LMAO

ADD SUCKS!!

Man, I had having ADD!
Giant list of things to knit for Xmas and what do I do tonight? I launder & press 21 fat quarters for a quilt. My first quilt. Fat quarters that sat in a bag in my bedroom all summer. Nope, I have to decide to do them tonight.
I blame my mother. Not for the ADD. I don't think. No, I blame my mother for the craft gene. I've already explained that she's a knitter. Well, she's a quilter, too. It started with my oldest cousin when I was just a little kid. He and his wife wanted a quilt for their wedding, so my mum made them one. And thus began a family tradition. Get married, get a quilt from my mum. The one she made for me & my ex husband was a tulip pattern that was copied from a quilt that I had on my bed. My grandmother had made it, and it was falling apart, and I loved it. In my version are fabrics from the Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls she made for me, from my bridesmaid dresses that I made, from the first items of clothing that I ever made, all sorts of things with memories. It's amazing.
I don't have a scrap stash. I have a yarn stash. So my quilt is being made with brand new fat quarters. And I don't do pastels or florals. So my quilt is purple. There are things that look like pop art, batik, tie dye, and some basic checks and dots. It's going to be pretty cool.
BUT I HAVE TO DO XMAS KNITTING FIRST!!!!!
New mantra. Knit first, quilt later. Knit first, quilt later. Knit first, quilt later.....

Happy Hallowe'en!

Hallowe'en is my favourite holiday. And yes, it is a holiday. It's just as important to Wiccans as Easter is to Christians. So there.
Normally my house and my office at school are decorated to the hilt. I have more Hallowe'en decorations than Christmas ones! But this year I just had too much on the go to decorate, except for doing my nails every night last week. (sidebar: I seem to have created monsters on that one. There's a gang of kids who come to inspect my nails every day and they're so disappointed if I haven't changed them. And, being raised Presbyterian, there is nothing worse than disappointing people, even munchkins.)
So here is my only Hallowe'enie thing this year. Rosebud says 'Yeah, yeah, Happy F*ckin' Hallowe'en, now get this thing off me.'

Pics at last

I finished Anise on Sunday night, but I finally found the USB cord for my camera, so I'm posting the pics tonight!
I made some changes to the pattern. I don't like double moss stitch, so I did regular. And I only put snaps and fake buttons at the very top, for now anyway, because I think I like it better.
This is such a great sweater! Simple and comfy and cozy. I really liked working with the wool as well. I thought that it being single ply with hardly any twist at all would make it difficult and easy to split with the needles, but I didn't have any issues at all. I would use it again - if I ever do anything chunky like this again! Chunky knits are rare for me.

Learn From My Fail

When using a circular needle as a straight needle because there are so many stitches, do not get confused and start knitting in the round. It causes a lot of extra work. #LFMF

Temporary good bye!

So this Thanksgiving weekend included a girls' trip to Paris (ON, unfortunately!) and the Mary Maxim outlet. (sidebar: next time you're in Paris, I highly suggest the Cafe de Paris on the main street for lunch - we were all delighted with our meals, and it's got great atmosphere packed into a tiny little space.)
If you're Canadian, you know about Mary Maxim and their iconic 1970s zip-up acrylic sweaters. I had one with horses on the back. So my automatic connection of yarn to Mary Maxim was acrylic. Phentex. Dye lots not required.
Not so anymore! Yes, they have the traditional 100% acrylic, but they've branched out. Tons and tons of sock yarn, from Patons to Lana Grossa. Sirdar. Diamond Luxury. Cascade. A great selection, in other words.
I picked up rather a lot of yarn for a sweater I plan to knit for my dad for Christmas. Dad is not a small man. I finally found a pattern that will fit him, and the required ton of yarn for it. Plus some for something for the niecypoo and others who shall remain nameless as they are sometimes on this blog!
So, since Xmas knitting is taking over, posts will be few & far between for the next little while. Buh-bye!

Fussing

I'm trying to find a theme that I like and doesn't take forever to load. So if you keep seeing different backgrounds when you visit, don't panic and think it's someone else's blog! It's still me; I'm just farting around.

EDIT: Okay, when I look at the site now, even though I'm logged out, it still shows the little tool and pencil icons for editing. Can somebody let me know if they're visible to you as well? Thx.