Right!

The kids have been listening to The Best of Bill Cosby a lot lately. I summoned Younger Son to come downstairs and he said, "Whadya want? I've been good."

Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?

What a lovely poncho.

[Photo has been pulled because...ah, you don't even want to know]

Effortlessly stylish for days when you don't need to drive, eat, or wipe your own ass.

Not Quite There

I have been working furiously on a gift project that is a) overdue and b) not working out. In the meantime I've been working on my linen stitch scarf and planning for 10 Shawls in 2010. I just found out we can start when it's New Year's in Oslo so that means I'm starting really soon. I wound yarn and printed patterns for my first three shawls--Bitterroot, Clothilde and Echo Flower (.pdf). This should be fun!

Prairie Mitts II

Yarn: Buffalo Gals Merino/Bison
Needle: US3
Notes: I improvised these mitts to match the ones I made in Nancy Bush's handcovering class I took at Madrona several years ago. I had a partial skein left of the yarn and used every last bit. I guesstimated how many stitches to cast on, knit until until about halfway done, cast off 8 stitches for the thumb and cast the stitches back on on the following row. Then I did a three-needle bind off to join the cast on with the last row. They fit him well and he really likes them.

Incognito

Pattern: Incognito by Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Verde Adriana (exactly half a skein)
Needles: US8 and 9
Size: Adult
Notes: I needed a project to take to the movies so I quickly cast on for this last night. I managed to knit the hem, do the turning round then knit the another 7 rounds just as the lights went down. I had to do the joining round by feel and was pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out. I knit through the whole movie. (Avatar. It's very long and I hated it.) The cowl was slightly longer than it needed to be and I think my gauge tightened up a lot as I got more and more frustrated with the film. I did the duplicate stitch in Lamb's Pride Worsted this morning and stitched down the hem. It's for my older son and fits him fine but it would be too snug for an adult.

Veyla

Pattern: Veyla by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Dye Dreams Twinkle Toes in Olive (37 grams)
Needles: US3 Addi Turbos
Notes: I strongly suggest you block the cuff before knitting the hand. It made a world of difference in my gloves. These are a very straight-forward knit. The pattern is very well-written. I was glad to use up some leftovers to knit these but I would pick something fluffier if I were to knit them again.

Anglerfish

Pattern: Anglerfish from Amigurumi Knits by Hansi Singh
Yarn: Scraps of Classic Elite Renaissance and Cascade 220
Needles: US5
Notes: This is one of those super-fiddly knits. Lots of little parts. Most of it is knit in one piece. You only stitch on the teeth and the lure. I tried very hard to get the teeth in straight but they end up crazy-crooked. I think it looks pretty silly but my older son adopted it immediately.

Merry Christmas

Or for the more cynical among you, Eddie Izzard's take on it.

Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?

I assume you've heard the phrase, "You don't know crap from Christmas."



I have in my possession a full kit to knit this vest. I am not kidding. It has the pattern, the yarn, the bobbins, the whole magillah. And it can be yours. That's right. It's the season of sharing and I am sharing this with a lucky reader. Just leave a comment swearing to me that you will actually knit this thing (and send in a picture when you're done) and you could be the lucky winner!

Merry Christmas.

School Rivalry

A local school rivalry has turned into an internet sensation. Shorecrest High School challenged Shorewood to a lipsync video competition. They put together this fun but facile rendition of Outkast's Hey Ya.



Then they got their asses handed to them, in my opinion, by Shorewood's awesome backwards rendition of You Make My Dreams Come True.



What do you think? You can vote for your favorite one here.

Vogue Knitting Preview

It's up and it's...well, you'll see.

A Tale of Two Veylas

With Ulmus finally done I thought I'd do a few small projects to see me through the end of the year. I've had Veyla by Ysolda Teague in my Ravelry queue since the day it was released and it seemed perfect to use up the leftover Twinkle Toes from the shawl. On Monday I started the first one, knit the lace, decided the small length was long enough for my wrist and knit the hand. It came off the needles (minus the thumb) and I was immediately disappointed.



Yuck, right? I looked at other pretty versions of Veyla on Ravelry and decided that I had a few issues with mine. 1) It's too small for me. 2) I should have stopped when I finished the lace cuff and blocked it. 3) My yarn is a bit thin for this pattern. The originals are knit in Canopy Fingering (purrrrr...) which has a pretty substantial fluff-factor. Twinkle Toes is merino and tencel. It has shine and drape but zero fluff. So I tossed this ugly aside and knit the left cuff and blocked it. Still no fluff but, oh, what a difference!



Hello, pretty, leafy lace.

While the cuff was drying I searched my Ravelry queue which, at nine pages, is totally out of hand. I came across Sheldon which I've wanted to knit for ages. I have some leftover Cotton Classic from my Psychedelic Squares. I knit up to the point where you put on the safety eyes.



And now I have to wait until my safety eyes arrive.

What to start next?

Blog notes: My commenting is being "upgraded" so things may be different or weird for awhile. Sorry.