No more sun....

Another pictureless post that I will blame on the lack of sunny natural light not my laziness. I did want to post a "thank you" to my fabulous Secret Pal. She sent me the perfect antidote to all the turkey and family from last week -- sock yarn and chocolate! Of course, I'll take a picture of the yarn soon...not sure if the chocolate will make it until the photo shoot. It is wonderful dark chocolate with orange. Mmmmm, chocolate:) Thank you!

I finished up my Ruffle Edge Scarf during the holiday -- a pic will be forthcoming. I'm getting a little nervous about the larger secret project I am knitting for M's holiday present...He hasn't been going into the lab at night as much as usual so I'm not getting very much top secret knitting time. Oh well, I'm sure it will work out -- It's simple stockinette so it should go quickly.

So, we've been watching the first season of Lost. I can't believe we waited so long to watch it! Now I'm bummed we have to wait for the DVD of the 2nd season...At least we have two seasons of 24 to catch up on:) Anyone else watching some good tv? Is it the weather that makes me want to do nothing but watch tv, knit, and eat comfort food?

The comfort food thing must stop soon though. I was measured the Saturday after Turkey Day for my bridesmaid dress for my sister-in-laws May wedding. As I have put on a few pounds from quitting smoking, I am ordering a smaller dress than what I currently measure. I ordered the dress that matched my pre-quitting-smoking measurements. Not sure if any healthy eating/exercise will occur before the holidays are over. At least I'm starting to consider the idea:)

Here Comes the Sun!

As promised, here are some fairly decently sunlit photos. First up is my Ravenclaw Harry Potter Scarf. I modified the pattern from Atypically.Knit by casting on only 60. I used Caron Simply Soft in Dk. Country Blue and LionBrand Glitterspun in Bronze. I wore it to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Friday night:) Yea! The movie was fantastic and I want to go see it again already.



Next up is my completed Vintage Velvet Scarf from the Scarf Style book. I used the recommended yarn, Muench Touch Me. It is the most glorious yarn! Extremely pricey, but absolutely worth it for the lovely knitting experience. I love this scarf and it is doing a great job keeping my neck warm already. The book suggests I wear this scarf with either a little lingerie top or a fitted tweed blazer...ummmm, as I don't have either those items, I think I'll wear it with my coat:)




Then I have a couple more scarves in progress. This one is Froth which is from the kit Rowan sends you when you join Rowan International. It's my first time using Kidsilk Haze, but I know I'm addicted already! The color is Dewberry and I am really enjoying the easy, fun pattern.

Finally, we have another scarf I'm working on ('Tis the Season). This is a Ruffle Scarf pattern I got from PurlSoho.com - The yarn is KnitPicks Elegance in Lilac. Right now I'm working on the mindless ribbing, but the yarn is so lovely, I'm not bored at all. I also bought more Elegance in Coal to make a second one of these.

I am also working on a larger more interesting project, but as it is for M and I think he reads the blog, I'm not going to post about it for a while.

Thank you to everyone for sharing with me what your favorite projects have been in the past. Personally, I really love my Dublin Bay Socks. They were my second pair of socks ever and I knit them in the sock yarn that inspired me to even learn how to knit socks in the first place.

Now, the next question is: If you could knit any project (regardless of cost of pattern or yarn or time) what would it be?

Non-smoking update: We passed our 4 month quit-versary last week! We are doing well with being smober and can't imagine smoking again.

No Photos

So, I was just reviewing the photos I took today of current works in progress, my finished Ravenclaw scarf (yea! Harry Potter on Friday!), and my recent yarn acquisitions. Well, you won't be seeing those pictures today. They are truly, truly terrible. I think it is the lack of natural light. Chicagoland saw it's first touch of snow today and with it came more overcast skies. I hate how washed out and ugly things look in all the pictures I took. I promise the first day we see sun or at least a weak light, I'll post pics.

The official knitting update is as follows:
Finished:
Harry Potter Ravenclaw scarf (love it!)

Working on:
Super Top Secret Holiday gift for M (pictures will come after the winter holidays)
Vintage Velvet Scarf for me from the Scarf Style book (I finally bought the Muench Touch Me yarn - I am in love)
Um....Eris cardigan....I swear the 2nd sleeve will happen someday....
Some socks....haven't really been working on them lately...

There you go....my photoless post. To keep it interesting how about I ask everyone a question. Of all the things you've knit, what one finished item do you love the most and why?

Here is a little scarf I knit up from some LionBrand Moonlight Mohair in the color glacier. This is 70% acrylic/30% mohair -- not too bad for LionBrand. It's an interesting yarn made up of two plys - one ply is just fuzzy mohair type yarn, the other ply is a stiffer shiny yarn. I'm a sucker for shiny things:) So, I had bought this yarn over a year ago and I got bored with my current projects last week so I whipped up this little drop stitch scarf for myself. It was a great 2 day project worked on size 11 needles.

Sorry about the picture quality of these photos...sunlight is becoming a very rare commodity in Chicagoland these days, especially the few minutes I have before work to take pictures.

This is just a progress picture of my Ravenclaw Harry Potter scarf. Earlier this summer I had completed the neverending Gryffindor scarf for M and then started the Ravenclaw scarf for myself. Well, I got distracted with other things and kept thinking to myself that the November release date of the next Harry Potter movie is so far away. Well, last week I realized that that late release date is less than 2 weeks away! So, I took a long hard look at my Ravenclaw scarf, decided to frog what I had because it was just a little too wide, and then cast on (this time 60, not 90). I'm using Caron Simply Soft in Dk. Country Blue and LionBrand Glitterspun in bronze (it's so shiny). It is strange I'm working with so much acrylic right now....it's not my favorite, but I feel like I should use up whatever acrylic yarn has crept into my stash. I'm natural fiber only for any future purchases (unless the yarn is shiny).

Speaking of future purchases....there should be a some wonderful new yarn heading its way to me soon. I'll post pics as it arrives. I just realized I didn't get a pic of one gift scarf I'm working on (the penultimate gift scarf - yippee!)...sadly, for the first time ever, I did not order enough yarn and, of course, the yarn I need is now backordered for a couple weeks. I'm hoping it ships soon and that the dyelot isn't way off....I hope, I hope. Oh well, worst comes to worst, I'll frog the scarf and make a hat and mittens:)

I wanted to thank everyone for their thoughtful responses to the news of Kilby's diabetes. To answer Karin's questions....Kilby was always a bit of a butterball, but never overweight -- stout:) Well, all of a sudden in the course of just 3 or 4 weeks she lost her butterball! We decided to take her in just to be on the safe side. She had been more active than usual so we thought she may have just lost the weight naturally, but as the blood test revealed there was more to it. It was funny because the signs of diabetes were there and if she were human I may have been faster to realize something was wrong-- she was drinking water all the time, peeing whenever she was not drinking, and then the weight loss. Oh well....she's doing very well now. Unfortunately we do have to give her insulin 2 times a day now which is a little inconvenient, but we'll adjust. We aren't big partiers and M's in grad school so he's in the labs at night a lot so I'm around to give the shot -- aren't I the lucky one? :) The other kitties are getting used to scheduled feeding times -- another couple weeks and I'm sure this will all become routine.

A Scarf, a Mitten, and a Penguin

This past weekend I finished up another gift scarf. This one is in Mistake Rib again using Malabrigo in Marron Oscuro. It is snuggly and soft. I hope the recipient loves it.

Then, I made a mitten. As of now it is a lonely mitten. I hope to make the other soon. I used the mitten pattern in Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns with KnitPicks Ambrosia in Night Sky (this is the same yarn I used for the Celtic Cap). Very soft and warm.



I then made a Pasha Penguin. She is a gift for some friends of mine. I plan on making another as a gift for someone else as well. The next one will probably be pink though:) This pattern was very easy and it took me just Sunday afternoon and evening (that's what I did with my extra hour from the time change).

In sad non-knitting news, my dear little Kilby (the tabby cat) has been diagnosed with diabetes. We are prepared to do whatever is necessary to keep her happy and healthy. The initial cost is a bit overwhelming, but once we have her glucose levels under control the financial scene should improve. There are some big changes to our routine now. Our cats have always been self-feeders, but now we have to do scheduled feedings. Kilby gets special food while the others will get their regular chow. Also, Kilby will now get an insulin shot every morning. Every morning. Ugh. It would feel like a life sentence except that Kilby climbs onto my chest every night while I read and purrs and sticks out her tongue. She loves me so unconditionally and I can not imagine being without her. I know some people will think we are nuts, but we made a commitment to care for our little furry creatures and that is what we will do.

Now, to end on a less morose note, I recently bought a mini-Kacha Kacha row counter off of ebay and I love it! So cute. I also ordered some sock yarn on Friday from Simply Sock Yarn and I got it Monday -- wow! Fast shipping! I got Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Birches, Fleece Artist Merino sock yarn in Jester and Moss. I love them all -- now, if I ever finish holiday knitting maybe I'll get to knit some more socks:)

Today I went downtown to report for jury duty. Unbelievably, I was selected for a jury for a trial that starts (and hopefully ends) tomorrow. More details once the case is settled. All I know for now is that I'm taking home the big bucks! $17.20 a day -- oh yeah!