Oh no...NaNoWriMo!

Okay, maybe I was a bit overzealous announcing I was going to participate in NaNoWriMo a mere 2 weeks before it starts. I can barely post to this blog once or twice per week with my uninteresting life much less write pages and pages of drivel. I have no plot, no characters, no outline...a big NADA! Instead of adhering to the rules, I may make my own word limits and just get myself to write SOMETHING.

I know that some people totally wing it and I'm sure their brains are rife with creative ideas and characters ready to spring to life. Some people already have pages and pages of outlines, character drafts, history research and plot twists. If the idea is to write about what we know, I'm in trouble.

Running has been a bust lately. My knee has been acting up and I don't want to chance it so I busy myself around the house and go walking.

Knitting is always ongoing. I showed you pictures of the wedding, but not the lace projects that consumed 8 months of my knitting life.

Eternity Shawl
Knit in Baruffa Cashwool and used about 730 yards or half a skein
Pattern: Shetland Triangle by Evelyn Clark





A Clump of Plinths (was knitting on this watching a Monty Python Documentary. This was one of the names they were batting around before "Monty Python" was chosen. I kinda liked it)
Knit in Kidsilk Haze in the Hurricane colorway with small beads in the outer border
Pattern: Melon Pattern for a Shawl by Jane Sowerby





and both




I am so done with lace for awhile and am glad to get some heavier yarn to use! I'll post other projects later. I have start-itis so bad right now I don't know what is going to make it and what will hit the frog pond.

Are We There Yet?

No, not quite. The wedding shawl of DOOM is growing at a snail's pace.

At this rate, it will be a wedding kerchief! Since my daughter is not really wanting a veil, I'm trying to convince her she can wear this shawlette on her head Aunt Jemima style. She's not going for it. She also didn't like the idea of wedding cupcakes or a wedding pinata either. She never likes my ideas.

Running has been sporadic. As I was getting my gardening mojo going, I neglected running. Now that half the garden is going well and the other half is being eaten, destroyed or dying away I can start running again.

The local college track has been repaved and is verra nice now. I got out there last night and felt like a human sausage: fatty, bloated and stretching my casings. It didn't help that I had friends over for beer and pizza the night before. Ah well...gotta restart somewhere, eh?

Gardening is funny.

The good:
Tomatoes - Better Boy and Roma - lots o green globes on the vines. It seems they're taking forever to ripen. I so love home gardened tomatoes. If you've only eaten store bought tomatoes, I truly feel for you.
Mint - I have to cut it back as it's crowding other plants!
Cucumber - overflowing the bed and creeping out into the yard.
Eggplant - is trying. Putting on blooms
Meyer Lemon - Had to relocate after some nasty grackle birds got after it and scratched up half the maturing lemons.
Lavender - lookin' good but doubt I will get much bounty for dried herbs
Chard - Looks like it's going to pull through after some bug eating concerns early on
Basil - not going as gangbusters as I had thought it would
Rosemary and Thyme still healthy but not much growth in pots

The bad:
Strawberries - grackle birds again. They take 1-2 bites out of every strawberry rendering them unedible.
Lettuce - I let it go too far and now it's getting leggy and weird. Bugs trying to eat it too.
Mexican Lime - It's trying. I think there are 2 or 3 little tiny limes right now
Bell Pepper - looks scraggly and no veg
Dill - Half is good and the other half is being eaten by some small caterpillars which I think are some kind of butterfly. As much as I use dill, I will let them chow down on what they want


The ugly:
Onions - dead
Kale - So dead
Bok Choy - not a chance dead - eaten by something very hungry

If idle hands are the devil's playground...

If idle hands are the devil's playground, he's got nothing to play with here! Believe it or not, my plants are still alive and some are thriving! I never thought I would love making plants grow.

These pictures were taken a week ago and the plants are even bigger! The cilantro has tried to bolt and my Better Boy tomatoes have really started to take off! I even have 4 small strawberries forming!

Thanks to the wonderful plants at Maas Nursery, even my Meyer Lemon tree is making baby lemons! Ignore the scaly alien hand in the background.

The gladiolus bulbs I planted in the side flower bed have just peeked above the dirt. I'll take pics as soon as they make something purty.

I have this old chiminea that I thought I would enjoy firing up and sitting beside on my patio, playing in the fire. I never got used to the smoke smell, so there it sat for years doing nothing. (I did enjoy setting things on fire in it though. Pyro much?) I decided it would make a better planter. Since it sits in the shade, I decided to plant impatiens and creeping jenny in it. I was so proud...

Then my daughter said "It looks like it's throwing up". Hmmm...she has a point. It's done. It stays. We will see what happens.

Running has resumed, just not as often as I would like. I had to back out of a recent half marathon. You see, the threat of certain death since I was so undertrained was a big de-motivator. My illness plus my Dad's hospitalizations really took a toll on my running. I'm just getting where I can run without using an inhaler. (Sorry, I get a mental giggle thinking about my chubby-chick self trying to run and snorting an inhaler with my flabby rolls flopping to and fro. Just imagine it in slow motion and it's funnier...really) Life just gets in the way sometimes. Note to self...don't sign up for these races so early.

Knitting - still knitting on woman-child's wedding shawl. I'm about 13 repeats in and it's still not big enough. The good thing about knitting lace is you get a lot more bang for your buck. More yards for less money for longer knitting time. The bad thing is, you're knitting FOR-EVER! Will get pics on here later at least to remind myself that it is growing, although very slow...

Empty Nesting

The wedding planning is going well...that I can tell. Fortunately, my daughter has taken this task by the horns and is steamrolling the whole process. I am amazed at how decisive she is. I am used mainly for a sounding board or an opinion giver. She is really rockin' it. I am finding myself more and more amazed at what she can do. She has already gotten the bridesmaid outfits and shoes, toasting glasses, cake cutlery, centerpieces, spoken to a florist...the list goes on and on.

I'll admit, when they first made their plans of getting married known, I was not all on board for it. College students, getting married and making it on their own? I was quite the skeptic, a nice word for every cell in my being freaking the hell out. Every time she would need rescuing, I was thinking "how is she going to handle these types of situations living 2 hours away from me"? The same thoughts must have been going through her mind, because in the past couple months, she has been needing to be rescued less and less. She amazes me. I must have done my job well or am extremely lucky! I still wish they had waited a year, but I'm getting better about it.

I, on the other hand, am adjusting to empty nest syndrome more like a cow being lead to the slaughter...yeah...a little less well. As a young parent I remember agonizing over "when am I going to get my life back again?" Irony is a bitch. Parenting has been my life for almost 20 years. Now what??? Lively nights of BINGO at the senior center? ("Did you see that Pearl has a new troll doll as a good luck charm?"), or do I become a cliche of an early midlife crisis resplendent with a convertible car, wild hair and dressing as a 20 year old? If you ever see me wearing pants with "Juicy" on the butt, please slap me.

I'm still knitting the wedding shawl...s..l..o..w..l..y. I'm going to try and keep a journal before the wedding chronicling her past, feelings and events of the present and my hopes for their future. I'll give it to her with the shawl. See, my gift is not the shawl, but my time and effort. You're not just getting an item. Knitters understand this...it's not a quick craft. We deliberate on which yarn will suit the project best in a color we know the recipient will love. We diligently pick up the project and work on it at every opportune moment, stitch by stitch until it takes form. We agonize over mistakes and try to make it right. At some point along the way, we grow weary of the project but knit along anyway even though it doesn't seem to get any bigger. As we finish the item, we almost become a little sad that the process is over and wish we could keep the knit for ourselves. But, we give it away with a glad heart that the recipient will love it as much as we do. Wow. When I first started writing this paragraph, I didn't know it was going to be an analogy of raising a girl!

Out with the old...

I like that the new year is a time to reflect on the past year, condense it down to a manageable pieces, pick out the things you didn't like and try to make the new year better. Like jellybeans. I can do without the black ones in my life thankyouverymuch.

I'm not much of a "resolution" person. It's hard for me to say "I'm going to lose 20 pounds" or "my house will be clean every day" or "I'm going to teach pigs to fly". That just sets me up for failure and disappointment. Instead, I try to work on things. Even if I make them only a little better, it's still better right??? Let's take last year's list for example:

1 - blog more. - Done! More doesn't mean every day. It just means more.
2 - not have too many UFO's going at once. For the most part, I tried to have no more than 5 things going at once. Something easy, something portable, something challenging, something practical and a wild card.
3 - spin more. Again, "more" is a relative word. Compared to last year (before I got my spinning wheel) I did spin more...just not very much.
4 - Get this house decluttered after hurricane ike - Done! (with pics)
5 - Get back into running. I refocused my blog to include running...hence Marshmarathon was born. I then became inspired and kept up my motivation and continued to progress albeit quite slowly and often took a two steps forward one step back approach. Signing up for the Aramco Half Marathon was a good motivator like a cattle prod to the buttocks! Injuries be damned!
6 - Worry less and enjoy the little things in life - I lost my job in February when our company's contract lost the renewal and got another job which is less hours per week, easier but a little less money. So worth it!
7 - Go on a trip with my daughter. Uh...will have to settle for Schlitterbahn and shelling out the bucks for a wedding.
8 - Lose weight and eat healthier. Again, it's all relative. I think I lost a grand total of 10 pounds but hey...I didn't gain!
9 - Knit a little every day. Nope. Just didn't do this one.

10 - Knit more from my stash. I did do this one!

I still don't know what my New Year's list will be this year. Still workin on it!!!

Christmas Retrospective

Christmas is over. Whew! This is the first year I didn't decorate. It wasn't really a conscious decision not to, but more like a daunting chore looming over our heads. We kept putting it off until it was no longer feasible to do so. I'm not a scrooge by any means, but the thought of hauling down the boxes and boxes of Christmas crap, taking all day to put it up and then thinking about having to put it all away after it's all said and done was not appealing. I also didn't have to stare at each ornament wondering if I should put it away for my daughter to start her new life with.

We did make gingerbread cookies on Christmas Eve. I even made Chris help a little. You will see no deformed ones. We ate them all. Well, we eventually ate the good ones too. I used the recipe from my Fannie Farmer Baking Cookbook and they were so tender and yummy! This cookbook is one of my most loved cookbooks of all time!

See the gingerbread man on the round glass plate with the very large, red sprinkled eye? That's Chris' contribution...a gingerbread man with pink-eye. If you look closely you will also see some cookies shaped like Texas. How many other states have cookie cutters?

Then there was the epic game of Risk. I have very little patience for long games but I loved that they were playing it in my home.

Christmas Day, we went to my sister's house where my 7 month old nephew was anxiously waiting for me. I am finally NOT SICK and can play with my little nephew!!! And yes, he is wearing the hat I made for him...see below.

Running? Let's just say that it takes a little more motivation to get outside in cold weather to run. Even with the perfect combination of clothes! But I don't like running on a treadmill, so it takes a little psyching myself up to get going.

Last but not least, I can show you what I have been knitting! I made a scarf and earwarmer set for my cousin, but I didn't get pictures of them before I gave them away. I was cutting it a bit close!

Ishbel by Ysolda Teague knit in Fearless Fibers laceweight merino yarn in the teal colorway. I made this for my mother and gave it to her Christmas Day. She loved it!

The shawl pin is from Nicholas and Felice and is gorgeous but I felt was a little large and heavy for this neckerchief sized shawl.

I finished my Mountain Form Slippers out of some Cascade 220 Superwash to keep my feet warm

Then I made a Cable and Seed Hat for my nephew out of some KnitPicks Swish Superwash. It used only a few yards short of the entire skein. The pattern doesn't have any identifying author/store on it. It took me about 2 days to make.

And...the last couple of days I have been working on the Urban Aran Cardigan that I am making out of Cascade Yarns Eco Wool in the Latte colorway. With all of the cables and this slightly bulkier yarn, it will be quite warm.

Knitting...er...Snow Day!

They let me out of work early at 1pm. The roads are wet and snowing and the temp is supposed to make a quick dip below freezing to ice the roads nicely for us winter-illiterate Texans. The snow is beautiful floating down. I love the way snow dances on its way down not like the stoopid rain we usually have.

My daughter just got in her car to drive to her boyfriend's house...wait...no...FIANCE! ::strikes forehead with palm:: so I worry about her driving in this. Yes, by Canadian standards, Texans are winter wimps, but we don't have the de-icers like they do. We all act like igmos when the snow starts falling. We flap our arms and point to the sky and exclaim "look! snow!" (said in your best bubba voice) and just stand there and stare at it as if something strange like kittens or juiceboxes were falling from the sky.

So I'll take this early day off to work on some Christmas knitting...and to stare at the snow like an igmo...

Back on Track

What's worse than being down for 2 weeks with a back injury? Try coming down with the flu! THREE weeks I have been away from running. THREE!! At first, I missed running and felt an empty hole in my life, but the scary thing was...after awhile I got used to it. I got used to being sedentary to the point that when I medically improved enough to get back into running, I resisted at first. Part of my hesitation was fear of FAIL. I knew that after 3 weeks I wouldn't be able to run for crap, but the other part was...well...just...lazy. I don't want to be THAT person again. THAT shiftless blob whose arse could easily become one with the couch cushions. Add the half marathon looming over my head and there is my motivation. Don't get me wrong, my first two runs were pretty crappy compared to what I had been running, but actually weren't as bad as I had expected.

The two GOOD things that came out of my sabbatical were the two knitting projects I finished!

First is the lace Elm Row lace scarf from Knitspot knit with Dream in Color Baby in the Happy Forest colorway.

The next project has been languishing on the needles for awhile while I was working on other things. Spiral Eyelet socks knit in Sunshine Yarns sock in the Chocolate Covered Cherries colorway. The pattern is free! I love free. I finally have a pair of socks for myself! The pattern went rather quickly and the lace part was easy to memorize. The socks fit perfectly!!!

Losing a Heifer and Gaining Two Calves

Okay, even though I live in Podunk-ville where the main Saturday evening entertainment is the lavish social galas at walmart (black wolf tshirt optional. Seriously, check the reviews on the tshirt. Too funneh), the above title is not a livestock reference. I AM referring to the newly forming lumps arising from mah pasty white gams as evidenced by the pictoral reference below. Wee-haw! Mah humps, mah lovely lady lumps...check it out! Is it wrong that I take satisfaction from flexing and touching my calves? It's like growing your own produce. It just makes you want to smile.

AND and and and I have gotten below a certain weight (which shall remain nameless), hence the "losing a heifer" reference. AND and and and I ran my fastest 2 miler last night, even if I had to walk a bit. My power song of the run? Jump by Van Halen. This well worn, high school head bangin', master-class air guitar and drum staple on my ipod did the trick. Just as I was about to walk as the music started to slow, I hear David Lee Roth's musical squeal shift my buns into motion. Go Marshmarathon, go!

On the knitting front, I'm still working on the Empire Tunic. It's cotton, it hurts my hands and it's not the best stuff to knit with...but you wanna see the carrot colored wonder yarn dangling on the end of a stick taunting me to finish? With 1717 yards of squooshy woolen wonder with colors like that of the surface of the sun and just as intense...I give you...Wollmeise lace!

This is wanting to become a Girasole SOOOOOOO bad right now, as soon as I can finish this tunic. Then...I'll be knitting on this for the next 10 years!

Actual Knitting!

I finally finished and blocked my textured shawl! It's so soft and smooshy...of course...it's alpaca! I used Henry's Attic Alpaca Prime. This will be great to curl up on the couch with when the weather starts getting colder. As hot as it's been lately, I can only dream! I'll have to post the links later. The last part of a shawl seems to go on FOREVER!

In running news... I made it to 2 miles without walking...outside! Gasping? yes. Legs aching? yes. But I made it. It wasn't a fluke either because yesterday I ran 2.25 miles on the treadmill. I'm due to join up with a local running club this Saturday at 6:00am for a long run. I think that will keep me motivated as well. In one week the signups for the Aramco Houston Half Marathon will be up and I plan on entering. Sooooo...this may be a bit of a mid life crisis thing...running a half marathon...but at least it's not convertibles and wild behavior (more than usual). I'm serious when I say that never in my entire life do I remember running 2 full miles before!!

As the mother of a college aged child (gosh, did I really say that?) we tend to have a bit (a lot) of denial regarding their flight from the nest. I knew eventually she would leave home, but like Scarlett O'Hara "I'll think about that tomorrah!" Well, her current plan (that she recently burst my bubble with) would place her going away to college Spring of 2010. My sweet little bundle of joy that I can actually say I ENJOY playing room-mate to (except for the clothes and crap on the floor) will be leaving the nest in LESS THAN A YEAR. So, is a mid-life crisis warranted? You betcha.

Work It! I'll put my thang down flip it and reverse it...

There's nothing like a good Missy E song to get you in the running mood. What started out to be a rest day turned into a running morning. The weather was perfect with a nice breeze before the rain that I knew was coming. Despite 4 hours of sleep (I dunno why), I got out and did 4 miles and week 4 of the Couch to 5K podcast by Ullrey. Again, I should remind you dear reader, that when I say 4 miles, I end up walking most of that. Also, before you get jealous that I am on week 4, remember that I have been doing this for about 2-3 months. Yeah...I'm a little slow.

So, what's on my list of running necessities nowadays?

• chapstick - preferably with SPF protection
  
• sunglasses - for looking cool  for protecting my retinas
  
• ventilated hat - to catch the sweat before it runs into my eyes and shade the sun
  
• iPod with Nike plus - for tracking my time, pace, mileage. This thing is so cool. I've seen mods for affixing the shoe pod in non-Nike shoes so you don't have to buy the special Nikes. At any time during your run you can press the center button on your ipod and a voice tells you how far you've gone and time and current pace. Accuracy? Meh. It's close enough for me. At the end of your workout she will tell you your stats. If you happen to have run your longest or fastest, you may get a verbal "atta boy" from Lance Armstrong or Tiger Woods.
  
• Tech clothing - is becoming verra verra cool. Most days I throw on a comfy T-shirt and above the knee yoga pants, but on hot days a moisture wicking "tech" shirt is great! I also bought some "tech" socks that are supposed to keep your feet drier than cotton. Wouldn't you know they have some wool content? Duh.
  
• Road ID - (no affiliation) You may laugh, but as I get my aged, ample rear on the track, I think about what if I have a heart attack or get hit by a car or pass out? This little bit of geekery has my name, birthdate, emergency phone numbers, blood type and allergies engraved on it. Kinda lame, but gives me one less excuse for running.
  

On the knitting front, I am getting SO CLOSE to having my house as it was before hurricane Ike. Just in time for this next hurricane season! I thought I would share some before and after pictures of my lovely room. BEFORE:

Insulation everywhere

You can see part of the ceiling hole in the upper left corner of the picture

AFTER:

I just love my new cabinet for yarn! It is the Linnarp cabinet by Ikea. It is a solid wood cabinet (except the back) stained red and is the perfect size. I'll bet you can't tell what my favorite color is!

The Adventures of Marshmarathon and KnittyKnurse

WAIT! (insert superhero fanfare) What was that that just zoomed past at 4 miles per hour? Faster than a speeding tricycle, more powerful than a loco moron, able to leap small curbs in a single bound. Is it a gnat? an ice cream truck? NO! It's MARSHMARATHON!!!  Yes, Marshmarathon...a strange ample woman who has an alter-ego with inflated delusions of running a marathon, with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal infants. Marshmarathon - who can change the course of mighty running tracks, bend nickel plated knitting needles with her bare hands, and who, disguised as Knitty Knurse, mild mannered nurse who knits with other mild mannered knitters...FIGHTS A NEVER ENDING BATTLE...OF FLAB, APATHY AND TO HAVE HER OWN WAY! And now, another exciting episode in the adventures of Marshmarathon...

Yes, I changed my blog title, so don't get all confuzzled. I just wanted it to reflect more of who I am now rather than "Knitterly Diversions" which is a milk-toast, golly-gee-willickers sort of title that I didn't care for much when I created it anyway!

What's behind the new title? My daughter talked me into an INSANE thing called a marathon in about 8 months. I had only been jog/walking sporadically for about 2-3 months when this idea popped up. I'm going to try to post semi-regularly to keep you apprised of my progress (or lack thereof). 

I've been quite apprehensive about telling anyone about the prospect of a marathon because...well...I don't really look like the "runner" type. I'm a bit...more..."ample" you can say. Some days I feel like the female running version of the Stay Puft Marshmallow man...hence the name "Marshmarathon".  I still have not told anyone in my family, except my daughter (whose crazy idea this was from the beginning). I wanted to avoid any negative comments or looks of incredulity. If you see me in person, please resist the urge to giggle and point. I'm fine being your source of amusement as long as I'm not aware of it.

I've been training more seriously for 3 weeks, jog/walking 4-5 days per week following a combination of Couch to 5K using podcasts from Robert Ullrey and Hal Higdon's plan for running. My hopes? Lose some weight, improve my time, and finish a marathon without dying.

I have bad days and good days and will regale you with tales of both. Today was a good day. It's good to start a new blog focus from the perspective of a good day. I was able to progress to week 4 of the Couch to 5K program! Woohoo! I even improved my best pace, although I'm not ready to reveal my pace to you guys. I'm only in competition with myself at this point. 

SO...stay tuned to this space for continued tales of Marshmarathon and KnittyKnurse!

Parade of Christmas Knitting

So, where have I been? Feverishly knitting up Christmas gifts! (see my Ravelry project page)I do this EVERY YEAR and always spend the last week knitting my fingers into a perfect gnarled claw. The thing is, I always start early enough, but somewhere in the middle I get that gift-knitting-melancholy that only a deadline can bring me out of.

So, I'm guessing you want pictures, right? Okay...you asked for it!

Our first model (yes, those are my sexay gams there) is wearing the En Pointe Slippers - Tossut by ilun handu duunaa (free pattern). Ilu is a Finnish knitter with a blog in both Finnish and English and always has gorgeous blog photos! I'm a sucker for blogs with great photos. Don't judge my "hurry-up-and-snap-a-pic-so-I-can-put-them-in-a-gift-bag-and-run-out-the-door" style. These were made for my teenage niece with the matching Brea bag below.


The Brea Bag (another free pattern) from Berroco, was a very fun knit and well written pattern which seemed to magically come together before my eyes. I had put off seaming (who doesn't) and had originally planned to line the bag, but time got away from me. She loved it and I couldn't have been more thrilled.


Our next knitted item, I nicknamed the "Felted Bag-O-Doom"(aka Felted Cable Bag #143 by Patons...my name sounds more interesting). This is a free pattern, but you must login to the Patons site in order to access their free patterns. It goes without saying that you must knit items much larger than they will be before you felt them. This bag seemed to take forever! I had originally started the bag as part of the Ravelympics Games to knit a project at Olympic speeds and have it done before the end of games. I didn't receive my yarn for several days after the games started and kind of lost momentum from there. After knitting the bag, with much trepidation, I gingerly placed the finished cabled Bag-O-Doom in the washer and stood over the it like an expectant parent checking after every minute of agitation. I actually had a cold chill creep up my back when the wool mess hit the hot water. The felting actually helped straighten out the wonkiness. I dried it on a sweater rack with a couple of wire mesh office trays to hold it open to dry faster. I think it turned out well.


Our next model (yep, my legs again) is wearing the Monkey Sock by Cookie A (another free pattern, of course) in Zen Yarn Garden's Bamboolicious yarn in the Down By the Bay colorway which was part of a Harmony Semi-Solid sock yarn club shipment. This yarn is so soft and was a joy to knit with. I did get a second sock syndrome and had put this project on hold while I worked on other things, but I loved how it turned out. After finishing both, I tried them on and seriously thought of giving my sister something store-bought instead because they fit my feet perfectly and felt so soft...which meant they would fit hers perfectly also. (pouts) I finished these while watching one of our favorite corny holiday movies, Mixed Nuts.





Last, but not least are the Evangeline fingerless gloves I knit for my daughter (free Ravelry download) out of Malabrigo in solid black. These are the gloves that sparked my last post. I knit my fingers to the bone at a feverish pace to get the wristwarmers finished in time for Christmas. I finally wove in the last stitch on Christmas Eve, trimmed the yarns and beamed at my accomplishment. Excited about this finished project, I enthusiastically tried on the pair of wristwarmers….only…
they.were.both.left.handed.gloves. (hangs head)
I made a right handed glove and gave them to her 2 days later. I'll just make another rightie and have myself a pair!



I am now, working on a Central Park Hoodie which is my first adult-sized sweater! I even made a gauge swatch and everything (gasp, horror).
Have a Happy New Year!

Yarn Foolery

Now that it’s cold, my daughter is whining about me making her some wristwarmers when I have Christmas knitting to finish! (okay just half a sock) but still! I showed her the malabrigo I bought and she says “do you have anything softer?” I told her to go catch some angel farts and I would be right on that. I think she’s thinking of those fuzzy yarns that are so soft they snag on your hands. If she’s thinking of my Handmaiden Camel/Silk yarn, she’s crazy. She may be my only child but she can’t have that. I can see the headlines now:

“Another Obsessed Knitter Neglects Child”
-by Lotta Crylic

Authorities are tracking yet another insanely obsessed knitter bent on neglecting her child. Forced to wear hand stranglers of M-M-Malabrigo, the child is forced to share living space with what is referred to as “the stash”. Scientists believe the microabrasions found on the childs hands could be the result of either the alleged Malabrigo or aggressive video game play. We may never know. Unable to find the softness she so rightly deserves, this anonymous child sought the help of AFU news correspondent Lotta Crylic.

According to the child, she reports that the mother often engages in secret group meetings with other yarn-crazed women. These women often display knitting gang signs and have intimidating gang names like tehstix, TwistedTexan, MsLilly, Webecca, Kate and Tifftastic not to mention their matriarch, Mopknits. It is also confirmed that her mother has recently been on a yarn rampage in the Texas Hill Country with other random women she met on the interwebs, leaving her helpless 18 year old child home alone to fend for herself.

I went to speak with the mother who answered the door with two long metal spikes, trailing some yarn she had just disemboweled. I could see behind her some kind of primitive, wooden yarn-torturing wheel device and thought better of entering. I asked the mother if she would give up her Camelspun/silk yarn for this poor suffering waif to which she replied “frog you!” and slammed the door.

It appears that we may not have an answer to this epidemic of yarn-foolery. The subjects are left feeling fleeced and we have yet to find an antidote for this Mal-Abrigo.

Pumpkin Tea Cozy

Pumpkin teapot
Originally uploaded by christijnp

Yay! It's finished! I'm not sure I crocheted the leaves right, but hey...they're leaves! I used the Broken Rib Tea Cosy Pattern from Pamela's blog and used the leaves and tendrils pattern from the Fall 2008 Knit Simple Magazine.

Just in time for cool weather, hot tea and the holidays!
Raveled here

Mushmouth

Mushmouth
Originally uploaded by christijnp

Hobow abar youbou doobooing? (Fat Albert reference for you yunguns)

Methinks this tea cozy makes a far more entertaining hat, don't you think? What a schnoz on that puppy! (no animals were harmed in taking this photograph)

Okay, I'll share the real picture of its intended use. Far less entertaining. A tea cozy. I'm going to crochet some little leaves and tendrils to make it look like a pumpkin. Awww...

I got the pattern for the tea cozy at Pamela's Blog and am using the leaves/tendrils pattern from another pumpkin tea cozy from Knit Simple magazine Fall 2008 edition. Ravelry entry here. The Knit Simple pattern used way more yarn than I had. This tea cozy only used 45 grams of Cascade 220 which works out to be about a 100 yards of worsted weight. The pattern was knit in less than a day including seaming. Yay for instant gratification!