demanded an equal posting opportunity:

It’s a scarf for pete’s sake. GET OVER IT!

yesterday, which probably speaks volumes about my personality.

I started the scarf in the closest to red, most manly shade I had: Plymouth Happy Feet in a lovely autumn colorway. I got the first 12 inches knitted in a really nice rib pattern (something corrugated that has to do with Arnold — you can find out all kinds of references to the pattern and see all sorts of samples on the Red Flag Scarf Emergency thread in the #1 Knitspot Fan forum on Ravelry).

To me, this was perfect. Attractive colors, nice lightweight feel because of the fingering weight yarn. Squooshy pattern. Then I got a notion to go to the Red Flag Scarf page and read the requirements. Double fingering it said. DK. Worsted. Panic. Nothing about fingering.

I raced to the ravelry site, posted panic messages, totally misinterpreted other messages, pulled the scarf off the needles, tossed the stash, started another one, panicked that the new one would be an inappropriate yarn choice because it was not superwash, frantically knit so much last night on the second scarf my little finger hurts (I have no idea why — it’s not like I actually use it to knit), worried that the pattern on the second scarf was ugly because I added some seed stitch borders because the ribbing pattern alone felt too fat to me in the Cascade yarn, and on and on and on and on. I had this feeling that I should just frog the damn Cascade scarf and frog the Happy Feet scarf and pretend this never happened. It was completely and totally nerve racking.

This is why I primarily knit for me. I have this deep-seated fear that nothing I knit is ever good enough or right enough or pretty enough or whatever enough for someone else. Even if it is. Even if it’s really just fine. (You may recall that the RNK did his best to reinforce my fears with the Hamefarin sweater.)

OK, I may be exaggerating a wee bit here. I really like the way that one pair of socks I knit when we were on vacation in northern California turned out. And the pair of socks I made for my mom last year for her Christmas present were pretty nice too. So I have liked a couple of things I’ve knit, one of them even a pressie.

Setting those two projects aside, here’s where the deep psychological analysis could start. But let’s not go there. Face it. I’m just a nervous little freak inside and that makes me a lot like Opal in that regard and it’s just good that I cope as well as I do. That’s why I knit. Knitting calms me down in the evenings and sets me up for a good night’s sleep so I can work the next day. I knit the way I need to knit so that I can stay nice and calm. One project at a time. No pressure. It’s just for me. No worries about what anyone else will think. No deadlines.

And suddenly, I have not one, not two, but three projects going at once. Two of which must be finished by December 15. I am very nervous about this.

This morning. I got a calming message from Anne Hanson that the first scarf should be back on the needles. Now it is. Fingering is OK, especially in this Arnold Schwarzenegger-inspired ribbing. Add a bit of another color as a stripe if it’s too short. No big deal. Sally forth. Non-superwash yarn is OK too. Who washes scarfs anyway? Unless you puke on them. That’s what Norma advised.

Then Norma posted a message that the deadline isn’t all THAT hard and fast. Just do your best and mail it off as close to that date as you can. And it occurred to me that even though I “should” make finishing the second scarf, the Cascade 220 one, a priority because it is more in keeping with the project requirements, I don’t have to do that. I can keep my own orderly knitter progression in my head and knit the sequence that makes me feel best.

And I wonder why Opal and I get along so well. Peas in a pod.

Except for how we look. She’s just so much cuter than me!

for the Red Scarf Project. (I’m not sure that the link worked in my last post — hopefully it will work this time.) It’s going to be touch and go on the yardage. I don’t have a lot of red choices in my stash and even this one isn’t exactly red. It is more autumn with maroon and bits of green and navy and a touch of orange. Rather masculine actually.

I knit an inch, took it off the needles and weighed it and calculated how long it would most likely turn out with the amount of yarn I have. I came up with 63 inches. But, I didn’t think it was going to be quite wide enough, so I made some modifications in stitch count and needle size. Hopefully, I will come close to the 60″ length. The worst case scenario is that I might end up with a 58 inch scarf if my math is right. I’m going to go with it.

I did find one more skein in my stash that could make up scarf number two if this one just blazes along. How about you? Any red scarf knitting?

I follow a bunch of blogs. One of the more enjoyable is Anne’s of Knitspot fame.

Today she posted that the Red Scarf Project needs scarves! They are short by about 2,200 scarfs. And by the way, they need not be red.

In an effort to get a bunch more scarfs for this very cool cause, Anne posted this on her blog today:

Here’s what we’ll do: we’ll create a stickied thread in the the knitspot ravelry group where you can post a photo of your completed red scarf project and chat with other participants. everyone who commits to making a scarf can participate there, but only those that post a photo of a completed scarf will be eligible for a drawing to be held at the end.

On december 16th, we’ll pull one name from the ravelry thread (it MUST be someone who posted a completed scarf) and send that person a wonderful surprise package.

I’m sure any surprise package from Anne will be stunning!

If you follow the first link, the Red Scarf Project one, there’s also a contest there for monetary contributions. No need to break your Holiday knitting mojo if you got one going. Just send cash.

If you are of a mind to knit a scarf or two or three by the December something deadline, here are the detailed specs directly from Norma’s blog:

If you are able to eke out a scarf, or another scarf, before the December 15 deadline, (or even somewhere close to the deadline will be acceptable) I hope you will consider it. Remember the guidelines, but please don’t be paralyzed into inaction by the guidelines. The goal is a nice, unisex scarf, and the preferred color is red BUT there are hundreds of shades that are unisex… just stay away from pink and lilac. And there are dozens of unisex designs… just stay away from the lace.

Here they are again: 5 to 8 inches wide, 60ish inches long. Unisex. Sport, DK, or worsted weight. (bulky or super-bulky will not fit into the shipping boxes)

Mail completed scarves to:

Orphan Foundation of America
The Red Scarf Project
21351 Gentry Drive
Sterling, VA 20166

So, tell a friend, or two, or a dozen! I just made my contribution. How about you?

not buy each other Christmas gifts this year. Instead, he suggested that with the economy so messed up and both of us having relatively stable jobs, we should give to our local food bank instead. I liked the idea and we agreed.

Yesterday he found a pair of shoes he wanted and when I suggested I buy them for him for Christmas, he agreed to that too. To his credit, he did change his mind a few minutes later; but, it does underscore how hard it is to change our consuming ways.

It takes some effort to fend off the never-ending barrage of sales pitches for material things that are sure — or so the pitch suggests — to make life better, easier and more wonderful or to make us more lovable, successful and appealing.

It seems we need some fundamental changes to our way of thinking. Is it the holidays that brings out this train of thought? Do I circle around to this “bigger than me” view of humanity only when reminded of the giving season? It could be. It could be the best thing about the holidays. This year it’s hitting me earlier. Perhaps it will stay longer.

If there is any silver lining to the poor economy in this country right now, this could be it: these tough times will serve as a catalyst to help us find happiness in less material ways.

With this thought in mind, so far this year, I have contributed toward a knitting basket at Heifer International. One thing I really like about this organization is that they have honored my requests to not put me on their mailing lists. I can give and I don’t have to worry about my gift translating into a never-ending barrage of catalogs and pleas for more gifts. I like that. I hate when I feel like a contribution toward something I believe in turns into something I don’t believe in — cutting down more and more trees for mailings that will simply hit the trash can.

How are you going to celebrate the holidays this year? Are you cutting back on gift giving? Are you changing the types of gifts you give? Have you, or will you, contribute to food banks and organizations like Heifer International?

I would be interested in hearing what others are doing this holiday season. Overall, I believe knitters are such creative and kind people. I am interested in your thoughts.

And because I think pictureless posts are, well, pictureless, here’s a sunrise sequence I took the other morning from our deck.

I’m counting the sold skein of Poison Nr. 5 Wollmeise as my second stash-busting project. It’s gone. I didn’t knit it; but, it’s gone. That’s good for something.

Project number 1 is finished. The socks are ridiculously short in my opinion. I had yarn leftover. I tried to pick up the cast on edge and add a pattern to the top. No matter what I did, it looked stupid. An add on. A mistake. Too tight. Too frilly.

I made them the exact same height as the other pair of Socks that Rock lightweight thinking that I would use every last bit of this lovely yarn. The other pair was either the second or third pair of socks I knit. Was my tension way tighter or something? I have about one third of the total weight of each sock left over in additional yarn. I could have made the legs a full two or three inches longer. Bummer.

With no leg extension idea I liked and the pressure on to get through 15 projects ASAP (so I can buy yarn with abandon once again), short socks it is. If I have to reknit the heels, I’ll have plenty of yarn for that. I did use a pale brown reinforcing yarn on the heels already, so hopefully, it will be a long time before I need to make repairs.

I always reinforce the heels on my socks now. I’m trying short row heels because this style of heel makes reinforcing easier. However, my wraps look like crap. [There's a poem in there somewhere.]

Perhaps it was the top down construction that caused my wraps to look so yucky. Nope. Toe up is no better as far as improving my wraps. I even tried a different wrapping technique on the current, in-progress pair. But, in spite of how crappy they look, knowing how many times I tinked and knitted the wraps on the Socks that Rock pair, I just forged forward. I feel guilty. Such shoddy workpersonship with such a lovely yarn.

Yes, it is Wollmeise.

My photo doesn’t do the color justice. It’s deeper and more purple and much more rich.

The pattern was taken from Barbara Walker and is called, if I’m remembering correctly, Japanese fan. It waves. Back and forth. I had to insert a row of purl ribbing down the sides of the foot to help balance out the waves. Without the ribbing, the waves made my foot look quite disturbingly misshapen.

It will be OK on the leg after I am knitting pattern all the way around. I hope.

I have a ton of yarn. Wollmeise comes in huge skeins. The pattern doesn’t show up too well in this dark color. However, I was thinking the length of this pair could make up for the lack of length in the prior pair. There is a purl row between pattern repeats. I may use that as a shaping spot and go for some really tall socks. After a few more rows, I am going to increase needle size so the pattern expands a bit too.

With my pasty white legs (as the RNK calls them) as a foil, the lace pattern should show up quite a bit more.

Hmmm. With all this prospective length, maybe I can’t quite count this pair as a quarter done. Oh well, close enough.

and decided that gifting/selling/or otherwise disposing of skeins could count toward my 15 project total. After significant deliberation, I decided to part with a skein of Wollmeise.

I listed Poison Nr. 5 on Ebay. I have never actually listed anything on Ebay before today. I am now an “official” seller with three items listed: the Wollmeise and two Day-Timer planner covers I bought several years ago as prizes in a contest that never materialized. I’ve been carting these two leather planner covers (in sizes I don’t use) around for a decade now.

The planner covers were no-brainers. Why not sell them? I hope someone buys them. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

The Wollmeise. Well, that’s a different story. I love this color. Trouble is, I don’t actually wear many clothes in this color and I like my socks to match my clothes. I have other skeins of hand-dyed sock yarn in purples and pinks. I don’t exactly know why I’m attracted to this shade. Fuschia was my favorite crayon color when I was little. I still love it. I just don’t wear it.

Besides, I have three other skeins of Wollmeise in blue/green shades that I will wear. No doubts! One is already wound in preparation for sock project #2. I looked at the three unwound skeins and after careful deliberation, decided, “What the hell.” Poison Nr. 5 is officially listed on ebay.

I suppose I might regret this decision. Or not. Depends how much it sells for!

federal government, we had plenty of freezes. Spending freezes and hiring freezes topped the list.

Nicci, in the Tassie Stitchers Group on Ravelry proposed a Stash Freeze. I’m liking that. She said, “I am now formally on a stash freeze, and may not, not, not, purchase any more yarn until I have made at least 15 items from stash yarn. (in a small voice – unless someone asks what I want for Christmas – that can’t count).”

Well said! I jumped on board; I am number 6 to sign on. I will concentrate on socks to work on trimming the sock yarn stash (although I have heard that sock yarn never counts as stash). Pair 1 is on the needles.

A momentary aside: If that were true about sock yarn not counting, I would have to bail on the whole idea — I can’t even imagine how long it would take me to knit 15 sweaters or 15 lace projects — my other two primary stash components. Forget that. I could never keep away from yarn purchases for that long. So, in this instance, and perhaps this instance only, sock yarn counts as stash.

Thank goodness I got that last little purchase of the Tasmanian wool offered by elann.com in at the end of October!

It looks a little splitty to work with. No where near as nice as the Japanese-spun Tasmanian wool that they had at the Handweavers, Spinners and Dyers Guild of Tasmania. But at $2.98 a ball vs. heaps more, (I put that price right out of my mind) I can live with it.

It satisfies my “need” to have some Tasmanian yarn in my stash.

1. The trade. I definitely came out on the better end of this one! I traded the cardigan for this lovely shawl.

I love shawls. I have tons of shawl patterns and yarn for knitting them. I knit a shawl. Once. But for the last year or so, I just can’t seem to get off my sweater/sock kick to knit another.

This shawl is the perfect size for me. It fits around my shoulders and keeps the chill off my neck when we watch movies and yet it’s not so big as to be overwhelming. Absolutely perfect. It folds down into a very small little bundle which will make it excellent for traveling. The workmanship, Claire’s, is impeccable.

2. The slippers. They felted up OK. I still need to redo the elastic for the button strap on the left slipper. It shows too much from the outside. There’s a fine line between getting the elastic buried enough so that it doesn’t rub on the foot and getting it too close to the outside. I missed that line.

If you look back to a previous post, you can see that they felted down quite a bit. Same ruler. Felting is pretty weird.

3. Socks. We went to Santa Fe for the RNK’s birthday on Saturday. We ate at Cafe Pasqual’s and had a lovely dinner. On the way down, I got to knit in the car!

I took “More Sensational Knitted Socks” with me. In the end, I just winged a pattern, alternating a K6P2 ribbing a bit because I love this yarn and I didn’t want the pattern to detract. I can’t remember the name of the color, but it’s Socks that Rock lightweight. So far, I am pleased. The heel is a bit funky. I have only done one other short row heel with wraps. I hope the other sock turns out a bit nicer.

4. Opal. She’s such a bright spot in our lives. Always entertaining. Today, she had a chipmunk trapped under a flagstone walkway.

Chimpmunk lovers, don’t fret. No chipmunks were actually harmed in the making of this blog post.

made even smaller by the fact that it includes three dog beds. Two for the dogs; one for the cat.

In spite of that, Opal seems to find my chair a more comfortable spot:

Today, I managed to squeeze her far enough back that I do have a small ledge to perch on. Comfortable? No!

Jakob is more accommodating. He sleeps in one of the dog beds:

Is he comfortable? Apparently. This is his preferred sleeping posture. It offers a great glimpse of his gap-tooth smile:

There has been knitting. I’m trying my first felting project, a pair of house slippers. Freaky!

Yes, that is a 12 inch (30.5 cm) ruler inbetween the pair. Can they possibly felt down that much? Not yet. But I’m still working on it. It’s harder since my washer is a front loader and it doesn’t work well with a single-item load.

Does anyone have some alternative felting method suggestions for me?