This and that and the other thing...

The many days of Christmas are upon us. The local radio station that usually begins all Christmas all the time after Thanksgiving started before Thanksgiving.

Light displays were up and lit in my son's new neighborhood before Thanksgiving.

Our first Christmas card arrived on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is EARLY this year, which means that all of this stuff started way too soon for me! And I really like Christmas!

Anyway... Thanksgiving was peaceful and small (yay!). Worked on Friday. Shopped a little on Saturday (mostly for clothes for my son for a wedding we are attending next weekend. Only purchased two very small ornaments for Christmas presents). Finished (except for grafting) my international swappee's scarf. Hope it blocks nice. It is too late to start again and be finished on time!

And now for "the other thing" - apparently, I'm trifling! :)

You Are a Trifle

No doubt, you have many intricate layers. But deep down, you're a little squishy.

What Holiday Food Are You?

Camera is fading fast

Camera is fading fast
Originally uploaded by radarkaty.

Something is terribly wrong with my camera. I fear I am now in the market for another.

This was taken with my Canon S1 IS camera. Lovely camera - 10x optical zoom, compact flash card storage (this was important because my previous camera had this and I already HAD that kind of media!). Drawbacks now (not when first purchased) - only 3.2 megapixels.

I went to Office Depot (for some other stuff) and strolled down the camera aisle. Apparently, my Canon S series is now up to S5 with 10 megapixels and marvelous zooming capabilities. I wanted to see its macro capabilities too. Unfortunately, the power supply was wonky at OD and all of the high end (Canon S5 is the middle range of the high end) cameras were powerless. The $79 cameras worked great. The $299 - $749 cameras? Not at all. I was very disappointed.

Any and all camera suggestions are welcomed.

(click on the picture to see a better picture - camera took two before completely fading to fuzzy black like the old black and white tvs!)

Sweater is almost done...

Finished side
Originally uploaded by radarkaty.

This is the 'finished side' except for some ends to be woven in. One more sleeve and my FIRST sweater will be complete! WooHoo. Click on the picture to be taken to Flickr and you can see the rest.

I was traveling with my son - taking him on college visits - and we had about 3 hours of down time last night...

I brought some of my knitting reference books with me because I was at the end of one sleeve and the body of the little sweater. It was getting difficult to maneuver yarn attached in two places waiting for a bind off decision.

I have EZ's Opinionated Knitter - which did not contain the directions for her sewn bind off. At least I couldn't find it in the book. That bind off had been suggested, but I did find a statement that the sewn bind off was not good for k1p1 ribbing. This sweater has k1p1 ribbing on the neck, sleeves and body 'cuff'.

I had The Knitting Answer book with me as well. Flipping through the bind off section I saw that Tubular bind off was considered best for k1p1 ribbing bind-off. Taking their word for it, I followed their clear directions and THEY WERE RIGHT! It was sort of like kitchenering a straight edge - but it worked and it really moved right along.

No longer in fear of a non-stretch bind off for top down sweaters!! :)

After Midnight...

Not sure this is true - but it was a cute quiz:

You Are Midnight

You are more than a little eccentric, and you're apt to keep very unusual habits. Whether you're a nightowl, living in a commune, or taking a vow of silence - you like to experiment with your lifestyle. Expressing your individuality is important to you, and you often lie awake in bed thinking about the world and your place in it. You enjoy staying home, but that doesn't mean you're a hermit. You also appreciate quality time with family and close friends.

What Time Of Day Are You?

'tis a puzzlement

I want to know why the pictures of my sweater are not gargatuan when you click them, but the ones in my SCARF! post are HUGE! I took them with the same camera and uploaded them directly from the compact flash card. No intervening steps, like PictureIt! (which I usually use to make pictures "web ready" and thereby smaller).

'tis a puzzlement.

Well the sweater is almost done - have 1/2 a sleeve and 2/3 a sleeve to finish. One more body row of k1p1 ribbing in the main color and then stretchy bind off of the body. But I want to do a stretchy bind off experiment with the sleeves first (Momma didn't raise no dummies! Sleeves are smaller for experimentation than almost 200 stitches on a body!) So, I'll be sleeving on the trip home and through Criminal Minds tonight.

[will insert Pictures here later]

SCARF!

I got home from work today and was told I had two packages. Two packages? Couldn't be the scarf box. Rochelle mailed it on the 6th and was told it would take a week... um, no, it arrived today!!! WooHoo!

My Scarf Knitter - Rochelle - made a fabulous scarf and added great goodies to the box. Go check out her blog for the scarf details.

In addition to the scarf, Rochelle included some lovely hand cream, notecards, a sock blocker key chain with pattern!, and a Knitting Answers book.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Here are a couple of photos. It's raining and dark, so indoor pictures were required. Not sure they do it justice!





sorry for the click to GIANT photos, forgot to resize. Will try to correct that oversight later.

Soaring Eagles and other stuff

I tried to update my side bar to reflect this year's Soaring Eagles Project, but for some reason it only shows up sometimes!

Please check it out and help Rachel help the children stay warm this winter. They are looking for Slippers and Mittens this year. Last year, the overwhelming outpouring of love and handmade woolies was so great that there are plenty of hats to go around, but the mittens and slippers are needed.

If you are on Ravelry (I am radarkaty there), check out "The Greater Good" group to find lots of great places needing warm knit and crochet items!

That's where I found a new Yahoo! group - Macuwita sni - making warm things for the Cheyenne River Sioux in South Dakota. They will get my first sweater:

(ETA: better pictures and an update of progress)





The sleeve stitches are on holders and the body is moving along! :)

It has been a pleasant and quick knit. I'm using Cascade 220 and a top-down, raglan sleeve plain crew pattern. First Sweater - even if it is a Child's size 4 :) - and I've learned a new technique - knitting in the round on two circular needles. Two Socks on Circs - here I come!!!

Anyway, the bus has afforded great knitting time this week and I've been able to finish 4 rows coming in and 4 rows going home each day. I should have it finished by Monday. I have some weekend plans, but my holiday on Monday should allow for finishing.

RIP E.D.T.

Tonight, we lay to rest Daylight Savings time for another year.

I could use the extra hour as I recover from my flu. The only remaining symptom is tiredness. I give into the tiredness sometimes and I fight it others. Fighting is futile, I know, but I keep trying to do things and my body keeps telling me to rest.

Today has actually been the best day so far. I've gotten a few things accomplished - trash has been gathered, dinner has been cooked, dishes have been cleaned, 1/2 of the clean laundry has found its home in the appropriate drawers and cabinets and I've been knitting. Oh, and surfing the 'net, too! :)

Here's the most recent start - a top down plain crew neck sweater for a child, size 4:



I didn't have the right size DPNs (US7), nor the right length of cable on any of my US7 circulars (24") - so I am doing my first sweater, albeit a small one, on two circs! First sweater - new technique - I'm bustin' right out of my comfort zone!



I'm a little further along than this now and probably will be to the arm splits before I put it down tonight. This little guy is destined for the Cheyenne River Sioux of South Dakota. I joined a Yahoo! Group called Macuwita sni - which means "I am not cold" in Lakota. The group is newly formed but dedicated to sending warm sweaters for the thousands of children living at Cheyenne River in South Dakota. Check it out, if you'd like to help, too.

Back to the Stole (the "for me" knitting) tomorrow evening. That seems to be my evening TV watching knit and there is nothing good on TV tonight. Besides, I'm going to Chatters! Stop by and join the conversation between 8 PM and 11 PM (before we turn back time!)