FO: Office Mitts

Pattern: Hand/wrist warmers from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. This is the gift that keeps on giving, loving all of the patterns I've knit from it so far...

Yarn: Lion Brand wool. I purchased this yarn for the easy legwarmers from LMKG. I still need to cast on for the second one, but only used up one skein for the first, so I had an extra skein to burn, why not handwarmers?

Notes: Love, love, LOVE this pattern! It was easy (finished in one night) and looks awesome. It keeps my hands warm in the ridiculously cold office and I'm sure will do the same once it gets cool enough to get cold in our house. It also used a small amount of yarn, so this will be a great way to use up those yarn remnants from soaker or other wool knitting.

I'm going to make a pair of these for each of my admins at work as christmas gifts. :)

Washcloth's galore - GIFT SPOILER

If you think you are going to receive a gift from me and are reading this (er... Mommy... Rachel), please do the smart thing and stop reading now. Don't say I didn't warn you...


Ok, so I enjoy knitting washcloths. I enjoy using them. They are quick and easy. All of which add to up to super duper gift knitting.

I'm knitting a fabulous pattern from Knit with KT, I love the texture and the interesting knitting. Its different than any other washcloth I've ever seen or used and uses up nearly one ball of Peaches & Cream worsted. I've got 16 of these to bust out by early December.

The other part of the gift package are handmade soaps by local artisan Melissa Flick of Body Balms. Support local and sustainable and give fabulous gifts! What a great way to be green!

Blog, what?

I am not such a great blogger, many apologies... I blame it all on Ravelry. It is so easy to just update my projects on there, add pics and details, and then on to the next project.

Lets see, in the last month or so I have finished several objects, bought lotsa yummy yarn for a sweater for my hubbo, started Christmas knitting, knit several longies, harvested tomatoes, shortened my netflix queue, eaten lots of good food, had lots of good conversation. Oh, and A has started walking! (Yeah, she's only 10 months... eep!)

Here's a quick run down of FOs (not in any specific order)

Irish Hiking Scarf - I knit this for the red scarf project. As a redhead who doesn't like to wear red, it was important to me to knit a scarf for that special someone who wants a scarf, just not a red one. Mission accomplished. I used Patons Soy Wool Stripes and fell in love with the softness of it. I'm definitely going to have to add more of this to my stash.

Kim's Hat - knit with the rest of the SWS skein to match the scarf. quick and easy. The first project from Last minute Knitted Gifts that actually held to the time constraints.

Soakers - a greenie from Peace Fleece, with the addition of the Honeycomb motif from the sock pattern at interweave knits. Love this little detail, makes the pants cute and feminine.

Blue jeans from Patons Merino wool. Basic pattern (from Little Turtle Knits). Easy peasy.

And I've been working on my first pair of socks. Loving it. I've got one done, am making some mods to the second one to make it work better for me... I'm not the sort who needs to make two pair of identical socks... If I want to change something, I'm going to change it so that I can figure out with the next sock whether I liked that change or not.

Well, I need to get back to work. And then clean the house, we have a play date in half an hour. Wee! Later!

Just kidding...

There are moments in my life (and they seem to be happening more often lately), where I find myself waiting to hear someone say "just kidding" because they have made such fantastic errors in logic, no sane person would be caught saying/doing whatever the thing is. At least from my perspective that what it ought to be.

Today, one such incredulous thing happened. I got a call from my boss (i'm working from home today) and he asked me "did you tell A to charge $9 for this product?". I responded yes, and explained that the product contained 3 items, and the contract rate for each item was $3, so $3 (the individual price) X 3 (items) = $9. I haven't lost anybody yet, have I? Simple math. Well, come to find out that A had told my boss that she was only charging $9 for a CD with all the items on it (up to 100 items!!), per my instructions. When I called her to ask her about it, she said that she had just assumed we were giving a good deal to good clients... ?!?!?!?!?!

I hung up not knowing how to respond. A has just as much access to the contract as I do and should be just as familiar with the contract as I am. A and I had discussed invoicing the clients for their items and I mentioned that instead of printing and mailing hard copies (too much wasting of paper), we should just burn them CDs. So how did she think I said to only charge them $9 regardless of how many items they ordered?!

I later got with her and wanted her to explain her leap of logic to me... some things just need explaining. Her response... "Well, you know, sometimes I just have ADD."

I'm still waiting to hear... "Gotcha! I was just kidding."... still waiting...

Green Tuesday: 21 Things you didn't know you could recycle

I write a green tip for our church's weekly newsletter, so I thought I'd incorporate that here as well. Every little bit helps. Co-op America has put together a useful list of 21 things that you can recycle. My favorite: "21. Stuff you just can’t recycle: When practical, send such items back to the manufacturer and tell them they need to manufacture products that close the waste loop responsibly." Its time to make corporate America realize we mean business about being green.

Here's the text of the article:

Garbage. Americans produce more and more of it every year, when we need to be producing less.

Even the most waste-conscious among us can feel overwhelmed by the amount of household waste that goes beyond what municipal recyclers and compost bins can handle.

That’s why our editors have spent the summer investigating the state of waste management in our country, and putting together information for you, our Co-op America members, explaining how we can get serious about the three R’s – reducing, reusing, and recycling. Supporting members of Co-op America can expect to receive this issue of the Co-op America Quarterly this fall. If you’re not already a supporting member, join us now to get this special issue mailed to you.

1. Appliances: Goodwill accepts working appliances, www.goodwill.org, or you can contact the Steel Recycling Institute to recycle them. 800/YES-1-CAN, www.recycle-steel.org.

2. Batteries: Rechargeables and single-use: Battery Solutions, 734/467-9110, www.batteryrecycling.com.

3. Cardboard boxes: Contact local nonprofits and women’s shelters to see if they can use them. Or, offer up used cardboard boxes at your local Freecycle.org listserv or on Craigslist.org for others who may need them for moving or storage. If your workplace collects at least 100 boxes or more each month, UsedCardboardBoxes.com accepts them for resale.

4. CDs/DVDs/Game Disks: Send scratched music or computer CDs, DVDs, and PlayStation or Nintendo video game disks to AuralTech for refinishing, and they’ll work like new: 888/454-3223, www.auraltech.com.

5. Clothes: Wearable clothes can go to your local Goodwill outlet or shelter. Donate wearable women’s business clothing to Dress for Success, which gives them to low-income women as they search for jobs, 212/532-1922, www.dressforsuccess.org. Offer unwearable clothes and towels to local animal boarding and shelter facilities, which often use them as pet bedding. Consider holding a clothes swap at your office, school, faith congregation or community center. Swap clothes with friends and colleagues, and save money on a new fall wardrobe and back-to-school clothes.

6. Compact fluorescent bulbs: Take them to your local IKEA store for recycling: www.ikea.com.

For the rest of the list, go to the article here: http://www.coopamerica.org/pubs/caq/articles/21Things.cfm

Rain, rain and more rain

The rain has returned with a vengeance. In the last 24 hours, according to my very amateur rain gauge (an empty flower pot with no drainage holes), we have received over 5 inches of rain. And more is coming pouring down. Wow. It continues to amaze me that at this time last year, I was excited when we had rain in the forecast. We haven't watered our grass or our flowers once this year. And they look GREAT!

In honor of the rain (and September), I've begun working on my submission for the Red Scarf Project, although my scarf is not red. I'm using the Irish Hiking Scarf pattern and Patons Soy Wool Stripes. This yarn is very soft and cozy, and the colorway reminds me of a summer rain storm. The blues, grays and blacks, with a touch of brown are exactly what an approaching Texas thunderstorm looks like. I think I will also add a matching hat to complete the set.

Cables make me so happy. They are easy, they look fabulous and keep the knitting moving along quickly. So, I decided to dress up another easy knit, Picky Pants by Little Turtle Knits. I was very inspired by the Honeycomb socks (but know that it will be a while before I can start on any socks), so I decided to take the stitch pattern and add it to the leg of my newest soaker... I'm fairly pleased with it, but I'm not sold on the seed stitch border to finish the leg off. Any suggestions for the next time I do this?

Well, I must run. Little Bit says: "Can you get off the computer and play with me now?" And really, who can resist such an adorable redhead?

FO: Kate

Pattern: Kate, from knitty
Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted. I used the yarn recommended in the pattern, right down to the colors. I liked the way she looked, and I didn't want to mess it up.
Needles: I used two circulars for the body, and dpns for the legs and ears.
Mods: Instead of the recommended dpns, I used the two circular method, mostly because I thought that I could avoid laddering at the needle joints. Well, laddering still happened, and I found it fairly difficult to get the tension right with the two circulars. So, I went back to dpns for the rest of her and loved it. I guess I'm a dpn kind of gal. I also decided to not add any face decoration. I'm afraid that anything I'll add will look frankenstein-y. Best not to mess with a good blank slate.



Overall, I loved this pattern. It was easy to follow, the colors are great, the yarn is nice and much loved by my little one. We are so happy to have this rockin' kitty join our toy collection.