Saturday, January 09, 2010

Randomness today.First. Weather that does THIS - is just wrong. The driver's side wiper on my van quit working, so, I took my mom's car home during the last snowstorm, leaving my poor van out in the country with 9 inches of snow and 45 mph winds. You can see how buried it got! There was snow packed - PACKED - entirely under and around the car, all the way underneath, in the wheel wells and the hubcaps. Not pretty. Nor fun to shovel out.


And, these are just the latest of my crazy sideways scarves. I started knitting these before Christmas, and I'm obsessed. It started as a way to use my extra stash (which is way, WAY larger than I had realized). I have made at least 40 of these so far, I haven't actually counted, but, they simply disappear. I give them away, people buy them, everyone loves them. So, for you knitter types, here is what you go: Get yourself some size 17 (or so) circular needles, and a big stash of yarn. ANY yarn will do, from fingering or lace weight up to super bulky. You can choose a color theme, do a rainbow (as shown above) or just be totally random. I have yet to make one that is ugly; somehow, they always turn out funky and beautiful. And the more mixed-up the fibers, the better! I use cheap acrylic, handspun, and everything inbetween. Funky eyelash and ladder yarns are great, as are ribbons or even thin strips of fabric. Mix is up, it's all about texture. Anyway, cast on 80 stitches or so. 60 will make a short scarf, 100+ a long one. I have done it all. Leave a long tail when you cast on, and a long tail at the end. Now pick another yarn or group of yarns, leave a long tail, knit all the way across, and leave another long tail. Repeat until you run out of yarn, get tired, or decide it's done. Cast off, the knot the fringe ends. That's IT.

If you're using fat yarn, one or maybe 2 strands per row are fine. I used up alot of my sock yarn bits, then I'd do 4 or 5 per row. I have enough of my fave colors stashed up to attempt a shawl using this method, I'll be sure to get pics and blog when it is finished. :)

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Friday, January 08, 2010

My awesome friend Becky sent me this WONDERFUL little care package, which arrived on my doorstep in the middle of a blizzard!!! She even had to email me to tell me that she had tracked the package and found it had arrived....I hadn't seen it, for all the snow! :) Anyway, this is a WONDERFUL assortment of goodies she made, packaged, and labelled. Aren't they gorgeous? We have, from left, maple syrup from her OWN TREES (!!!!!), sassafrass jelly, rosehip tea, homemade vanilla extract, and lemon balm and chive blossom vinegar. I am so blessed to have such generous and talented friends! :)

Sunday, January 03, 2010

I FINALLY got my computer back! Well, okay. I still have to re-download, like, EVERYTHING I had on it. (thank god for mozy.com). But, it's working! wheee!

So, this is one of the pairs of pants I "hippiefied" for John, for Christmas. I am rather pleased at how they turned out! They were super fun to do. I used scraps of fabric I had in the house, and a pair of his jeans that were slightly to small.

Also? John created a Cafe Press store, with this SUPER COOL T-shirt! I NEED one. NEED!