Happy Halloween!!!

I hope that everyone enjoyed the pagan holiday of tricks or treats. I don't have children, so I take my joy from seeing the local children dressed up and giving them candy. I didn't dress up this year. I have a difficult enough time just getting dressed in the morning.

What I did do was knit a wig. Unfortunately I didn't find the wig pattern until last night and wasn't able to complete it until after all the trick or treaters had come and gone. There is always next year, right?

The pattern is the Hallowig designed by Megan Reardon. I do have some obvious errors in the decreases due to sleep knitting. I was knitting when I should have been sleeping but couldn't sleep due to hammering from the apartment above. I tinked back several rows to restart the decreases, but they kept creeping in. Ultimately, I decided that they were the correct number of decreases even if they didn't lean the right way, so I left them. I am modeling the wig, just for you (since I didn't get in finished in time for anyone else). So laugh with me or at me, but laugh!

Aqua Cowl

No, I have not died. I am just lazy. That is why I have not blogged. No excuses here, just simple facts.

Although I am a lazy blogger, that doesn't mean I haven't been knitting. I always have time to knit. I have been working on projects for KnittingPurls Winter Warmies KAL in her Ravelry group. I made this Tube Scarf in Lion Brand Landscapes bulky yarn Deep Sea colorway. The pattern was on the ball band.

The following picture is of The Old Shale Smoke Ring cowl designed by Cosette Cornelius-Bates, knit in Red Heart sport weight aqua colorway. I like this one better.Now I am working on Thumbless Mittens for my twin nieces. Shhhhh, please don't tell them. They aren't 2 years old yet and I don't want to spoil the surprise.

Coffee Mug Cozy???

I love coffee. I feel it is vital to my ability to function. However, in my relationship with coffee, I have never once thought, "I wish I had a cozy for my coffee mug".

Why am I sharing this? Well, I enjoy helping new designers get their patterns off the ground by volunteering to test their patterns for them. Recently, I volunteered to test crochet a pattern, the CLF Coffee Cozie, for new designer, Candi Oldfield. Testing this pattern, does not mean that I need a cozy, just that I want to help. As I crocheted I wondered to myself, "why would anyone make one?". It seemed to me to be a frivolous item.

I completed the test crochet of the pattern and then put it on one of my mugs to photograph it for the designer. After I took the picture I filled the mug up with coffee and discovered the usefulness of a mug cozy. I could hold my coffee mug in a couple of different ways without being burned. I usually feel the hot mug on my knuckles as I carry it to my chair and can't set it down fast enough. Not any more! I think this designer is a genius. I present to you, The CLF Coffee Cozie.

Front of the CLF Coffee Cozie

Back of the CLF Coffee Cozie

By the way, CLF stands for Crochet Liberation Front and if you want to learn more about them you can check out their web site at http://www.crochetliberationfront.com/. The pattern for the CLF Coffee Cozie is in their first book, which is available on the website.

I Dropped A Stitch, WAHOO!

Now why in the world would I be celebrating the dropping of a stitch? Well, if you had read a post of mine about being afraid to drop a stitch in a pattern, the Clapotis, then you know that I had frozen on this bit of the pattern. I actually put the scarf down and didn't touch it again until last night, when some plurk pals encouraged me to move on. I did it! I dropped the stitch and have since, dropped 2 more. Wow, what an incredible feeling to watch that stitch work its way down the scarf and form a ladder. I can't wait to finish this project and wear it.

This may seem like a small step to you, but it is yet another venture outside my comfort zone to expand my creative world. What have you done lately that is out of your comfort zone? I can't wait to hear from you!

A book and a KAL

I have started reading a book, The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. My sister-in-law had read it and has now lent it to me, for which I am grateful. I have wanted to read one of the many knitting themed novels out there for quite some time. Though I have only just begun the book, I must say that I am already enjoying the familiarity of the LYS and the way the knitting group evolved. The characters are coming to life for me and I am looking forward to seeing where they will take me.

On a different topic, the Knitting Purls Winter Warmies KAL has begun today. For those of you who may not be familiar with what a KAL is, it stands for Knit-A-Long. Several knitters commit to knitting something within a time frame. What they knit may be all the same pattern, or the same yarn/fiber, or perhaps, as in this case, all the same theme. The Winter Warmies theme means that the participants simply have to knit something that keeps them warm in the winter leaving the choice of pattern and fiber up to each knitter. I am helping to organize and moderate it, so in the spirit of the KAL, I have cast on a basic mitten pattern that I have made many dozens of times.

What's one more WIP?

Yes, I have cast on yet another project. Yes, I have several other projects still in progress, but what is one more WIP to keep the others company in my work basket?

I have cast on for a Clapotis which was designed by Kate Gilbert. I am actually going to drop stitches on purpose! I know, I can't believe it either. I have been told that I will find this liberating, but so far I am just finding it impossible. I have reached the first point where I need to drop a stitch and I have just stopped. I can't seem to let it go and just run a ladder down my neatly knit stitches. I have spent too many years attempting to prevent just that thing. What to do, what to do?...............to be continued..............