Knitting From Beyond the Grave

Appropriately spooky for the month of October, this knitting blog is being brought to you from beyond the grave.

Yes, I have met my end in Sock Wars. I believe I have my original assasin, The Beav, to thank for the tweedy goodness of the yarn, Cleckheaton Country Silk 8ply, which I had never heard of before. Get thee to a yarn store that carries this 85-wool, 15-silk yarn from Australia. It is awesome.

Gartlande (my assassin's assassin's assassin's assassin -- confused, yet?) dealt the final blow (sweetened by some Dove chocolate), which essentially came at the same time as the most wonderful package from my victim. Stinky Socks sent me her unfinished socks in a lovely Regia along with the cutest matching earrings and necklace, lovely smelling perfume and lotion, a CD, and Milano (yum!) cookies. I was completely and utterly spoiled, and must say thank you to Yarn Monkey for organizing the swap.

A friend thought it was funny that we were able to take an inherently peaceful, quiet hobby and turn it into "violence." I say competition is where you find it.

Thank you again to Stinky Socks, The Beav and Gartlande for making Sock Wars so much fun. I know there were some organizational snafus, but I have had nothing but an enjoyable experience. I love my socks and my treats!

And for other treats, we have birthday loot to show off! It was a busy week for the UPS, USPS and FedEx guys delivering packages to Chez Muthaknitter.

With my dad and stepmom's gift certificate, I scored Knitter's Stash, The Art of Fair Isle Knitting and EZ's Knitter's Almanac. The Fair Isle knitting book is WOW. I find most Fair Isle sweaters to be a bit busy, but the whole history and art and tradition of them is fascinating.

With my step-grandfather's gift, I got the law school book you see there in the back. I'll just come right out and admit it: I'm studying for the LSATs and am going to apply for law school to start next fall. I am really nervous, but so excited. It's given me a goal to focus on, and I'm pysched about the idea of being in school again after almost 9 years out. Wish me luck. You know, what with actually getting in and then really going through with the idea of full-time law school, a 2-year-old and a 6-month-old.

As far as meditative practices go to keep the LSAT pressure low, I've now got a ball winder to keep me calm, yet entertained. The Cap'n ordered one for me from Louise's Studio. She sent it to me quickly and with a sweet handwritten note, so if you need any craft supplies, I can highly recommend her. Plus, you have got to check out her art quilts.

So as soon as the ball winder got here, I had to try it. As you may remember, we were decorating with yarn for awhile, so I had some skeins ready to be wound. My "swift" was still at work, so I decided to just drop the skein over my forearm and wind, baby, wind.

This is what the literature majors call "Foreshadowing."

I'll spare you the grisly shots in the middle of the winding. Not that I could have taken any pictures, what with both hands and arms completely wrapped in wool. But at last, I reached Yarn Cake Nirvana:

Ta Da! That's purty. My sister says it stripes up in the sock like a watermelon. This is where she got the yarn and also where she is taking her first knitting class!! Yay! The virus is spreading...Maybe she'll start blogging too, and then we'll be sister knitbloggers!

Finally, before I fall asleep and bang my head on the computer: Actual Knitting Content (TM)

Now that it is actually getting colder, Slim is in need of a hat that fits his big head (No, really. 19-1/2 inches around, but mine is 23") with strings that keep him from pulling it off. I dug into some longtime stash and pulled out Brown Sheep Company's Lamb's Pride Worsted in Midnight Green and Limeade. The Limeade is a lot more subtle in the hat than I was expecting, but we'll see if the cords and these ridges to be added later make it stand out more.

I was going to work on it some tonight, but it's Bedtime for Bonzo. I've got to get some rest.

G'night!