Stupid 3-column template

Uuuuuuuuggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh! I am annoyed. Can't seem to get this 3-column template to work properly. It appears fine in the preview, but not once it is published. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I have wasted FAR too much time trying to fix this. I give up for tonight. I need to go knit and de-stress.

Blocking Pin Review & Candy Cane Hats

The new issue of MagKnits is up and I'm a little bummed that it is mostly stuff for babies, since I have no babies for whom to knit (kids, yes; babies, no). I do really like this Medusa hat though. I'll have to find some relative who wants one, as I am not really a hat-wearing person.

I finished knitting the red scarf today. I knit it in two halves and will be grafting the halves together tomorrow hopefully. It's blocking now. Pics tomorrow.

Speaking of blocking, I got to use my new blocking pins that Santa brought me in my stocking. They are the Clover ones with the double pins and the pink and blue tops. I think these are the overpriced ones they were selling in that store that had never heard of blocking your knitting. [Price is no object to Santa, apparently.]

Well, I'm sorry to report that these pins suck royally. Or, at least, they do with my blocking board (which is the big gray one they sell at Patternworks). These Clover pins bend way too easily and are hard to push in. I finally got myself to AC Moore this evening and purchased some good old T-pins (40 for a whole $2.59 -- whatta bargain). Why did I not think of looking in the sewing aisle earlier? Especially when certain people even suggested I go to a fabric store. Must have been my unnatural fear of fabric stores. That and the fact that I don't know where any are. Anyway, I'm happy now -- I bought three boxes of pins. So now I can go super-anal and pin every inch of whatever I block. [You know I will.]

Went to see King Kong today -- great movie. Tried knitting while watching, but that was kind of a bust. Got about two inches of the wrist warmers I'm working on done, but then I got all messed up and there were too many dark scenes to sort it out. Anyway, there was a lot of action that needed to be concentrated upon -- not a good knitting movie.

Well, I will leave you with a picture of a hat I made as a Christmas gift for my niece. Here are the details:

Pattern: Candy Cane Hat from Handknit Holidays (love that book)

Yarn: Cascade 220

Needles: US 7

Mods: I only did a nubbin at the top, instead of the long knotted umbilical cord sort of thing in the pattern. My 16-yr-old half brother commented that this made it look like a breast, but he is a perv, so I am ignoring him. I think it's cute. I also added the braid sort of thing at the bottom of the stripes. This is done by purling while alternating colors and stranding the unused color on the right side so it forms little slanting lines. I can't find my notes, but it looks like I did two rows of this, stranding the colors the opposite way in the 2nd row. This is a cool technique I learned at a great Annie Modesitt class at Webs a couple of months ago.

Notes: This hat was fun to make and I love the way it came out. If any friend/relative wants one, let me know -- I'd be glad to make another.

In fact, I liked it so much I already have made a variation of it for my daughter. Here I used up some old Cascade 220 remnants I had lying around. I ran out of the navy blue yarn halfway through and had to switch to gray for the top of the hat. This didn't turn out so great because the gray doesn't have enough contrast with the heathery blue so you can't really see the swirl on the top. But, hey, I used up leftover yarn, and that was the goal. I also added a little checkerboard strip to the bottom, surrounded by more of those braid things.

This was the very first pompom I have ever made. Not sure I enjoy making those. I did learn that more yarn is better when it comes to pompoms.

Resolutions

What's a new year without resolutions? Here are mine: 1. Start exercising regularly again. Over the past few months, I've started to revert to my sloth-like ways and soon I will no longer fit into my clothes -- I guess that's a good incentive. 2. Use up a significant portion of my stash (so I can replace it with more yarn, of course). Attempt to buy less yarn (unless it's a really good deal...) until stash is appropriately reduced. 3. Finish (or rip if I don't plan to ever finish) my multudinous WIPs. I'm scared to even count how many projects I have lying around that are unfinished. I'm guessing it's over twenty... Yes, I'm fickle. 4. Try to post more regularly and organize my FO's into a lovely little archive.

Last night I ripped out a partial scarf I had started and promptly abandoned a month or so ago. Instead, I reclaimed the yarn for a new scarf. I believe this satisfies resolutions #2 and #3 simultaneously. And I did actually ride the stationary bike yesterday -- look at me go on those resolutions.

The yarn is Araucania Nature Wool Chunky. The lace pattern is from the book Beautiful Knitting Patterns. I only modified it slightly (to replace the purls on the right side with knits). I only have 2 balls of this stuff and I'm hoping it's enough for a short scarf. If it works out it will be a late Xmas present for my husband's aunt at our gift exchange on Jan 15.

There are a couple of other projects I need to have done by then. Pics of those tomorrow...

Laziness

I have no energy to post today. Still recovering from mad Xmas/New Year's rush.

Apparently I only have energy to catch up on some blog reading and take silly quizzes. Like this one. Seems about right.

You will perish of fits. Repeat this to yourself:
"Things can work out even if I don't get
my way. Things can work out even...."

What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
brought to you by Quizilla

And this one. Which, unfortunately, is also quite accurate (with regard to the hair color...sigh).

Your Hair Should Be White

Classy, stylish, and eloquent. You've got a way about you that floors everyone you meet.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

My own private block party

I finished the Lopi Lace Scarf this morning, and then I went crazy blocking all the knitted Christmas gifts that have been sitting around - 2 hats, 1 bag, 2 scarves. Should have some good pics tomorrow. I ran out of blocking pins so I couldn't block the Backyard Leaves scarf. I've been putting that one off because after I block it I will have to seam it together, and it looks like that will be very UN-fun due to the lumpy edge.

I looked for blocking pins at the LYS yesterday, but they only had some ridiculously expensive ones (10 pins for like $8.50 -- geez, those must be nice pins). Anyway, I asked if they had any others and the two older women behind the counter looked at me like I was insane. They said they had "never HEARD of using pins to block your knitting." What??!!?? Then they were all in my face asking me what I was making, etc. I told them I was going to use the pins to block lace -- to open it out more. They just did NOT get that. They insisted that was unnecessary, that it would probably HARM my knitting (how???), blah, blah, blah. Why do I bother talking to these people -- it's just not worth it.

Anyway, I bought a bunch of Cascade 220 to continue my Christmas knitting extravaganza. Enough to make another alien scarf (1st one is currently blocking), another knitted bag (1st one also blocking), and then some to enhance the stash (you know, cuz it was getting low... ;)

This is kind of cute: Make an avatar of yourself!

Oh, and I fixed the problem with the comments. So, feel free to comment away.

Persnickety about Xmas Trees

Well, we spent the morning looking for a Frasier Fir Christmas tree that is over 8 ft but costs less than $200. Apparently such a thing does not exist around here, at least not that we found. Tomorrow we will have to look at the cut-your-own places, but in previous years we have not found great looking trees at these places. I guess I may have to be less finicky and get a Balsam (hate those needles that fall off instantly) or disappoint my daughters and get a 7-8 ft tree (which is what my daughters would call a "small" tree). As the years go by I am starting to understand why people buy fake trees...

Well, I'm still messing around finishing up the Ritratto scarf and the Lopi Lace Scarf, so in the meantime I will leave you with another scarf I finished a few months ago. Here are the specs:

Pattern: Thandi Scarf from Jo Sharp Gathering (Book 5)

Yarn: Jo Sharp Rare Comfort Kid Mohair in Romany (brown), Millet (tan), Swamp (green), and Velvet (purple) -- about 1.5 balls of each

Needles: US8

Modifications: Did an extra repeat of the pattern in each color band to make the stripes wider.

Comments: I think this would have been nicer if I used the Kid Mohair Infusion called for in the pattern, but I got this yarn on sale at elann.com. At about the halfway point I decided I hated the color combination and was going to desert the project, but my daughter said she really liked it and convinced me to finish it for her. However, after blocking it and having it hanging around for a while, it's really growing on me. In fact, I think I'll borrow it to wear out tonight.

Molly Bolero

I'm soooo close to being done with my Mom's scarf. Can't wait to have another Christmas gift done. Planning on finishing it tonight -- will post a finished pic tomorrow.

In the meantime, to give you something to look at, here is a picture of something I finished a couple of months ago.

Pattern: Molly Bolero from Debbie Bliss Junior Knits

Size: biggest size (ages 9-10)

Yarn: Laines Du Nord Dolly Maxi in Dusty Rose, used 9 balls (from Elann.com)

Needles: US 9 (and US 8 for edging)

Modifications: The body and sleeves of this bolero are knit as one piece (see diagram below) and then the edging is picked up and knit. I used short rows to shape the sleeves rather than using the stair-step cast-on and bind-off specified in the pattern. I used a provisional cast for the sleeves and kitchenered them together to avoid seams. I then knit the ribbed edging on the sleeves in the round (instead of flat, as per pattern). I sewed the short side seams before working on the body edging so I could knit that in the round too (yes, I'm an "in the round" freak, apparently). The edging around the neck uses short rows and the pattern did not say anything about wrapping the turns, but I did it anyway (and I found that it is not easy to hide the wrap in ribbing -- which is probably why the pattern ignored the wraps).

Comments: This bolero came out rather large, but it seems that Debbie Bliss sizes many of her children's patterns to be oversized, and I guess I forgot that. My daughter is 9 and it is pretty big on her (in fact, it fits me, although it did have a tendency to split.

except that the sleeves are a little too short). I probably should have made the ages 8-9 size. The Dolly Maxi yarn was soooo soft. I enjoyed working with it,