Nuts for November

October was tough. I'm ready for a new month and love the start of cooler weather.

And the goblins are gone... yippee! I love costumes and the excitement of kids at the prospect of trick-or-treating, but I'm not a big fan of Halloween in general. It's a dark holiday and although most of the celebrations and such are in good fun, it's still a bit creepy (and sometimes disturbing!) to magnify things that have nothing edifying about them. Don't get me wrong - I'm not the bah-humbug sort, but I'm far more entertained, encouraged and excited about Christmas decorations and lights down the streets.

I did enjoy my extra hour of sleep last night... it was much needed and I wish there were more where that came from. Seriously - how cool would it be to have an extra hour for more than one day. Just as long as it doesn't change the 'daylight' hours. The downside of that extra hour is trying to get Bailey's walk in before it gets dark!

Still thinking about that extra hour... looking at the clock I realize that no knitting tonight if I want to try to get started on catching up at work. Very few stitches for me this weekend, but at least I can post my progress from the trip to China.

First up is the Piper Purse... just waiting for handles and fabric for a simple lining. This isn't a bag I would have chosen to make (although I love cables!!), but a friend gave me the pattern book for my birthday and immediately pointed this pattern out... So Christmas gift for her is almost done.


This is sock #1 with as much done as I could with the one ball I brought with me. Clearly I should have checked the yardage because the ball only has 137 yards! Fortunately I was able to find a 3rd ball at my LYS (the orig 2 were a gift). The foot is a bit big so I'll frog back to the heel and decrease a bit before knitting the foot... Sock #2 has a cuff and leg - about to do the heel.
This is the first heel I've made that isn't a heel-flap. I don't really like the way the heel flap style fits so tried this after-thought technique... maybe next pair will get a short-row. It will be interesting to compare how they each fit.

sigh. 48 hours until the election will be over... I can't wait! I'm tired of all the campaigns and I've never been so tense about election results. My pastor said it so well this morning, that regardless of which candidate you support, the country will be disappointed because we expect a quick fix to decades of problems....

I've voted already and am ready for the rest of the country to do the same. Make it count!
-JavaNut

Bailey says: Momma, this is how I'm spending my extra hour. OK?

Happy Feet & Fear Be Gone!

Happy feet!! These Jaywalkers were actually the second pair of socks I ever started... over a year ago. No second sock syndrome for me... I actually knit the cuff and leg of sock #2 before they went to the black hole of my knitting bag (seriously... things mysteriously disappear and randomly re-appear from that bag!).

In my recent mission to finish up some WIPS, these rose to the top and didn't take too long. The only problem was that after languishing for 15 months... my new gauge is completely different. The first sock fits so well... the second, not so much! Oh well... they're done and will still be toasty in my boots and around the house this winter!


I'm not a big fan of Halloween (well other than the idea of chocolate and candy all around), but I love costumes. And it's darling costumes like this Gnome-on-a-Toadstool that make me wish I had kids... of course I'm sure they wouldn't want to wear something like this anyway, but it still makes me smile. I LOVED the Gnome books when I was young... the creativity, the artwork, the fantasy. I'm happy to say, however, that I have successfully avoided any semblance of garden gnomes!



And finally... I'm happy to say that 4 year old M has overcome her fear of dogs! Poor thing was charged by a large dog and has been terrified of all ever since. And who could blame her??! She desperately wanted to befriend my little guy... and sure enough, willpower overcomes fear when the object of desire is a cute as my little pup!


Bailey says: Momma, I like my new friend now that she doesn't run away from me. Can she come play again?

Creative Chaos...

I can't believe it's already Sunday evening... It's been a good weekend, but I'd like another please! (if anyone know how to arrange that, please let me know as soon as possible!!)

First up... lots of secret sewing. It's not so much that the *what* I'm sewing is secret (really, not that orginal), but it's the *why* I'm making these... It'll be a few months before I can say much about it, but it's certainly testing my sewing abilities! On the otherhand, it's been good to learn about all the cool features of my machine!


Since I can't post a pic, here's the "working in progress" from my Flickr 365 Self Portrait project. Entering my 9th month it's often a bit of a challenge to keep taking the pics, but after this long I'm determined to keep going. I think I've only missed 2 or 3 days so far, and since it was a leap year, I think I'll take one as a 'gimmie.'


On to knitting... isn't this gorgeous?? It was an impulse STR purchase... it wasn't remotely apealing when it was skeined, but as I was checking out at the LYS, they were winding it for another customer and I had to go back and get it... The photo doesn't come close to capturing the vibrant colors. It's YUMMY!!

To highlight the colors, I debated between plain stockinette and Jaywalkers... and after knitting almost the complete first Jaywalker, I very sadly frogged the entire thing. Too big. sigh. Always tough to do, but I know I'll regret it later and just wouldn't enjoy them... but maybe I can sneak a few minutes to re-cast on tonight!

Still looking for another weekend (anyone??) - and preferably one that's not so beastly hot!
-JavaNut

Bailey says: I'll just rest here so you can recover from all that creativity.

Labor Day Labors...

Yikes! Is it really September?? And has it been 10 days already since my last blog post??

sigh. yes and yes. But on the plus side, it's been a great 4 day weekend! Yep, took Friday off to enjoy an extra-long long weekend... and had a good balance of being productive, creative and social. Productive isn't worth sharing, but on the creative side (which is also productive, but just creative sounds so much better!):

I finished a second Dumpling bag! Such a fun pattern... these are both for Christmas gifts (LOVE having some gifts done already!!).



As much as I love the Dumplings, I'm happier to have finished these River Rapid socks for my friend L (another Christmas gift - whoo-hoo!). I hated knitting these... the yarn was too fine and a loose twist so why it was considered sock yarn is beyond me. Much more appropriate for a lace scarf or shawl... but it came in a sock-club package. Once started though, I was determined to finish. And I confess that the deadline for the Summer KAL-CAL was a good motivator (along with a 5 hour binge knitting during a Pride & Prejudice marathon!).



And a nice bonus was that both of these projects meet the 'Water' theme for this month in Project Spectrum. I love the idea of PS, but wish I had time to be more creative with it.. particularly with the Aug/Sept theme of Water and favorite colorways of purple, blue and black. But there's still September... I'm anxious to get back into some paper-crafting so PS would be a good challenge.

And finally, I also did all the prep work for a set of secret sewing projects... wish I could share more, but it's, well - a secret!

And now for the few remaining hours of the holiday weekend, Bailey and I are going to curl up and watch a bit of the Murder She Wrote marathon.

Happy Knitting!

- JavaNut

Bailey says: I'll help with the laundry!