Happy Thanksgiving!

Celebrating the U.S. holiday with the required excessive amount of food.  I console myself with the knowledge that even the orange flavored marshmallows that topped the sweet potatoes were handmade (courtesy of my talented daughter). 
Happily, no one seems to be adverse to leftovers for the next week. :-D

Lots of knitting...

I just can't show you most of it as it's of the holiday sort.  The sweater is Irish Coffee from Baby Cocktails. The gray mitts are the zombie viXen pattern (Ravelry link) from Susan Claudino. The brown mitt awaiting a mate is the District 12 mitts by Bethany McRae (pattern can be found on Ravelry as well).  Love these patterns!
It's been a practical way to break up the holiday knitting marathons, (still not sure I will get it all done), since most of my fingerless mitts were in need of replacement and most of my sweaters got bequeathed to others.  It does slow down the holiday knitting output...but on the plus side, my brain doesn't melt and ooze out my ears. :-D
I may have joined another knitalong this past weekend (that puts the tally up to three for November/December), though I think I should be forgiven as it's Hobbit themed.  I have almost no willpower against things Tolkien.  It also encouraged a stash dive, which yielded beautiful results for a colorwork cowl and a shawl, which have been set aside for when I can start knitting them.  Probably in January. ;-)

Knitting Wallflower

Okay, probably just "wallflower" would work, but today the focus is on knitting. ;-)
In case you hadn't noticed, I love knitting.  I am also rather fond of knit alongs.  The latest that have caught my attention are the Crazy Knitalong  from the Stockinette Zombies and Fat Squirrel Speaks and the Jane's Ubiquitous Shawl knitalong mentioned over at CraftLit   
Yes, I am fond of podcasts as well.
Sadly, there is a problem with me and knitalongs.  I can work to deadlines.  The ones that catch my attention involve patterns or concepts that make me happy; Alice in Wonderland, dragons, stash busting, pretty lace patterns and an assortment of other things have been on the list before.
The problem is putting myself forward.  Attention of any sort (positive or negative) tends to make me uncomfortable.  Having people notice what I have made, especially if there is a compliment involved, disconcerts me.
I love what I make.  I enjoy that people like what I make. Apparently, I just can't handle hearing about it.
That said, I will still participate in the knitalongs, even if I don't say much.  I am still knitting! :-D

Happy Halloween!

We may have had some fun.  Hope you did too!

Make one passing comment about the weather...

and the next thing you know it's dropped 20*F, inciting rapid wool knitting for the sake of your fingers!  The real reason to keep extra supplies on hand.  A quick rummage through the stash produced enough yarn in a dark gray and muted amethyst purple to make two pairs of fingerless mitts. A few minutes perusal on Ravelry roaming my pattern library resulted in two patterns, matching my yarn gauge, that had been just waiting to be made.
I'm hoping the first pair will be complete before the weekend is over, my hands are cold!

This piece from Urban Threads has been transferred to a banner from Sublime Stitching. The floss has been gathered, the hoop sits next to it waiting.  Plans for holiday projects(all small), knit and otherwise, have already been made, the supplies being steadily acquired so a start can made at the beginning of November. All larger holiday projects are done or already in progress.  Direct, sensible, all within reason.
Then, the pondering of holiday ensembles begins.  I realize that the lovely garnet colored sock weight yarn I have waiting to be made into a snood would go perfectly with the red boots I had been hoping to wear....and wouldn't that pairing look amazing with that bronze rayon/linen top I've been waiting patiently to cast on? Especially with the alpaca/silk cropped cardigan with the art deco rhinestone buttons and a black pencil skirt...
Then that ever so small but insistent voice in the back of my head starts, not only pointing out all the projects already in progress, but that the wardrobe is sorely lacking in cold weather sweaters, that two and a half pairs of wool socks will not get you through the winter and to remember that it will get cold, typically with little warning (even if it's still 80*F outside right now).  Hats and fingerless gloves don't take long.  The striped shawl that's already started would work up fast, (if I read the pattern this go around, knitting on auto-pilot is bad).
I think, that maybe, I must finish all the things. 

A Friendly Reminder

Especially if you are like me and a total bath stuff junkie who knows the models are air brushed but wants to believe the labels.  Obtain sample sizes first.
In my endeavor to age well, paired with a need for bath products that will work with the fickle (and to me, quite odd) weather out here, I bought a sample set of a new to me face line.  A few red, rashy and oddly dried out patches two days later (it had worked amazingly till then) on my over sensitive skin and I was pleased I had only bought samples.  Admittedly, I was mostly kicking myself for not even thinking about my consistent stand-by until after the episode and allowing myself  to think my skin would somehow react in a positive way.  Luckily, I had some rosehip oil in the cupboard that is helping considerably and an order in with a place that has yet to fail me.  At some point, I  may remember that consistency is better than flash when it comes to the stuff in the beauty aisle.

A little more pink elephant

My lovely daughter adores making jewelry.  She was very enthusiastic when I requested she make me a necklace to go with my pink elephant dress.  It's sparkly! And more pink than I normally wear all year.  I look forward to the excuse to wear it!  She even used findings that match the gold in my wedding ring.  There's been talk from her about beaded martini glasses to affix to the headband I plan to wear, maybe even a matching brooch.  I'm starting to think my daughter may be interested in the 1950's aesthetic...almost as much as I am! ;-)

We went for a wander

After bugging our darling daughter for more than a month, the week of her birthday she finally announced what she wanted to do: go to the local botanical gardens and get more jewelery making supplies.  Kept things simple, and her hair was already purple.
Husband had that Friday off so  we voyaged the a whole five minutes to the requested botanical gardens.  We stopped at the lovely little cafe at the gardens to have lunch before we went tromping around outside.  Daughter seemed quite pleased to sit outside, in perfect weather, and eat mushroom brie quiche with birds flitting around, chirping away.
Once we finished lunch we strolled into the gardens proper, applied much sunblock, admiring all sorts of local flora, fauna and art for the next three and a half hours. Which worked up an appetite for the orange creamiscle cupcakes and squashed frogs (cornflake/rice crispy treats dyed green with candy eyes) that were awaiting us at home.
The next day, we drove to Austin and had lunch in a favorite micro-brew.  Feeling quite full, we thought a bit of a walk was in order, so we ended up at Lady bird Johnson's Wildflower Center . A very pleasant place, but it was a warmer than the day before and the bugs were out in force.  We gave up after less than two hours of wandering. After consulting with the birthday girl (who was just as hot and worn out as the rest of us) we agreed to go home and eat more cupcakes.
At some point over those two days, we also let her do a run through a store, steadily putting beads and cord and wire and findings into her shopping basket.  There was also the stop at the costume shop and a comic book store to round out the trip nicely.
The most important part, daughter seemed very content with her birthday!

Pink Elephants

A few days before my daughter's birthday last week ( yes there are pictures and we went neat places, which I will tell you about later) my husband found out about an Oktoberfest type shindig happening locally at the end of October.  He announced we were going. My response, "Fine. I want to get a pink elephant dress to wear".  He then said, "Well then I will wear my kilt". I smiled, said, "Fine, you do that" and then proceeded to buy a dress with pink elephants on it.
I am not typically a girl who likes wearing pink.  I have avoided wearing it for years. I prefer to wear green or black or even blue once in awhile.
But...I have a flask case from my great-grandmother that has a drunken pink elephant sitting in a fancy glass like a burlesque dancer. It's a cherished item that may have given me a weak spot for drunken pink elephants.
Pin Up Girl Clothing very kindly had three different styles to choose from with said intoxicated pachyderm on them and now Husband had given me an excuse to buy one(from one of my favorite shops whose dresses are worth every penny).  The dress got here, quickly and as amazing as promised, but as I've said, I don't really wear pink, what the heck was I going to put with it?  Not more black. The outfit would look monotonous.  Short, pink, lace gloves would play up the style of the dress and add a spot more color. Yarn stash to the rescue! I had two pink yarns in two different gauges with the lace weight being worked into short lacy fingerless mitts and the sock yarn will most likely become a snood. They aren't the same exact shades of pink, so it won't look all matchy matchy, but all three shades are on a bag with a burlesque theme that resides in my pile o' purses.  Win! Throw on some nude, black back-seamed stockings and black kitten heels I think I may have managed an outfit using pink!

In Anticipation of Sweater Weather

I have a confession.  I gave most of the cold weather tops I've knit to my daughter.  In my defense, they fit her better than they fit me.  I knit quite tightly and in the last year or two have finally figured out how to compensate for it, usually (see below).  On the up side, it means the need to knit myself more sweaters that will likely work better with my wardrobe re-work, frequently using already stashed yarn.  The down side is that it means my list of things to knit has grown by several pages.  It's become a bit daunting.  Occasionally, I will go through the list, weeding out what I think no longer works,  all too often adding a new thing that I think is perfect.
The rust colored sweater above is the Abalone by Hedgehog Fibres knit as part of a Stockinette Zombies knit along using some Cascade 220 I had shoved in a bin.
The green sweater still in progress is Irish Coffee by Baby Cocktails Thea Colman.   Again, using yarn I had in a bin. This time it's Patons Classic Wool.
The hat came about because I decided I should have practical accessories that not only match each other, but the stuff I would be wearing them with as well.  I chose the pattern Lee by Ysolda Teague using the yarn called for.  Gauge gave me a nibble on the behind with this project. The yarn was lighter than I expected, so I used the needle size called for.  This was stupid. With the way I knit, I should have gone up a needle size, so the hat, while gloriously soft and warm as well as being cute on...is also just a touch too small for even my head.  I will probably re-knit it on bigger needles, it was a quick knit the first go around, and give the first one away.
All this work to have clothes for when the season changes...it is so very worth it!