Young Scarf

When I was 10, my father finally put aside his Ph.D. studies and got a job for the first time. That year, we bought our first house and that Christmas, my parents finally sprang for a Christmas tree. A week before Christmas, my dad came home with a giant turkey provided by his office to all the employees as a sort of Christmas bonus. My dad's first name happens to be Young and his co-workers had played a little joke with his turkey crate. Instead of "Young Turkey," someone had added " 's" to the "Young." My brother and I thought this was the funniest thing we'd ever seen. We ate "Young's Turkey" for Christmas dinner.

Since my dad keeps making sad little comments about how many things I've knitted for my mom and how I've knitted nothing for him, I am knitting him his very own Young Scarf:

I'm using Noro Iro and the Braided Mischief pattern by Teva Durham in Scarf Style. At first, I thought about seed stitch, but my hands are not that deft right now for whatever reason and I found it fiddly, especially with chunky yarn. I moved over to a broken rib pattern and was seriously displeased with the curling. I figured I should look through Scarf Style since I've only made one pattern out of it so far and it was like seeing the pattern for the first time. The sample in the book is knitted with Felted Tweed, but the Iro is so much squishier.

I also read this:

I cried a lot. I haven't seen the film version yet, but I hear it's equally heartbreaking and moving. Jean Bauby was the editor of French Elle when he suffered a massive stroke in 1995 that left him paralyzed. The only part of his body that he could move was his left eyelid. Using this one movement, he and his nurse figured out a method of communication by which he eventually wrote this incredibly uplifting and beautiful memoir. The title comes from this passage in the book: "My diving bell becomes less oppressive, and my mind takes flight like a butterfly. There is so much to do. You can wander off in space or in time, set out for Tierra del Fuego or for King Midas's court. You can visit the woman you love, slide down beside her and stroke her still-sleeping face. You can build castles in Spain, steal the Golden Fleece, discover Atlantis, realize your childhood dreams and adult ambitions."

I am always in awe of those who refuse to give up despite the awful things that can happen in this world. A year ago, when I was in the depths of despair, I read some poetry by Wislawa Szymborska and found the following sentence: "Not without its charms is this terrible world; not without its mornings worth our waking." This book captures that idea so perfectly.

I also couldn't stop myself. I knitted a sock. Monkey pattern again, this time with Socks that Rock Lightweight in Scottish Highlands:

I think the pattern complements the dye job beautifully. The hills are aliiiiiive with the sound of muuuuuusic.

FO: Noro Sock...and a ThanksGIVEaway!

First we have a finished stockinette Noro sock. It's sad. It's rone-ry. But there's another one at the store that it can play nicely with when I take it in on Sunday. I've named her Rainbow Brite. 'Cause she's like, seriously bright.

Rainbow Brite Noro Sample Sock
Yarn: Half skein of Noro Sock Yarn sample
Needles: US 0 Inox circulars

I didn't really "conquer" the short-row heel and toe, but I did make progress. They ain't gonna lick me anytime soon.

Also, I put in an order at Blue Moon Fiber Arts to buy some sock yarn. I know, I don't need more sock yarn and I haven't even started knitting the one STR that I own, but I. Don't. Care. I got all excited about the Raven series but didn't really feel that I wanted to knit socks that were that dark. I'll wait until I find a perfect lace pattern and buy some Lightweight Raven for a shawl instead of socks. Although, this is making me feel mighty tempted to go ahead and order some anyway.

So, I ordered four skeins:

Clockwise from the top: Saratoga, Cluckers, Rooster Rock. I love these colors. The Saratoga has a blend of butter yellow, lavender, brown, sky blue, and orange-y rust. The Rooster Rock (which I'm sure everyone has seen) is brick, slate, brown, fuchsia, and beige. The Cluckers is sage, coral red, ochre, tan, and a grayish-purple. The Blarney Stone is...

Wait, what's that you say? There is no Blarney Stone in the photo? Well, it seems we have a problem here. Blue Moon sent me an extra Cluckers instead of a Blarney Stone!

At first, this made me terribly sad. I love the Cluckers, but I really wanted four different colors. I have specific plans for the Cluckers and Rooster Rock and don't know what I'd do with another Cluckers. I e-mailed Blue Moon and asked if I could exchange the skein because of the error. They are just the nicest people ever and I got an email today saying that they would ship me the Blarney Stone and I can do whatever with the extra Cluckers. How nice is that?

It seems that free knit blessings are just falling into my lap right now, since a non-knitting friend of mine also got me an issue of the Interweave Holiday Gifts after I'd purchased one for myself.

I've been so lucky this year when it comes to knitting. I started blogging and joined Ravelry around the same time and people have left such nice comments and introduced me to their blogs, all of which really make my days a little bit happier. I'll be honest and say that I'm just coming out of a few not-so-good years personally and this season, I finally have my head on straight, I know who I am and what I want to do with my life (at least right now), my family is all healthy and whole, and my friends are just some of the best. I am an incredibly lucky and blessed person this season. I know from reading some of the blogs out there that other people are going through some hard times and we all need a pick-me-up once in a while. And it's easy to get lost in the horrors of rampant consumerism during the holiday season and forget the whole point of just sitting back, taking stock of our blessings, and just being truly grateful for the good things in our lives. So in honor of giving thanks, this is my ThanksGIVEaway. Excuse the cheesy portmanteau.

Leave a comment sharing what you're thankful for this month. It can be funny, cheesy, tragic, simple, complicated. You can be thankful for the moon. You can be thankful for cheese. You can be thankful for indoor plumbing or Johnny Depp. The cut-off will be 11:59 pm., EST, on Friday, Nov. 16. At midnight on Friday night, I'll pick two random comments. The first will get the STR lightweight in Cluckers and the second will get my extra copy of Holiday Gifts along with two skeins of Louet Gems in Crab Apple to make either the Sweetheart or Veronik socks featured in the mag:

The things I'm grateful for right now: Socks, Law & Order re-runs, the power of email, brand-new giant towels, and my mom's health.