the goods

--these bowls
--a year of being mooned
--
this silky merino wool {if anyone's ordering pick up two skeins of the Lemon Chiffon for me!}

The Holidays

I can't believe it's been a week since my last post. I've been knitting away, but have little to share because I'm turning this::into Christmas presents!

I'm very excited about this Knitpicks purchase. I ordered a couple of new yarns ~ CotLin, Felici, and Palette. As well as an old standby ~ Swish Superwash. The beauty of the purchase is that I have enough yarn for 6 gifts and it cost me a whopping $45.33 (free shipping!). A great deal for this knitting grad student! This means that while I'll be busy knitting, I can't share much of the progress (psst ~ if you want updates check out my Ravelry page).

The weather has been beauty at my parents, clear skies and the last of the fall foliage::


And, of course, the kitchen has been busier than Santa's workshop::

~Pumpkin Soup, in the pumpkin~

~Apple Butter, canned for giving~

I hope you had a relaxing Thanksgiving and are able to enjoy the weekend before heading back to work. I'm headed to NYC tomorrow with my mom and sister ~ they're going to see The Prarie Home Companion at Town Hall while I wonder around, do some Chrstmas shopping, and probably stop in a cafe to take a load of and do some research (fingers crossed).

If Handmade Knits Glowed...

This picture would be blinding::

On me ~ Tilted Duster & Foliage

Oh Soph ~ lil' pumpkin hat & baby bolero (both patterns I threw together)

Happy Birthday

We interrupt this knitting to bring you some art and give a Happy Birthday wish to Georgia O'Keefe.

There's a birthday slide show at Slate:: http://todayspictures.slate.com/20071115/

This summer I visited the O'Keefe museum when we stopped in Santa Fe for the day ~ a beautiful place and definitely worth the visit. While there I picked up one of her biographies and read it as we continued on our road trip. Her life is a great story of a passionate artist who painted from her soul and surrounded herself by a landscape that she loved. A good read if you have some time.

If every house had one O'Keefe, would it have a calming effect? Maybe. Hopefully it will also push our creative buttons, get us talking, and make us look closely at the flowers*. happy birthday.

An appropriate painting for this time of year~~Autumn Leaves, Lake George~
From artst.org

Ahhh...

Finished Knits, Finished Objects, FOs, call them what you like, I'm happy to share two today.

The first is a wee pumpkin hat for an amazing little pumpkin that I'm going to see this weekend. I used some of the same green in the stem that I used in her Sweet Pea Sweater, so they will make a perfect combo ~ if she still fits in the sweater!Pattern:: My own, simple bottom up hat {if you want more details, just let me know!}
Needles:: Size 6, 4mm
Yarn:: Knit Picks Merino Style (my not be washable, but it's squishy and comes in nice oranges and green)


The second is my Tilted Duster! I'm still in my PJs, so I"ll leave the actual model shots until this weekend.Pattern:: Tilted Duster, Fall 07 IK
Size:: Smallest
Needles:: Size 9, 5.5mm (I think it calls for 10)
Yarn:: Berroco Peruvia
Buttons:: Ceramic from Briar Rose
Changes:: I knit the sleeves in the round, I also knit them in the next bigger size because I had heard a few reports of the sleeves running small. Finally, I stopped the skirt just three rows short because I thought it was long enough, and I was excited to finish it!

Graviton Warp Drive*

I finished the Tilted Duster, and if the sun cooperates I'll have some pictures to post very soon.

I also finished one of my Thrummed Mittens! I'm really excited about wearing these all winter... ditto on the sun and promise of pictures.

I also placed a Christmas Order to Knitpicks, purchasing lots of yarn for a few projects I hope to finish over the next month. After I placed the order, I was a bit intimidated about the amount of work that might be required to make the gifts happen, but after sleeping on it, I'm sure the gifts will get done with plenty of time to spare {fingers crossed}.

So, while there's plenty of knitting and project planning going on, I have nothing to show you except a little trip back in time with the Graviton Warp Drive*.

A year and a week ago I was in England celebrating a kickass wedding and loving the fields of sheep::



*Graviton Warp Drive: n. What a special someone calls his time machine. Although, I've heard that it only takes one into the future. So, there will be no "swinging by" England to check out last year's sheep on the way to the sun.

This post ends in a {blur}

This has been a thoroughly relaxing weekend, we started with a late Halloween party on Friday. I don't have any pictures of myself, but here's a sense of the spooky silliness that was had by all::




On Saturday, we only ventured out for bagels, and then spent the rest of the day inside while the storms of Noel attacked. I used the time well to finish up a few knitting projects and start up some new ones. And this, my friends, is the blur of pictures. It's sooo hard to take good knitting pictures with little sunlight, but I'm promising to make more of an effort to take some better pictures over the coming weeks::
~Felted Bowl~ {My own pattern, just think of it as a very simple top-down hat (hint! or as one half of the Christmas balls in the Holiday Knits book, just made a little larger). This one is the perfect size to hold jewelry on your dresser or change on your desk}

~Tilted Duster~{once it's done blocking, I'll sew on the buttons and share the details}

~New Knits~{On the right is the start of a Thrummed Mitten and on the Left is a simple ribbed hat in alpaca, for someone who desires the perfect hat}

After all of that fun, there was nothing to do, but get back to work today. But tonight, there's definitely some time for apple pie and last week's episode of The Office. Cheers