Baby Hats!

I really like knitting baby hats! There are lots of different patterns and yarns to choose from, they're easy, and quick!!
I decided that taking a break to knit an occasional baby hat is good for the soul… so over the next 4 months I’m going to knit the occasional baby hat in between my dishcloths, and Stephen's mitts and my never ending lace scarf, and Kaylyn's fairy dress and hopefully eventually my baby's blanket! Then I'm going stock pile them so that when I go into labor I can bring the hospital a hat donation.

The picture at the top is of my first hat, it's an umbilical cord hat from Stitch n Bitch in preemie size, made with Patons SWS yarn on size 8 DPNs.


If you would like to add to my baby hat pile message or comment to me!!

Proud to be a knitter!!

So right now I'm feeling pretty proud to be a knitter! I was over at Ravelry, my main site for knitting addiction, looking over the 356 designers that are donating a portion of their pattern sales to Haiti relief funds and ran across a thread from yesterday where Casey (one of the Ravelry owners) announced that Ravelry donations had already totaled $47,254!!

Then while reading one of my favorite knitting blogs, the Yarn Harlot, I learned that the group she founded in 2004, Knitters without Borders, has helped them raise over $913, 000!! These donations mainly go to help Doctors without Borders who desperately need supplies and volunteers.

Another group, Knitting with Company, has started a program called Help Heel Haiti by Knitting, where they are promising to match dollar for dollar donations made by their vendors' sales up to $50,00.

Overall the knitting and crochet community has made huge efforts to support relief efforts in Haiti and it makes me very proud to be among them! It also goes to show you that any talent can be used for the better good!

Yarn Search

So Google has a new feature that allows you create a map with specific locations on it. Hmmm... I wonder how I can use this most informatively.... hmmmmm. Yarn store locations OF COURSE!!!

So I made a map of yarn store locations that I have been to and my opinions of them. I'm trying to find out if since it's a public map if anyone can add a location and a review... so I'm still working on it.

So here is my map, remember it's a work in progress since I'm still playing with the feature.

View Yarn Stores in a larger map

Also here is a link of the article I read about it in Wired...

http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Plot_Your_Favorite_Locations_on_a_Map?oldid=64589

Under the Dome

I see Stephen King has having two distinct writing personalities. The gory, horror, creepy writer that everyone automatically associates with him. This personality brought us Misery, Delores Claiborne, IT, and so on. Then there is the equally creepy, thought provoking Stephen King. More along the lines of Bag of Bones, and his newest novel , the arm breakingly long Under the Dome.

Right now I am on page 425 of this book, and not even halfway through. The pure heft of the book itself is very intimidating, the 1000+ pages make it seem like a crazy choice for a stay at home mom who has plenty of cleaning, Christmas knitting, and baking to do, but, taking my 50% off coupon from Borders as a sign, I took on the challenge!!

So far I am very glad I did! There are so many wonderfully vivid characters, and so many twists and turns that you won't even realize the pages flying by! You begin the book thinking you have an idea of what the "Dome" might be or represent, but you don't. There is something much deeper, sinister, and compelling going on at the heart of this book and I can't wait to get there!
I personally knew I was getting drawn in when a character developed that created such a great hate in me that I have to read to the end hoping for someone to punch him in face! Of course the way this book is going, I may end up loving him!

So, bottom line... if you are looking for a break from the early Christmas madness that is going on, or you need a gift for yourself or any avid reader... I whole heartedly recommend Under the Dome... it will draw you in without you even realizing it and 1000 pages will seem like nothing!!

View a trailer of the novel here at Amazon

Happy Halloween!!!

In honor of Halloween coming up on Saturday I would like to share some of my favorite Halloween time movies!! Here are some clips to start with... I'm not really the "horror" movie type, so most of these are just cheesy Halloween movies that aren't very scary or gory.

It's FINALLY concert time!!!

So I haven't been to a concert all year!! Sad and shocking!! But I'm making up for it in a big way tomorrow night at the Ulalume festival at Merryweather Post Pavillion!

It's not only a Paramore and AFI concert but a Halloween festival put on by MTV! It's common knowledge that I complain yearly of not having anything "cool" to do on Halloween where I get to wear a costume and be creepy and be creeped, but I will not have any reason to complain this year!! We will be standing in the pit a mere 35 feet from AFI and Paramore when they take the stage. We will also be in full costume. I (of course) will be in a gothy Alice costume and Stephen will be his own take on the Cheshire Cat! I will blog again this weekend with pictures and such but in the meantime enjoy this AFI video montage!!

PS make sure you tune into the Ulalume Halloween Special on MTV Friday October 30th at 9pm to see if you can catch a glimpse of me and Stephen!!

S O C K is a four letter word!

** Warning, probably of no interest to non-knitters

Sooooo I have spent much of my knitting career learning that socks are the be all and end all of the knitting experience. "Knit a sock and you'll be hooked" "Socks; easy, quick, and hard to ignore" is just some of the sock propaganda that has been tossed around my knitting group every week. So I gave in and got pretty excited about my first pair of socks and completed them with relative success! So feeling pretty cocky I began immediate plans for a pair for my mom (who incidently has the same size foot I do) for her birthday. I got the perfect wool, nylon blend sock yarn in a pretty coral color in a swap and knew it was fate! I started on a "Poppy" pattern from a certain sock knitting celebrity and CO (cast on for you non knitters) onto my US 1 DPNs (double pointed needles).

Four frogs (completely ripping out your entire project), 10 dropped stitches, and 1 aggravated heave accross the room later I'm left to wonder "What's wrong with me?" I've knitted sweaters, baby blankets, mittens, moderate lace, and basic socks why can't I tackle this project.

I soon learned that the road to proper sock knitting is littered with terms like "toe up" "provisional CO" "short row heel" "heel flap". Terms I've come to appreciate as profain! I must soon re-prioritize my knitting goals to keep from lunging my US 1 's at the next person who asks "How's your latest sock coming" I must suck it up and begin agian! Bigger, better, lacier sock patterns are in my future!! Knee high stockings as far as the eye can see!