This is a sweet one

Play "spot the thumb"

I love the Daina pattern, I love everything about it: the perfectly formed little squares, the way the X's peek out from each center, the burst of color from the red spots...... it's just wonderful.

*happy sigh*

A fine Saturday afternoon

This past week in NE Oklahoma has been really lovely. Once Ike moved out of the area, we were blessed with cool mornings, slightly breezy afternoons in the high 70's low 80's, and beautiful blue skies. I can feel the fall in the air. Somehow, even though the temps are the same as we get when spring is starting, these feel like fall.

This morning I got out in the front flowerbed and performed my fall "slash and burn" on the old plants in there. I must say that I dislike gardening with a passion. I like nature, but not when it gets on me. If I were rich, one of the first people I would hire would be fulltime gardeners and lawn care specialists. I appreciate a beautiful garden, but I know how much work goes into keeping it that way and I don't wanna. But I am not rich, so I am the gardener, dang it. The cannas needed cutting back, the zinnias were out of control, and the grass seed from summer mowings had taken root and needed eradicating. I did all that, and about two hours and eight big trash bags later, I stumbled into the shower to get the nature off me.

So now I get to reward myself with an update of finished knitting. Yippee! I like knitting.



This is the finished Hamsa by Anne Hanson. It's for my MIL for Christmas. The yarn is by Deb Kessler of Fearless Fibers, laceweight merino wool, Spring Breeze colorway. Final size: 10" by 42".

Below is my current bus ride project: a basic no-frills sock in ZYG Merino Nylon Sock, colorway Buttercup. (Reminds me of "The Princess Bride")

I'm not happy with the color pooling, but the yarn itself is so soft.

I've working on the thumb for the Daina mitten, no finished pictures yet; soon, though, soon.

Mitten #4

Daina Mittens, by Tuulia Salmela

Yep, I've made some headway on Mitten #4, even though Mittens #1-3 don't have mates. I think I'll make the one mitten from each of the patterns and then go back to pick up the match.

The cat just informed me...

...that I forgot to post the most important picture of all: hers. Spooky, I most humbly apologize. Ladies and Gentlemen, le chat:



"I see you, over there, across the street. Yes, you, the little yappy terrier dog being walked by a human. I am watching you, with my keen kitty cat eyes. Come closer and I shall slash you."

Long time no post

Sorry about the hiatus; life got away with me. Work mainly, it's been murder. Anyhoo, there has been knitting going on:

The first Sea Minerals mitten is done.

I did change up the pattern a little during the cuff, and then again at the fingertips.

The Kiehkuralapaset - Swirly Mittens by goldenknits / AnneL was written as full mittens, but I made them into fingerless mitts:

I must say, I wish the two colors stood out from each other a bit more. They blend in too much. If I knit this again, I'll be more color careful.

Hamsa, my MIL's Christmas gift, is finished with its soak and is now pinned out, looking nifty. But it wasn't until I was actually going over the pics I took for posting, that I noticed my error: an extra yo or two. Oh well, too late now, and as my grandmother used to say, no one will notice it on a trotting horse. True, I would have loved for it to be perfect, but it's very close. Finished dimensions: 10" by 42".

To recap: I have three mittens finished, none of them have mates, and I've started a fourth. Good grief!

On a non-knitting note: my heart goes out to all those poor people affected by the recent hurricanes, and especially to our friends from the Mayan Dude Ranch who live in the Houston and LA areas: I hope you all are well and safe, that no damage was incurred, and that you know your Ranch family members wherever we may live are thinking about you all!