Hats off!

Two pictures are languishing on my camera. One is of a camoflage hat/facewarmer that was supposed to be a Christmas present, but was "reappropriated" for my husband's hunting gear -- not entierely a bad thing. The other is of a hat for me(!), which is currently in suspense as to whether or not it will have a complete set of matching fingerless mitts. (We seem to be having a bit of a matching fiber shortage, so a pattern deviation is imminent.....) More to come.

And the pinwheel? It is coming along nicely. It now has a "sle", which is almost 1/3 of A sleeve. Yay!

The Nutcracker and such....

It has been a delightfully dreary day outdoors today, and therefore perfect for knitting.

The rain this afternoon was a great counterpoint to The Nutcracker Suite and the clicking of the needles. I think I have watched it about a hundred times. Baryshnikov is amazing.

Today also turned out to be somewhat cultural, as I watched Amadeus afterwards. The Ovation channel managed to turn that film into a four hour event (with an encore following. Go figure.) I think this is the first biography that I experienced where the subject was not beatified by the author. Sort of a different contrast -- Mozart's heavenly music came from a man steeped in earthly pleasures and problems. And the story is told from the viewpoint of a rival, which makes it even more interesting. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.

The Christmas present is finished. The pinwheel sweater is still sans sleeves, but the body is complete and the edging is in progress.

Little lights on the tree...

And I am listening to one of the dogs ripping a squeaker from a toy, so it's not quite a 'silent night.' If she has her way, that pesky little bugger will be out in a little bit.



The dining room is a wreck with wrapping paper all over, so I spent a little time on Sunday ignoring the cleaning and knitting in the living room. It looks pretty festive with the tree twinkling in the corner. Peaceful even. Much progress occurred on the Christmas present (still in progress.) I will post a picture after the holiday, because I don't want to spoil the surprise.

The end is near

OK, so this might sound an awful lot like an earlier post. I realized today that the end of the semester is next week, which means finals are the week after that. YIKES!

But it is a good thing. The last few weeks have been sort of a hurly-burly between tests, studying, holidays, projects, work, and (oh yeah) running the household in between. I am looking forward to getting all this done.

Just for that, I am taking tonight off to knit like mad.

Growing, growing.....

The pinwheel sweater is definitely making progress. Last night, I finished the tan band and started with the coffee bean brown. Its dark heather-y-ness is a cool contrast to the light sandy tone of the prior color. I don't have pictures yet because I haven't completed a full round in the new color yet. Those will come a little later when there is more of the contrast to see.

A benefit of this project is that I will have a few bits & pieces of coordinating colors left over from each of the bands. A few ideas are rolling around for small pieces. They range from a felted purse, mittens, narrow scarf, and a sweater for a teddy bear. Who knows what will come off the needles at this point?

Counting our blessings.....

This Thursday is Thanksgiving. As an experiment, I invite you to share one of the things you are thankful for. It doesn't have to be earth-shattering, just as long as it means something to you. I'll even go first to get us started...

I am thankful for the "little blessings" in my everyday life. You know, like the empty parking space close to the door when you are running late. Or the new grass poking out of the lawn despite the dryness of the past few weeks. And letting my friend talk me into that caramel-chocolate-coconut-pecan wrapped apple (which was divine....I highly recommend the experience.) The nudge of a head or paw against my hand as a request for a scratching. Little reminders to slow down and enjoy the now.

That's mine. How about you?

Fall foliage (or a knitted cheese pizza...)

For a change, I think I will start putting up pictures of things before they are completely done. Here's hoping it will serve as inspiration for completion.

This is the current project. As you can see, it is still in process. This is called a "pinwheel sweater." Construction is pretty much one big circle with a couple holes for sleeve attachment later. Very simple, minimal (to no) finishing -- definitely my kind of pattern.

The picture does not do justice to the colors. The color palette is golds, reds, and browns all smooshed together in a bull's eye o'color. The circle you see here will be the back of the sweater.