Well, That's Over

I did not give any hand knitted gifts for the holidays this year. I didn't even get the eyes sewed on the Caterpillar Scarf. I had hoped to finish at least the first Gator Mitt while I was out of town, but I discovered that I was short a spare DPN, which made it rather impossible to finish the claws on the mitts. So I worked on my One-Row Handspun Scarf. I did manage to get it finished while I was away.

And then I felt really odd because I had no projects with me upon which I could work. It feels strange to be without a WIP after years and years and years of always having some project with me.

Anyway, here's my scarf. The yarn is Mountain Colors Mountain Goat in the color Ruby River. It's a mohair blend. Personally, I would rather it was a bit softer, but it's not uncomfortable to wear against my neck. I will use the other two skeins of this yarn (in completely different colors) to make two more of these scarves to give away as gifts or donations.

Weeding Out the Stash
I have bundled up a selection of spinning fibers to send to my stepmom. Right now that selection includes some domestic wool roving, cotton roving (short staple and long staple), undyed silk and two pounds of a teal/multi wool roving. The dyed wool roving was one I purchased at a fiber festival over five years ago. At the time, I thought it was very pretty. Now it doesn't appeal to me as much, but I think the colors would suit my stepmom very well, were she to spin the yarn for herself. In any event, I'm sure all the fiber I send will be put to good use.

Half a Gator Mitt Done

I have discovered that the pattern is full of errors though. The numbers don't work out and the thumb stitches are put on a holder in such a way that the working yarn divides the thumb hole into two smaller holes. I'm glad I noticed that one before I got more than a couple rounds past the thumb hole. Now that I've looked for it at the Morehouse Merino site, I see that there is an errata sheet for the Gator Mitts. I'm a little disappointed that the errata wasn't included with the pattern, but at least this confirms that the problem is their math, not mine.

I might get a mitt finished today. I could get another one finished by Tuesday. Definitely going to be short at least one scarf and one hat this year. Niece will have her mitts and scarf. Nephew will have mitts and a hat. The rest will get shipped later.

I Think I'm Giving Up

I knit half of a child's mitten cuff last night. I didn't even pick up the needles tonight. I just don't have the energy. Today I realized I am definitely coming down with a cold. I was in denial about it last night, but it's unavoidable today. Between my newfound cold, stress from work and a general lack of exercise, I don't have much energy at the end of the day. I really needed to get the mittens finished by this evening so I could get two hats finished this weekend and a scarf done next week. I don't know when I might have the brain and energy to knit in the evenings. Right now I'm more interested in poking myself in the eye with a pointy stick and/or sleeping.

Now the question is, if I give up knitting these things to be done by Christmas, do I still try to finish them and send them later (like in early to mid-January)? I suppose I should, since I bought the patterns and the yarn.

On that note, I'm taking my mug of hot tea and going to bed.

8 Days Left

And I've only got a pair of mittens, one scarf, two hats and a Boy Sock to knit. I'm even behinder than the Harlot!! My goal is to finish the 2nd Puppy Paw this evening. I'll cast on the Gator Mitts as soon as the Paw is finished.

Fortunately, Boy understands that his socks will be late. I saw Boy this past weekend, but didn't have a chance to get his toe re-done for him to try on. I debated sending the first sock when it's done but that would be silly if it fit, so I'll wait and send them both together. I suspect these socks will be my airplane knitting when I go on my trip in January.

My spinning wheel is not tempting me nearly as much as it tempted me last week. This is good. I'd never finish my holiday knitting otherwise.

And now back to watching Shadow of a Doubt. Joseph Cotton is one of my favorite actors.

No, Really. Must Start Soon.

I have 1.3 Puppy Paws finished. I suspect the new, improved Puppy Paws will now be waaaaay too big. I have started to rip out the toe of Boy's Sock. I'll see Boy on Saturday, so it would be nice if I actually got the toe re-knit by then so we can have a fitting. I also need to actually pack and get organized to head out tomorrow.

So, since I'm supposed to be knitting, I've been spinning a little bit each day instead. That makes all kinds of sense, right? This is the sort of logic that works best for me. Avoid what you have to get done and do other stuff with no deadline at all that you've not even been interested in for months. Maybe I just like the whirring of the wheel.

Regarding the spinning, I had intended to spin a 3-ply sock yarn, but I had also toyed with the idea of a 2-ply laceweight. Now I'm leaning more toward the laceweight and considering making a shawl or stole out of it. The downside to this is that the yarn will be variegated with a lot of difference between the colors. I don't like lots of variation in color in shawls. Maybe it will be socks afterall.

Must Get Cracking....

I haven't been knitting very much. Well, I added an inch or so to my new winter scarf, but that was mostly done while resting my eyes/brain on Saturday when I had a headache. I still have Boy Socks to finish (and I see Boy in one week), the Puppy Paws, the Pony Tail Hat, and all the Gator Gear for the niece and nephew. I won't mention Boy's Scarf. Given that I have other things I need to get done this week, I don't think I'll be knitting every night this week. I'll aim for getting the first Boy Sock re-knit so that it fits better and then have the fitting on Saturday when I see Boy. After that, I'll have to really get cracking on the Critters. The Gator Scarf might take me a while, especially if I'm having to adjust the pattern for the gauge I'll get with the yarn I've chosen. Boy will understand if his socks are delayed until late December or early January. The niece and nephew may not.

Cleaning House
I've been making good progress on some long-delayed de-cluttering in my house. I am probably going to weed out my stash as well. Some of it I'll just donate either to a charity that solicits yarn donations or I'll take it to GoodWill. I may try to sell some of the better stuff that I just don't think I'll ever get around to knitting. Having a large stash is great, as long as it doesn't loom over you and make you think you aren't doing enough with it. I have, at least, managed to catalog it in an Access database.

Scarves

So, the Caterpillar is finished (except for having its eyes and antennae attached). Everybody who has seen it says it's really cute. As always, I added a few modifications. The pattern, as written, has two sizes for the body segments. I actually stepped down the size on the segments from the middle to the tail. I also had to adjust for having a tighter gauge than the pattern specified.

This is my soon-to-be winter scarf. I'm using the Yarn Harlot's One Row Handspun Scarf and Mountain Colors Mountain Goat yarn in Ruby River. The other two skeins are Juniper and Wild Raspberry. I'll turn them into One Row Scarves too and then give them away. I'm thinking I may turn a lot of my miscellaneous wool yarn stash into these scarves and then donate them. Either that or I'll make them into felted berets or other hats.

Yes, now that we're coming down to the wire for getting holiday knitting done, I'm feeling the urge to do a lot of charity knitting. This happens every year. I blame the cold weather. I love cold weather and snow, but I dislike being cold. I have the luxury of lots of warm clothes and a warm house, but not everybody is that lucky. So when it gets cold, I feel the urge to make lots of warm stuff for people who may not have any warm stuff of their own. It just seems like the thing to do.

Caterpillar Done!

But now the puppy paws need to be ripped out. I'm not sure which size I knit (the book and mittens are at home, but I'm not), but they're too short. I had my niece and nephew try them on over the weekend and they didn't fit either one of them. That's easy enough to fix. I'll undo the seam and rip back just to the thumb area, then add an inch of length. I'll make sure the gator mitts are nearly as long.

Ripping Ripping Ripping....
I discovered last week that I don't actually have a winter scarf any more. I apparently gave away all the fabric ones. I did knit a lace one over a year ago, but didn't like it as much as I'd hoped so I gave it away too. So I got out a ball of Mountain Colors Mountain Goat in the Ruby River colorway and set to work knitting myself the Yarn Harlot's One Row Handspun Scarf. I initially cast on 42 stitches. I knit several inches and then couldn't decide if it was wide enough. Finally I decided to rip it out and cast on 50 stitches. That was definitely wide enough.

You might guess what happened next.

Yep, not long enough. So I ripped a completed, but too short scarf out on Saturday night and started over. With the original 42 stitches.

Fortunately this is luscious yarn and a quick-knitting pattern. I should have myself a yummy warm scarf by the end of the week, which is good.

Because Boy has indicated that he might like to try wearing a winter scarf if I could find some soft, non-scratchy warm yarn. (I have two balls of Takhi Sable, which is 70% merino, 30% angora in jet black.) I really need to get the Boy Socks finished too.

She's Come Undone!

Last night, I frogged the Caterpillar Scarf back to the first body segment's increases. I decided that four inches was just far too narrow for even a five year old's scarf. I got a text message from my sister today telling me that she thought four inches was too narrow as well. Of course, I had already re-knit the first body segment by that point. I suppose it would be even better if the scarf was six inches wide, but I'm not sure I want to re-knit it again. Maybe I should let it sit for a while and work on one of Nephew's Critters instead, like the Gator Mittens.

Shawl Cravings
The desire to knit shawls is growing in me again. This may well be growing out of the chilliness in my house in the evenings. Snuggling under a shawl while reading or writing or knitting would be just enough extra warmth to keep me from having to bump the thermostat up a few more degrees. I should really finish the Errold's Grove Wedding Shawl before I start a new shawl project. The shawl after that, however, will be a heavier weight one. I could use a bit more warmth than is afforded by a cobweb weight or lace weight creation. I have some cones of heavy fingering weight wool that should work nicely. I'll troll my queue on Ravelry and see what I've already had in mind as a future project or I could just dive right in to MMario's Spanish Armada. I'd jump into the Queen Anne's Lace Shawl, but that's going to be another cobweb weight yarn and I really do want a heavier pattern than that.

Oooooh! I know! I'll finish up my holiday knitting and then start on Spanish Armada as my reward, regardless of the status of Errold's Grove. I'll just have to make darned sure I don't start to collect shawl/stole works in progress that stall out.

Working Out vs. Knitting Time

I have recently started setting my alarm clock for 4:30am in hopes of getting out of bed shortly after 5am and leaving for the gym around 5:30. I've only been trying this for two days. So far I've gotten out of bed at 5:15am and left for the gym around 6am. The end result is that I am setting my alarm clock 45 minutes earlier and getting ot the gym only 15 minutes earlier.

What's this got to do with knitting? No, I do not knit while running on the treadmill or lifting weights. But I am now going to bed shortly after 9pm instead of 10pm, which is cutting out an hour of possible knitting time. Dang it!

Caterpillar Progress....
I have finished the 4 large body segments. I am about to start the first of three small body segments. Now I'm worried that the scarf is not wide enough. I am, of course, not quite achieving gauge so my scarf is only 4 1/4 inches wide instead of 5 inches wide. I am now seriously considering ripping the caterpillar back to its head and adding 2-4 stitches to the longest rows and a couple extra rows to allow for the extra increases. I keep trying to tell myself that a 5 year old's neck isn't as tall as a grown-up's neck but the voice in the back of my head says it's too narrow.

Caterpillar is Inching Along....

Well, it was. I started it with an orange head and a pink body. Now I think it needs a pink head and tail and an orange body. I had only knit one body section and the head, so I won't be ripping out very much. It will be good knitting while I watch Blade Runner and Paths of Glory tonight. I had a thought the other night that it would be really funny/cute to add legs to each body segment and turn this into a centipede or millipede.

I think I'll finish all of Niece's critters before I start on Nephew's critters. These are really fun to knit and very fast to knit as well. The patterns are clearly written and well photographed. I really like that the whole set was put in a binder too.

Missing Mitt
Some time ago, I knit a fingerless mitt for my right hand. When I'm on the computer for an extended period of time, my mousing hand gets cold. My hypothesis is that the position of my hand on the mouse compresses the blood vessels so my right hand doesn't get as much warm blood as my left hand. The result is icy, numb fingers. The mitt really helped keep my hand warmer longer, along with regular re-positioning and flexing my hand. I had intended to knit a second mitt for my left hand, but never quite got that done.

I came across the remaining yarn recently. I think it is Paton's Classic Wool, but I'm not positive about that. I did, however, have the sense to leave one DPN stuck in the yarn ball so I know what size needle I used. Perhaps I'll get the second mitt knit after the holiday knitting is completed.

Too Cute!
I may have to learn how to crochet SOON. I was sent a link to this Snowman Coffee Cozy earlier this week. Isn't it just adorable? I can think of a couple of coffee junkies that could use these.

Two Paws Down....

Now I just need to figure out which of the critters I'll go for next.  Part of me wants to do the Gator Mittens because they'll be fast too, but then part of me says I ought to get one of the bigger projects (like a scarf) done instead and save the quick mittens for last.  Maybe I'll cast on the Caterpillar Scarf while I watch the shuttle Endeavor launch tonight.

An Almost Oopsie

One of the first pair of socks I ever knit was a pair of Lealt Socks from the first Vogue Knitting Socks book.  I knit them in a yummy orange yarn made by Stahl called Sunshine.  I don't wear these socks very often because they are very warm and a bit too thick to wear with most of my shoes.  I did end up wearing them a week or two ago and washed them this past weekend.  For some reason I had it in my head that this yarn was superwash so I didn't pay any attention when I put them in the washer and dryer.  I am almost positive that I have washed these socks in the washer before.  Apparently I was mistaken.  

The foot portion of these socks is now awfully short looking though it does stretch out enough that I can wear them.  They fit more snugly than they used to, but that's ok.  They were a bit too loose.  When I knit these socks in the early 1990s, I didn't really understand the concept of gauge.

Needless to say, I will definitely remember that these socks are NOT to be washed in the machine or dried in the dryer.

One Puppy Paw Down....Five and a Half Critters to Go!

I whipped through an entire puppy paw mitten last night in just a few hours. It was much faster than I expected. I should get the second one finished this afternoon or evening.

In the interest of time, I elected to go with acrylic yarn. The Niece had requested orange and fuschia for her Critters (Pony Tail Hat, Puppy Paws and Caterpillar Scarf). The Nephew will get a dark green Dinosaur Scarf, Gator Mittens and Dinosaur Hat. I still need to get felt or fleece for the pads on the puppy paws, the eyes on the scarves and the spines on the Dino hat. I think I have some black polarfleece somewhere in my fabric stash.

Surprisingly, I wasn't able to find a nice bright pink yarn locally. I found a light pink and a rose color, but nothing that approaches Barbie Pink. I settled for the light pink and then found two skeins of a bright pink at home that I had purchased for Niece when I intended to knit sweaters for Christmas. Fortunately it's a "no dyelot" yarn so I can get another skein of the hot pink when I do get to the sweaters and not have to worry about the new skein not matching the old one.

While out yarn shopping, I debated purchasing two skeins of the new (to me) Patons Stretch yarn. It's a cotton blend and I found two skeins in a nice green/khaki color. I picked a skein up twice to fondle it, but ended up deciding against purchasing it. Now, of course, I'm having some non-buyer's remorse. I may go back and buy it today. I wanted to double check to make sure I hadn't overlooked the bright pink yarn at this big box store anyway. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Update: Yep, I overlooked the pink yarn. I found it when I went back today. It was hiding behind a stack of hanging freebie patterns. I now have an additional skein of the pink yarn, just for the Critters. And I succumbed to the Patons Stretch yarn. It was a treat for me just because.

Fuschia Socks!

I have finally finished the Fuschia Socks. I cannot remember what yarn this is. I'm nearly positive it is not Mountain Colors. I'm pretty sure it's also not Lorna's Laces, but beyond that I don't know. It is wool and a light worsted weight. Anyway, my feet are quite toasty at the moment, which is quite nice.

I wove in the ends on the Fawkes Socks while I was at it and I might just weave in the ends on the one Slippin' Stripin' Sock I finished from Sock Madness 2. I've got a pair of socks I need to mend as well. I managed to rip a hole in the bottom of one foot. Part of me says to just let it go since the socks are at least 5 years old, but the other part of me says the tops have plenty of wear left in them and it's just a little hole right now. No doubt the mending part of me will win.

Voting Knitting

Well, I actually took knitting to my local polling place, but the wait to get my name checked was just a few minutes and the wait for a voting booth was about the same. The whole experience from parking the car to unparking the car was about ten minutes. I suppose that if I had not been prepared with knitting that I would have stood in line for ages.

Now I'm spending the evening watching Waterloo Bridge, starring Vivien Leigh, on Turner Classic Movies and knitting my fuschia sock. I can't think of a much nicer end to a day than that. Ok, a winning lottery ticket, perhaps, but a nice cup of tea is nearly as good.

The November Calendar

So, in mid-September, I figured out that I might put my projects on my handy dandy wall calendar to keep myself focused and set some tentative goals. How did I do? I did finish the Candy Corn bags on time. I also finished the first Queen of Cups sock, which didn't actually appear on the October calendar. I did not, however, finish the Errold's Grove shawl. Heck, I'm not sure I've even worked on it in October. I haven't worked on it since the unfortunate vacuum incident.

As of yesterday, the only thing on the calendar for November was to finish spinning up my sock yarn. That is now going to change. I'm going to finish the fuschia sock (2nd of the pair in a plain 2x2 rib) that I picked up after finishing the first Queen of Cups. After that, I'll haul out the Boy Socks and get them finished. I still haven't re-worked the toe area of sock #1. It would be good if I got these done before Christmas. So, my only completion goals for November are to finish the fushia and Boy socks.

Now, when I'm supposed to start and finish the critters for the Niece and Nephew, I have no idea. I don't even have the yarn picked out yet. *sigh*

Name Change

Some of you know that Morenna is the name of my primary online gaming character. Much as I would like to claim it as my own invention, I cannot. I actually saw it at a fiber festival many years ago and borrowed it to name my game char. It has since become something of an online alter-ego for me. Over time, I came to the conclusion that it's a bit unfair to Robin Edmundson for me to continue to use the name she came up with for her company, regardless of how beautiful that name is. (By the way, Robin dyes gorgeous rovings and yarns. You really should go check it out. I'm particularly fond of the Hummingbird colorway.) So, you'll notice in the next few days that the name on my blogs will be changing. Yes, it's confusing and I'm sure it'll aggravate some of you, but it's the right thing to do, so I'm doing it. My apologies to Robin.

So, the new name will be Ruby Louise. In real life, I am named after my grandmothers--the first name of one and the middle name of the other. Ruby Louise is the reverse combination. Ruby Louise will also be the name by which I will sell the knitting patterns I'm developing. I find this particularly appropriate since both of my grandmothers knit, crocheted, and/or quilted. I actually have my paternal grandmother's knitting and crochet tools, including one sweater in progress.

Anyway, I wanted to let you know in case you were confused by seeing Ruby Louise instead of Morenna.

The Infamous Bag Hat Photo

Here's a photo of my niece wearing her bag/hat. (My apologies for the poor quality--it's a camera phone pic.)
It seems the confusion as to whether it was a bag or a hat was started by her dad who thought the bags were hats. My sister, of course, knew they were bags but wasn't home when the box was opened.

Last night, my nephew used BOTH bags to Trick or Treat and managed to fill them both. My niece decided to use a punkin treat bag instead, which is fine. Whatever carries the most candy and works best for you.

Still no photo of my sister wearing a bag hat, though she did tell me it was really really warm when she wore it.

Single Skeins of Mountain Goat

Shortly before I moved two years ago, I went on a shopping spree at my former LYS and picked up a supply of Mountain Colors yarns--three skeins Mountain Goat and two skeins each of Weaver's Wool Quarters and Bearfoot. I failed to notice at the time that Mountain Goat has a much shorter yardage than the other two yarns. I had intended to make myself some socks from it, but I'm pretty sure that 230 yards is not nearly enough to do that, even for worsted weight. So I've been holding onto this yarn trying to figure out what to do with it. I'm pondering whether to make hats and/or scarves with it. The skein of Ruby River will probably be turned into a Liesl scarf for me. I don't know yet what I'll decide about the Juniper and the Wild Raspberry. I may knit them into scarves as well and simply have faith that someone who needs/deserves a handknit scarf will present themselves around the time the scarf is finished.

Critters Have Arrived!
The Critter Knits book was on my doorstep when I got home from work today. All the patterns are exceedingly cute. As an added bonus, the book was completely and carefully encased in two big sheets of bubble wrap. I allowed myself fifteen minutes of anti-stress popping, which was just what I needed after a long week at work. Tomorrow I will have to start the yarn quest for the Niece and Nephews hats, scarves and mittens. I'm almost positive that the stash won't have what I need in it. I'd like to use superwash wool for these things so they're really warm, rather than acrylic.

It's a Bag! It's a Hat!

I don't yet have pictures, but I have been advised that the Candy Corn Bags are *very* popular as hats. Not only has Niece worn a bag on her head, so has my sister. Sis claims to have worn it as a thinking cap while studying for a nursing school clinical exam this morning. I say it didn't happen unless there are pictures.

Queen of Cups #1 Finished!
I'd prefer the leg to be a bit longer, but the pattern called for just two repeats and, now that I've finished it, there wouldn't have been enough yarn to do three repeats. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Now I need to figure out if I want to cast on the second one or work on something else for a little while. Like the Boy Sock.