It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it's officially the holiday season! Of course, I've been talking about Christmas since September, but now I can shamelessly hum carols and work on my holiday cards without looking like such a basket case. Unfortunately, most of the things I've made intending to give as Christmas gifts have already been given to the recipient. I made sure to buy some wrapping paper a few days ago, so from now on, anything that's finished will be getting wrapped immediately so I'll be less likely to give it away early.

And no, the picture doesn't have anything to do with anything, but I got sidetracked midway through this post and couldn't think of anything else to say. I think Moses in a helmet says it all, don't you?

Happy holidays, folks.

You're so vain, you probably think this blog is about you...

I made myself a pair of legwarmers out of an old sweater (cut off the sleeves, then stitched up the back to make them fit my calves) this morning because they went perfectly with my skirt and cardigan. It put a spring in my step all day long, I looked so cute.

Then, during class, I knit myself a hat out of some soft, fuzzy yarn that I like to think looks like polar bear fur. I sort of rushed through it because it was so chilly out, but I finished it in time to wear home!

I felt incredibly vain all day in my legwarmers and later my hat, so I checked myself out in every reflective surface I walked past just to verify that I did indeed look totally foxy. It felt pretty good.

Blogging is for Lovers

So it's probably totally nerdy to post twice in one day, but the knitting group was a success! Victoria's apartment is totally cute, and on my way I ran into Liz on the bus, so I had someone to talk with during the ride. It was fun, and I'm hoping it'll happen again. I knit a really cute little sushi roll while I was there and started on another. Next I'm knitting some Blythe clothes for Chloeiscrazy for a Craftster swap.

Here's a picture of three of the five cuffs I knit for the Band Cuff knitalong. There's a button on the sidebar if you want the pattern. These went to Igobylorib for the Ongoing Wish Swap 15.


Now I'm off to knit sushi and possibly many other things! Hopefully there'll be something good on TV to entertain me.

Rusty is totally Pro-Hat

I'm about to rush off to the first meeting of my knitting group but I wanted to share a picture of one of the four hats I've finished so far for Caps to the Capital, modeled by Marc's kitten, Rusty. Dashing, isn't he?

Ooh Baby!

My penchant for instant gratification has led to an overwhelming interest in knitting for infants. Behold:




Hat and booties for my cousin's baby, due in a few months. Please excuse the streak of marker on my thumb.



My first hat made for the Caps to the Capital project. The yarn was sent to me by devilninny for a swap on Craftster. I'm also making a pair of booties with it, which will be for my cousin's baby as well.

The first meeting of my knitting group (composed of myself and a few other girls from school) was supposed to be tonight, but two of them had possible schedule conflicts and outside the weather is looking ominous -- there's even a "wind advisory" in effect -- so I'm kind of happy to just stay home and be cozy.

And before I forget: my wonderfully crafty aunt has started a craft blog! Hooray!

Knit for a good cause!

"Can something as simple as a knit or crochet cap help save a newborn life?

In many poor countries, the answer is yes. Four million newborns die each year within the first month of life – half within only the first 24 hours after being born.
But a package of simple health measures provided to mothers and babies worldwide, including antibiotics to fight infections, training for skilled birth attendants, immunizations against tetanus, education on breastfeeding and basic care such as drying a newborn baby and keeping it warm (this is where the caps come in!) could prevent 70 percent of these deaths.

These babies need more than caps – they need your voice, too.

The United States can lead the way in saving young lives by increasing funding for these critical health measures for mothers and children in developing countries. But we need your help. Let America’s leaders know that you’re willing to do your part, and together we can do much more."

Knit or crochet a hat for a newborn and send it (along with a letter -- prewritten or in your own words -- about why the U.S. needs to become a leader in preventative health care) to Save the Children, which will lead a rally in Washington D.C. next year. The caps will be delivered to the various countries around the world in which Save the Children operates.

There is much more information on the Save the Children website about how to get involved. I hope you join me in donating a cap or two!

[Edited to add: I'm a nerd; I made a button:

Save the image to your own server, please!]

The ants go marching

Last night I finished the hat I was making for Mr. Catpants (hooray for internet semi-anonymity!) and, not to toot my own horn or anything, but it's pretty damn fabulous. I used Mission Falls 1824 wool in "heath" -- absolutely wonderful to knit with, it was like a massage for my fingertips -- and modified a free pattern I found to make a hat large enough to fit his giant noggin.

Also last night, I managed to knit a few rounds backwards (and skipping a needle) on the socks I'm making for myself. I'm so irritated that I don't even want to look at it right now. That'll teach me to knit when I really just need to go to bed.

In other news, I'm squished in between the stereo and the bookshelf, as we had to move my desk last night in order to spray pesticides all over the baseboards. That's right, the ridiculous amount of rain we've had is causing flash-floods in Tillamook AND floods of ants in my living room. I always thought the ants were supposed to go marching down, to the ground, to get out of the rain, not up into my house to party on my desk.

Attention quilters!

Craftster user orange_sunset is looking for help making a "memory quilt" for her dad from fabric her grandmother passed on to her. She's not a quilter, so she's looking for help. If you want to give her a hand, she'll mail you some of her grandma's fabric for you to make a quilt block or two out of. She'll piece all the different blocks together herself, but she needs 56 of them (hopefully by Christmas). If you're interested, check out her post on Craftster and let her know!

My wrists are warm!

I finally finished my lovely alpaca wristwarmers. I am so proud of myself! It took about two months just to figure out how to knit in the round (thanks, Shauna!) but once I got going, they only took about four hours each. They're so cozy and just in time for the freezing rain we've got going on here. On the downside, they have a tendency to fuzz all over the place. Yesterday someone looked at my (black) coat and asked, "so, how many cats do you have?" What could I say? The fuzz you see here is mostly yarn-related, but yes, I do live in a four-cat household.
I'm thinking I should post a picture of Rusty (the new feline addition to the household -- solely Marc's doing) since he's the one who has thoroughly derailed my skinny scarf project by stealing my yarn and reducing it to a hairy mess. I keep telling him, "you're cute now, but nobody's going to like you if you keep doing this stuff when you grow up."