Month's End

The end of November, and December promises to be quite different. The high today was 83 degrees F. The low tonight is 66.

The high tomorrow is also 66. How about that? The low tomorrow night is 41, so it's a two-day direct slide from Summer to Winter.

So, November looks like this.

Here's a closer look at the added bits.

But December? More like this.

(That's the magic ball scarf.)

At least I'm ready for the cold.

Loose Ends

For my holiday, I've been dealing with loose ends. For example, I finally finished the scarf I started on the way home from my last trip.

It's a snake scarf in two colors These two yarns have been sitting together in a bag for a couple of years now, because they just belonged together, but I never found a larger project to put them in. Now they are eternally entwined all by themselves. Shiny!

I also made some more magic balls out of all the odds and ends from my other projects.

Do you see the squished one? That is a leftover from some projects I did -- the balls were too lovely not to play with.

First I made a hat, which started out to be a two-color brioche watchcap, but it really wants to be more of a cloche hat.

And now I'm working on a scarf -- another 'Nick's Boring Scarf.'

Both the hat and the scarf have what I'd call a rustic look.

Finally, just for the fun of it, two dapper fellows.

What I'm Thankful For

Do you even have to ask?

I'm starting to call this one Mosaic. I really like how the bits of entrelac keep peeking out.

This one is going to be wild!

Speaking of being thankful, I'm thankful I'm not my sister. For her Thanksgiving day

• The people bringing the pie and stuffing had to cancel
• The person who had to do dialysis was delayed
• And then her electricity went off
• And it was an extremely cold day!

Ah, well, barbecued turkey isn't the worst thing.....

All Over The Place

Here is current progress on the whatever-it's-going-to-be.

I wasn't sure for a while how it would all look, and was on the verge of ripping the entire thing out, but now I'm glad I continued. I particularly like how the entrelac peeks through here and there.

It's going to be a challenge to keep the color changes from looking too abrupt, but I like those kind of challenges.

I have to say, so far this has been a lot of fun.

Travel Scarves

I've returned from my trip with two more scarves to my credit, and one still on the needles.

The green one is a variation on Nick's Boring Scarf on Ravelry (that's the desinger's name -- it doesn't bore me at all!).

I used two colors alternately, so in order to keep both sides roughly symmetrical, I made sure every other square was reversed (which means you alternate which side the front is). The only tricky part was starting the second color on each new square. Instead of cutting the yarn each time, I left a slack loop and when I started the second color, I just knit in the slack loop on the back as I went.

The other one was inspired by the tilted blocks scarf in Knitting New Scarves, although I used my own guess at the pattern (I have the book, but it wasn't with me on the trip).

 
I cast on 15 stitches, and then cast off 5 at one end and cast on 5 at the other end to make each block. I sorted the yarns I had with me from dark to light, and started with the two darkest, and then with each subsequent block, dropped the darker yarn and added the next one, to try to get some color continuity.

I also varied the stitch patterns but kept to variations on knit and purl (garter, seed, etc.).

I'm glad scarves are still in style, because it is blissful to listen to podcasts on my mp3 player while knitting. Plane flights go by quickly.

Slow Week

I'm knitting here and there, but it's been a busy week and I'm traveling tomorrow through late Sunday, so it hasn't been productive in terms of knitting. So here's some scarves to tide you over.

  

The one on the left is a snake scarf, knit in large yarns on large needles. Here's a closer look.

The one on the left was just various directions of stockinette and garter.

Stay warm!

From My Window

This is the view looking down from my window at work.

Are you seeing modular pieces? That's what I saw.

Okay, I see knitting pattern possibilities in a lot of places.

Anyway, without really thinking about what the entire piece might look like, I set about it.

Here's what I have so far.

I'm just playing, fitting in various shapes and pieces, and various textures, as the whim takes me.

I'm a little worried about how to do the piece at the bottom middle. I think those should be 45 degree angles.

Who needs a plan?

Thirteenth 2010 One Done

I usually only count afghans or shawls, but this one is significant enough. Behold the glory of the Elephant Jar!

I shouldn't have been surprised at how large it ended up after stuffing. It's 21 inches tall!

I placed two upside down plastic plates in the bottom, to make sure it sat flat -- somehow, I knit it at just the right proportions to do that. I stuffed the jar part with cedar shavings to give it some heft and crunch, and I stuffed the head with regular stuffing, to keep its shape. Cedar chips would have fallen out of the head over time.

I ended up joining the head to the jar by crocheting around the top of the jar with a fluffy yarn, and then sewing them together.

Here are closer looks. Yes, there's a tail!

I've very pleased with my elephant!

Since the assembly began over the Halloween weekend, here's Henrietta the chicken, being seasonal.

 BOO!