challenge

I've joked that I'm the world's slowest knitter. When I first started knitting with my sister, almost three years ago, it took me almost nine months to finish my first scarf. I was so worried about messing up and having to start over. Now I've learned how to fix my work so that is less of a worry but I'm still slow. It took me almost two weeks of intermittent work to complete my first mitten. I won't even begin to estimate how long my first hat took me.

But last night I set up a challenge for myself. I'm heading down to St. Louis this weekend for Jeff's brother's wedding. The dress I'm planning to wear is short sleeved and St. Louis isn't expected to be balmy. So last night I started looking at shawl projects. I found one that estimates as taking 12 hours. I'm going to put that to the test. This afternoon I am running out to the yarn store to find my yarn. And then I'm going to try to finish this thing by Saturday. You would think that this would be plenty of time but remember, I am the world's slowest knitter. My knitting group was very positive so I'm enthused about it. Plus sometimes it's good to challenge yourself. And I'm hedging my bets with a lacier shawl pattern. We'll see if I finish.

Create and Destro

No that is not a typo. I know you're looking at it, visually adding the Y. But trust me, it's not. It'll make sense in a moment.

Those of you who know me, know that I tend to get heavily involved with whatever I'm passionate about for a couple weeks and then I move on to something else. This isn't new. I've been doing this all my life. For a period of time I will read and learn everything I can about Japanese Fish Printing. Then a month later I'm obsessed with Kayaking. A month after that and all I can talk about is Botany. You get the idea.

But there are a couple things that seem to defy this trend. The first is writing and storytelling. I've been writing or storytelling (different things for me) since I was a small child and that's not about to stop now. The second is animation which I am a HUGE fan of. Anything animated interests me. I'm fascinated by all types. The third is reading which is a bit like breathing to me. I'm not going to stop until they nail my coffin shut.

But I've picked up two new passions in the last year that seem to be defying the "month or two" trend. And these hobbies are different as night and day. The first is knitting, which my little sister taught me about two years ago. And I'm incredibly grateful. Thanks sis. On Wednesday I finished my first mitten. I used the wrong needles and it's way too small for me, but it's a mitten. And the moment I finished it, I picked up my new correctly sized needles and started the ones for me. I love that I'm taking one long piece of yarn and creating something I can wear from it. I have a group of women who I meet with every Wednesday and we sit, and knit, and drink coffee, and talk. And I've just recently hit my stride when it comes to knitting. I'll probably never be as good as two of my groupmates who just submitted sweaters to the state fair, but I love the chance to create. I've never been particularly crafty, so this is a chance to experiment and try and still create something that I'll wear with pride in the winter months.

The second "newish" passion is for WoW. Although the hobby waxes and wanes in the amount of time I'm playing, it hasn't gone away. I'm not doing a lot of soloing recently, focusing instead on raiding with the guild, but I'm shockingly still playing. What started out as an agreement between Jeff and I (I would try WoW, he would try knitting) has stuck into a regular hobby. I play at least 12 hours a week, which may seem like a lot, but is down considerably from where I was. Last night I raided with the guild in Naxx and we managed to bring down three quarters and part of a fourth in three hours. That's huge. It is scary to think that we might be reaching a point where we could complete Naxx in one night. WoW for me is just an extension of all the role playing games I enjoyed when I was younger. For a couple hours I get to play a totally different person. A character that destroys. A character that shoots fire from their hands. They don't call them Destro warlocks for nothing. :-)

So I think about my new hobbies. One based on creating and one based on destroying. And it seems a good balance to me. Ying and yang. And for the moment, they're sticking around.

I'm a Hooker!

I got your attention with that! But it's not what you're thinking. Two weeks ago at knitting one of the women showed me how to crochet. And I'm loving it. I've been knitting for two year now, thanks to my sister. I've made scarves and hats through knitting. But I have to admit that crocheting is faster. It's also simpler. I can redo work more easily. 

Knitting requires two needles but it's actually a pretty simple movement. Once you learn to knit and purl you can make pretty much anything. Crocheting only uses one hook (so it often gets the term hooking) but seems to require more movement. Each stitch needs to be done at least twice. But having only the one hook, work seems to go quicker. I noticed that our lone crocheter in the group could turn out a new item each week while us knitters plodded along on products for weeks. I decided it was well worth trying. I had been knitting a scarf but I think I might instead crochet myself some mittens. And these actually might be done before winter. 

I started with the book Stitch and Bitch which my sister lent me when I was just starting to knit. Now I might have to pick up a copy of The Happy Hooker, the authors take on crochet. I'm sure I'll jump back in forth between the two disciplines depending on what each project needs. But I'm thrilled that I now know both. I might actually prove to be a crafter one of these days. 

Book Review and News

News first before I get to the book review. First and foremost on a personal level. I spent a good chunk of time this evening finishing my first hat. It's not perfect, it's not even good, (it's a little big) but I'll wear it with pride. My plan is to do a hat and scarf combination and have them ready to go for next winter. Hat down, scarf should take me a couple of months with how slow I knit.  The hat cost me a skein of yarn and a couple hours of work, but I've never been prouder. Well anyway, here is my new hat. 

In different news, some of my readers have found this blog through BigRedKitty's excellent blog. I am gladdened and saddened to hear that he is throwing in the towel. Saddened because I won't have his incredibly entertaining writing to cheer me each morning. Even not being a hunter I enjoyed his in game and out of game stories. His self-depreciating humor and witty turn of phrase made him one of the most popular WoW blogs out there. But I'm gladdened because he made the decision for the right reason. He has figured out that he's spending too much time playing WoW, and writing about WoW, and has been neglecting his family. As much as I enjoy the game, real life takes precedence. So I salute him for making the tough choice but for making it for the right reasons. 

And now to the book review. As I mentioned I've been interested in birding lately. That extends to my reading as well. So when I was in the library and spotted "A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All" by Luke Dempsey I had to pick it up. I'm glad I did. This is an entertaining read partially for the journeys and the birds seen. This book sent me to the Cornell University Lab for Ornithology multiple times. After reading about the rare birds they were searching for I would go to the website to see pictures and learn more about the species. 

The three mad birders in the title are just that. The book followed the author along with two rather unique friends as they travel across the country birding. There are trips to Texas, Michigan, Florida, Washington, and Arizona, to name a few. Dempsey mixes a good conservation message with sheer love of birds. As he mentions, they are not listers, but they want to see as many species as they can. But, like me, he is not willing to leave a beautiful bird just to make another checkmark on his list. The love and respect the author has for birds comes through clearly. This is part bird book, part travelogue, and part memoir. And it's all interesting. 

New Books!

So one of the gifts I was given for Christmas were some gift cards to Barnes and Noble. What a perfect gift! I can always buy more books. So last night, my sister-in-law, my brother, my dad, and Jeff and I went out to Barnes and Noble to knit. I'm working on an ear warmer for a friend of mine and almost finished it last night. My sister-in-law is working on an awesome felted bag. It looks fantastic. The boys (all of them) were working on scarves. We had a really good time and Jeff learned some new knitting stitches from my sister-in-law. But before we left I went upstairs to pick out some books. I've been focusing for a while on children's books so that is what I picked up. All three are books that I've wanted to pick up for along time. They are all favorites, all Caldecott winners, and all very different.

The first and perhaps the newest is Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems. This sweet story of a stuffed animal and a laundromat was an instant classic. Perhaps it is because the story is timeless. All kids can identify with the emotions in this story. But what drew me to the book were the illustrations. Willems uses sepiaed photographs as his background and successfully weaves his cartoon like characters into those settings. The images, rather than jarring, are simply enchanting. But this a sweet warm story that anyone will love.

The next book was The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith. If Knuffle Bunny was sweet, this is the exact opposite. The book is inventive and hilarious but with a touch of maniacal. The stories are fairy tales turned on their heads. The little red hen just complains all the way through the book, even extending to the front pages and back of the book. Jack, who is our narrator, continues to elude the giant throughout the book. And of course there is the Stinky Cheese Man, (a takeoff on the gingerbread man) who no one wants to chase. Scieszka's writing is inspired and downright hilarious. Lane Smith's illustrations are silly and fun and a little mischievous. This may be one of my favorite books of all.

The last book I picked up was Tuesday by David Wiesner. Wiesner has made a name for himself with wordless picture books and this is definitely my favorite. Tuesday is about the strange going-ons of a mid-summer tuesday night. A night just like any other, except for the frogs. In this delightful story, frogs rise up on their lily pads and fly around the city at night, causing havoc wherever they go. The illustration are beautiful with more than a little touch of silly. The premise is odd but seems more magical than anything. Cute story.

So three new books for me to add to my ever expanding children's book collections. One of these days I will need to add another bookcase up there to contain my growing collection. Until then I'm not about to stop buying them. Or reading them.

Knitting Night

My little sister taught me to knit about two years ago. She patiently explained the stitches to me and then helped me along as I screwed up. She and I have been knitting together weekly since that time. I've only done a couple of projects. I tend to knit very slow and don't do a lot of knitting at home. Over the last couple months we've added a number of new people to the group. We meet at a different coffee house either Monday or Tuesday and talk and knit. I am always amazed at the number of people who stop by to say how they used to knit, or how they've always wanted to learn. We believe in the "more the merrier" so everyone is pretty much invited. 

Of the nine people that are currently on my list, only four or five can make it each week. It's always a different mix of people. The one constant for most of the group has been my project. I have been working on a rather long scarf for the last 8 months. (did I mention I'm a slow knitter?). Tonight I finally finished the project. I just have to brag. I started on a hat this evening and have a great start on it. I even remembered how to join. But for my little sister, who I know reads this, my scarf is above. I'm sorry you won't see it. I'm giving it to my friend tomorrow morning. And I'm so excited. 

Crafty

Tuesdays have become my knitting nights recently. When my sister and I first started getting together to knit it was almost always on Mondays. I knew that each week I would be busy on Monday nights. But that was back when there was only two of us. Slowly over the last year and a half our knitting group has grown. Tonight we had six people who came out, and there were three others that couldn't make it. We've gotten big. 

With the leaves starting to fall and the weather turning colder I've been in the mood to knit. I'm working on a scarf for a friend and think I'm almost finished. I'm a terribly slow knitter and this is a long scarf and it will eventually have tassles on the end. I'll try to post a picture when I'm done. I think it's the best one I have done so far. Next I plan to either make myself a hat or some socks. 

After I went home I decided that I would look at one of my sister's friends websites. She spins and dyes her own yarns, along with making all sorts of sewn items. And I ended up buying some yarn. Actually I drooled over a lot of yarn and then was disciplined enough to only buy one. But people like my sister's friend make me wish that I was more crafty. She is constantly making things. www.sewspun.com. I am constantly amazed at how she finds the time to create all of these things with two small children and a house to mind. I don't even have children and I don't make things like this. 

Here is just a sample of the yarn that she has made and some rather pretty pumpkins that she's sewn. Thank goodness she has finally opened a store. Check it out. (Mandy, I hope you don't mind that I "borrowed" some of your pictures. It was done with love.) 

I am always fascinated by crafts. One of my other favorite sites Roadside Scholar is predominately an art site but occasionally has crafts. Everything that is feature is interesting or incredible or both. I promised my sister I would find and post a picture of this cashmere elf house from meekssandygirl. (etsy name) I had seen it on the site many months ago and had been just amazed. What sort of pattern do you use for something like this? 

And lastly if you are interested in homemade gifts you need to check out Etsy. www.etsy.com. There are a number of very crafty people out there selling pretty much everything under the sun. It is well worth a look. Here is a screenshot with just some of the things available.