VARIOUS AND SUNDRY



If you think you might be an introvert or if you know an introvert, there's a wise and funny article called "Care & Feeding of Your Introvert" at the Atlantic Online.



Cassandra emailed me about twined knitting - she made the fingerless mitts from the Dandanell/Danielsson twined knitting book and if you go HERE and click on Knitted Things you'll see several shots of her twined mitts done in Guernsey yarn. Also, do check out her beautiful Fair Isle fingerless gloves as well.



Lisa had some links yesterday to some absolutely beautiful tams by Sheila and Vanessa. Also check out Stasia's pretty pumpkin tam from Vogue Knitting Caps & Hats Two.



Jessica had some photos of her recently remodeled kitchen and bathroom - go to her archives to her January 29 entry. I swear that is the most beautiful kitchen I've ever seen and I'm positively green with envy.



I've started on Kalev's mittens from Folk Knitting in Estonia and I'll show a photo tomorrow. I had one heck of a time getting gauge with several different fingering weight yarns so I finally I decided to adapt the pattern to the gauge I was getting. They're going to be beautiful in Peruvian cashmere and Nylamb and I'm going to send them to the woman who adopted Miss Peaches out to us.



Speaking of Peaches, we decided to let her do our taxes this year. I sure hope we won't regret it.

Here's the only Poetry Mitten I'm going to do. I loved knitting it but I think the finished product was underwhelming with weird decreases at the thumb and top and the lettering is too big for the scale of the mitten. The beautiful poem is by the designer, Veronica Patterson, and reads:



When snow swirls

We begin to dream

Of dancing firelight

And hasten gaily home

Clapping hands

And words to

Warm them.





If you do make these increase your gauge greatly to get an adult sized mitten. Nature Spun fingering weight is a pretty thin fingering weight yarn and makes a rather thin mitten. I was asked my opinion of Nature Spun in the comments and yes, I do use it all the time in fingering, sport and worsted weights. I like the color range and the price but it does pill. Unfortunately it is becoming harder and harder to find, especially in the fingering weight.



I am reading the most fascinating book, The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an Extrovert World by Marti Olsen Laney. While I am not sure about some of the author's conclusions, this book has really changed how I see myself and others in my life. Contrary to popular belief, being an introvert does not mean you are shy (apparently there are even shy extroverts) or self-involved or lacking in social skills. Essentially it just means how you get your energy - introverts (25% of the population) recharge with solitary and quiet pursuits and extroverts recharge from the outside world.



I think knitting, at least the way I do it, is an introvert pursuit. Give me some tiny needles and a couple of colors of yarn and a chart and minimal or no outside stimulation and in a few hours I'm full of energy.

Congratulations Amy! You won the Christmas stocking booklet! I've emailed you for your snail mail address. Thanks to everyone for signing up. I found another booklet to give away - the Philosopher's Wool sock book by the Sockguy. Give me a week or two to get some photos from it scanned and then stop back to sign up for the drawing.







Here is the first Poetry Mitten in progress. The pattern is from the Nov/Dec 1995 issue of Piecework and uses Nature Spun fingering weight and size 0 dpns. I'm pretty close to gauge and these are definitely not turning out to be adult size mittens. I'm also not sure I like how the lettering continues on the thumb gusset (making some letters slanted) but the pattern is quite fun. I really like to knit letters as they aren't boring. I plan to make the Pablo Neruda socks in Spanish from Socks, Socks, Socks in the future.







Here is yet another Bunnies & Carrots hat - the pattern is from Naked Sheep and this time I used Elann's Peruvian Highland wool. This one I made to be worn by a boy and I omitted the carrots. I like the Highland wool more than Nature Spun worsted and less than Cascade 220. I still have some Paton's Classic Wool to try - I believe the stuff I purchased from Smiley's still works out to be less expensive than the Highland wool.

In response to everyone's questions in the comments about Peaches the rabbit, we estimate she is about 12 lbs. I do think she is done growing at 1 1/2 years old although the dewlap under her chin may get larger. Actually she may lose a bit of weight now that she is not caged and gets to run around more and joyfully hurl her huge body through space at 3 am.



I just took another roll of film with her and Jack the cat together so you can get a better idea of her size. Her coloring is called agouti and is indeed the same as wild rabbits. Indoor rabbits can make good pets and use litter boxes - for more information, see if your local library has a copy of the House Rabbit Handbook: How to Live with an Urban Rabbit by Marinell Hariman, Drollery Press. It is the bible on house rabbits and is full of wonderful photos of rabbits getting into all sorts of things.



Tomorrow I'll announce the winner of the Christmas stocking booklet and show you a picture of the Piecework Poetry mittens in progress.

INTRODUCING PEACHES







Peaches was dropped off at the Durango, Colorado Humane Society when she was about 4 months old. She was spayed and adopted and then the people who adopted her returned her after only a month. Debby Widolf, the House Rabbit Society Fosterer for Four Corners Bunnies then took her and she lived with Debby and the other foster bunnies for

about a year.



Peaches is ready for her close-up.







Likes: her nightly treat of a few Cheerios, running the Bunny 500 at about 3 am, diving under her piles of soft fleece blankets, grooming her large stuffed toy bunny, and remodeling her cardboard boxes



Dislikes: the evil vacuum cleaner, the sound of people sneezing, and oddly enough, the smell of Burt's Bees Carrot Day Creme



Here's one showing her creamy white bunny belly.







Peaches is still unwilling to leave her room even though the door is open all day and our three cats walk in and out of her room. One of the most amazing things about Peaches is how clean she is. She uses her litterbox 100% of the time.







I promise I'll be taking plenty of photos of her. Snapfish, the online company I use for photo developing, has some neat photo gifts like photo calendars and mouse pads and mugs. I'm going to get a few photo gifts of Peaches and give them to Debby in gratitude for adopting Peaches out to us. I may also knit her something.

CHRISTMAS STOCKING BOOK GIVEAWAY











This is actually more of a booklet than a book but the charts are nice and big which is always appreciated. It is The Handknitted Christmas Stocking Book by Edward Myatt. Here are the projects in it:







Please leave a comment on the tagboard or in the Squawkboxtv comments or send an email if you are interested in signing up for the contest. I'll post the winner of the booklet on Thursday afternoon.





I started working on a double knit hat. Double knitting is slow going but fun nonetheless. The pattern is called Double Knit Hats by Nancy Lindberg and I got the pattern at Vintage Knits. I may have to start over because I don't think I will have enough yarn. This hat also has a modified French hem which was fun. Essentially you do the long tail cast on (a provisional one would have been easier) knit a few rows, rip out the cast on then fold and double knit the two sides together.



I may scrap the double knit hat and get started on a tam for the Tamalong on ASOFlives.

WHAT NOT TO KNIT FOR THE MAN YOU LOVE



I know how hard it is to find the right project to knit for the men in your life. Here's a few suggestions on what NOT to knit for him.







Number 1 - Not all Fair Isle is a good thing.















Number 2 - I suspect the dolman-sweater wearing man in this photo is pointing at all the passers-by who are doubled over in laughter.













Number 3 - How convenient that this vest can be unbuttoned from the bottom for extra waistline comfort. Check out the socks.













Number 4 - This one leaves me speechless.















Aren't vintage knitting patterns fun? These are all from a really nifty out-of-print book called Classic Knitting Patterns from the British Isles: Men's Hand-Knits from the 20's to the 50's by Jane Waller. Grab it if you find it used at http://www.bookfinder.com or someplace similar - there is a really neat pattern for the "Wonder-Sock... Ever New - no darning!!" and some nice fair isle and cables.



And I'm sure you'll need the patterns for the Bodybelt (to cinch in his out of control middle section) and the Bachelor's Tea Cosy. What single man today wouldn't love a hand knit tea cosy?