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.