the one way trip scarf

The last of the gifts, cast on in New Haven, takes exactly the time of a heavily trafficked holiday eve drive to DC to knit. As long as someone else is at the wheel (thanks Dave).

I've been seeing a scarf similar to this all season, with a designer name on the tag. It seemed too easy, And besides, I obviously have some kind of deconstructed/destroyed mojo going on.

Pattern: One Way Trip
Yarn: mixture of heavy worsted leftovers, including recyled sari slk. I used some Brown Sheep, some Farmhouse Yarns Andy's Merino, some Araucana naturwool Chunky, some Noro mystery yarn, and some Green Mountain Spinnery.
Dimensons: approx 6" wide by 63" long
Needles: size 10us

Cast on 24 stitches of sari silk, knit 10 rows.
*Switch to another color leaving a 2.5" tail at edge, and cutting the sari silk with a 2.5" tail. Knit 20 rows.
Join sari silk, leaving a 2.5" tail on it and cutting a 2.5"tail on the finished color . Knit 3 rows of sari silk.*
Repeat from * to   halfway point. Knit  a 4 row section of another color, Knit 3 rows  sari silk .
Resume following repeats between* to  almost to desired length, end with 10 rows of sari silk.
Finishing: cut a several  5" sari silk pieces, knot them doubled with some of the single yarn ends where the sar slk rows fall spaced on long sides. Knot other yarn ends at their base, creating decorative pieces along side.

I'm not one to wax poetic on the joys of garter stitch but I was happy knitting this. Maybe because of making my deadline for it as a gift, maybe because it distracted me from the traffic and the increasingly neurotic geriatric dog pacing & woofing in the back,  with pursuant teenage complaints over dog breath issues. Or maybe I liked using up the leftovers? Who knows.

I'm not sure if it's a win or just patchwork weird . A good project at the end of a challenging year; using up odds & ends & leftovers, putting them together in the hopes that it'll start next year pretty. Happy 2010 !

post gifting scorecard

Two just completed, slightly damp hats in the sun as we load the car to drive to DC for festivities. Amazingly, did not drive away and forget them there.  2 points for us!

The brown is knit from Victory Ranch alpaca, I made up the pattern. Bro-in-law happy, I failed to get a photo of him wearing it. Deduct a point. Ok.... two. I'm a professional.

Drove directly to Xmas eve party in full swing, this year made it early enough that the buffet was still hot.  Points back! And to hear the nephew and his old teacher get out the keyboard and improvise.

Lots of point. Too many to keep track of. Rest of evening, scorecard free. Mom happy with her new set of crochet hooks with bamboo handles. Once again, failure to get a nice shot of them out of packaging,   they are good looking.  Way to go, Susie Bates.

Sister Marla got the black hat, here immediately after unwrapping and recognizing its Amelia Earhart potentiality.

She'd asked for a "black helmet-like earflap hat" that would be warm and good looking but wouldn't clash with all her multicolored handknit scarves.We added ties with tassles from recycled sari silk, it  needed that somethin' somethin'.

pattern: Snowboarders Hat That Rocks

yarn: Berroco Cuzco,  1 skein of black , exactly  down to the last inch

notes: First time I have ever knit with true pure dark black. Last time I ever knit with pure dark black. Double never if there are cables involved. Could. Not. See. A. Freakin'. Thing.

confession: I wouldn't mind having one just like it for myself. Maybe...dark gray.

It works.

Final bonus round, the birthday gift knit entirely in the car ride  down, next post. 

best laid plans and all that jazz

Brooklyn on Sunday morning, via iPhone  cam. Have  I mentioned how much I love mobile Photoshop? 

On Saturday, massive snowstorm approaching & hysterical forecasts increasing, I figured my photo shoot in Brooklyn the next morning would be postponed. So I kinda relaxed a little. I mean, here I'd have an Extra Day to catch up on work, sit by the fireplace and finish the holiday gift knitting, maybe make some cards, do a new year's e-postcard to my clients, answer email, wrap some gifts, do some cookie baking blah, blah bah. I had a Plan B.

By 6:30 am Sunday, Plan B was rolled back to Plan A. The shoot was on, snow and all. There I was trudging with my equipment on the MetroNorth, then to the subway then through the streets, trying to refigure how it'd all work out. And being kind of grouchy about it. Resenting having to shlep my big case through the snowbanks the plows had created at the curbs....when I looked up and realized how really, truly great it all was. The snow was white, fluffy and undirtied, the city was quiet, the skies were brightening, the holiday decorations were popping against the brownstones. I've never seen Brooklyn like that. It was magical and anyone out on the street just then , the handful of us, knew it.

So, where does that leave me? It's past midnight, and as I blog this I'm baking cut-out cookies, swilling a glass of red wine, finishing up knitting two hats, and adding items to tomorrow's list, all at the same time. Tomorrow I'll try getting other stuff left from the weekend done, and I'll knit the last gift on the car ride to DC on Thursday. Fingers crossed. Anyone who freelances knows the best way to get new work to come in is to plan a few days away. This year having been so epically, monumentally sucky business-wise, I figuredI could plan on getting away quietly. Nope! The very last week of the year and new work- good projects- are appearing , all needing immediate attention.

I don't care. Plans, like rules, are made to be...improved upon. Maybe that's the theme for 2010.

Or, maybe that's the red wine. (Salut!)

getting gifty: photographer edition

Santacon New Haven, last Saturday on the Green

I'm not going to recommend the  single kickass camera that you must have slung around your neck.  One that magically turns she who possesses it into an amazing photographer. You know why?

It's not the camera, it is what you do with it.

But camera  accessories? oh yes! I have Big Opinions on those.  Like, a new camera strap is a perfect gift.  Until Nikon pays me for the ad space around my neck, I ditch the loud branded strap that comes with my cameras. My current favorite strap is aqua with big brown dots from My Funky Camera . But the faux wood strap over at  Splityarn cracks me up,  and  how about these at Souldier.  FWIW? The ones you'll find that are black rubbery non-slip feel awful to wear (and leave black skid marks) and the uber stretchy neoprene ones are sweaty and way too bouncy, especially if you have a heavy dslr slamming up into The Girls.  If you know what I mean. 

The most important accessory: the camera bag.  Great gift options. We women photographers have compounded camera bag issues. a) being smaller than guys , the gender most camera gear is designed for and b) needing to solve the purse/camera gear conundrum. If not the purse/camera/diaper bag/knitting bag conundrum.

Keep in mind these important points:

1) I was only kidding, diaper bags & camera bags do not mix well. Bacterial mold can invade your camera lens elements  and it costs a lot to get it cleaned out. Ask me how I know.

2) You don't want your digital camera bumping & jostling around. Back in the  day, you could be all cool and casual and toss your mechanical metal slr into any old bag. Now, you want those electronic sensors to be floating on air and padding . Go for function over form in the  camera bag department.  If it's cute but not padded with divider sections, take a pass on it.

Personally, I like a bag that's roomy, that allows quick one handed grab access to what's inside, and that doesn't send out a siren screaming  "Hey, over here! I am a photographer ! Grab my bag!".

•  Domke bags. These wear like crazy, look even better when they are all beat up, are well designed and you'll fit in with the globe trotting PhotoJ crowd. Downside: no matter where you go, you look like you are on assignment. Or maybe that's an upside, the bag gets you access.

• The LowePro backpacks. That one I linked to is a two piece deal, with a super padded belt pack , you could use it alone swung forward, that holds a camera, lens battery packs and strobe, and an upper packpack section for clothes or knitting ot whatever I'd put in my purse.  Downside- totally inaccessible when it is on your back. Upside- sturdy, compact & pretty comfortable for travel in all terrain & airports.

• Crumpler bags . So many sizes and colors. So...cute.I haven't personally tested one but I'm looking at you Crumpie.

• Courierware Incognito bags. Look at the bottom row. Form + function, this could pass as a purse. brilliant.

Extra special camera bag gift idea: put something in it. An inspiring photo book, or a Tshirt like this one , or the PhotoJoJo book that mixes photography and crafty projects. Or a gift certificate to a photography class . Self promotional alert: if you happen to live near Connecticut, I just happen to be teaching  one day workshops of Photography for Knitters in January.  I have gift certificates and I'm not afraid to sell them. Just saying.

ps. If you are looking at cameras , click over to  DPReview, it has a features search and a compare side-by-side function. Nice!

Disclaimer: none  of the aforementioned gear was given to me to flack.  Most of it I've test driven personally, or examined covetously.

getting gifty, a last minute knit

A  moment of knitting alchemy. A simple pattern + a specific yarn + a deadline = something really wonderful.

 

Destroyed Cowl (Ravelry link,)  in malabrigo worsted, the indescribably hued Pearl Ten

Ironically, I hit this gold when sister Lulu requested something gray for her Chanukah gift. Gray? really gray? we do not normally do gray. She likes the stylish, I figured the infinity scarf, an endless loop that may be doubled as a cowl and is all the rage, would work

A quick knit: a provisional cast on, knit the skein in stockinette until almost out of yarn, drop a few stitches along each edge, kitchener the the ends together. Hold breath while unraveling dropped stitches. Admire the strip of stockinette transformed into a drapey, lovely piece* that shows off the kettle dyed subtlety.

This could easily be the gift you knit over the weekend. Simple enough to socialize while churning through it, and small enough to take along while traveling.

I left Lulu a voicemail warning her: if we don't get together very soon to exchange gifts, she may never get this one. Seriously.

* model disclaimer: self portrait, so not my metier. Just go with me here and believe in the possibility.

Tomorrow on the getting gifty train: what to buy the photographer in your life.

getting gifty

Santacon , New Haven Ct on Saturday

No matter what holiday you celebrate- assuming you do celebrate something this month, a pagan howl at the moon? - you probably need to give some gifts. Maybe you're making some, maybe you're all wrapped & ready, maybe you've  even given some for the first three candles of Chanukah, maybe you're still thinking. Maybe, like me, you are all of the above?

Oh, good. Then let's talk. I figured I'd do  gift suggestions, in installments. Only suggestions there are still time to do, without too much crazy.  Let's call it the

She Shoots Sheep Shots Very Biased Gift Guide

 

Let's start out with my , ahem,  very favorite gifting knitting book, Shear Spirit

( see biased, above).

No seriously, it makes a great gift. You can give it to an addicted experienced knitter, you can give it to someone just getting into fiber so they can learn about where yarn comes from in an approachable, conversational way, or you can give it to someone who loves to travel and enjoys photography. Most  definitely it is for the someone who dreams of chucking the townhouse and living with  goats and  alpaca off a dirt road somewhere pretty.

Like wine, a book needs a pairing. (Actually, pairing a book with wine is also a good idea, but we'll stay fiber focused, OK?)

My suggestions:

for the knitter or spinner:  Shear Spirit and a skein or two of  indie farm yarns or roving

Some of the farms profiled in the book have online order sites and swoon worthy yarn

(left, from Montana) 13 Mile Lamb & Wool - organic, plant  dyed, spun at their own ranch mill

                               or (right)  handspun alpaca  from Victory Ranch in New Mexico.

  or ask at your LYS, they may have yarn from a farm nearby.
 

If you want to be really nice, stick a piece of yarn, bookmark style,  in a page with a pattern Tell your giftee you'll knit that for them. But be nice to yourself, don't say by when.

Alternative pairing, for the livestock lover:

 Shear Spirit and a share in a CSA fiber farm

Some suggestions, check with your state's (in the US)  farm bureau there might be one close by. Most of them welcome a visit.

 Juniper Moon Farm  (Virginia)

A Wrinkle in Thyme Farm (Maine)

Hudson Valley Fiber Farm (NY)

Willow Ridge Farm (Iowa)

Grandview Farm (VT)

Alternative pairing for the fiber lover with a charitable and giving attitude: 

the book Shear Spirit and a share of sheep by donating to  Heifer International,

an international aid non-profit agency that gives people training and livestock, allowing them to make sustainable livings in their communities around the globe.

More  tomorrow....happy gifting!

holiday reality check (hot off the press)

Non-traditional 5x5" press-printed holiday notecards, blank on the inside. They come with envelopes. In sets or as singles. Over at my etsy shop.

Red and green nature, if you prefer a more subtle holiday approach . Blank on the inside, makes a nice set of fine art notecards. Mix & match with any of the sheepiers/apaca-ier images.

5x7", press-printed fine art photo cards, w/envelopes. SheShootsSheepShots on etsy.

There's no denying it, the season is NOW. In the spirit of last minute shoppers everywhere, I just made these new cards. Whenever you order, I will send them out immediately. I happen to live next door to the post office, no kidding. Can you say con-veeen-yent? If you order them as sets of 5 cards, they go out Priority Mail.

And you can mix and match the combinations. Or just go with yarn. I won't judge.

All blank on the inside, you can choose your own message or give them as gift sets.
www.SheShootsSheepShots.etsy.com

YIMBY

I'm thrilled to announce I'll be teaching twice in January. Yes! In my backyard.

She Shoots Sheep Shots
PHOTOGRAPHY FOR KNITTERS
WORKSHOP with Gale Zucker
A photography workshop day for knitters, knitbloggers and fiber lovers.

SATURDAY JANUARY 16th in GLASTONBURY CT sponsored by Village Wools 10am-4pm
or
SUNDAY JANUARY 24th IN NEW HAVEN CT sponsored by Knit New Haven 10am-4pm

A hands-on digital photography workshop day is for anyone who wanting to improve their images of fiber related projects, and the world around them. Make your photos look great online. Class is a combination of slide talk, demonstration, and hands-on shooting.

• Photographing yarn, fiber, and finished objects, both on & off people.
• Choosing backgrounds, settings & looking at colors.
• Simple lighting tricks and solutions to fiber & knitwear photography problems.
• Optimizing your images once they’re out of the camera and into a blog page or website.

Workshop space is limited, register soon. Gift certificates are available, go drop some hints with a link. Why not? A class in January is a great gift.
Questions? Email me. galeATgzucker.com

Fee: $ 95. by Paypal to gzuckerATsnet.net
Please note that you are signing up for the January 16th Glastonbury OR the January 24th New Haven class.

You’ll receive confirmation with details about what to bring to class , an FAQ, and the address.

Here's my roundup from the workshop in September in Massachusetts. If you click over to it you'll find links from several of the students' blogs, with their reports, and also a link to the summer classes in Minnesota. With links to some of those students' blogs. It's like when you look in the 3 sided mirror in a dressing room and see yourself in a 3 sided mirror, looking at yourself, and more and more 3 sided mirrors in there, too. Wheew.

Testimony from workshop participants:
" A workshop with Gale is perfect for any knitter who wants to improve the
quality of her photographs. A knitter herself, Gale "gets it" when it comes
to displaying and photographing hand knits. Gale's enthusiasm for
photography and knitting is infectious and the result is a workshop full of
instruction, tips and techniques. Mostly, though, it's just fun!" - Carole of Carole Knits blog

"Gale shared her professional expertise and some very concrete tips on how to make our photos pop. It was fun to hear the back stories on some of her wonderful photos and get ideas for different ways to showcase our knitting. We had a chance to experiment for ourselves, and since taking the class, I have used her tips for my personal photography. Thanks, Gale!" - Susan Rainey, of The Rainey Sisters blog

“Photography for knitters was such a fantastic class. I wished the class were a week instead of a day! Gale is knowledgeable, patient and has a great sense of fun. I learned so much, and would love to take a follow up. Your blog or Ravelry page will never be the same!” - Mary Lou Egan, The Yarnery, St Paul MN

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

** If you have questions, please email me or leave your email addy in the comments, Blogger just won't let me hit reply to some of you. I don't know why. With a little workaround email addy dropping, I'm happy to reply .

can't and the messages we send

For the Red Scarf Project. Lengthwise stripes, garter stitch with some stockinette when the spirit spoke . Leftovers: Cascade 220 in red and teal, Brown Sheep Top Of the Lamb (circa 1988, no kidding)in light blue, some recycled sari silk yarn. I'm going to fringe it, I think. 6" wide by 60 " long before fringe.

If you read comments here from Marla Mclean, Atelierista, you'll notice they reveal insider knowledge. Makes sense, she's my sister. Go check out her blog if you have even the slightest interest in creativity & learning. I find her ideas apply in my mostly grownup world. Plus her photos of the kids in her Reggio school studio are artful & fun to look at.

On Thanksgiving day, with preparations reaching frantic pace, Marla declared that can't isn't a word we use. It was pretty interesting to see how often we trilled out our negative declaratives: " I can't reach the top shelf! I can't get these friggin' breadsticks to stay in shape! I can't remember where I put the scissors! " and then we'd stop and reframe it, or say things like " I need help with..." or " How else can I do this..." Yeah of course we teased her about turning us into her 4-5 year olds but it was pretty cool. Makes ya think.
And yes, of course we considered making it a drinking game but we do have all these teenagers to set a good example for, at least for another holy crap , in five years they will all be over 21. {sob. shriek}

The red scarf I started last night. Inspired by Maryse's Gathered Scarf. I'm knitting it in Cascade 220, on US 9 & 5 needles. My yarn & my sections are modified proportions to hers, which was fingering weight. I cast on 28 stitches, but only increase in every other one, so the ruched stockinette bands are 41 stitches wide. Let me tell you this scarf is flying , and it has just the right balance of drape and weight. It'd make a banging cowl design.

I've been playing chicken with the weather, letting this one last collard grow in what was our Lameass Vegetable Garden of 09 . I looked up from shooting that scarf and discovered it was now huge, has two sisters , and there is broccoli & arugula to cut too.

So. Maybe we CAN grow veggies after all.

any ideas? detectives wanted

an OFA student, the kind of person who you support by knitting a Red Scarf. yeah, she is as nice as she looks !

Ruth (sorry, don't know if you have a blog to link to) asked in the comments if I knew the name of this scarf pattern, in the bottom corner of the Red Scarf poster. You can see, it's a great design. I've wondered if I were clever enough to figure it out more than once myself. I always answer myself: "that's a NO! You are not!" and , since I am talking to myself in such fractured grammar, I add : "More than once would be needed to get it right, if you tried."

Anyhoo, her inquiry had me riffling the internets . In her book Knitting New Scarves, Lynn Barr has the Stacked Wedges Scarf, which looks similar. But I know I shot the photo above before the book came out. So, the pattern must be elsewhere, too. Or I suppose Lynn Barr may have been the knitter of that red scarf right there. Who knows? (Lynn? are you out there?)

Both Ruth and I found the Wedge from Norah Gaughan, which has similar construction: short rows shape wedges alternating garter and lace. Close, but you know what they say.

Finally, there's Wavy from KnittyWinter04. I knit one in my pre blog days, I can attest to this being a fab pattern. However. It has the undulating spirit but not the same construction.

So.. any ideas? If you know where to find this pattern, send us a link. Operators are standing by, needles poised.

ps Any of the linked above would make great red scarves this month. (Just saying) .

pps Thursdays this month, at Knit New Haven 6-8 pm , are Red Scarf nights. Be there.

lessons learned

I started the month with some intentions & some assumptions.
Like NaPoBloMo. My day late start might have tipped you off to the outcome, right? I assumed it might bother me if I couldn't pull it off. There were three or four misses. Am I bothered by this? nah. Isn't it poetic justice this very post is actually too late to count as being in the month. Lame but OK. I also assumed if I posted regularly, I'd then have more bloglines subscribers. Ha! I lost one. Quantity? Quality? Whatever.

I intended to knit for the Red Scarf Project & to spread the word that more scarves are needed. My finished scarf needs blocking & fringing. I'm goning to squeeze out another. Better than that, Knit New Haven is dedicating all their Thursday Nights in December to Red Scarf Project knitting, they are now a Red Scarf Dropoff spot and they have a poster for the project on their window, on a very busy New Haven street. And it works! While I was there yesterday a customer saw it, and stated right then she was going to jump in & knit one. Yay for a new shop that's stepping up for the local knitting community and a good cause. See you there Thursday? if I can pull it off I am going to make Red Velvet cupcakes for the occasion. No idea how you make them but that's why they invented the internets, right?

I intended to see if the one good brussel sprout experience I had, a year ago in Montpelier VT, might be repeatable. I assumed I'd cook them passably well, and then I'd kind of let it go for another year till harvest time. Nu-uh! They were so good, I had to make them three more times that week, one of which was on Thanksgiving. So, referring to the rule of food partisanship , I will now be making roasted brussel sprouts with garlic sauteed red pepper & onions, couscous & a quick sprinkle of parmesan cheese for many many years to come.

almost a movie title

Except we have no doorbell, and I'd call her a postal delivery person. So,
The PO knocked once:

When my oldest bff said she was sending a care package, I knew it'd contain her Imperial Cookies. I suspected, correctly, it'd contain some cuts of shot cotton because we are on a mutual quest for it, and she'd called me from Spool a couple of weeks ago exclaiming over the checkered colors.

What I didn't know is she'd been to a flea market and found these vintage resin buttons with seeds and beans in them. Which she correctly knew I'd be crazy about.

Not sure what I'll do with them but for sure something knit. And maybe something sewn like an apron. And maybe some will go on etsy.

The PO knocked twice, in abundance of thoughtful friends:

Do I not have the most beautiful potholder in the world? All during the Thanksgiving cooking, people kept telling me it was too pretty to use, it should be on the wall. Considering I'd enshrined a warshrag there earlier this year, I liked the way they were thinking. Except I really needed a new potholder so it went to work.

and a mid century modern cookbook sponsored by an insurance company, I love them!

Hand crocheted & felted & gifted by my blog pal Ellen Bloom, who rocks crochet in a way I rarely see elsewhere.
Exception maybe the character Felicity in Pirate Radio. Seriously, she is wearing a different piece of crochet in every scene.(Wish I could find a better still from the film online to show you what I mean but you can surely pick her out in the group.) It was incredibly distracting and craft inspiring. Made me want to whip up some granny squares while blasting the Stones and dancing. All at the same time.

about those breadsticks

I wasn't trying to throw a pity party. But here's the thing: once a food appears at a family gathering and gets any kind of partisan support, it can never, ever be taken off the menu. The homemade breadsticks gained a huge following back when there were lots of little kids wanting to help make doughy snakes while the kitchen was buzzing with Thanksgiving cooking. Now those little hands are attached to big teenage & twenty year old bodies, none hankering for some extra work. But we must have those breadsticks on the table !
That's the Aperol Spritz in my mom's hand. Molto buono with breadsticks and a little goat cheese. Worth the effort.
This year, sister Marla and my parents did all the bread stick shaping. Not that they had any choice. I threw the mountain of dough at them the minute they walked into the house, gracious hostess that I am. We went for 50 long sticks (the length of the baking tray) instead of 100 the width of the tray. They look good set out in vases that way.

They're more crispy than chewy, but not dry. Want to make some? Ok, I'll share the recipe, it was given to me by someone I photographed on assignment in the 80's, and I have no idea where she got the recipe. Or maybe she made it up herself. She had a farm stand and made breadsticks to go with her jams & fruit butters.
(don't worry. I won't turn this recipe thing into a regular feature.)

Breadsticks ---makes approx 100 12" sticks or 50 20 "
recipe may be halved , divided by thirds or multiplied

In large bowl, dissolve 3 packets of yeast and 3 tablespoons sugar in 2 cups of warm water
Mix in:
6 tablespoons olive oil
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 teaspoons salt
3 cups unbleached white flour

Beat until smooth , this should take several minutes.
Add, kneading in bowl, about 3 3/4 cups additional flour. Turn onto flat surface and knead for five more minutes.

Place back in cleaned bowl, coat lightly with olive oil, cover and let rise till doubled (at least an hour). Punch down.

Divide into walnut sized balls and roll between hands into very thin sticks, the length or width of the baking tray. Giving them a slight twist when placing them on trays helps them not to shrink back in length.

Let rise on baking tray for 1/2 hour. Pre-heat oven to 325 degreesF.
Before baking, brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with coarse salt and seeds (we did black sesame this year, you can do any, or you can do herbs too).

Bake for about 20 minutes or until dark golden.

all in a day, bullet version

written earlier, just getting around to posting now. what, you think you can just stick food over the fire and leave it to go online????

most of the cooking is tomorrow, it's the readying that gets me

• finishing striped red scarf , show & tell another day. very cheery. for the OFA Red Scarf Project, of course.

• scheming up way to squeeze in a swing through Knit New Haven to get more red yarn, here's why

• not accepting there are a finite number of hours to this day

• wondering how on earth a supermarket could not stock enough fresh cranberries this week?

• delegating cranberry scavenge to Dave

(success!)

• looking forward to baking 5 pies. Love making pies.

• am also fine, happy even, with making cranberry sauce, veggie side dishes , mashed poatoes, grilled fish, corn souffle casserole, salad, appetizers but why of why did I agree to do the 100 long skinny breadsticks . again?

• sister Lulu does the turkey, stuffing & gravy. (in case you wondered.)

• everyone else travels to get here, we do the food. (see wondering, above)

• altho sister Marla was just in Italy and is bringing us a new apertivo . Aperol Spritzers for happy hour ! will report.

• wondering what the correct answer is to the 6:30 am question "what exactly is a cornucopia made of? not the contents but the outer thing?"

• but glad my 16 yo sits down, eats breakfast &grunts talks a little each a.m. (just found the answer, never knew it was that old)

• wishing someone would invent a self cleaning house

• offering mine as a beta site when they do

• thankful, truly, that these are my problems

redscarf: steal this for your blog

As of today, the OFA has just barely 1300 scarves. They need 3000 for the Red Scarf Project, to send in care packages to college students formerly in foster care, who are going it on their own.
I've been lucky enough to meet some of these kids. This isn't just some nutty knitters feeling good idea. The students truly appreciate what you are doing, knitting something by hand for them. Not only is it likely to be the only handknit they receive, it will likely be the only care package.

Here's the plan:
1) cast on for a red scarf and work on it as much as you can this week, and if you're in the US, especially over Thanksgiving. Pick a simple pattern and you'll maybefinish it by Sunday. Or next.

2) be thankful for whoever supported you with a care package when you were a student. Think what it would have been like without them. And if there wasn't anyone? Then you really know how it matters.

3) tell another knitter about it . There's info on the Red Scarf blog. And patterns.

4) STEAL THE POSTER above and put it on your blog. Really! If you click on it, it'll go to my Flickr page, just steal it from there.

5) Call your local yarn store and tell them about this. If they need a poster to print out, there's one of this one, print sized, linked to the Red Scarf blog. Offer to print it out for them & hang it in the store. Maybe they want to offer a discount on any red yarn for one day to perk things up?

6) Knit! I'm determined to finish the one I'm on now, and crank one more by the December 15th deadline. It is do-able. Join me?

My last pep talk on the subject is here, it has additional suggestions for helping out.

appearances

A couple of wonderful things showed up on the weekend.

Hand dyed handspun yarn by Annie at Maple Corners. She calls this Fire & Ice. I met Annie last summer in Minnesota, at the photo workshop. Among her many talents is making gorgeous yarn, often from her own alpaca. And look at what she wove. I can't wait to do something with it, I'm thinking (ravlink) Wave Cowl. Which would be extra special since then I'd know the designer and fiber artist. Here's her shop, I couldn't decide what I wanted so I said it had to be soft enough to be on my bare neck and asked her to surprise me, color-wise. I love it.

But the best thing to cross our doorstep? My older baby is home for the week. It's good to have him casting his shadow around here again. Now if I can get a round of crab empanadas out of him, it'll be a very excellent visit.

driveby posting

it is now necessary...

Navajo rug sample by Rena Yazzie, Hard Rock Reservation, Rocky Ridge AZ
(not the image I intended for this post but can't find where I filed the one I was thinking of)

If you live here in Connecticut, you've heard that phrase in the title eleventy billion times this week. Enough so just the first three words set your teeth on edge and make you wish to throw a phone across the room. Newsflash, we need to add an area code to all our phone calls. My speed dial is despeedified and geez is it hard to remember to punch in three extra numbers when you're calling someone who lives three houses away. I wish the recording you get when you screw up showed just a trace humor, instead of a scolding.

I'll leave you with a true but embarrassing audio book story: I am now so deeply engrossed in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo audiobook that I look for excuses to get in the car and hear more.(yes I do realize I can listen indoors too).I am loving the whole Swedish setting & characters, they are always making open faced fish sandwiches & drinking coffee or aquavit. Of course I think I know who did it. I need to see if my hunch is good. Listening on the way to drop my car at the mechanic's for a small repair, I pulled into the lot as a character entered the bedroom of another in the middle of the night. He said" are you OK?" and she replied " I'd like to have sex" . I pushed the pause button . Clearly the next line was going to be an action description of what they did and how it went.

I just KNOW the mechanic had to take the car for a test drive and I just KNOW he hit the ON button thinking he'd hear some tunes on the radio and instead heard a rich British acccent describing two people with swedish names having sex. You know he now thinks I am a pretentious perv who listens to well narrated audio pornography. Way to be remembered at the garage ! Skol.

cue the percussion

and the winner is....
Diane of WoolandSpice, Harry Potter on audiobook will be on it's way to you as soon as you send me your email & address.

Thanks for all the suggestions for my future book listening. And in case anyone wonders,check this out:

If you're thinking "..what're the chances?" .... It's 1 in 50. I know, probability is like that. Weird.

mid month review

Ahem. I called this meeting to review the status of monthlong goals and objectives. Referring to post 349 dated Nov 2 . Entitled "commitments with issues":

1. NaKniSweMo First let me say I heard Shannon Okey speak last Friday night and she smoothly spews out NaKnitSweMo as a noun, no pausing or giving it verbal quotation marks. Because she is just. that. cool. As far as my personal progress? I cast on this manly cabled sweater for Dave, got a good manly cabled start, and then found I had less manly cable knitting time than I thought. No way it will be done by month's end. Fail. But win for me because I love this kind of knitting and the Ultra Alpaca from my new LYS, Knit NewHaven , is heavenly to handle.

Win for Dave, who hasn't had a new handknit sweater in ages. Also win for me, I am tired of looking at this last one, which appeared recently for its 15th season. You'll note it is also manly cabled. What can I say? The guy knows what he likes.

2. NaPoBloMo The truly alert amongst you may have noticed this commitment was dated November 2nd which means..yup,technically a fail before I began. Cool. No pressure. So I missed another day in there too? Big deal. It's the 18th today. I'm declaring this one a cautiously optimistic win.

3. Vestvember Beyond fail. A non-start. I kept it real with my other projects....

4. ...such as the Red Scarf Project which I wouldn't dream of missing. I'm finishing this one I began last year. The brightness , randomness of striping and simplicity of stitch are a fine counterpoint to the manly cabled knitting . Although it may not be ideal (nongender), I feel pretty sure it'll find it's way to the right college student through the OFA.

5...and some holiday gift knitting. It's Malabrigo and it feels so fine I decided to wind the ball by hand last night, so I could touch all 215 or so yards. .

The color is Pearl. Mushroomish, purplish, slightly blackish shade with undeniable pearlescence. For a requested grey accessory. I think this'll work.

6. No more procrastinating on some long term cleaning/sorting/organizing. Hmmmmm. I read an essay I found helpful. So. I'm going to choose to go make a list of tasks, and it'll be imperfect. And then I'm heading off to the gym.

Meeting adjourned.
(This was written earlier, and I did make it to the gym after the list. The items on the list, well, see imperfection, above)