What's New with You?

If you're as bloated as I am, you had a great holiday. The Christmas Eve party went off without a hitch & I got precisely what I asked DH (the Weedinator) for...giftcards to the bookstore & the LYS. I never told you how strange he thought it was that I wanted a giftcard to the LYS.

Him (beginning of December): What do you want for Christmas?
Me: A giftcard to Borders...and to the yarn store.
Him: How much?
Me: $100...each.
Him: You're going to spend $100 on yarn???
(I thought I was going to have to revive him, but he managed to stay upright)
Me: Yes (I didn't add "I do it all the time").
Him: (looking at me askance) Okay, if that's what you want.

Yesterday, I went to the LYS & blew almost all of it on this...

The Knitters Handy Book of Sweater Patterns
Peace Fleece wool
Laceweight Zegna Baruffa (1400 yds in that pink cake)
2 Laceweight JaggerSpun Zephyr
Basket

If you're at all interested in designing your own sweaters--not necessarily anything fancy, but just want a plain sweater with minimal design details like I do--the sweater book is a must-have. (It would work for fancy-schmancy, too.) It has all the calculations for 6 different sweater constructions, from child to adult sizes...all you do is figure out your gauge (so needle size, yarn, etc. are all up to you). I've been wanting this book forever & now I finally have it. Which leads directly to this...

A sweater for A, hereafter known in my blog as #1 Girl. (All family members are now renamed.) I'm using the yoke design, so this is knit in the round & I'm adding simple 2-color designs as I go along. Next will be sweaters for the boys, Animal Magnet & the Dimpled One.

In case you're wondering why hubby is now named "the Weedinator" (our neighbors already know why), it's because he's never met a weed he couldn't conquer. Thus, I am forbidden to do anything to the lawn since my black thumb will kill anything--I don't think he really feels comfortable with me walking on it. K is now "Animal Magnet" because we're all but running a zoo here because of him & C is the "Dimpled One" because he's got two of 'em (that cuteness helps him out a lot).

I'll be back after New Years, so have a fabulous & safe holiday, everyone!

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The Reason for the Season

Merry Christmas!

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Merry Christmas, Baby

The scarf, just finished & wrapped for DH

Yarn: Malabrigo in Stonechat (good eye, Amber--you asked about the colorway before).
Pattern: The Harlot's one-row pattern
Finished measurements: About 7" by 6'

We're putting the finishing touches on the house to get ready for our party tonight. And I just got some great news to make it a merry Christmas indeed: our application for adopting a cat has been approved! All I have to do now is go to the pet store where the rescue group will be next weekend to see the one I picked out. I'm so excited because up to now, catless, I felt like I wasn't a real knitter (because as we all know, knitters are homely, have cankles and feral cats eating off of the kitchen table--*beware the sarcasm dripping on your head*). I'll update you on how I became curator for the unofficial zoo we're running here later.

I hope everyone has a safe, fun holiday filled with good food, friends & family!

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Tags, weirdness & 5 more days

Rosemary tagged me with this potentially embarrassing meme. I have to list 6 weird things about me. (Thank goodness it's only 6.)

- In traffic, I like to see how many words I can make from license plate letters
- I don't like getting pampering services like massages & pedicures, preferring to do it myself (or, in the case of massages, making DH earn his keep around here & do it for me)
- I've never seen any of the Star Wars movies. Not one. I saw the first 10 minutes of the first movie when DH bought the trilogy & found the 30 year-old special effects so laughable that I couldn't watch the rest
- As a young child, I used to eat butter straight out of the dish
- If you want to get on my good side, send books, not flowers
- I can pet & hold a snake, but would rather die than touch a worm

Also, Deborah tagged me, oh, like a month ago (so sorry, Deb, you know how it is). Anyway, 7 songs I'm currently into:

- Fergilicious by Fergie
- Adore by Prince (oldie but goodie)
- If I Were Your Woman by Gladys Knight (again, oldie...)
- Clair de Lune by Debussy (hmm, I see a theme here...it's called "old")
- Irreplaceable by Beyonce (back to the present; lyric of the week: "I can have another you in a minute, matter of fact, he'll be here in a minute"--LOVE it!!)
- Someone to Love by Queen (what can I say, I love old songs)
- Give It Up to Me by Sean Paul (eye candy)

Sorry I'm breaking the rule of tagging 6 people for the weirdness & just being too lazy to tag in general, but if you want to pick this one up, feel free!

Unless you've just woken from the dead, you know that Christmas is 5 days away. We're busy preparing for our Christmas Eve party over here (which is just 4 days away), which means there's stuff everywhere & I think my sanity is buried under one of these mounds. I have lists to keep myself organized but I can't find half of my lists (and I have them all on paper because I don't trust Palm Pilots, Blackberries or computers--including the one I'm typing this on). Also, I have assignments that I need to work on & of course, finish DH's scarf, which, while absolutely enjoyable to do, it hasn't sprouted magical powers to add 5 hours to my day.

Also, I'm peeved that I didn't get to knit the Provincial Waistcoat to wear to the party. The plan was, finish the vest in this cranberry colored yarn I have, pair it with a white oxford shirt, gray slacks & look smashing while downplaying my awesome knitting skills that produced said vest. Now it's Plan B: find something that will fit over the Christmas cookie-induced bloat.

Tent

or caftan? Take your pick.

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When in doubt, go Malabrigo

As you know, DH's cable muffler is history. With only a couple of weeks before Christmas, I finally came to the brilliant conclusion to let the yarn do the work, not me (why didn't I think of this sooner? I'd be done by now!). Enter Malabrigo, a hard-working yarn if ever there was one. Add The Harlot's simple simple pattern & presto! We have liftoff!

The Malabrigo came from here. I ordered on Monday; it was in my hot little hands Wednesday. Plus, it was wrapped up so nicely with a pink ribbon, coordinating tissue paper & a lovely, handwritten note. 'Nough said?

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The Muffler has left the building!

First of all, thank you everyone, for your kind birthday wishes! Thanks for the e-cards, Jess & Amanda--so sweet! I had a nice, uneventful day, since the kids were at school & DH was at work. Last night, though, we had birthday cupcakes. Sorry there are no pictures, but the only thing preventing the kids from eating the cupcakes right away were the candle flames on top. As soon as I blew out the fire, the cupcakes (and resulting smoke) were promptly devoured. I'm afraid that if I'd tried to delay the cupcake cannibalism by taking pictures, my arm would've been bitten off.

In knitting news, there is no more muffler for DH. Um, I was really beginning to not like the pattern anyway (read: it was kicking my arse like the playground bully) & since this was my, oh, eleventeenhundredth time screwing up, or the muffler screwing itself up while I slept (hey, it can happen), I said forget it. Bye-bye, cabled muffler.

(You know you all are really tempting me to knit the thong, even if just as a gag gift. Please stop tempting me!)

The muffler seems to have taken my mojo with it when it left. I wanted to knit the Provincial Waistcoat to wear to our annual Christmas Eve party, but I haven't even cast on for it. I also wanted to finish my cable rib socks (it is only by a Buddha-like forgiveness that I can even look at cable needles after all the pain the ex-muffler gave me). But I haven't knit in a few days now. I'm hoping that the new yarn I ordered for DH's scarf (details next time) will bring my mojo back. Or, if you see my mojo wandering around a seedy part of town with unsavory characters like fun fur, please send it home.

I'm not that nasty old muffler. I'm a nice sock; please finish me.

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An early birthday gift from me to you

We're going to a Christmas party next week & we usually present our hosts with a bottle of wine. There's all kinds of fancy bottle holders which double as gifts, but I thought it'd be nice to make one, too. I had some red rayon (rayon blend? Not sure because it's so old) yarn in the stash I wanted to get rid of, but not enough for the whole bottle cozy so I also had to use some stash wool/acrylic. The wool/acrylic is at the top of the cozy, but after the eyelet row, I switched to the rayon so the transition wouldn't be so obvious.

I wanted to add some kind of design feature, so I chose bobbles (after deciding not to do Intarsia ornaments--but that's a future idea). I used the red until I ran out, so that's why it's white on the bottom.

This cozy will fit a standard wine bottle (750 ml), 12.5" high with a 9.5" diameter. Sorry, it won't fit your standard moonshine jugs. After all that, I present to you: "cozy's Christmas wine cozy".

Pattern: Mine
Yarn: Stash bits (I was very happy to be able to use these up); wool/acrylic & rayon

Materials:

~US size 6 DPNs (set of 5) or size needed to obtain gauge
~Yarn of various colors. I think a regular, 100 g ball would be enough, even if you make yours all one color.
~Optional: jingle bells

Gauge: 20 sts/4"

**Make bobble: K into front, back & front of next st; turn and P3; turn and K3; turn and P3; turn and sl 1, K2tog, psso.

**I-cord: scroll down to "How to make i-cord" (under "assorted topics").

Pattern for "cozy's Christmas wine cozy" © :

With size 6 DPNs, cast on 80 sts. Divide 20 sts per needle; join for working in round, being careful not to twist.
Option 1 (for 2 color): K one round with color A, then switch to color B
Option 2: K all one color

Knit every round until 3" from CO.

Eyelet/decrease round: K1, *YO, slip 1, K2tog, psso; repeat from * to last st; K1.

Number of sts: 54.
Needles 1 & 3=13 sts each; needles 2 &4=14 sts each (redistribute if necessary).
Knit 1 round. Next round: K to last 2 sts on needle, K2tog. Repeat on each needle to end of round. Stitches decreased: 4
Number of sts: 50.

(At this point, I switched to 3 DPN's, knitting with a 4th needle and distributed sts like this: Needles 1 & 2 - 17 sts each; needle 3 - 16 sts.)

Knit every round, inserting bobbles at random. K until length is 9.5" from eyelet round.

Decrease round 1: *K8, K2tog; repeat from * to end (sts: 45)
Round 2: *K7, K2tog; repeat from * to end (40)
Round 3: *K6, K2tog; repeat from * to end (35)
Round 4: *K5, K2tog; repeat from * to end (30)
Round 5: *K4, K2tog; repeat from * to end (25)
Round 6: *K3, K2tog; repeat from * to end (20)
Round 7: *K2, K2tog; repeat from * to end (15)
Round 8: *K1, K2tog; repeat from * to end (10)
Round 9: K2tog to end (5)

Cut yarn; thread needle and draw tightly through remaining sts.

Wish my bottom was as symmetrical

Weave in ends. If you do different colored bobbles like I did, unfortunately, you will have quite a few ends to weave in.

Using 2 size 6 DPNs, CO 2 sts and make i-cord approximately 23" long. Thread through eyelet round. Tie into loose knot or bow.
~Optional: attach jingle bells on ends. Then open a bottle & enjoy a glass after all your hard work!

Notes: Making bobbles is much easier than I thought, but next time, I may stick with making bobbles out of the background yarn. Weaving bobble ends in to be indetectable isn't easy when they're different colors. I like the rayon yarn with this because it has a subtle sheen to it that the wool doesn't. Plus, the rayon seems sturdy enough to hold its shape & not stretch so much, which is good for this particular pattern.

And I shouldn't have to state the obvious, but just for the record: this is my own copyrighted pattern, for personal use only. Not for sale & not to profit from.

Tomorrow, I'll be 36. Wow! Remember how old that seemed when we were in high school? When I was 15, I guess I thought 30-somethings were making their funeral arrangements. Ha! I much prefer 36 to 15. Have a great one, everybody!

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TV to Knit By

Subtitle: How Del proclaims her total nerdism to the world

Lately, I've only been able to knit at night. Lucky me, TV Land shows Star Trek at 9 p.m. I've seen every episode of Star Trek and only true nerds trekkies like myself even know what the "T" in Captain James T. Kirk stands for (Tiberius...told you I was a nerd). Listening/watching Star Trek has helped me while knitting DH's Christmas muffler, which hates me.

I've restarted on it several times, for various reasons:
1. Wrong yarn for the project
2. Wrong needle size
3. Decided to just stick with one needle size instead of the 2 the pattern calls for
4. Didn't like how my Make 1's looked
5. Miscounted when DH asked what I was knitting (while trying to hide it from him; this is his gift, after all)
6. Gone down so far in needle size & with DK weight yarn, the thing is no longer a muffler, but a scarf

At one point (maybe between attempts 3 and 4) I tore through every book & magazine I own, plus scoured the web looking for something else to make for him. (Think he'd like a tea cozy? Or maybe this?) I kept coming back to the muffler because it's different; complex looking while not being complex. But this scarf acts like it doesn't want to be knit by me, which is a sign that I.must.knit.it. Did I mention I was a stubborn nerd?

Once you get into the 24-row repeat, it's very easy so since last night, we're getting along a little better. And maybe I'm not a total & complete nerd since I've never been to a Star Trek convention dressed as one of the characters. If you go to these conventions dressed as a character (TOS or TNG--if you know what those acronyms mean, I won't make unkind assumptions about you like you're over the age of 40 & still live with your mom & your bedroom is decorated with comic books), I'm with you in spirit.

But if I did go, I would totally go as Lt. Uhura--she always had the best eye makeup.

The muffler/scarf/torture device trying to look innocent in its baby-blueness

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And the winners are...

Rosemary was the first to guess that my birthday is December 12th! Rosemary, you win Prize #1, which will be like a belated birthday gift to you!

The random number was 14 and Lisa was my 14th commenter so Lisa wins Prize #2. It would have been too ironic if you guessed my birthday, so I'm glad you didn't, LOL!

Sharon, you were this close--sorry I can't send you your "nice new yarn" (LOL) but your DH's birthday is also the 12th? He must be a great guy!

Amanda thought I was a Capricorn, but I'm a Sagittarius. So Harlem, I'm not a goat, but you have a great Christmas birthday!

Rosemary & Lisa, just e-mail me (address is in my profile) with your info & I'll get your prizes out right away!

Thanks, everyone, for participating, and for the early birthday wishes! I had fun reading all your comments & seeing how many December birthdays there are. C's birthday is the 23rd; he will be 2. Again, he will be 2. Don't worry, I have enough pills and booze yarn to get me through this next year. Notice how my birthday is 12/12; my daughter A's birthday is 5/5--we did that on purpose to make it easy for everyone to remember our birthdays. We're just nice like that.

Edited: Guys, believe it or not, Lisa (who I suspect might or might not be insane) told me that she has too much yarn. I know--I already told her I didn't think I could say those words out loud. How do you make your mouth say that anyway? Therefore, I picked another random number, which was 44 & the 44th commenter (not 44th comment because some people posted twice) is Glaistig! E-mail me your vitals, Glaistig, so that I can mail your yarn before I change my mind & keep it for myself!

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The Most Wonderful Time of the Year--and oh yeah, THE CONTEST

December, YAY! My favorite month. Not only is it Christmastime, but my birthday & C's birthday are both this month, too. To celebrate all things December, I'm having this blog's very first contest.

Prize #1: 2 hanks of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the color "Sage" & a brand new copy of Yarnplay. Uummm, you might want to skip this contest, Lisa?? ;-)

Prize #2: 2 balls of Dale of Norway Baby Ull in "Beige" & this cute little kitty tape measure.

Prize #1 goes to the first person to guess the date of my birthday this month.

Prize #2 goes to a random commentor--I've already chosen the number via an online random number generator. Should the same person guess the correct date and be the random number, I'm going to choose another random number for prize #2.

Just post in the comments section. You have until Monday December 4, Noon EST, to have your guesses in. Can it get any easier for you?? I hope not. Good luck!!!

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