Owl Post

My Hogwart Swap wonderful pal Celestina sent me a awesome package full to the rim with HP goodies and candies:



My kids could not believe their eyes and declared the package theirs tossing me these:



I have not idea where they stashed the candies and the goodies, but I am really happy with what I got - THANK YOU, CELESTINA!

Feeling overly confident

Remember when I said that nothing can wrong with a Jaywalker? Ah ah, look here:



No, the sock was not supposed to be 11 inches long, but sometime toward the end of the foot I forgot I was knitting them toe-up (I think, it looks like the only explanation for what I did), and I decided to knit the heel and then turn it, so I have a sock with the heel under the foot:



Do you think I noticed? No, a friend of mine, who is not a knitter, looked at my socks and asked, "You are turning the heel now? Isn't it too long?". Yes, I do have friends who do not knit but know stuff like "turning the heel", because, well, what do you think I talk about all the time?

So, rip rip rip. And a FO (every once in a while something needs to go right):



Men's handwarmers from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, in Claudia Handpainted Worsted, just half a skein, for my dad. Another check on the x-mas list.

Handspun Scarf

Fall has kicked in high gear, so I am knitting as a mad woman.



I made this scarf with some luscious hand spun that was gifted to me by Maggie.



It goes like this:

CO 14 stitches.
Row 1: K2, *yo, k2tog, k1, repeat from *
Row 2: *p2, k1 repeat from *, p2
Keep going until you almost run out out of yarn, BO, block the heck out of it.

.

Pumpkin Days

Pattern: Knitting Pure and Simple #214
Yarn: Tahki Cotton Classic, 3 balls

Fall is in the air and while most people mourn the loss of sunlight and complain about the shorter days, I can't wait for sundown at 5 in the afternoon. As I said before, sunlight bothers me, especially this harsh and straight-above-your-head California sun, so I long for winter and softer light.
Most people get bouts of energy and startisis in Spring, I get that in the Fall, especially during rainy days. And it has been raining the in the Bay Area, so I finished the baby sweater and the very day it started raining I started not one, but two scarves (one is already done, more details to come.)

My wonderful SP11 has sent me a package just right for the season:



Yummy chocolate yarn, tea, and a nice mug - THANK YOU, SECRET PAL, you could not have chosen a better gift.

And speaking of pumpkin days, if you are in the Bay Area and have small children, dress them in their Halloween costumes and bring them to the Allied Arts Guild to have their picture taken. Bring $5 and a gift for a sick child celebrating Halloween at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital. The event takes place Oct 26 (Fri) and Oct 27 (Sat) from 11 to 3 pm at 75 Arbor Road, Menlo Park and it is by the Woodside-Atherton Auxiliary, benefiting the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford.

When everything else fails

When everything else fails and things go wrong, nothing set everything right better than a Jaywalker:



Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Jungle Stripe, toe-up because I want to use all the yarn (and because I am not over my last top-down trauma yet), nothing can go wrong. Casted Tuesday night, and I already turning the heel. I am at peace with socks again.

The Gryffindor socks? Take a peak.

I had a plan

I had a plan for my little contest, and that should have been a source of worry by itself. My plans do not work. Ever. Period. If I do not put much thought into something, it usually works. If I do not follow the plan, everything goes well. Try to plan something out and follow through? This happens:



My plan? My plan was to reveal the pattern once I have knit enough of it to make it evident. So, I ripped that darn thing about 5 times in 3 days.
For honesty's sake I need to admit that much rippage had occurred even before this latest bout of it, so I probably should have given up earlier, and that the yarn was right, it is not meant to be this pattern.
Redford Phyl was right, it is Cat Bordhi's Clematis Vine, and it had driven me crazy from day one.
First, do I need it to say? gauge. It needs a gauge of 8.5, I got 11. On Us #1. So off the window goes the plan to get gauge reducing the needles size (not that I did not try.)
Well, let's look at Chapter 10 - Freedom of Number and get the right numbers from the tables. Nice plan. The tables go up to gauge 9.5 - did I mention that I got 11?
Study the master plan for the Riverbed architecture and calculate my own numbers.
Figure out pretty soon that this is not your standard Riverbed architecture so the standard numbers do not work. Recalculate the numbers (and hope that I got the logic right.)
Imagine several rip back due between all these steps and you got the picture. Pretty much the one above.

I officially give up. This yarn is not going to be the Clematis Vine, it is pretty clear even to me now that it does not want to. And no, it cannot change its mind now.

So, it is October 10, and these socks, that are a pair for Gryffondor socks for the Hogwart Sock Swap (I do hope that my partner is not reading this, and if you are, just have faith), are due on October 31st. New plan? No, plans do not work. I'll just wing it.

Contest winners: Redford Phyl because she was right and Caroline because Paperino picked her name from the hat. Please email me.

SP11 Contest - Flash Your Stash

Do not forget my contest, I am keeping it open for few days!

Just a contest

I have been very busy and on top of that sick with a very bad cold, so to distract you all from the lack of blogging, what about a contest?



Guess which pattern I am knitting this sock in and you can win one of my yarns.

Just leave a comment with your guess, and I'll pick a random winner among everybody who participate, plus another one if someone guesses right.