Those Bleepin' Lights

When I noticed that two weeks had passed since I last posted, I wondered what I had accomplished in those two weeks. Actually, plenty--just like any other mother and wife has accomplished in these harried weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I won't bore you with all the details. Except, I must share my shock and delight about a project I tackled yesterday afternoon--the dreaded outside decorations for Christmas.

Why so dreaded? First off, I'm in MN. It's cold, and there's no way to put up wreaths, garlands, and lights with mittens on, so usually by the time I'm finished, I can no longer feel my fingers, and my toes aren't in much better shape. Secondly, it's those #@)%#$%^#! lights. I test them inside and they work fine, but spend ten or fifteen minutes wrapping them around some garland on the door frame, plug them in, and nothing! Arrrgghhh! But this year, I must admit, it really was smooth sailing. Cold? Yes, but no deep snow to trudge through with a ladder. Light bulbs out? A few, but I found the spent ones right away and had replacements. And just as I was finishing up, snow started to fall. I swear I heard Charlie Brown music in the background--oh, maybe that was my iPod. The good news is that it still appears to be in working order this morning. Keeping my fingers crossed!

I've also been finishing up a few knitting projects. The Cable Guy boopies are felted, dried, and waiting for their suede soles to be delivered by the UPS guy. (Man, those things are expensive!) The matching Norwegian sweaters for my niece and nephew are just about finished--lots of ends to be finished off and some sewing that won't take long. I got the crocheted fringe on a Prayer Shawl finished just in time for the blessing Mass last Friday. Finally, I cast off and blocked the Braids and Bobbles hat, and I love it. Hats and curly hair just don't go together, but as I said before, it gets cold here, so I'm always in search of a hat that works. This might be the best candidate yet. It's warm, but doesn't fit too tightly on my head. I'll give it a test drive this week. Maybe if I have to go outside and fix some of my lights.

Boopies!

Those are slippers to the uninitiated. I'm not sure why or how we started, but everyone in my family has grown up calling slippers "boopies." It can probably be attributed to toddler-ese--that secret language of little kids that only Mommies and Daddies really understand.

I think that slippers must have been one of the first things I ever knit as a kid--no doubt out of Red Heart yarn, and I can't imagine how many pairs I have knit since. They are a prime example of the total practicality of the skill of knitting--along with hats, mittens, socks, and basic sweaters. Sure, it's fun to do frivolous knitting, but what's better than finishing a project that you know will keep someone warm during our long winters?

Most recently, I finished a super simple pair of troll-like boopies from a free pattern that I found online. It's a pattern from a Finnish blogger, Minna, and you can find it here. The yarn is Cascade 220 Paints, and I chose colorway #9922. One skein was just enough to make a pair that would fit me--about a size 6 1/2-7. It would be an easy pattern to make larger or smaller--you'll need two skeins if you plan to go any larger. Once they were stitched up, I dug through my button jar to doll them up a little.

Last night I cast-on another pair that are also from a free online pattern. Cable Guy Slippers are knit and then felted. There's a little more to this pattern--a real heel and instep, some very basic cable stitches, and a kitchner stitched toe. I've had the pattern for quite awhile, but this is the first pair I've made. For this project, I bought Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride Bulky in the colorway Kiwi. I whipped through the first skein last night and made this gigantic cuff and heel. I've had mixed results with felting slippers in the past using the House Slippers pattern from Knit 2 Together and Fiber Trends popular Felted Clogs pattern. Front load washers are not the best for felting, and I always seem to end up with a pair of slightly different sized slippers, especially with the Felted Clogs. Since these are sock-like slippers, I'm hoping for a more forgiving result.

Waiting in the wings I have some yarn for the Ribby Slipper Socks from the new Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts issue. These too, look like a quick knit--just the thing for a last minute Christmas gift. I did not splurge on the suggested Blue Sky yarns, but went for a more practical washable option instead to test the pattern.

I'm not quite sure who's going to end up with my boopie projects this Christmas, but that's the beauty of knitting boopies. No matter the results, they are bound to fit someone who will be grateful to have cozy slippers to pull on their feet when they settle down on a cold winter night.

So, What's With The Squirrels?

It's been an interesting week for squirrel sightings. Thankfully, mine was outside. (See Deb's Visitor.)

This afternoon this unusual little creature was dining on the birdseed that has landed on the ground underneath our feeders. I quickly grabbed my camera and took a few shots. They aren't the best--I didn't want to get to close and scare it away from coming back, but at least I've got proof. I don't think I've ever seen an albino squirrel before. As you can see, its coat is pure white. It came back several times before evening, so I'm hoping it will become a regular.

Apparently, they are fairly rare and don't survive too long because they have poor eyesight and tend to fall from trees. (I'm sorry, but that's kind of funny.) Maybe I'll have to do the unthinkable and actually set out some food for a squirrel.

Gnomes!

My mystery knitting is complete. I don't think most people would understand how I choose to use my free time, but I've had fun knitting up a few gnomes over the last few weeks. Except for purchasing the "beard yarn", I was able to use all leftovers from former projects, which appeals to my waste-not nature.

The knitting is a piece of cake. I knew that the real test of patience would be in the assembly, so I made myself stop at four before I started bringing them to life. The whole process was great fun.

Mystery Knitting

After finishing St. Brigid, I dug out a few quick little projects that have been in the queue. The problem with quick little projects is that they're quick. I guess I do prefer a more long term relationship with my knitting.
"Mom, can you make me a hat?"
Two days later.
"Better than that, I had enough yarn to make you two. Hat insurance."

Now what? I can't face those double-knit mittens yet. I'll take those on a car trip when I'll be happy to knit on anything. Instead I dug out a project that I thought might be fun. Can you guess what it is? It's a good project for using up all the extra skeins and bits of yarn that I don't have the heart to pitch after I've finished a project. It's super easy knitting with more effort put in the post-knitting phase.

I'll keep posting pictures as I get farther along in the process.

Separated at Birth

I'm just saying.

Apples, St. Brigid, and New Equipment

It was such a beautiful fall Sunday, that we felt compelled to visit our local apple orchard. Not surprisingly, a few other folks had the same idea. Pine Tree Apple Orchard was the happening spot with hayrides, live music, a corn maze, pumpkin patch...oh yea, and apples.


Watching the ALCS has been fun this weekend, too. (Go Rays!) It's also been a great time to put the finishing touches on my St. Brigid. It's all knit and put together, so I snapped a picture while it's getting a final blocking spread out on the living room carpet. This was my first KAL project which gave it a fun dimension, and it was the first Starmore pattern I have ever knit. With this project, I definitely feel like I've put another notch in my knitting belt. It was actually a pretty easy knit--no complicated sizing or difficult techniques. So, do I love it? I do. It's not a sweater that I will wear a lot. It's so very warm--almost like wearing a coat, but for the right situation, it is a beautiful pattern. I hope I'll have that occasion soon with the cool late October weather blowing in this week.

Those weather fronts always seem to bring in the first colds, too. So in between cups of tea and blowing through a couple boxes of Kleenex this week, I've also been working on setting up my new laptop. I hate buying new computers! I decided to spread out both the old and new laptops on the kitchen table along with an external hard drive that has all my files on it and set it to install, transfer, and search for drivers while I went about my business. I'm still working on getting it to recognize my old printer (I think this might be a lost cause), sync perfectly with my iPod touch (grrrr!), and remember all my preferences on Firefox. Here's hoping this laptop has a long life. I'm getting too old and impatient to do this too many more times.

Well, that's my life this week. And yes, I have already cast on my next knitting project. My son requested a knit hat to go with his new winter coat. I showed him a few of Jared Flood's hat patterns, and he liked the "Turn A Square" design. If there are extra innings tonight...