I'm rather methodical in my approach.

And find it quite satisfying. These are for a friend, destined to become Different Lines. She felt awful that she'd made such a tangle and I practically had to hold the other hank hostage in order for her to even let loose. It wasn't nearly as bad as all that. I could tell that there was some frustration, but not anger -- there were no tight knots and I was able to get about half of the hank on the swift with little trouble. Less than two hours later, I had a nice little yarn cake. I'm hopeful there'll be opportunity for an FO shot!

 

It's one we like to call...

Celebrate Michael Day!

We are lucky to have him. And he'll be celebrating a milestone birthday come St. Paddy's day, too!

Love you, bro. XO

 

A study in red... and black and gray.

I think red is my favorite color.

• Project: Affectionately Mine (Color Affection by Veera Välimäki)
• Yarn: Make.Do / BE - 4-ply Fingering/Sock
• Needle: US 6 (straights)
• Start to Finish: February 11-25, 2012

It was breezy today! You can see the wind beginning to lift the shawl, and the next thing I knew, it was in a heap.

I made a yarn over at the beginning of each row, dropping it when it was at the end of a row. In the three-color section, I wrapped it twice. I'm thinking that I might even have gone on and made the bottom border deeper, but I am quite happy. It's terrific as a shawl, but the fingering weight yarn makes it light enough to scrunch up and wrap more scarf-like around my neck.

Yes, I am quite happy!

 

Good morning! Color Affection on the bed.

I keep thinking "black and white and {red} all over."

Its going for a little lavender Eucalan soak. FO beauty shots will probably happen tomorrow.

 

[edited to add:] ... for me ...but taxes and dyeing. I've made progress with both.

Deep purple...

Smoke on the water.

I've been busy with all sorts of things, and also holding off a bad case of spring fever. I need to get a few things done before I succumb to that. Thank goodness I have a choice!

Could someone come over and rub my shoulders and the back of my neck?

 

I could survive on a desert isle for a long, long time on nothing but Cheerios and ham & cheese sub sandwiches.

Hopefully a desert isle with lime trees because, yes, Corona Light, too!

That's my beverage cozy at work, though it's never cozying the Corona at work.

Just in case you were wondering.

There were no hamster visits over the weekend, and I was very singularly focused on whatever task was presently at hand. I not only did no dyeing, I did no laundry, either. I will pay for that.

 

...or momentary lack thereof.

A quick pic snapped last night for the photo-a-day project. Shades of gray and black. There'll be a bit more of that before it gets exciting with the addition of red!

I was very surprised the other day -- Valentine's Day -- when I gathered some of the other yarn I've dyed red or pink for a photo shoot. It was more than I thought! Not surprising, though, when I thought about it. If you looked in my closet you'd see mostly black and gray with a few pops of color, most of which are red or pink!

And even more yesterday... drying now.

I can't let this day pass without saying HAPPY 3rd ANNIVERSARY to Alison and KC&T!! Three years ago today, she opened the door after enlisting a small army for a weekend transformation of a coffee shop... which has never really stopped. No moss grows under that girl! There's always something fun and new.

I'll be knitting there tonight and I wish y'all could come over!!

 

Ten on Tuesday: 10 Favorite Chocolate Treats

1. La Bete Noire. "The Black Beast" - as in the best chocolate cake ever invented in the universe. Period. Plus "ganache." I believe I could eat a cake made with actual dirt if it had a layer of good ganache. With never-ending gratitude to Nova for having brought La Bete to my attention in the first place, way back in 2007. This is simply delicious.

2. Chocolate pudding. Jell-O. The kind my mom used to make... well, I used to "make" it, and I hated "making" it, but sure did love the result. "Making," in this case meaning "stirring." Mom would put it into individual bowls and put it in the fridge. It would get a lovely, rich chocolate skin that was so yummy. To fancy it up, sometimes the top would be sprinkled with coconut flakes. Ahhh.

3. Chocolate chips. Straight out of the bag. This has been a favorite ever since I was a kid. There was a period of time, when we lived on Crestview Drive, when Karen and I would go down and raid the kitchen in the middle of the night. We were about 8 and 10, respectively. There was never anything "good," but occasionally we'd find chocolate chips -- they were as good as it gets, as it were. Heh.

4. Chocolate chip cookies. My favorite recipe is called Practically Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies and it's from Consumer Reports. I know. A recipe from Consumer Reports! They did a big test of all the different types of chocolate chips cookies that you could buy -- back when "soft" first became available at the store -- and they tested a few stand-by recipes, too!

5. Straight-up chocolate. I stop at the coffee shop almost every morning and, almost every morning, I purchase a small bar of Omanhene dark chocolate to have at lunch.

6. Hot fudge sundae - with a cherry on top!

7. Chocolate-covered chocoloate-filled chocolate donut. Tastee Bakery is gone now, but theirs are still the standard by which others are measured.

8. Chocolate-covered cherries. Or anything. Cherries remind me of grandpa.

9. Chocolate truffles. I used to make them at Christmas, and may resurrect that tradition. They're so easy and it's fun to experiment.

 

 

10. Just about anything in the world with chocolate in it or on it. Period.

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's rather primitive. And a little dusty.

But the parts seem there and they all move freely.

My first spinning wheel. Three inches tall, tops. Thrift-shopping in search of a lazy susan the other day, I came home with this instead. I paid $1.00. And could only laugh when the sticker below it revealed that it could have been mine, at one point, for 50c.

In reality, lessons haven't yet begun... but soon, I hope!

 

But really mine.

All mine!

Giving the hamster sweaters and hexi-not-puffs a break, I've cast on for Color Affection.

By the way, did I mention? Hamster sweater was mailed last Saturday and I received a phone call from Mack on Monday. "It's not everyday that a hamster gets mail!!" He thought it was pretty funny that I addressed the package to Topper c/o Mack. He'd read my note and told me that they had the hamster sniff the sweater before putting it on... and they didn't put his front legs through the "arm holes" yet, but said they'd work up to it. He was thrilled. I was thrilled. I'm sure that Topper was thrilled. It was thrilling all around.

Color Affection... being affectionately and entirely knit with colors dyed by my own hand. That's thrilling, too. I've knit my yarn a few times before, but this feels different... And, wow, I hope this turns out as well as I envision. "Sock it to me, baby!" (said the red yarn).

 

Katie's been accepted to two programs at the University of Glasgow!

Now, she just needs to make a decision and we have to make sure she gets there... so I can go visit!!

(I don't really need an excuse... and I will be going back whether she's there or not... but if I did need an excuse, this is a really good one.)

 

Roxie. 1) It's pretty rare to find a kitty on my bed these days, as we keep our bedroom closed most of the time. Used to be we'd sometimes have all three cats and a dog on the bed, in addition to ourselves. 2) She's usually camera shy, but perhaps realized that her best chance of escaping eviction was to cooperate. It was cozy and warm... I let her stay put, just as I let her brother the other day.

I had a good weekend, nothing too spectacular... bookkeeping, some tax-related stuff, a wee bit o' thrift shopping, some dyeing and knitting, a little football, Downton Abbey. I started a cowl, but I'm not crazy about the yarn... at least not for this project. I can always knit a hexi or two while pondering the possiblities.

The hamster sweater was posted on Saturday and, with any luck, Mack might get it today. Crazy old Aunt Vic...

 

Six little words and a thought... never spoken or even imagined until today.

I'd want to give him right back!

But today, I have a finished Hamster Cozy and no model. I tried it on a TP tube, but... No. I went in search and came up with bookend -- a mouse holding the books up -- but he's a mouse. Mice are much smaller than hamsters, and he was drowning in the little sweater. I don't have many figurine-type things.

One day, at a price too low to resist, and because it might come in handy as a gift for a certain pig-lover, I bought this:

A wooden pig-shaped toothpick holder. I think. It could be used for serving hors d'oeuvres -- li'l porkies? -- but there aren't that many holes and it would require constant refilling.

Today, it works fabulously as a hamster sweater model.

• Project: Hamster Cozy for Topper
• Yarn: Crazy Zauberball
• Needle: US 3 DPNs
• Start to Finish: February 2-4, 2012

Oink, oink!

Fresh, new dishcloths and towels in bright colors and I am over the moon... more than I should be about such things, but there you go.

I had an urgent voicemail and follow-up phone call this morning from a 6-year-old boy inquiring about a certain hamster sweater and requesting that it be mailed off when finished. I guess I'll be whipping that out at knitting tonight. It's going to be something very simple -- more of a hamster "cozy." I think I'll spend a little more time doing a little hamster "house" instead, as brilliantly suggested in the comments, and send that along, too. I think Topper will really dig that.

 

 

1. 001-of-366, 2. 002-of-366, 3. 003-of-366, 4. 004-of-366, 5. 005-of-366.Hexed, 6. 006-of-366, 7. 007-of-366, 8. 008-of-366, 9. 011-of-366, 10. 010-of-366, 11. 009-of-366, 12. 012-of-366, 13. heads-or-tails, 14. 014-of-366, 15. 015-of-366, 16. 016-of-366, 17. 017-of-366, 18. 018-of-366, 19. web-2012-01-19 16.21.38, 20. 019-of-366, 21. 020-of-366, 22. 021-of-366, 23. 022-of-366, 24. 023-of-366, 25. 024-of-366, 26. 025-of-366, 27. 026-of-366, 28. 027-of-366, 29. 028-of-366, 30. 029-of-366, 31. 030-of-366, 32. 031-of-366

That's a wrap!