Of Snow and Slippers

Yesterday, Denver tied the record high temperature for the date, 74 degrees (F). Today's high was 62 degrees. Tonight, it looks like this:

Yes, those are big, fat snowflakes. What is that old adage, "If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes," or something to that effect? And it is supposed to be back up to 51 degrees tomorrow.

In my last post, I reported on the current knitting projects. The slogging continues on the a4A sweater. The red Cotton-Ease swatch is napping right now, while I concentrate on crocheting more slippers, this time for the Pink Slipper Project.
(The last twelve pairs were sent to Cheyenne River.) Seven and a half pairs are completed so far. I need to find an appropriate box to pack them in, and keep making them until the box is full. That seems to make more sense than trying to find the perfect size box for a certain number of pairs. As soon as I figure out how to make a photo collage in Picasa, I'll post pictures of the completed slippers.

Signs of Spring

Daffodil shoots are poking through the mulch; winter won't last forever! Actually, the weather has been very agreeable the last two weeks. Any winter day that doesn't involve shoveling snow is a good day!

Well, since this is, in part, rumored to be a knitting blog, I guess I should report what's on the needles. The current big project is a sweater for afghans for Afghans. The deadline I was hoping to meet has come and gone, but part 2 of the youth campaign isn't due until late April. Surely I can knit two sleeves in two months. (I know, don't call me Shirley.) Probably the biggest impediment to completion is the bulkiness involved, since the sweater is seamless. It's become a bit of a pain to carry around, so I usually only work on it at home.

The other project OTN is a gianormous Cotton-Ease swatch. I've always liked Cotton-Ease, but the colors that have been available locally since its reintroduction have been rather uninspiring (pastel earth tones - REALLY?). But the last time I was at Michaels, I spotted, way down on the bottom row, skeins of Cotton-Ease in "Cherry," a "deep, bold red" according to the Lion Brand website. So I used my handy dandy coupon to purchase one skein to try. Using my Denise needles, since that's what I would be using to knit a sweater from the stuff, I cast on 30 stitches on a US#9. After a few rows of garter stitch for curl prevention, I continued in stockinette for about 4 1/2 inches. Then I switched to US#8 tips, did another garter ridge, stockinette for 4 1/2 inches, lather, rinse, repeat down to US#5. The next half of the swatch will be reversing the needle size order, while knitting in the round. When that's done, I will check and record my gauge on all of the sections, then wash and dry the swatch exactly the way I plan to launder the garment. Finally, after removing it from the dryer, I'll recheck my gauge and see how the knitted fabric fared in the laundry. If, after all that, I like what I see, it will be time to choose a pattern and find a good price on the yarn.

Next time, I'll talk about what's on my hooks these days; you won't want to miss it! 8-)

New Day Dawning

Now, don't get too excited, it's only one picture and not much text. But at least it is finally a post! (I hope my faithful reader doesn't keel over in shock!)

We enjoyed this beautiful sunrise this morning, and gorgeous weather all day. Tomorrow is forecast to be even warmer, and it's supposed to be close to 70 degrees (Farenheit) on Wednesday. I'm sure glad I live in Colorado!

More later, honest.

Ooh, Shiny!!!

Meet the new baby in our driveway, my husband's brand new 2009 VW Jetta TDI. The TDI officially stands for "Turbo Diesel Injection", but I've decided it actually means "Tremendous Dollar Investment." It was time, though; the car he's been driving (a 1990 Geo Prizm we bought used from a neighbor) has over 200,000 miles on it and has been falling apart, bit by bit. To soften the pain of the price, we will be getting a good-sized tax credit for buying it, and a nice tax deduction for donating the Prizm to charity.

In knitting news, there are now 15 pairs of mittnz completed, and I've started on the 16th pair. I'm thinking I'll go ahead and finish 18 pair before I quit, so that shouldn't take too much longer. Then maybe there will actually be knitting for something for me! Well, probably not; I really need to get started on Christmas presents. There's only a little more than five stitching months left, after all!

MITTNZ 2009...I'm on a roll!

As soon as I heard that Mittnz 2009 had begun, I cast on for my first pair. Naturally, since I'm easily bored, I used a variety of patterns as well as lots of different yarns (all from stash, of course!) to make these nine pair. The two pair at top left are crocheted from this great pattern, and the pair at bottom left are from the adult version of the pattern, in the single crochet style. The teal pair at top right and the teal and variegated pair second from left on the bottom row were knit from the basic mitten pattern in Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. The rest were knit using Kate Gilbert's Gifted mitten pattern, which has become my new most favorite mitten pattern. I've done some tweaking of the pattern (the instructions are only guidelines, right?) with just about every pair, until it's just darn near perfect (for me, anyway!). As a matter of fact, I like this pattern so much that I've continued making mittens, even though the official goal for Mittnz 2009 is just the nine pair.

Now, admittedly, the pair on the right in this second picture is NOT from this pattern, but a girl has to try something new now and then, right? That pair is actually an adaptation of a pattern in Knitting New Mittens and Gloves by Robin Melanson. But I'm back to the "Gifted" mittens pattern on the pair I'm knitting now. I wonder how many pair of mittens I can make before I go totally bonkers? Hmmm....

So, it really IS November!

And we were greeted with the proof yesterday morning. Of course, being Colorado, the temperature may be back in the seventies next week.

Let's see, what have I been up to? Well, I'm to the wrist on the first knitted arm warmer/long fingerless glove. It's taking so long because I'm redesigning it as I go, from the original shorter pattern. You know, knit 20 rounds, frog 12 rounds, re-knit those 12 and get another 30 done, just to frog another 5. The second one will be much faster to make, just replicate the first!

The knitting for the troops is going well; I've now completed three hats and am working on the second neck gaitor. The last of the set of squares for Close Knit Hugs is done, and I'm in the process of weaving in all the ends (something I should have done as I finished each one!). Last, but not least, I finally frogged the scarf I had been making for last year's Red Scarf Project (more here) and rewound the yarn into balls. It has now been cast on again for the Red Scarf Project for 2008, as they have extended the deadline to December 15. The pattern I'm using this time is the Palindrome Scarf, so I can just knit from one end to the other - no need to graft two halves together!

Well, I suppose I should get some dinner made, before the natives get too restless.

A Photographic Record of My Day

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