Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Don't Call Me Shirley

I can't believe that Leslie Nielsen is gone. Sure, if I'd thought about it I'd have realized that the man had some age on him. I'd been a fan for at least 40 years, so that should have told me SOMETHING. But I just didn't expect to hear that he was gone. *sad*

So, what's been going on in my little corner of the world? Well, this evening I've been playing with my Christmas gift to myself, a netbook. In fact, I'm drafting up this blog entry on it, using WriteMonkey to keep myself from being distracted. And we all know how easily distracted I am. "YARN!" *LOL*

Last Saturday I attended a 100th birthday celebration for my great-aunt. She's a terrific lady, still sharp as a tack and living in her own home. She's a crocheter, has been for many years. She also knits, sews, and is otherwise crafty, but mainly crochets now. She looks at my sock knitting, shakes her head, and says, "Oh, those stitches are soooooooo little."

Her family gave her a wonderful reception, and everyone had a great time. There were 125 guests expected, and I believe most of them were there. She received lots of lovely presents, and really enjoyed herself.

I'd knitted her a Scrunchable Scarf (HOT PINK!) and she really seemed to like it.

100 years old....oh, the things she must have seen in that century. She's told me about having trouble finding fabric during the war to make clothes for her children. She found a used coat in a thrift shop , bought it, and cut it apart to use the fabric to make two coats for her youngsters. What a talented woman!

Well, I suppose I've played with my new baby computer long enough for tonight. I really must get to bed, since I have to work in the morning. Like Scarlett said, "Tomorrow is another day." :-) 'Night, Friends!

Friday, November 19, 2010

I-Cord and More I-Cord

It's been a very busy week, so I'm behind on my blogging again. (BAD blogger!) Last Friday night I did finish up my arm warmers, and I am very, VERY happy with them. I'll try to get some photos of them sometime this weekend.

Because the holiday season is upon us, I immediately started knitting the christmas lights I mentioned in my last post, and they're turning out really cute! I've finished knitting the bulbs and have started on the i-cord. Seven feet of i-cord. Sheesh, can anything be more mind-numbing that seven feet of I-CORD? *LOL*

Oh, well, it's good TV knitting at least.

Last Saturday I dropped off the Regular Guy Beanies I'd knitted for the homeless at a local charity that does good works. I hope they'll help someone who needs a big of warmth this winter. I'm going to continue knitting them, of course. I decided a long time ago to devote two hours each week to knitting for charity, and this seems a good productive way to spend my charity-knitting time.

Okay, lunch break's nearly over, so I'll hush for now. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Ever Have One of Those Days?

Did you ever have one of those days where you're knitting before you leave home to go to work and are reaaaaaaaally close to finishing up a project, and you think (just for a moment, mind you) "Boy, I sure wish I could stay home this morning and finish this up"?

This morning was one of those mornings. Because of the switch from daylight savings time to standard time, I'm going to bed even earlier than usual and waking up really early. So, at 5:00 this morning I was in the recliner, watching a National Geographic documentary on Netflix, and knitting happily away on my arm warmers.

Much to my dismay, when the time came that I had to stop knitting and get in the shower, I had only FIVE ROWS left to finish up my arm warmers. FIVE ROWS. *beats head on monitor* I guess the good news is that it won't take me long to finish them up after work today, but I really hate to have to put my knitting down when I'm that close to the end!

So, now I'm thinking "what next?" I'll start another Regular Guy Beanie for charity, but for myself I want to knit a set of Christmas Lights I found on Ravelry. I have scads of brightly colored skeins of acrylic yarn I've accumulated over the years, and I think this will be a great way to use up bits of it. For the "plugs" and "wire", I'm going to use up some of the huge stash of sage green Red Heart I bought years ago to crochet the infamous "Boyfriend Afghan".

Wait, have I ever told you about the Boyfriend Afghan? Several years ago (before I learned to knit), I crocheted quite a bit, mostly afghans. I was dating (quite seriously) a guy who admired an afghan I was working on and said that he'd like to have an afghan for his living room. "No problem," I said, "What color?" He chose sage green, and I bought enough Red Heart acrylic to knit a large afghan to drape stylishly across his couch.

Before I finished the project, the relationship went up in smoke. I guess this was the crochet version of the "boyfriend sweater curse" in knitting. *LOL* So, the more-than-half-finished afghan went into a large blanket bag along with the remaining unused skeins of sage green yarn.

After I began knitting, I dug out all the yarn I'd purchased and stashed during my crocheting years. My first surprise was how much acrylic yarn has improved (thank goodness!) since I'd bought all these garishly hued skeins years before. The next surprise was finding the long-forgotten Boyfriend Afghan. What on earth will I do with all this sage green acrylic yarn???

I've been taking a little more pleasure than I should in gradually raveling out the unfinished afghan and using the yarn to knit Regular Guy Beanies for the homeless in my area. I've used some of it for other small projects as well, and it is a perfect shade to put knitted plugs and wire on my knitted Christmas Lights.

I think the lights will be perfect to string around the counter top in my office. After we close the office for the holidays, I'll take them home and add them to the decorations in my apartment.

Hmmmm. I just remembered that I tossed out my well-worn door wreath after my last holiday decorating session. Wonder if I can find a quick 'n easy door decoration to knit for myself? I think the holiday spirit has officially kicked in! *going to Ravelry now to search for door decorations*

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Arm Warmers

My current "recliner" knitting project is a set of arm warmers for myself. Last Christmas I received a lovely cape from Mom and Dad as a gift. It's black with a bit of black and white houndstooth check trim. I really love it, but sometimes if I wear it to work I need something heavier on my forearms than whatever light sweater or blouse I'm wearing in the office that day.

The solution seems to be arm warmers to be worn with the cape and gloves/mittens. The pattern I've chosen will go from just above the elbow to the wrist, where it will bell out enough that it will be easy to put on gloves with it. I'm knitting them in white; I'd have preferred black, but actually had enough white yarn on hand to knit them up. If they turn out as neat as I think they will, I'll buy myself some black worsted and knit up a second set. :-)