Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I promise I'll be back to posting soon.

Snow Clones!

"I got tuna for Christmas!"~PH

"My Garter Slipped" Scarf!

Got two skeins of Noro? Need a last minute Christmas gift? Need some mindless travel knitting that isn't so mindless that you want to pull your hair out from boredom? The "My Garter Slipped" Scarf might just be the project you're looking for. The pattern is an easily memorizable four row repeat. The long slip stitch looks great with Noro and would look great with variegated yarns, too. It's simple, but pretty. Here's the pattern. Merry Christmas. I hope you like it!

"My Garter Slipped" Scarf

by Bereni, © 2008

Project Specs:

Materials: Noro Silk Garden (2 skeins). Color 87 pictured.
Needles: Size 9
Gauge: Not that important, but row gauge @ 18 st/4 in (after blocking).
Finished Measurements: I blocked mine out to 6" x 60"

Pattern:

Cast on 26 sts.

Rows 1-4: knit.

Row 5: (k2, sl 1) 8 times, k2
Row 6: (k2, sl 1 wyif) 8 times, k2
Row 7: (k2, sl 1) 8 times, k2
Row 8: (k2, p1) 8 times, k2

Repeat Rows 5-8 (102 times)

Knit 4 Rows. Bind off.

This pattern is so easy to memorize because each row starts and ends with a k2 and rows 5 and 7 are the same. It's a cinch!

Close up.

Unblocked.

You can see the back here.

Since it's been quite chilly lately, I've been getting alot of use out of this scarf.

I am returning to posting after a bit of a break. I participated in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November, and I did it! I squeaked by with over 50,000 words on the last day. It didn't help that I took about five days off to knit a shawl in the middle of the month. I've got lots of things to post about, and I've been taking photos, so stayed tuned.

Of Cats and Dumplings

Inspired by PH's great work as yarn model in the photo shoot of December 12th, 2007, I ventured outdoors with my newly felted and dried Dumpling Bag, intent on pressing the young, orange talent into service once more. As always, the ever-obliging feline came when summoned.

Today, however, he seemed less than accommodating.


At first he refused, but then reluctantly relented after I agreed to his extortionist terms. He demanded a wardrobe fee for appearing in his own collar, travel expenses for having to come down the stairs and a special fee for being male and having to appear in print with a purse. He also demanded that craft services be set up not just for the time allotted for the photo shoot, but for the remainder of the day and evening so that he could snack whenever he wanted. Needless to say, his fee involved vast quantities of dry food, canned food, treats, chicken and then of course, bacon, as well. I think I am going to have to start auditioning the neighborhood cats. You know, some "unknowns."


Well, there are some pretty photos of my Dumpling on Ravelry. I'll post them here, tomorrow. As for marble-mania, the purple paper ended up going on the book. Here it is with some others that turned out pretty well.

In other news, today is DH's and my 11th wedding anniversary. He had to work today and he had a special program to do tonight, so we're celebrating next week. The 11th anniversary, that's the yarn and fiber anniversary, right? Just like the 10th was? Heh heh heh.

You know, he looked so professional in his head shot...

Knitting For Artillery

The first clue for Mystery Stole 4 came out today. Though other people seem to really like it, I have to say that I am a wee bit disappointed. I loved MS3 (Swan Lake) because of the beads and the lacy wing. This one is starting out a little too geometric and stockinette heavy for me. I guess I just like the looks of, and enjoy knitting, very lacy lace. But, MS3 started out with a lot of stockinette, too, so I have to give it a chance. It's only the first clue, right?

Yesterday, I marbled up a whole slew of paper, as my oil paint stained fingers can attest to today. I managed to produce some decent ones amidst the bleah and just plain awful. I think that to make some really nice marbled paper you just have to use the sizing. I found that the paint just keeps moving around using only water to float it on. My colors started mixing together, as well. I think this may be one art that really requires watching someone else who knows what they're doing. Never-the-less, I covered the book, and it looks pretty cool. Plus, I have extra paper to recover the book when it gets trashed, which is bound to happen since it is a prop.

Oh, oh, oh! I felted the dumpling bag today. It is cute! DH calls it my cannonball bag. I have stuffed it with plastic grocery bags to give it that nice, round, large-caliber projectile appearance. I'd say it looks like about a 12 pounder, maybe more. Photos will appear tomorrow when I have the light to take them.

The End.

My Birthday Boy

Yesterday was my sweet, DH's birthday! I wanted to post this yesterday, but I was busy making a big birthday supper complete with homemade ice cream and cake from scratch.

Wasn't he a beautiful baby? I can say with confidence that he is still quite easy on the eyes!

Happy Birthday Sweetie! I love you!!!

I Can See!

Yep, I am the proud owner of a brand spankin' new monitor! I am happy to report that I can see actual colors again. Oh the joy, the freedom to post a photo without wondering what it really looks like, the carefree browsing on Ravelry for patterns and actually identifying the cables in that navy cardigan, and not having to pester my big sister to preview my photos.... Hmmm... now I will have to think of something else to pester her about.

Look! Yarn! As Knatly commented... plied...plyed...you know, twisted together!


Colors!

I think the real color is somewhere in between the first two photos and this one.

I looked back at previous posts where I had tried to lighten some of the photos before I posted them. I should have left well enough alone. They are too light. Ah, well. My new 20 inch monitor shall now change everything! My old monitor was probably close to fifteen years old, so you understand the primitive conditions I have been living under and will forgive me my exultant glee. Happy happy happy!

The other day I decided I needed a quick pick-me-up project. So I dug around in the stash for some bulky, felting-type wool and came up with some Lamb's Pride in black. Within a couple of hours I had knitted up a Dumpling Bag! The pattern is by Sharon Dreifuss, who hosts the She-Knits Podcast, and it was featured in this Fall's, Interweave Knits.

The bag is knit, embroidered, and then felted. The pattern calls for two rings attached to the straps, but I opted to go without. The straps still slide through each other. I still haven't felted it, but I think it is adorable, none-the-less. Once felted, it should turn out very round, like a little dumpling!

Great little pattern, Sharon! I think I'll make another.

And now I leave you with something that has become a daily occurrence...

Kitty in a basket.

Marbling, Meh.

As promised, here are the results of my marbling paper experiment. Looks like I've got a ways to go. For one thing, I need to use a heavier paper than I did. I grabbed a pad of sketch paper, but I know that I have a larger pad of heavy drawing paper packed away. I'll have to find that. There are other things that I'm going to have to get before I try this again. Lots of newspaper, for one! It's a messy job! I need a sponge for dabbing excess away, better containers to mix paint and mineral spirits in and a better way to hang them to dry. Here are the sad results of my first attempt...

Not really usable for much...

Once I get the hang of it and get some nice ones (if ever), I'd like to cover some books with them for my DH.

After spinning the plain 'ol vanilla top, I got out the Mountain Colors roving in Alpine...

I wound them both up on a ball winder and plyed them both to themselves today. I took some photos of the skeins, but the light wasn't good. I'll try again to photograph them tomorrow.

We've had some much needed rain the past couple of days. DH and I like the rain. It is not a universal feeling in our household, however. The frustrated shut-in, Kittysperk, aka PH, feels otherwise. Here he is shown taking solace in one of my baskets, lying on my pennywhistle.