HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

The Selbu mittens are still not finished. The totals for this year are:

Socks : 16 pairs
Gloves: 2
Mittens: 8
Rabbit Finger Puppets: 7
Washcloth: 1
Hats: 5
Tea Cozy: 1

That makes a total of 40 small FOs plus 10 skeins of rabbit fur spun for the rabbit shelter to sell and one knitting pattern booklet. This is about half as many items as I knitted last year but out of the 40 FOs, 22 of the projects were my designs. I guess that is because it takes me a lot longer to design my own items.

I forgot about another fun pattern I did this year - the Tipsy Knitter socks from Socks, Socks, Socks.



Unfortunately I'm finding that the yoga socks pattern I posted last week have become too loose after a few wearings - perhaps the ribbing pattern is not the right one to use. Anyway, I'm removing the pattern until I can figure out a better way to do them.

My favorite book of 2005 was Marcia Lewandowski's Andean Folk Knits because it was the only book for several years that focused on stranded color knitting. My favorite retailer was Knitpicks because I'm not sure I could continue knitting if I had to pay some of the high yarn prices I've seen.

I forgot to add some projects I want to knit for 2006. I want to make the Debbie New sideways garter stitch socks from IK a few years back. I also want to make the Del Mar lacy wristwarmers from the winter issue of Spindlicity out of some hand-dyed merino singles and the Fair Isle hat pattern HERE. Tomorrow I'll have the last FO of 2005 and a list of what I've knit.

Here are my two favorite projects of 2005 - the Aran Island mittens from Folk Mittens and the Floral Fair Isle Gloves from Interweave Knits.

I hoped to have the Selbu mittens to show today but yesterday was just too busy. First my 10+ year old monitor decided to go bonkers so I bought a nice new big 17" monster. What a difference on the eyes! Then we had to go to Santa Fe to meet some old friends. We went to India Palace and a wonderful new spot off Guadalupe Street, Gelato Benissimo. I had some hazelnut chocolate gelato that tasted a lot like cold Nutella. I'll definitely be back.

Today I'm busy cooking up a storm. I'm making some white beans with sage and garlic in the pressure cooker, whole wheat bread in the bread machine, stuffed mushrooms and zucchini, and a chipotle-red pepper risotto recipe from one of the Biker Billy's vegetarian cookbooks.

Lulu pays quarterly and the first check won't arrive until February but through Cafepress for 2005 Stranded Color Knitting made $500 for rabbit rescue which was sent to the Colorado House Rabbit Society. I expect to make more this year with the extra pattern booklet.

I want to do 2 more pattern booklets this year: one on wacky hats for kids and one with Christmas knitting patterns. Some of my other 2006 goals include the black and white mittens from the cover of the Latvian mittens book, the Alice Starmore Celtic Keynot Pillow, the Blackberry Ridge Step Dance socks (F on the chart), and some lovely cabled Log Cabin socks Jessica just made from Handknit Holidays. I'm waiting on the book but otherwise I have everything to get started on these projects.

Peaches is currently taking her 3 hour afternoon nap in the sun. She usually sleeps with her eyes open while flopped over on her side.

This pair of socks is from several years ago and is based on one in the Socks, Socks, Socks book. I hope to have the Selbu mittens finished to show you Monday but we'll see how that goes. I also want to do a year-end round up of best and worst and possibly post a simple sock pattern. Happy Holidays to all!

I ripped out the Alice Starmore Malin sweater. Although I had finished both sleeves and about 6 inches of front and back (I was working them simultaneously), I realized the sweater wouldn't look good on me. That means the only other knitting project in progress I have are the socks shown above. They are the Dancing Violets socks from Blackberry Ridge knit in lace weight yarn and size 0 dpns. It may be an effort but I want to finish the socks and the Selbu mittens by the end of the year.

I have two stalled spinning projects. I was making some cabled wristwarmers made from a combo of Kool-Aid dyed merino wool and fur from my Himalayan cat Bosco. His fur is quite slippery so it needs to be blended with something else. I used the Tracy Eichheim production spindle he sent me last year - I have the one with the hearts.




Unfortunately I ran out of the orange KA dyed merino and am too lazy to dye more just to finish some wristwarmers that will only be used when I'm trying to keep my hands warm while knitting. So I've scrapped that project.

My second project was initially designed to highlight Peaches' fur along with some beautiful angora blend fiber Anne sent me from her wonderful rabbit Hank. I was using my fancy Tracy Eichheim rabbit spindle . I have many fine spindles - Hatchtown, Bosworth, Kokovoko, etc. but I love Tracy's spindles the best.

Honestly I didn't really like the part with Peaches fur on it as it would always be shedding. I think I'd prefer a project that just uses the beautiful fiber Anne sent so I'm going to design some mittens or wristwarmers with fancier cables.

I've been meaning to post this recipe. DH & I made several batches of these to accompany the Christmas knitted gifts. I've seen instructions to cut the muffin tin liners down so the peanut butter cups fit perfectly but it really isn't necessary.

EASY PEANUT BUTTER CUPS

Makes 12

12 oz package chocolate chips (milk chocolate chips are the best for this I think)
1 cup natural peanut butter (I use the stuff freshly ground at my health food store)
2 Tbsp confectioner's sugar
pinch of salt

Melt chocolate chips in a bowl in microwave on MEDIUM heat for 1-2 minutes. With half of the melted chocolate, coat 12 paper muffin tin liners (swirl them around in your hand or use a spoon or pastry brush) about halfway to the top. Mix peanut butter with sugar and salt and roll into 12 discs. Add to muffin tin liners. Then add the rest of the melted chocolate to the tops of the peanut butter cups, completely covering all the peanut butter. Put in refrigerator to set.

Think you've seen it all in the world of fiber? Have I got a link for you!

FRESH FELTED DONUTS

The donuts were not wacky enough for you?

KNITTED DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

RABBIT FINGER PUPPETS

I’ve used this pattern to make puppets for the Colorado House Rabbit Society shelter to sell in their gift shop.

MATERIALS:
Small amounts of fingering weight yarn in main color plus some orange and green for carrots, red for a heart, and a contrast color for eyes, nose, whiskers, and tail.
Size 0 (US) dpns
Tapestry needle

Gauge: 18 sts = 2” (5 cm)To save time, take time to check gauge.

Cast on 24 stitches and divide over 3 dpns. Join, being careful not to twist. P 2 rows. K across until finger puppet is the length you desire. For an adult, make the finger puppet about 3 inches long total.
Top decreases: K2TOG across row (12 stitches remain). K2TOG across row again (6 stitches remain). Cut yarn, leaving a 10-inch tail. Thread tapestry needle and draw through remaining stitches. Weave in ends.

Bunny ears: Make 2 in either main color or pink. With size 0 needles , CO 10 sts. Bind off. Attach to top of rabbit puppet and shape how you like.
Carrots: Do 4 stitch I-cord for 5 rows, decrease by doing K2TOG twice across row to 2 stitch I-cord for 2 rows. Cut yarn and attach to rabbit puppet. Add some green stitching for the carrot tops. (Note: If you find I-cord at this gauge too difficult, make the carrots the same way you made the ears.)
Heart: Thread a tapestry needle with red yarn. Follow chart and duplicate stitch on rabbit puppet near the center.

Tails: On opposite side of puppet attach either a French knot done with double thickness of yarn or a miniature pom pom.

Finishing: Use French knots for eyes and nose and with a tapestry needle, split the plies of the yarn and fray for the whiskers.


ABBREVIATIONS

K - knit
P - purl
St - stitch
Sl - slip
DPN - double-pointed needle
RS - right side
WS - wrong side
K2TOG - knit two stitches together
SSK - slip 1, slip 1, knit two together
PSSO - slip 1, knit 1, pass slipped stitch over
REP - repeat

Here's the mitten in progress. You can see on the cuff that the pattern I chose didn't perfectly match up with the number of stitches I was using but I just had to use it. I'm obsessed with knitting "little people" and now have to choose a little people chart for the thumb.

After these mittens are finished I plan to spend the rest of 2005 finishing projects. I have 2 spinning projects and 3 knitting projects (single socks and mittens) I'd like to complete. Then I'll only have Alice Starmore's Malin on the needles when the New Year arrives.




Peaches would like me to thank her Secret Paw, Oreo the cat, for such a wonderful box of goodies. She got some fun chew toys which she's already demolishing, some blueberry treats which DH also likes, and some grain and seed treats for rabbits which DH hasn't yet tried.

The pattern booklet is finished. There are 4 stranded color knitting patterns - the Shooting Star Hat, the End of the Rainbow Socks, the Diamonds are Forever Mittens and the Field of Flowers Wristwarmers. Charts and photos are all in color in the 10 page booklet and the hat and mittens are shown in alternate color combos. The hat pattern is available in 3 sizes - child, adult small/medium, and adult large/x-large.

All the booklet's earnings go to nonprofit pet rabbit rescue via the 501(c)3 House Rabbit Society. The price is $9.99 in print and $3.96 as an ebook/.PDF download. The info page with photos of all the projects is HERE and you can purchase it HERE.

I adore fine-gauge knitting and mittens are my favorite project. I don't knit many fine-gauge mittens because they aren't very warm. I had to make an exception in this case.



These mittens are from Sheila McGregor's Traditional Scandinavian Knitting. I had to make them because of the little ladies. The author says red and white are the traditional colors for these mittens. I'm using Nature Spun fingering weight (do they even make that any more?) and size 1 dpns. I'm changing the thumb and changing the cuff. I thought I'd add more little people. Doesn't it look like they are square dancing?

I think Stitch and Motif Maker v. 3.0 is going to change my life. Not because I can now make charts more easily - that is not so life-shattering. The software is going to change my life because I can now better imagine what the colors will look like together BEFORE I start knitting. I've already re-arranged my entire stash in the shelving units by color and I'm raring to get to work playing with colors some more. It was $70 I really didn't want to spend but I'm very glad I did. Knitpicks appears to sell it for the lowest price plus free shipping.

Here are some wrist warmers I did for the booklet that kind of remind me of a field of flowers. They actually fit more snugly than it appears but I didn't wait until the wool dried to get the photo for this blog.

You know it is going to be a long day when the first thing you have to do upon awakening is make a fire. DH loves heating with wood for the romance of it all and because he cuts all the wood we need for free. I am in the anti-wood stove camp as I hate lugging in wood and sweeping up ashes and pieces of wood and generally being a slave to a black box.

The Stitch and Motif maker software arrived and I'm terribly impressed with its ease of use. I will spend today working on charts for the knitting booklet and starting my next knitting project. I just got Sheila McGregor's Scandinavian Knitting (Dover reprint) and plan to make a pair of Selbu mittens from a chart included in the traditional red and white.

Peaches is doing everything possible to keep warm.

Here are the mittens I'm using in the booklet in a different colorway. The colors are way off so I need to spend some time playing with my scanner this week. The software hasn't arrived yet from Knitpicks - guess the holiday postal slowdown has started. Tomorrow I'll have one of the rainbow socks knit up in pastel colors.

Here's the star hat in a different colorway in the kid's size. The hats can be made in three sizes just by switching the needle size. Tomorrow I'll have a different colorway for the mittens I included in the booklet.

I'm working diligently on the knitting pattern booklet and hope to have it finished and for sale both in print and as an inexpensive ebook download (under $4) by next weekend. I have 3 of the patterns done and knit up and am waiting on the charting software. It will have 4 stranded color knitting patterns along with a bonus rabbit finger puppet pattern.




Peaches has joined up for Secret Paws. You have until December 4 to join for your pets so they'll get a small goodie by the end of the month. I'm not sure the spoiled rotten Ms. Peaches can wait that long - she has absolutely no patience. If I don't give out her treats quickly enough she growls at me!

Here are two new free Teaching Company classes you can listen to or download to listen to later. They are both taught by my favorite Teaching Company professor, Dr. Allitt. (We've already listened to his Victorian Britain and American Religious History classes.) The free classes are on Christmas in Victorian Britain (apparently the Victorians were the first ones to commercialize Christmas) and Christmas in 19th Century America (Pennsylvania Germans drank heavily for the festivities while many New Englanders wanted to avoid all forms of celebration). I can't wait to listen to them.

Here's the adult version of the shooting stars cap. The yellow on the stars is a bit brighter than in the scan but since the blues came out so nice I didn't try to adjust it. I want to come up with two pairs of mittens and then I'll be done with the pattern booklet.

A nice animal rescue group sent me a free 2006 calendar. Plus I just ordered the new Peaches 2006 calendar from Lulu to benefit the CO HRS.

Still, what I REALLY want is this calendar thanks to Simone's mom:




DH is offended that he wasn't photographed for the calendar with Peaches. All money from the calendar goes to a Vancouver rabbit rescue group.

I'm waiting to do something with more complex charts until I get the charting software. I do want to include a rainbow project in the next booklet so here is a sock that is really easy to knit. The little bobbles on the top are knitted separately and attached to the picot hem. They're knit with size 2 dpns and a variety of sport weight wool from the stash.

Here are the turkey mittens I made a few years ago. The pattern is from the booklet A Year of Mittens which I bought at Patternworks.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! This year for our alternative feast I'm making the Mushroom Turnovers and Caramelized Onion Gravy from Moosewood Celebrates.

I finished the gray socks and am now starting a pair of Fair Isle socks for the new booklet. I'm trying out Knitpick's new Palette yarn along with some Shetland from my stash. I think Shetland is becoming too expensive lately (it really isn't very soft) so perhaps Palette can pick up the slack.

Here are the colors I chose:

Here are the updated web sites for color knitting for those who you already have the booklet. Some web sites left the planet and others just changed locations.

Actual Size Graph Paper at http://www.tata-tatao.to/knit/matrix/e-index.html prints out graph paper to your exact knitting gauge in a PDF file.

The Color Scheme Generator web site at http://wellstyled.com/tools/colorscheme2/index-en.html allows you to click on a color and then suggests analogous, monochromatic, and several different types of contrast color schemes.

Fair Isle 101: The Absolute Basics of the Two-Handed Fair Isle Technique at http://www.sheeweknits.com/fair_isle_101.htm is the best all-around online resource for stranded color knitting. Anne Featonby of the web knitting store She Ewe Knits offers an excellent tutorial with plenty of photos. She covers “picking” versus “throwing”, catching long floats, weaving in the yarns, and the different types of color knitting charts.

The Kick Back Two-Color Socks cyberclass at the Socknitters web site at http://www.socknitters.com/kickback/index.htm is an online class by knitter Judy Gibson with photos on the two-handed method of holding the yarns, Meg Swansen’s jogless jog technique, and weaving in long floats. If you like knitting socks this online pattern is a great first-time color project.

Sarah Peasley, at http://www.sarahpeasley.com/classes.htm is an experienced knitting teach who offers online Fair Isle and Continental knitting classes. She’s a talented knitter and can work with you via email to answer all of your questions.

Kim Salazar’s knitting blog has a terrific reference on using the Strickfingerhut at http://string-or-nothing.blog-city.com/read/578674.htm . She shows several different types and explains how she uses one for her stranded color knitting. Kim also shared her brilliant idea of using a flat cookie sheet and cut-up business card style magnets to hold several color pattern charts.

Stranded! at http://www.bonniefranz.com/Stranded.html is a newsletter devoted to stranded color knitting. The web site offers free patterns and the choice to subscribe to a printed or online version of the newsletter by knitwear designer Bonnie Franz.

Studies in Jogless Stripes at http://tiajudy.com/jog.htm shows one popular method of working jogless jogs and also details another helpful method developed by knitter Judy Gibson.

Two-Color Knitting Tip at http://tiajudy.com/2color.htm also at Judy Gibson’s web site has some great photos that show the difference between holding the background color above the foreground and holding the background color below.

Wiseneedle, An Online Resource for Knitters at http://www.wiseneedle.com is maintained by Kim Salazar. The Yarn Review Collection has a large database of yarns you can search to learn more about any yarn. This is an invaluable resource for yarn substitutions.

Stranded Color Knitting has moved to a new publisher. If you go to my Knitting in Color page at Lulu you can now purchase it as a book for the same price of $8.99 or as an ebook .PDF download for a mere $3.76 so that is a money-saving option for international knitters . Lulu's shipping is less expensive than the previous publisher so you'll be saving a bit of money and they have free Super Saver Shipping for orders over $25 if you'd like to order a few copies. You can also rate and review Stranded Color Knitting online at that site so if you'd like to take a few minutes to offer your opinion of the booklet, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Please note that Lulu does not take returns (unless the product is damaged in shipping) or allow order cancellations as they begin printing immediately. As before, 100% of the booklet's earnings to the shelter for abandoned and abused pet rabbits at the Colorado House Rabbit Society. CO HRS is an all-volunteer 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. The book's info web page that includes some photos from the book and many reviews remains at http://home.earthlink.net/~nanetteblanchard/id5.html

When I transferred the booklet to the new publisher, I also updated it slightly. There are some changes in the recommended web sites section of the booklet's Bibliography. I'll post the list of web site changes here tomorrow for those of you who already own the booklet so you can print it out and keep it with your copy.

This will be a busy week as DH is only working two days. Instead of waiting forever to show you the socks I'll just show you one and you'll have to trust that I finish the 2nd.




I love this idea of taking a photo and reproducing the colors. I don't even think the patterns need to be duplicated - you just have to remember to use the colors in the amounts and sequence from the original photo to get the same effect. I'm planning to look through a bunch of catalogs and magazines tonight so I can start a file with color ideas for future knitting projects.

I found an online publisher that prints in color. I have been thinking of doing a small book of color knitting patterns, also to benefit the CO HRS, but refused to do it if I couldn't do the charts in color. Lulu will do this for free (they print when people pay for the items) and if any of you have ever thought about selling your own knitting patterns, this might be a simple way as they do smaller items like brochures. Lulu also does ebook .PDF downloads very inexpensively.

I am hoping to do a small color booklet that includes several fun patterns including this:



and these:




and this:




I donated the hats to the Albuquerque Rescue Mission so I'll have to knit them again. I wanted to make some more rabbit finger puppets to bring with me to DH's work Christmas party for the treatment foster care kids. I doubt this booklet will be finished before Christmas and I'm not sure I can keep this one under $10 (printing in color is significantly more expensive) but I promise to try.

Have you ever noticed that EVERY TIME I promise a new project on a certain day that I never finish it in time. I guess I should keep my mouth shut. As you guessed the socks aren't yet done and I'm not saying when they will be finished. I made the heel on the second sock a totally different color and didn't even notice it until much later. sigh

I do have a quick update on Phoenix the rabbit who is recovering well from being set on fire. Fortunately they caught the person who did it and charged him with a felony. I received an update from his foster mom after sending them a contribution to help with his veterinary bills. Thanks so much to those of you who wrote the District Attorney - it really helped! You can get updates on his progress HERE - warning some sad photos.

Today's photo of Peaches has her looking a bit peeved at Jack the cat for some unknown reason. When her ears go back like that it either means she's annoyed or she's fascinated.

First I couldn't update the blog for some reason for the past day and then I found out Cafepress has a new affiliates program. If someone recommends my book Stranded Color Knitting and it results in a sale, they get 20% of profits that would have otherwise gone to rabbit rescue. I decided to opt out of that as I think it is selling well enough otherwise.

I should have the second pair of gray socks tomorrow. My next project is going to be a pair of fair isle socks, self-designed, in Shetland wool. I have always wanted to try socks in Shetland wool and I seem to be becoming more comfortable with working without a pattern.

Monica asked in the comments how I hold the yarns when stranded color knitting. I am a two-handed color knitter and I tension the yarns through the fingers on each hand. I am getting better at changing from one dpn to the other without losing the tensioned yarns between fingers as well. Here's a photo (this and many other photos of ways to hold the yarns in color knitting from my book Stranded Color Knitting) that shows how I knit with two colors.

Here are the first pair of socks. I adjusted the scan a bit to try to get the right colors. I used 60 stitches, size 3 dpns and Norwegian sport wool. This yarn from Elann a few years back has a fatal flaw - it is superwash and excessively slippery. I used reverse duplicate stitch over 4-5 stitches AND knotted each of a billion yarn ends but I do still expect the yarn ends to come loose over time. I'll wash them very gingerly. To get the right gauge to match the original socks you'd need 68 stitches and probably fingering weight wool. I only had the right colors in sport weight though so I couldn't fit as many patterns.

For patterns I just looked at the original and did those except for the large zig zag which I did because I didn't want to have to consult any charts. It is actually easier for me to knit from looking at a knitted item than reading a chart. I did heel stitch because narrower heels fit my skinny foot better. The top fold was simply a row of purl stitch and then I knitted in the hem. I added some pom poms but I'm going to take them out because they won't survive in this slippery wool.

Here's the only fall color we have in our yard currently. I'm hoping for a frost before Thanksgiving to get rid of the bugs. I'm enjoying knitting the socks and will have a pair to show you tomorrow.

One of my knitting goals this year was to try to knit something inspired by just a photo. I'm always looking for some inspiration for different color combos. I finally found the perfect socks for inspiration in the current Eddie Bauer catalog. Aren't these lovely? They're only $14 which is probably cheaper than my yarn costs and they even have a rubber sole.






I'll make up some patterns as I go along using sport weight yarn. I hate the way short row heels fit so I won't do that. I do like the pompom ties around the cuff so I will do that. The colors of these socks are much more vibrant in the catalog.

Next week I'll show you the yarn colors I chose for both pairs in Norwegian sport wool and Brown Sheep Nature Spun sport weight.

The mitten design project is over. I've come to the conclusion that I'm done with my holiday knitting earlier than I expected. I have 9 pairs of mittens, 2 pairs of gloves, 2 scarves, 2 lace washcloths, 4 hats, 2 pairs of socks and 1 stuffed animal to give away. I'm also going to make some chocolate candy for everyone.



If I don't have to do any knitting for anyone else, I guess I'll make myself some socks.

Even though it is a beautiful sunny fall day, Peaches the rabbit is wondering why everything is so dark today.




I have to confess she's not the brightest bulb in the chandelier.

Amazing how much easier it is to see without an oatmeal container on your head.

I finally had to cut the bottom out of the oatmeal container so she'd stop doing it. She just loves sticking her head into things and under blankets. Go figure.

Here is the scariest photo of my gang I could find. They all have evil-looking eyes in this one.

And if you have something to say, I believe you should say it with socks.

Here is the blue mitten - I used size 4 dpns and 48 stitches to size it for a kid. I may have to do a few hats once I finish the second one - I'll have to check my gift knitting box to see what I need to add. I think I'll come up with the designs for the hats as well to keep my brain occupied.

My scanner and I are not getting along at all lately. Not only are the colors all wrong, but the scanner software is crashing on a regular basis. Here are the latest self-designed mittens in Peruvian Highland wool knit on 48 stitches on size 6 needles. I have also decided to finish up the blue ones that are bugging me. I now have five Christmas boxes of knitted items to fill so the more the merrier.

It is still really hot here. Because the house is passive-solar and the sun is now lower in the sky, it just heats up like an oven here toward the end of the afternoon. Peaches is demonstrating one of the fringe benefits of having water bottles full of ice around her to stay cool.

I've started freelance writing again which is why it is taking so long for me to finish projects. Plus DH was out of town and for some reason I never knit when he's gone. I think I'll get back to normal knitting productivity soon though. I am not sure I like the blue mittens I started so now I'm working on a pair in fall colors.

There is an update on Phoenix the rabbit with new photos HERE. The HSUS has set up a $2500 reward to try to catch the person responsible. It sounds like Phoenix is healing and even kicking up his heels a bit.

HERE is a neat group - it is called Stealth Volunteers and is comprised of people who get info about a Katrina animal and use the Internet to find the pet's owners.

And HERE is a fun recipe for making your own herbal moth repellent. I have no clue if it will really work but at least your wool will smell great.

Here are the first mittens in my experimental mittens series. I'm going to see how many pairs of stranded color mittens I can design myself before I go bonkers.

The colors on these mittens are WAY OFF. The colors are actually turquoise, hot pink, fuschia, and off white - the yarn is Peruvian Highland wool. They are done with 48 sts on size 4 dpns with an 8 st peasant thumb. The next pair I'm doing are going to have a lot of blue in them.

If you're in New Mexico and you're looking for an angora bunny, Pam Larsen at Rio Rancho Rabbit Rescue has this cute female named Fuzzy Mama. She needs to be spayed and is hoping to find a good home soon. Pam also has a bunch of cute baby Netherland dwarf rabbits who were dumped in an arroyo behind a car dealership in Albuquerque. For info on all the terrific rabbits available for adoption here, visit the Four Corners Bunnies web site.

I'll have a pair of self-designed mittens to show you tomorrow. I have decided to continue designing mittens to fill up my boxes of Christmas presents. I was hoping to find some new stranded color knitting designs in Charlene Schurch's new sock book or Nancy Bush's new sock book but the Knitpicks book preview shows mainly textured sock designs. I'll put off getting them - it is good to save my money anyway as Peaches wants me to donate to help pay medical expenses for THIS poor rabbit who was set on fire. The need for charitable donations really doesn't seem to end lately, does it?

Here are two projects from Andean Folk Knits, both knit with Nature Spun sport weight. The mitten cuffs were done on size 4 dpns and I had to go down to size 2 dpns for the rest of the mittens. The hat was knit with size 4 dpns.

As an undergrad I lived at a special dorm called International House at Illinois State University. You had to interview and have foreign language experience to get accepted. Every American student got paired up with a foreign student.

My first roommate was Huey-Mei from Taipei and when she
went back to Taiwan I was paired with Izumi from Kyoto. There were
students from all over the globe and we had many special international dinners cooked by the students. I had a friend from Nigeria who helped me with my French homework and I planned a kegger for our dorm with two great guys from Iraq.

Seeing all the similarities and differences between Americans and other countries was fascinating. But all was not hunky dory. Watching the evening news there took on a different meaning because there was always somebody from a country in trouble. This was during the Iran hostage situation and we had to be careful in the parking lot because some of the Iranian students had their cars vandalized. One of the Ethiopian students from our dorm, targeted in a campaign by Amnesty International, has just been released from prison.

This weekend I've been thinking of a sweet girl with beautiful long hair from Pakistan who lived on our floor. Oxfam has a news release about their efforts to help the victims of the horrific Pakistan earthquake HERE.

I've finished two projects from the Andean Knits book but you'll have to wait until next week to see them. I've been sick with a bug this week and don't have the energy to write up the details or scan them. So far my attempts to make Peaches bring me some tea and clean the house have been unsuccessful.

I'm off to lay pathetically on the couch and watch the baseball playoffs. Fortunately the games aren't on Fox today as their annoying baseball coverage makes me sick enough when I am feeling good.