Replay.

Surely I’m the only one not sick of seeing this scarf, but I think it might be worth another look, this time at some post-blocking pictures.

Here’s one showing the lace patterning (alongside a  bloom on our Joseph’s Coat rosebush):

This is by no means a pattern for beginners, but neither is it terribly difficult. It requires concentration, since the chart is impossible to memorize; very sharp needles (I used Addi Lace); and lifelines after every repeat. Once I’d gone through a repeat or two I felt comfortable with the pattern, and my only real hold up was just finding uninterrupted quiet time (in this house, not always so easy to come by) during which I could knit. I wouldn’t mind making another one, or maybe even the Morning Glory Wrap, which is a stole mostly in this stitch pattern. It would take me forever, but the end result looks beautiful.

This new camera? It rocks.

I’m not even going to say anything – just look. And this is with me doing next to nothing. Imagine if I actually knew how to use all the controls (I will learn. Soon. Just wanted to play with it first!)!

Warning: completely gratuitous display of 11 photos below. Is it really necessary to look at 12 photos of the same unblocked knitting? Probably not. Do I care? No.

mmmm... texture!

By the way, if you really want to know… this is Anne Hanson’s That Little Scarf, which is so squishy and photogenic unblocked, done in Posh Yarn Sophia 4 ply,  Bark colorway. Ravel it! I started it in January of this year and just finished it on Saturday. Most of the year it has sat in a bag, 70% done… well, I was busy! Next photos I post should show it blocked and in full glory.

And the camera? Canon EOS 50D. Love.

BTT: Autumn Reading

In a rare turn of events, I actually remembered the Booking Through Thursday meme while it’s still actually Thursday. Today’s question:

Autumn is starting (here in the US, anyway), and kids are heading back to school–does the changing season change your reading habits? Less time? More? Are you just in the mood for different kinds of books than you were over the summer?

Yes. The start of the school year means that I go back to work, so I have less time to read. My interests shift, as well. Since my time is limited, I am more likely to go for something entertaining and less challenging than the books I might comfortably tackle in the summer. This works with the stressful start of the year – it’s like comfort food. The books I mentioned in the previous post are an example; next, I’ll probably read P.S. I Love You, which is on loan from a good friend who has been enabling my recent “chick lit” reading habits.

As the season progresses, I might also turn to more of Louise Penny’s mysteries. I read and enjoyed Still Life and have the next two titles in this cozy mystery series already lined up on my shelves, but for some reason, these books seem to call for cooler weather. I couldn’t imagine reading them in the heat of summer. If these books are anything like the first, I’m anticipating curling up on the couch snuggled under a blanket and holding a hot cup of tea in the other hand.

Another type of book I tend to want to cozy up to as the weather cools is classics. Sometimes I feel like I want to try something I haven’t read before by an author whose other works I’ve loved – I might read Dickens’ A Christmas Carol or David Copperfield, for example – but other times I feel like I might just want to read Wuthering Heights for a fourth time, or read Pride and Prejudice for what would probably not be the last time. Or try Jane Eyre again, which I’ve tried a couple of times but not been able to get into. I haven’t read The Good Earth since I was a sophomore in high school, but I loved it then and would like to revisit it. Even some of the short stories I read in college would be fun – I’ve been thinking of Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener” and Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter.”

Or am I?

Apparently, I jinxed myself by ending my last post with “I’m here now.” Nearly three months and a whole lot of chaos later, I am popping in again – maybe “Weasel,” as in, “Pop Goes The…” would have been a more apt name for this blog. I haven’t knit in about a month and haven’t been on Ravelry for the same length of time (aside from quick sign-ins to make sure I have no PMs inquiring about anything on my sale/trade page). What I have been doing instead of knitting is dealing with the beginning of a new school year and the accompanying crazy (and this year has been really, really crazy. As in, drama, which is so not my thing. STRESS!), reading (if you are looking for some good “chick lit,” try Something Borrowed and Something Blue by Emily Giffin), and dog training. What?? Yep, in a Spontaneous Act of Supreme Stupidity, in June I succumbed to the cute and added a pup to the family:

He's sweet. He's smart. He needs to learn some manners.

We have been working on it since we got him in June – and he is another big reason for my currently non-knitting existence. You would think that if I felt up to a new puppy in the face of the new school year and two small children, I would at least be more sensible than to bring home a Parson Russell Terrier. You would think…

Seeing red.

What’s red? Well…

1. This:

Pattern: A Better Bucket by Amy Swenson (direct link to PDF file here)
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Burgundy, one skein
Needles: Knitpicks Options size US 8

Not much to say about this one – I was in the mood for a quickie. It was Malabrigo March. I thought the hat was cute, so I decided to join a Buckethead KAL on Ravelry. It’s a great hat, if a little big; next time (there may be a next time: it’s a great pattern!), I might do something shocking and unexpected like try it on as I go. My husband says it’s fine… he says he likes everything I make, though, so that’s no help. I’m sure I will wear it, especially when I want to be all incognito (because that happens all the time. I’m a superspy, didn’t you know?) – this is the oversized hat to do it in!

The brim is fabulous (you believed me when I said I didn’t have much to say? Aren’t you gullible, Reader!) – it’s got this really cool construction so that it’s double-layered. Which means that the cast-on is a bit fiddly – but it’s worth it. Trust me. It also means that the brim has a really nice quality – not really stiff, but definitely not floppy, either – (Ah, the double entendres are all over the place!). The hat itself is so warm and cozy; if it wasn’t for the unfortunate timing of the project (late March in my parts isn’t particularly cold), I’m sure I would have worn it several times by now. No matter – it’s all ready to go for next winter!

2. What else is red? Ummm, meat cooked rare, or in my case, very rare (No, I’m not really implying that I am meat. This one is such a stretch, but points for effort in trying to work it in?). ‘Scuse the formatting from this point on – sometimes I really hate WordPress.

Your Personality is Very Rare (INFP)

Your personality type is dreamy, romantic, elegant, and expressive. Only about 5% of all people have your personality, including 6% of all women and 4% of all men You are Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

Interesting little quiz, grabbed the idea from Dee’s blog. It’s surprisingly accurate for something that takes less than five minutes!

3. One more something red: my eyes. I’m tired! I actually have another couple of red knitted items to show you, but I’m going to save them for next time and go to bed instead. Oh, who am I kidding – I’ll go to bed, but I’ll read just one more page of Twilight until I’ve read 50 “one more pages” and it’s a bit later than this. I wasn’t sure it would be my cuppa, but I am so hooked. If you haven’t yet, youhavetoreadit. Have to!

Loopy Swap Loot!

I got my Loopy Swap package today from my pal, Sarah. Did she spoil me, or what?!

1. When I opened the box, there was this:

And how cute are those buttons, by the way?

2. Here’s a shot of everything that was inside:

Wow. Wow. Right?

3. Of course, as cool as all this stuff is, my most favorite part is the knitty gift! Sarah made me Monica’s Fingerless Lace Mitts with Cherry Tree Hill yarn in the Mountain Hideaway colorway. I don’t remember ever having seen this colorway before – but I love it. I love the mitts. They’re so pretty and warm! I’d wanted to make myself some mitts before winter is over this year, since my hands are always cold, but probably wasn’t going to get around to it. Now I don’t have to!

Seriously. Did I mention that I love them? Are they not drool-worthy?

4. Part of the swap assignment was to include something that reminded you of home:

A pickle puzzle (almost immediately stolen by my son – he did let me take pictures first) and magnet from Tony Packo’s outside her local baseball stadium; yarn (Plymouth Happy Feet), sock pattern, and pens from her favorite LYS. The yarn is different from anything else in my stash; kind of reminds me of embers dying in the fireplace. I really like it!

5. Bags! And there is the card Sarah sent to explain all my goodies, as well:

Okay, here is a teensy confession. I was so excited to get my package, and the first thing that came out of the box was the Target reusable shopping bag. I knew there were other things in the box – knitted goodies, even! – but did that stop me from playing with that Target bag for a full minute before I pulled anything else out? Nope. I guess I’m just that easily amused – I opened it, zipped it back up, opened it again – I’ve never seen one that zips into a little portable deal like that, and I have wanted to either buy or make a reusable shopping bag for a while, so I played with the shopping bag and wondered why I’m not genius enough to come up with something like that… I am completely silly sometimes.

But that’s not the only cool bag! Have you ever seen a Piddleloop bag? Me neither! Isn’t it adorable? Perfect size for sock knitting. And there’s a little notions bag that I think came from Piddleloop as well. So cute, and I love the chocolate / pink and red / pink color combinations.

6. More stuff! Sarah, you went a little crazy. Not that I don’t love it all and appreciate it very, very much!

I wanted to wait until I’d taken pictures to open the bucket o’ candles, but then forgot and opened them anyway, so that’s why the packaging might look wonky. They smell really good, though! I can’t place any of the scents for sure, probably because I’m still sick. Some kind of pie, and fruit. Pretty much they’re just yum. And then! Those felted stitchmarkers from jelby – adorable! And the Sephora nail file, and stickers, and key chain… little cute things make me happy! The Oscar Wilde magnet (says: “experience is the name everyone gives their mistakes”), the hippo (also a magnet), and the sticky notes are all coming with me to work!

Thank you so much for all of it, Sarah! It really made my Saturday extra happy.

Hippo says he feels his jedi ninja powers would be taken a bit more seriously if I’d remove that tag from his ear.

I sup tonight with a harlotry

I can’t help it. She’s not like the other girls, who demand so much attention

That Little Scarf in Posh Yarn Sophia 4ply in Oak – 15% done

 

or who really belong to someone else.

Loopy Swap Prezzie (Ravelry link) – I’m not telling what it is, what color it is… nuthin.

 

She’s just so

Seductive

She leaves my fingers blushing (they’re tinged pink after she’s had her way with them – a small price to pay for pleasure)

 

Ravishing in red

(man, does she look good in garter stitch)

 

Easy.

(a few yarnovers on RS rows, knit all the way on the WS. Oh, yes.)
This, by the way, is the Wool Peddler’s Shawl (Rav link) from Folk Shawls

 

I can’t seem to tear myself away. I know you aren’t supposed to fall in love with this type, but it was destined to happen. It’s the yarn.

Posh Yarn Laura in Squirrel colorway

 

(Thank you to those who messaged me about Jake. It’s definitely not the same here without him, and we are each in our own way still trying to adjust to his absence. I thought I would try to get on with the show here tonight with some knitting. )