Long Time!

I feel like it's been a hundred years since I last posted! There has been a lot going on: shopping, baking, bunny care, and, oh yeah, knitting.
I made a scarf for a co-worker. I usually give this lady a giant tin of popcorn (her fave), but due to some health issues this year, she can't have popcorn. So I thought a simple scarf would be just the ticket. This used one skein of Colinette Giotto in Lichen, and I knit it using US15 needles! The only US15 needles I have are a set of double points, but faced with whether to obsess over lost stitches or buy a set of US15 straights, I chose obsession. What can I say? I live on the edge. I definitely could have gotten away with a few fewer repeats and had fuller fringe. After blocking, this scarf stretched like nobody's business. It hung down to my knees!

There's a bit of back story to this one. There's a girl in my office who loves hand knits, and I decided at the last minute to make her something for Christmas. After a brief search, I decided that Calorimetry would be perfect for her, as she is always wearing headbands and rarely wears a hat. I busted some Lamb's Pride from my stash and got started. It was a fast knit, and I finished it in one sitting. I was feeling so pleased with myself for finishing it on Friday and having the whole weekend before I gave it to her, that I decided to give it a nice wash. Uh, yeah... isn't there some rule against wet blocking ribbing? There should be. That poor sucker stretched out so far that it would still be too big if I wore it over a football helmet. I tried felting it down a little, getting it damp, putting it through the washer (!), all to no avail. Calorimetry was a lost cause. Last night I decided I still really wanted to make something for this girl, and remembered a cabled headband from Knitty, Nakiska. I dove into the stash again (this is the kind of emergency stashes are made for!), and came up with a light green acrylic/angora blend by TLC called Cara Mia. As with all good things, this yarn has been discontinued. It's been sitting in my stash for eons, and I'm almost sorry I even chose it for this project, because I'll probably never find any again. This yarn is wonderful! It has none of that plastic-y feel of acrylic, and all of the softness of angora. It reminded me of a cotton/angora blend, but with more elasticity. As an added bonus, it suited this project perfectly, and I ended up with something I'm proud to give away. Please note the five piece luggage set under my eyes. I finished this in a measley two hours, but that put my finish at 10:30pm. I wove in the ends this morning, and decided against blocking. Why tempt fate?

Thanks for the concern over Baxter and Cooper! They are getting along much better with the gate between them (no more attacking the gate), but we haven't put them together again yet. It turns out that Cooper gave Baxter quite an injury on his neck the last time, and we are on a routine of antibiotics and wound cleansing for the little guy. You'd never know he has an issue, though! He is as cheerful and spunky as ever! And, Pioggia, the rats are marvelous! They LOVE all of the wrapping paper in the bedroom, and especially love it when I put a few wads of tissue paper in their cage.

Mrs. Cooper is partial to the tree.