A polite request

To: The gnomes that live in my room and hide my stuff
From: A frustrated knitter

Dear Sir/Madam/Top Gnome/Whatever:
It has come to my attention that you have apprehended the knitting pattern I was about to start. Normally, this would have been tolerated for a few days. Yes, there are certainly other things I could knit. I understand that the holidays are upon us, and work is especially rushed and stressful. But was that really necessary just when I finally got gauge with my lovely yarn? I respectfully request that you GIVE IT BACK ALREADY.

Sincerely,
The human whose room this in fact IS, and don't you forget it!

Postscript, several hours later:
AHA! Thought you were clever, did you, hiding that pattern behind the books? In the future, please limit your scavenging activity to the pile of Red Heart Ickrylic in the far corner of the closet.

Thanks,
The Management.

Sweater, revisited

Like I said in my last post, fall is here to stay. (I hope. Now that I've typed that, watch us have an Indian Summer at Thanksgiving.)

Anyways, that meant that last weekend was spent hauling out all the cold-weather clothes, including this one, which you may remember:
It's the Cable-Down Raglan that I knit last year out of Patons Classic Wool. I wore it to work yesterday, and as you can see (maybe), it's held up pretty well. But there's something I didn't like about it. Somehow, it sags in the armpits. I couldn't figure out what the problem was - did I do too many raglan increases for the arms? According to the pattern, I did the right thing. My gauge swatch was right on. It wasn't my favorite thing I'd ever knitted, but I wore it like a mother wears the paper crown her kid made for her, even if it looks a bit like a cross between a brontosaurus and a platter of wilting lettuce. It may be an imperfect sweater, but it's MY imperfect sweater.

Well, when I was pulling it on yesterday, I had an epiphany.

The sweater is TOO BIG.

As in four inches too big.

So I have a sweater that's a size or two too big. Oh well. I'll keep wearing it, because it is MINE, yes preciousssss...but I may re-knit it in a smaller size.

And yes, I know - I should have washed my gauge swatch. I'm horrible about not washing my gauge swatches.

We had a very special visitor to our deer feeder yesterday morning.

It's the White Stag! We haven't been able to tell if this is an albino or a white deer. Whatever he is, he's pretty gorgeous! He practically glows when he's out at the deer feeder, and that's saying something when you think about the red Oklahoma dirt he lives in. We didn't try to catch him to see if he would grant us wishes, though!

A very delayed post

Fall is finally here! Time for some serious knitting!

This is the back of the Estes Vest from IK Fall 08. I'm knitting it from Lamb's Pride Bulky, which is quite a change after knitting socks for a while! It works up quickly into a soft, plushy fabric. I've finished the back and one of the fronts, but I may rip out the front bit. The pattern has pockets in front, and I'm not sure I want to do them, since they'll only be about three inches deep. I really don't mind the idea of ripping out a front of a vest as much as, say, half a sock. I knitted the entire front (I think) while watching a BBC miniseries - Wives and Daughters, which I wholeheartedly recommend! (Think Jane Austen, but with a bit more action and character development.)


This is Zetor, a triangular shawl/scarf knitted in Noro Kureyon Sock, knit on size 6 needles. It was a rather fast knit, as shawls go. The lace pattern is quite easy to memorize once you knit a couple of repeats - I think I did seven? (There is an error in the edging chart, though - knitters, ye be warned.) I ran out of Kureyon at stitch #221 of 279, but thankfully, I had a scrap of recycled wool/silk that matched perfectly - crisis averted! Normally, I'd knit lace from a more solid-colored yarn, but I needed something colorful to go over a grey dress I was going to wear to a wedding.

And speaking of a wedding...it was FANTASTIC. One of my best friends got married in Kansas on November 8. It was a wonderful weekend of watching my dear friend get married to a totally awesome guy who's crazy about her and hanging out with old friends I hadn't seen in ages.


This wedding also marked a first for me - the first time I caught the bouquet! Actually, I didn't so much catch it as pick it up when it landed behind me. However, the heartbreakingly adorable 3-year-old flower girl nabbed my flowers when I set them down to cut the cake. (That's her holding the flowers.) Oh well, she'll enjoy them more than I would.