New WIPs for November!

The panic has started to set in....Christmas is less than two months away, and since we aren't traveling to Kansas City for the holidays, I have to make sure all of my gifts are done with plenty of time to ship them out. GULP! To free up my crafting time, I spent most of the weekend working like mad to finish the top-secret test knitting project I've been working on since September, and I'm just about ready to bind off the final section - most likely, that will happen tonight.

That means it's time to shift my gift-making into full gear, and unfortunately, a lot of those projects won't be shareable on this blog til after they are gifted. As a result, this is when I start to trot out the "decoy" projects to keep things interesting - these are projects for recipients who either don't read my blog, or won't realize it's for them if they do (I hope!). Last night, I started the first such project - last month's FreshStitches Kit Club shipment, Gordon the Pink Flamingo:

Flamingo Feet!

I fell in love with the Snow Family & Evergreens pattern featured on the cover of the new WEBS catalog which arrived on Monday, and yesterday I bought the pattern (along with the super-adorable Hot Chocolate Polar Bear Run pattern - I have no self-control!). I'll probably be casting on for one or both of these projects over the weekend, if not sooner. There is a KAL for the Snow Family pattern which started yesterday here on the WEBS blog if you'd like to join in the fun!

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Overdyeing A Finished Knit

Even after just a few years of knitting or crocheting, you're bound to have some finished projects lying around that never get worn or used. After 10+ years of crafting, I have more than just "some" or "a few"....and with my ongoing quest to declutter my house this year, I've become obsessed with going through these forlorn projects and making some Big Decisions. Sometimes, they are perfectly fine and just need a new and loving home. Other projects may have not turned out quite right: there might have been some mistakes in the knitting that I thought I could live with, or the yarn was gorgeous but not well-matched to the pattern, or my taste has drastically changed since I finished making the project...in any case, why on earth did I keep knitting?! Who knows, but I don't feel good about gifting anything that falls into this category to someone else. These projects have been relegated to the "frog pile" (or should I say, frog pond?), to b...

A Finished Sweater, With Cat Hair

After losing Tilly and Robin within a year of each other, I sure didn't think I'd be finding cat hair in my knitting any time soon. But the universe had other ideas. Over the winter, a white feral cat adopted us. I'd noticed her when we moved into our apartment last summer - I would see her hiding in the bushes or sunning herself in the grass when she thought no one was looking. I assumed she was someone's cat until I realized how skittish she was around humans, plus she had a tipped ear, which is a universal sign that a feral/stray cat has been spayed. Neighbors confirmed that she was a feral kitty (descended from several generations of feral cats, in fact), and that she has survived on her wits and whatever food various residents put out for her. We had some bitterly cold days over the winter, and I just felt so sorry for this poor kitty! I started offering her treats and slowly gained her trust. She didn't even want to come inside our apartment at first, much le...

Australian Superfine Merino Yarn Review & Giveaway

After more than ten years of knitting, I can still have new experiences - even with well-covered territory such as merino yarn! This recent merino experience actually took me by surprise: I've spun with it, I've dyed it, I've knit with it, and I've even crocheted with it...I was pretty sure I knew all there was to know about merino! Turns out, there are four different classifications of merino fiber, sorted by micron count range . At the bottom of the spectrum is Strong Merino , which ranges from 26-22.9 microns; above that is Fine Merino , which ranges from 20.1-23 microns; next up is Extra Fine Merino, which ranges from 20-15.6 microns; and at the very top of the heap is Superfine Merino Wool , with a micron range of 18.5-15.6. If you're into numbers and wondering how these four classes stack up against other fibers you may be familiar with, here are a few for comparison's sake: BFL (Blue-Faced Leicester) has a micron range of 24-28, Cashmere goat down ...

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