Monday, December 28, 2009

Scenes from the Living Room


Not much holifrazzle this year, thanks in part to Macy's, which was open around the clock the few days before Christmas. Who'd have thought that shopping at 1:30 in the morning could be so peaceful? The store was certainly not crowded, but there were more people there than I would've thought. The clerks were in a friendly, chatty mood, there were some great deals and parking was a snap. If it hadn't been for the snowstorm, it would've been perfect.

Speaking of the storm, even ye ol' Christmas village took a hit. Trees were uprooted:


There were straight-line winds:


and one abominable snow kitten.


Monday, December 21, 2009

What is 'I am Fly'?

I don't know, but this will make you smile. It's from Knitting Daily, let's hope you don' recognize any of them:

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

This is Not A Commercial, But ...

This poor yarn can't catch a break, either by Henry the Hambone ...




... or by knitters, as far as I can tell. It's called Old Western, a seemingly nice worsted weight, wool and acrylic (eek! the A word!) blend by Artful Yarns/JCA. It's been sitting quietly on the shelf, where I see it every Friday when I'm at the shop. It has only just a little bit of that giveaway waxy hand (fiber content: 65 percent wool, 29 percent acrylic and 6 percent nylon) and is knitting up quite nicely into a beret whose pattern is on the ballband. In other words ... if you need a last-minute Christmas present, this might be your answer.

By the way, if you are one of the lucky ones caught up on your gift list, please consider adding just one more evening's effort. Knitters are a charitable lot, and I can't think of a better cause. Pass it on ...

Monday, December 14, 2009

It Is (Way Past) Time

In the words of the great Rafiki, it is time — to finish a couple of things that have been hanging around a bit too long. As much as I love the Isager sweater,


and it's coming along nicely, it's at one of those points -- about 7-8 inches up the back -- where i have to sit by the table with the book open while I work on it, so it's been set aside for just a week or so. Or three. It's difficult to find that kind of time just now. But! This is what you get when you multiply 36 stitches by 450 yards of sock yarn. Look what is finally finished, all 7-1/2 feet of it:


I don't know what happened here, but the scarf is not shaped like this. It's supposed to show how the color and pattern are nice together, not that I laid it out crooked. It looks good worn over a white blouse and jeans:


When traveling for the Thanksgiving weekend, and in the middle of two 14-hour drives (and Illinois ...), there was plenty of time to turn this:


into this:


And this:


into this (except for the felting part, natch):



One more distraction to the sweater, the excuse is that it's a Christmas gift. That odd pompon 'yarn' that is this season's lukewarm novelty? I decided it was worth 2-1/2 skeins and an evening. It's from Lana Grossa, called Ginocchi. The blue-and-brown is my crush color combo this year.




By the way, be sure to check out the new storefront for Shepherd's Choice in Anoka. The owner has changed a ratty my-junk-is-your-antiques store into a cozy, friendly shop. There is a lot of Blue Sky Alpaca, some Cascade, some of the owner's handspun and, of course, her soaps, lotions and even the fresh eggs she had out in East Bethel.

I Know. I Know. I Know.

It's December. It's snowing. Traffic will be a mess tomorrow. But isn't it lovely?



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