snow squalls

Alas, the inevitable has happened...we have our first snow of the year...well the first "permanent" snow anyway. It's quite cold out too, which, I suppose, goes along with the whole snow thing, but it's still a bit of a shock, seeing as how we've had an insanely warm, even hot Fall this year. With the snow comes the annual parade of "people who forget how to drive on snow" accidents--you would think most people who have lived in a northerly clime most or all of their lives would remember that ice is slippery--and news of people keeling over whilst shovelling snow...fun stuff.

Anywho, I have been churning out thread flakes like there's no tomorrow, mostly for giving purposes, here's a look at a few:


In case you are wondering, yes, they are all the same...an impossibility in Nature as it were, so let's just call it a craft anomaly, which is merely me using the same pattern because it was easier than switching between four or five different ones, especially when you have a bunch to make.

In between crafting the snow storm in my living room, and dealing with everything else that life can throw at a person, I managed to procure Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts magazine, and even though the practicality of this is a leetle bit dubious in my mind, couldn't resist making one of the garter mug cosies:

The reason I questioned the practicality is because I figured this would have to be thrown in the wash all the time (especially if the person who is using the mug/cosy is me) and I think the pattern actually called for 100% wool...which went completely against my better judgment, so I just used some of 'me old suckrylic' I had hanging around, and I think it looks purty good if I do say so myself...I won't say what Cee thought of it...only that he asked me to please not make a 'diaper' for his cup, too. That is Tigger (Tee Eye Double Guh Err) on the cup, by the way, I'm not exactly sure how he feels about it, he's not talking.

meme-ories

Okay, so I got tagged by Sharon for a new meme, thank you Sharon! I know I'm definitely not that interesting, but here goes:

38 things about me that you may or may not want to know: (38, really?)

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night? Cee, definitely, he makes me laugh all the time, it's one of the things I love about him most.

2. What were you doing at 0800? Today? Most everyday I'm drinking a coffee and debating whether to eat breakfast...thrilling, I know.

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Chatting with my mother-in-law and her sister about 'Dancing with the Stars'--one of their fave programs...I can take it or leave it....mostly leave it.

4. What happened to you in 2006? Nothing horrific, thank God.

5. What was the last thing you said out loud? "I think I'll make myself a coffee"...to no-one in particular.

6. How many beverages did you have today? 2 coffees, 1 glass water so far.

7. What color is your hairbrush? Silver with black bristles.

8. What was the last thing you paid for? Umm...groceries last night...again with the thrilling...

9. Where were you last night? At home, where I should be....where were you?

10. What color is your front door? Light brown (think coffee with lots of cream).

11. Where do you keep your change? In a change purse, and an old tin from Harrod's dept. store (no, not the one in London, the one in the Toronto International Airport)

12. What’s the weather like today? Overcast, windy but warm, especially warm for the middle of November.

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor? Heavenly Hash.

14. What excites you? I'm such a geek, I get excited when I figure out a knitting pattern that was giving me trouble--really it doesn't take much.

15. Do you want to cut your hair? Define cut...if you mean 'off' as in all of it, no...well periodically I do, but other than that I settle for the odd trim.

16. Are you over the age of 25? Let's go with yes...I'll even admit to being 29...for the umpteenth year in a row.

17. Do you talk a lot? Yes, especially to myself.

18. Do you watch the O.C.? Do I watch the O.C. do what? Let's go with no...didn't they take that off the air anyway?

19. Do you know anyone named Steven? Yes, several anyones in fact.

20. Do you make up your own words? All the time, especially when I'm talking to myself.

21. Are you a jealous person? Yes, unfortunately.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’. Anne (with an E).

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’. Kari

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list? Cee, always.

25. What does the last text message you received say? Something from the cel provider about minutes or some crap like that.

26. Do you chew on your straw? Eww...no...when I was 5 years old I cut the roof of my mouth really badly with a straw whilst drinking a Dairy Queen chocolate shake (don't ask how...suffice it to say I was clumsy then and I'm clumsy now) and so from then on I've had a strained relationship with straws...

27. Do you have curly hair? Most definitely, it keeps getting curlier as I get older too, no matter what I do.

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to? Well, other than the fact that my inner grammar teacher is going to automatically correct that sentence for ending with a preposition, I suppose the next place I'm going to will be home.

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life? Other than my inner grammar teacher? My brother, he is the biggest, rudest snob I know.

30. What was the last thing you ate? A turkey-bacon & tomato sannywich for lunch.

31. Will you get married in the future? Already there.

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks? The Monster Squad (how's that for a blast from the past??!) on DVD.

33. Is there anyone you like right now? I like lots of people and animals, too.

34. When was the last time you did the dishes? This morning...oh. so. thrilling.

35. Are you currently depressed? Does it get dark at night? Seriously, something I've had to fight all my life...you know what they say about the tears of a clown...

36. Did you cry today? No...but the day's not over yet.

37. Why did you answer and post this? I had a discussion with myself and we I decided 'what the heck'

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey. Arrgh, here I must protest...I say if you are reading it and you feel like doing it, go for it.

i said i'd do it

And so I have...although now some could argue that this post is 'image heavy'...sigh, you can't please all the people all the time I guess.

Here's some of the things I've been making lately, starting with the weirdest (in my opinion, anyway) This is a little mini sweater I made (pattern taken from the Charmed Knits Harry Potter book, I can't recall the real title at this particular moment in time--I blame my ever aging and decreasing brain cells--but the author of it is Alison Hansel):


The tape measure is there for perspective, but then you knew that, didn't you? These little sweaters are meant to be Christmas ornies...I made it cause I was bored watching tv one night and wanted to see if I could do it...which is basically the reason why I choose to knit most everything I make, not 'cause I'm bored, but to see if I can...I also wanted to try some duplicate stitch fair isle....you can see by the lack of said duplicate stitch that I suck at it...one of these days I shall perfect it.

Next is a pair of knucks which I finally got around to embroidering:

I just used some contrast yarn with back stitch, since the embroidery floss I tried didn't seem to work, and I suck worse at embroidery than I do at duplicate stitch. Still, I think I did okay, seeing how it was freehand. For the non-knitters out there, these seemingly meaningless letters and numbers are actually knitterspeak for a decreasing term; Slip 1, Knit 1, Pass Slipped Stitch Over. I was debating on doing "knit hook" to also show my crochet pride, or some other oddity, but in the end went with this, and I must say, they have garnered me some strange looks from the 'straights' in the real world, which I secretly love...what can I say, I'm a weirdo in real life, too.

The month of October truly was Socktober for me this year, as I found myself knitting a sack full of socks:

Here is pictured one partially (now fully completed) pair, I have at least 4 others completed last month, all for me to wear in the house this Winter--where else could I wear a pair of socks like this?!

Lastly (and some could really argue the weird factor here) I have pictured a sweater, hat and booties which I made for a little doll. Now, I've seen some people use dolls to model their baby outfits, and I know the general consensus is that it can be a little creepy, but since I made this specifically for the doll, I think they'd give me a break:

I tried my hand at designing here...I took patterns for actual babies and 'smalled' them down...adapted here and redesigned there. All in all I think it turned out pretty cute.

And so there are a few of the things I've been doing lately. I actually have many more pictures, and hopefully can keep posting them here and there.

P.S.--check out Sharon's blog for some really cute knitty Christmas ornies! They are too cute for words!!

bear with me

Talk about procrastination, we are still without computer, and like my old favourite literary character Blanche DuBois, we seem to be relying on the kindness of strangers...well...not strangers, but Cee's mum, by which I mean we stop by her place to visit and check email once in a while, but tis a little difficult to compose the usual witty (yeah, right, dream on) and insightful blog posts when you are on the clock and being watched (however innocently), much less upload the infinitely crappy pictures of all my obsessively knit or crocheted projects...don't get me wrong, I'm so grateful she lets us make use of her computer, it must be hard to share.

One of these days we shall make up our collective minds and make a decision on some kind of computer-type device...until then, bear with me.

I promise next time to post pics of some really neato things...well hopefully!