FO: I Love Autumn Scarf

I didn't even blog about starting this li'l thing:

Simple Garter Stitch Scarf
Yarn: One strand of Berroco Hip-Hop and one strand of Manos del Uruguay Wool
Needles: US 19 Lantern Moons

Really, though, there ain't nothin' to tell. I started it at the store last week during a slow hour and finished it that night when I got home. I cast on 16 stitches with the two strands and just kept knitting until the yarn ran out. It took up two skeins of the Hip-Hop in Karaoke and one skein of the Manos in Prairie.

Sometimes, simple is goooood. Autumn is my favorite season and I'm always so sad that it seems the shortest. The smell of the air changes and I just feel right. I grew up in New Hampshire where there are lots o' woods to explore and the scarf reminds me of a particular gravel path that always got littered with falling leaves as soon as October hit.

Speaking of leaves...I went for a run this morning (which is highly unusual for me nowadays, but I'm trying to make it more usual) and these leaves were just lying on the ground and waiting for me to notice them.

I have no idea what tree they're from, but their waxy sheen and brilliant color reminded me of a vintage necklace a friend of mine bought me two years ago:

I wish red were not such a difficult color to reproduce via photographs. The true color is just so much richer than what's showing up on my computer screen.

And since we're on the subject of things that make me happy:

Fairy tales and the scholarly discussions they inspire are two of my favorite things. I still love the expurgated, Disney-fied versions just for fun, but the actual fairy tales themselves are what's fascinating. Mostly because they offer such insight into the moral and psychological depths of different cultures and societies. Also, I love that the authors tell children that most adults are not to be trusted and that girls can be the heroes. Word.

And finally, my latest obsession: These beautiful, beautiful notebooks.

Barnes and Noble sells them for about nine bucks a pop. The graphics are done by MFA sutdents at the Savannah College of Art & Design and it's like carrying around a little work of art. They're good for journals, reminder books, sketchbooks (they sell ruled and plain), and whatever else you want to scribble. I think I'll ask my parents to get me a bunch more for Christmas.

CPH...she grows...

CPH is in da hood.

You can't see it in this photo, but she has delightful red flecks occurring throughout and this realllly tempts me to buy some red apple-shaped buttons for her front. The body has now been blocked twice: Once in pieces before seaming shoulders and knitting on the hood, and again after the hood and button bands were finished. Why? Because I was getting paranoid that the durn sweater was too skinny. I did not want a skinny sweater, I wanted one that was a little breezier. She needed a bit of fattening up. But now I'm worried I may have blocked a bit aggressively. Oh well, I'm halfway through one sleeve now and I'll worry about all of this once it's finished. If she needs a diet, I'll re-block yet again.

Speaking of "re" anything, I finished this one Anemoi mitten at the end of last winter and then it suddenly stopped being cold. Now I don't know if I want to make the second of this pair or just start anew with different colors. For some reason, I wasn't sold on the blue and white combo. Maybe a darker blue? Although the Harrisville wool was boo-tee-full...not super-soft, but I really like the look of it and my hands are not so lovely that they need to be encased only in cashmere.

Also, I rediscovered this fabulous enamel pendant while cleaning out drawers over the weekend:

I'm so in love with this and can't remember how I forgot about it. I like the poppy motif so much that I'd like to try and wrangle it into some intarsia-something or other. I've done fair isle, but no intarsia yet. I'm not scared to try, but I often don't like intarsia patterns so I steer away from them. This might set me over the edge...

FO: Daisy Cardi

"When he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock ... his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it." - The Great Gatsby

Daisy Cardigan
Size: 9-12 mos.
Yarn: Rowan Handknit Cotton in Delphinium, 5 balls
Needles: Size 3 and 6
Extras: DK cotton yarn in grape and teal for embroidery;
waiting to find perfect buttons

Detail of the front of the cardi. I finished the knitting and weaving in of ends a week ago. It's taken me that long to put in all those embroidered flowers. Finishing and me, we don't speak much.

Oh, but when we do, we can't seem to remember why it is that we don't speak oftener. The original cardi in the book has just one color of flower. I wasn't sure I'd have enough of either scrap yarn for all the daisies, so I just alternated. I like the effect; it's a bit more fun and playful. Perfect for little girls with chubby cheeks. There are still a few things left (namely, blocking the button bands and sewing in buttons) but I consider this a finished object. I think I have another couple weeks to get to the buttons.

There's one thing I will not forgive knitting for: The thinness of my wallet. In addition to the books and the yarn and the needles and the notions, knitting introduced me to etsy. Just when I thought I had gained control over my monstrously greedy addiction to yarn.

The bird's nest pendant was too cute...and I already had enamel bird earrings to complement it. Although I doubt I'll wear this all at once. That might be a little too bird-crazy.

And maybe my favorite earrings, ever. They're hearts! They're leaves! They're hearts and leaves! They're mine, man.

Happiness Is . . .

According to Charlie Brown, et. al., happiness is finding a pencil, pizza with sausage, telling the time. On my end, happiness is creating something. I feel every bit as daft as Lorelei Lee. I just looove finding new ways to make pretty things. I first taught myself to crochet after seeing a perfect summer bag pattern in Rowan 35. Unfortunately, it was crochet and I had no idea what that was all about. However, this did not stop me for long. I don't believe in starting out slowly. I'd rather plunge in head-first and ask questions later. Despite my happiness with the finished bag, I swore I would not allow myself to drift into unknown territory and rededicated myself to knitting. Alas, here is what happened after I saw a beautiful photo of a granny square blanket on the Internet:


Granny Square #1: Made with some Cascade 220 mostly to test my skills after I impulsively purchased 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton. The number in the title is deceptive (different color schemes count as different blocks) and I am highly ill-disposed toward the Christmas and Fourth of July themed blocks. However, I am now obsessed. It's the Wisteria pattern and I plan to use this in a baby blanket for my yet-unborn baby niece.

Granny Square #2: I purchased what I thought was an enormous amount of Elann's Sonata yarn to create a crochet square blanket pour moi. Unfortunately, I think I greatly underestimated how much yarn a full-size blanket would take. But I've begun. The plummy color in the center and outer edge of the square is inaccurate. The actual color is more a cross between berry and brick. I plan on using that color for the majority of the piece. Did I mention I am obsessed? Each block is about 6.5 inches and I plan to make 56 squares. I made another of the block patterns today. 2 down. 54 to go. Plus the border. The yarn is a bit stiffer than I'd like, but the colors are gorgeous and I plan to use the blanket more as a coverlet than a snuggly fabric. It will be so vintage and bohemian that I shall wish I lived in a drafty garret overlooking the Seine with only my typewriter and a bottle of absinthe for company.

I also made one of a pair of earrings. I went into a bead store to try and find a sparkly bead I could use as a nose for Penny. Unfortunately, I encountered no appropriate sparkly beads. But I did encounter many inappropriate sparkly beads, some of which happened to be purchased and tucked into my purse. This photo was an accident, but I like the blurriness. The glass beads look a bit like pomegranate seeds. Or do pomegranate seeds look like glass beads?