Footwear

Well, I officially managed to not blow the birthday surprise. Really, I don't know how I did it. I'm one of the world's worst secret-keepers. My mother was completely blown away that she got her own pair of clogs. And in the color that she wanted, as she hinted months ago. (Yes, mother, I do listen to people's favorite colors, and what each and every one of the knuggles [non knitterly folk]wants from me.) She had a good birthday (lots of cake and awesome presents), so I was satisfied. The clogs were literally off the shoe-drier before I wrapped them up. I was very happy they dried in time. Each clog had two hoses emitting warm air for 200 minutes last night, and an additional 60 minutes or so yesterday afternoon.

They are so much smaller & narrower than mine. (Hey,...is THAT what happens when you use size 13's instead of 15's? [in my defense, I got that idea from some other clogger who suggested it]) I really like them. Too bad we had to part. *sigh.* I'm just glad that my mom liked them so much that she felt comfortable bringing them to choir practice tonight. Oh crap. That means everyone else knows I can make them. Double *sigh.*

This post was supposed to be about the charity washcloths, but I decided that since I was slacking a little bit-since I had to make the clogs in under 3 days-I should wait until the next post to display them.

But until then, St. Patricks day is coming up, and I've gotta make some socks to go along with my awesome tee-shirt for the occasion. I've faced the fact that if I don't do socks 2-at-a-time, the second one doesn't get done. I'm a little in a time-crunch to get them done, so here's the full pair of socks so I don't end up wearing only one sock because I started slacking due to "Second Sock Syndrome." (Would the drunks really notice though, I wonder?)
I'm definitely digging the striping. They are on size 3US needles with a 60st CO, and will reduce to 58sts for the main leg part. 64st socks are just too big for me when they're in stockinette.

What? Like YOU don't knit for giants??

Mommy Dearest's birthday is just a couple of days away, so I'm in high-gear for knitting up her present. (You'll have to realize that Mommy Dearest isn't a big fan of wearing the knittables[scandalous, I know], so when I found out that she loved the pair of Fiber Trends' felted clogs I made a while back for myself, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make her a pair of her own.) She likes the naturals, beige & brown, so that's exactly what she'll get.

WIP info:
Started: March 7th 2009
Pattern: Fiber Trends' Felted Clogs (AC-33)
Yarn: Patton's Classic Wool: 2 skeins in beige, 2 skeins in brown
Needles: Size 13 US circs, plus extra circs for later instructions
Clog Size: Average 8 women's

Here is a picture of another project that I started a couple of weeks ago, but have put it on hold since I have a bunch of little knits to take care of first. I'll give more info on it later. All I'll tell you is that it will be fabulous and is a modification of an awesome pattern. ;) I'm sure someone already recognizes what it is. Those people probably has made one themselves too.

Other than that, I've been aweful quiet lately because not only am I charity knitting, but I've been working getting my health insurance finalized, I've recently added a few more piano students (now 13-14 students!) and I've also been working on all sorts of wedding stuff: the guest list, the wedding party, figuring out the catering food choices, honeymoon shopping (It will probably be Oahu) through Travelocity, and searching Truilia.com & Realtor.com for places to live in 5-6 months. Selling has slowed down so much, so I'm hoping that not only will the prices stay low (or lower even more...sorry sellers), but that the places that I really loved are still there. There are a couple of cute townhouse/condos out there that I've fallen in love with for various reasons. Joe comes home this weekend, and our familys plan do the money talk (yikes) over dinner, and Joe and I should start talking about the minute things that need to be taken care of next week: the official wedding party list, the more official wedding list, guest list, vendors & such. Michaels finally has brown invitation choices this season. I might just go with that & spruce it up since I'm having a hard time finding the right scrapbook paper for my theme. I'll be hanging out with the girls this Thursday. Maybe I'll ask them if they wanna go veil-shopping next week. Almost 6.75 months left. :) I can't wait!

Next post: charity knits I've been slowly working on.

Something's Brewing

Now that the Carnival socks are done, I have made it my goal to work on at least 1 KUAS pattern a day, free or for sale, to update it, make them all look uniform, sweep for any typos missed, clarify if need-be, turn the free ones into pdfs, link the pdfs to my blog & Ravelry, etc. It's a arduous process, and I'll probably be bald by the time I'm done, but it will be worth it. No patterns that have not been updated recently will be for sale, so you'll see on my sidebar that there's only 2 patterns up there.

It's been a gloriously sunny day. I decided to whip out a FO that was completed maybe a year ago and has never found its way into this blog. It was a design for one of the clubs I did a long time ago. I named it "Sunrays Socks," due to the sunrayish lace pattern that I fiddled around with, and the snake-like cables planted along the back. I really think that they should be longer socks, to look better...but what's done is done. I recently took a picture of it because the Word document and the few original photos taken were deleted along with other various patterns and things that I had on my desktop during the "Great Disaster" back several months ago with my external hardrive failing on me...while I was trying to delete everything off of my desktop in preparation to reset the dang thing. I never did reset it...and I never did get back the lost things. Luckily, a lot of my pics weren't all deleted yet, and I had some copies of pictures on Photobucket & Flickr, as well as some documents saved through email.
It was a disaster, I tell ya.

Ending on a good note....I have a new blog! It's: http://www.kuasdesigns.wordpress.com/, and it's purely devoted to all of my patterns, free & for sale. I used Wordpress serviced mainly because I could upload the pdfs to that sight. Go take a look-see if you have time. There's a button on my sidebar for easy access to it. It's still in the beginning stages, so don't expect too much, but I have most of the pictures up that will have their proper pattern linked to them with PDFs. That's right, I said it. All patterns will now have pdfs. So, hopefully you'll see changes everyday (or every other day) if my 1 pattern per day thing becomes a reality. I already have 3 or 4 patterns updated. However, this blog will always be running. I have to ramble about my WIP's and designs still. lol.

(However, I expect this weekend to be slow with improvements. I'm planning on visiting my guy this weekend in Iowa! Squee!!! I asked one of the AV workers at the library to take my Sunday, so after my morning Friday shift, it's off to Iowa it go. Hei-HO! Hei-Ho!)
P.S- read "Wesley the Owl" if you're a bookworm. It's a great book, and it made me laugh & cry!
P.P.S- If you've been around for a while on this blog, I think I'm officially starting my Lana Lang -inspired sweater I talked about (maybe years) ago. Ha ha.

Carnival Socks (KUAS Original Design)

About the pattern:
During the Medieval times, there was a clear structure to the way of life. You were either at the bottom of the class “pyramid” being a serf, or you were right dab in the middle or upper middle living as one of the the nobility, or as a priest or even a Lord... or you were at the very top living in high luxury as the King/Queen. You knew your place during that time…and there really was nothing you could do to change your status. Except right before Lent: the Thursday up through Ash Wednesday. The most recognizable terms nowadays from this folk culture would be Mardi Gras, or "Fat Tuesday," which would be the end of the festivities. During these few days in which the festivities were coined "the Carnival," you were allowed to switch roles. And that definitely called for a celebration. Serfs pretended to be like priests, or Lords, and had their fair share of profanity & mocking the whole class system, as well as their own Christian religion. The priests and the Lords really did sit around and let the serfs act as they pleased for this short period of time because they believed that if they allowed for it, briefly, it would reduce the tension on the whole poor-rich and unjust system (in the eyes of the serfs, of course). The serfs would get to blow their steam out, and a REVOLUTION among the people would be less likely. So, the Carnival, or Mardi Gras is a tradition that is still celebrated to this day. It is a time to be FREE, act as you please (think about the tradition of beads), and to feast as much as you want…because come Wednesday, it’s time for fasting (Lent) for 40 days.

This pattern tries to hold to a “nothing is at is seems” quality, where the stockinette has vertical lines protruding out, and the gusset & rest of the lower body of the foot without a pattern is completely purled. Even the ribbing on the top seems different, due to the nature of the *K2TBL, p2* where the two knit stitches separate from eachother a little.


SOCK METHOD: Top-down

MATERIALS:
Yarn: under 350-375 yds of fingering-weight yarn in a varigated colorway.
Needles: Set of 5 size 2US dpns & one darning needle
1 Stitch-holder
Place Marke

This free pattern has been removed 10/17/12. It may or may not return, but if it does, it will be tweaked and pdf’ed and available for an inexpensive $1.99 price.

Nothing's what it seems

In light of the upcoming festivities this Tuesday (Mardi Gras), I have decided to type up and give you the "Carnival Sock" pattern free. However, you'll have to wait until it's typed up. lol. It should be done within the next day or so. It's up & running!! That's how much I love you all. (It's time to sleep now, lol!) If you want to ravel-it, it's already in the pattern system.

FO this! (Updated)

Before Valentine's day, I got my "Punk Rock Tunic" done just in time for Joe's arrival on Friday. I'm pretty please with the results.

I used a ball of yarn closely related to Lion Brand's Jiffy. They might be cousins. Or Step-siblings. Or married. Who knows. All I know is that I knocked almost a couple pound ball down to almost nothing.

I decided against my seed stitch sleeves. While trying it on, I realized that it really looked better with the roll-top edge to leave it short & naked. Oh-la la.

A belt does look good with this FO. I don't know about you, but I see the perfect belts for all sorts of things in magazines, but when it comes around to finding them...good luck. I think my brown leather belt looked the best. But then again, I only own like 3 or 4 belts. I almost made an I-cord belt that was braided using this yarn.

Here's my hunny with his "Emmett hat." I had to squeeze in a minute before he left to take a picture of him with it on. I still have to send the pattern to my testers. Sorry for the wait girls.

I gave my valentine my heart.

Oh, by the way, I spent like 3 hours several days ago really uploading dozens and dozens of projects the you have or have not seen me make in my past. I also added more pictures to the projects that were already in my ravelry project page. Believe you me, it was a pain in the neck to add over 60 projects in one sitting. The oldest projects have minimal info. If you haven't friended me yet, my Ravelry name is: knittyknitter. Just like Craftster.org.

What's next? My "SlipStitch Socks" using my friend Erica's "Mardi Gras" sockyarn that I traded with her last year. I missed the deadline for making them in time for last Mardi Gras, but I'm determined to make them this year. Just like a pair of St. Patrick's Day socks.

Btw, if anyone ever wants you to watch "House of Wax." Don't. Unless you like watching acid sprayed on living humans and fingers being cut off and stuff while superglue is on your lips. I'll never look at wax the same again. I'm never letting my friend Jenna pick our movie out again.
Oh... and If you have any awesome V-day stories to share, feel free to post them below. All Joe and I really did was go to IHOP in the morning, watch a movie & eat a late dinner at a steakhouse.

Sock Update:
First sock down. I think this pair will definitely be done in time for Mardi Gras! The pattern will be called "Carnival," inspired by the medieval folk culture of the Carnival. Explaination & sock update tomorrow in a new post!

Punk Rock Tunic

I enjoy the brainless knitting in the round that 'mostly stockinette' raglans have to offer. There's just enough simple variation to keep your mind sane, while at the same time, you never really have to look down at a pattern the whole way through. At the same token, I also love the option to work top-down, which means from a lazy arse's point-of-view: less work.
Alright, alright. You got me. You get to try it on as you go. It fits better.

I was going to call this WIP "Inner Sanctuary," because of the ripple-like pattern that I created. However, I decided to swap the name for something else. (I really am bad at naming my own works.) This design will henceforth be called "Punk Rock Tunic" because it seems more hardcore than peaceful.

I have successfully enjoyed yet another gorgeous day basking in the sun (and slightly brisk wind) I not only knit a little outside on our deck, but I snuggled up with a comfy down blanket and my most recent read, "Bitten." Has anyone read it? I'm about half way through. I heard that it was written better than the Twilight series, so I had to try it out.

At the moment, I am finishing up the base of the tunic, and I'll probably end up single-crocheting the top of the tunic and figure out something for the sleeves. It will most likely just be seed-stitch, just like the base of the tunic.

My dear Valentine comes home Friday evening! I'm so excited! Before we go off and have an amazing 1 1/2 day weekend together, I'll make sure to crack out the camera so he can take some snaps of the FO. :) Chao!

"Punk Rock" Teaser

This WIP is 3/4 done. Today's teaser is a panoramic view from my camera. Update coming soon!

<3 The BIG Valentine's Sale <3

Hey Knitters. Getting in the mood for Valentine's Day yet? Its not lingerie for your hunny, but I've got a big of a sale going on at the KUAS shop for all you V-Day enthusiasts.

Joe-Bear is snuggling up with the Valentine's Day-inspired sock yarn and lace yarn. Don't worry, I've got some honey in the pantry for when they find themselves in someone's home. Maybe I'll take a pic of him snuggling up with the huge bottle of honey we got from Sam's Club. Hee hee.

You'll see two skeins of "Sweet Valentine" fingering-weight yarn, 1 skein of "Sweet Hearts" lace-weight yarn, 1 set of 5 stitch markers called "Electric Pink," and even 1 skein of "Ever-Pink." All yarn is marked a few dollars lower. I also listed my "Candied Love" sock pattern in there too. :)

My candied rinds

Anna's Candied Rinds:
Making candied rinds requires a bit of time & energy, but the results are absolutely satisfying. People will keep asking you to make more. This old-time recipe of candied orange rinds has been revamped to be more novel & scrumptious, and will have you feeling a little bit more like Martha.

Items needed:
2 medium saucepans
1 large saucepan (with a wide mouth)
2 cookie sheets
2 cooling racks
2 ladles (with holes)
Paring knife
Tongs
1 large bowl
1 and 1/2 measuring cups
approx 6-7 cups of sugar
2 navel oranges
2 lemons
2 limes
7-8 strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries
Canning jars/plastic container for storage

THE DIRECTIONS:
For all rinds: the set-up
1. wash & dry fruit.
2. Cut horizontally & vertically across the entire fruit.
3. Peel all four sections off the fruit, being very careful not to rip the rinds.
(Save your fruit in a container to be used for different purposes, like orange juice or lemon/limes for your water. No need to waste.)
4. Cut both ends of the rinds so they look rectangular.
5. Slice the rinds length-wise, 1/8'' thick each. You'll get about 5 slices per rind section.
6. Cut off any excess pith (or the actual fruit) off the inside of the rind with your pairing knife to make all of the rinds look uniform.
7. Place your rinds in their own medium saucepan. I mixed lemons & limes together, but boiled the orange rinds separate. You can boil them all together, or mix and match as you see fit. Just remember that orange rinds smell & taste very different than the citrus scent of lemons and limes though.
8. Fill the sauce pan(s) with cold water, until it covers the rinds. Turn the heat on high and turn off only until the water rapidly boils.
9. Drain & rinse the rinds. Put the fruit back into its pan again.
10. Boil fruit this time for 40 minutes, until rinds are completely soft. (Limes might need to boil longer, believe it or not. It has a tougher rind.) Rinds should be flimsy and almost translucent.
11. Drain and rinse rinds.
Continue instructions according to type of rinds:

Berry-Orange Rinds:
Everyone's favorite!!
12. Pour 2.5 cups of cold water into a large wide-mouth saucepan. Turn the heat on high.
13. Pour 2 cups of sugar into the pan and dissolve. Stir mixture well with your ladle. Add rinds, sliced strawberries & blueberries.
14. Turn the heat on Medium-low and boil for 40-60 minutes until the water has turned into a thick syrup. Stir often.

Lemon & Lime Rinds:
12. Pour 2.5 cups of cold water into a medium saucepan. Turn the heat on high.
13. Pour 2 cups of sugar into the pan and dissolve. Stir mixture well with your ladle. Add rinds.
14. Turn the heat on Medium-low and boil for 40-60 minutes until the water has turned into a thick syrup. Stir often.

Finishing:
15. Place your cookie sheet under your cooling racks. Using tongs, fish through your berry-orange mixture to grab your rinds. Place all rinds onto one cooling rack (call this the "sticky rack"), being careful not to let the sticky rinds touch eachother. For lemon/lime rinds without a berry-mixture, just grab the rinds and put them on the cooling rack in the same manner.
16. Let rinds cool for about 5 minutes.
17. Pour a couple cups of sugar in a large bowl (the deeper, the better). Start coating your lemon/lime rinds first with sugar, because it's less messy. The easiest method is place several rinds in the bowl and give the bowl a good few shakes to evenly coat the rinds.
18. Line-up all sugar-coated rinds neatly onto your "clean cooling rack."
19. Let the rinds sit overnight to harden more, and package them into mason jars, or whatever you have on hand. Enjoy!

Note: You can blend your berry syrup together to use as an ice cream topper if you'd like.

Emmett

I have a sickness. If I focus on reading, I do not...and will not knit. If, for instance, I finally get my computer to allow me to watch shows online (like Lost!), my mind will switch modes and skip the "pages." I think you all can guess which mode I was in recently:

I was searching throughout my brain for some ideas of what I should sent Joe in the mail for a care package. I've done the popcorn, and the corn nuts (must be the ranch kind), and the hot-chocolate, and the pictures, and the cd-mixes. But not the knitting. I decided that I must "do the knitting" this time. So, here-be "Emmett." A mixture of the colors that he likes, a new design in general, and hopefully a unique idea for a hat: woven stripes.

It's a really easy pattern, and I'll have a version that is a little shorter. Because I designed this hat for Joe, I'm guessing that it would be fitting for him to actually model the FO for the pattern. Not me. I see him for Valentine's Day (can't wait!), so I'm hoping to release the pattern in the shop after the middle of February, when I get back. I actually have a person from Ravelry who offered to test-knit my patterns because A.) she likes to knit, and B.) she has oodles of yarn. And I'm guess there is a C.) she's just a really nice person and would live to help out where she can for our fellow knitterkind. :)
I've never really had an official test-knitter until now. It's a really good idea, especially for those stupid "where's instruction #3" or "how much yardage?" mistakes that end up in the pattern, even after self-proofing.

Upcoming post: my own twist on the "orangettes" recipe that will truly make you salivate. It's so yummy!
Upcoming design idea: a lacey cowl

Candied Orange Rinds

Torn between health & a sugar tooth, I decided to do something Martha Stewartly yesterday to satisfy both needs. Although I modified the recipe so that I would make half the original batch, I tried parikha's Orangettes and they seemed to be a hit!

I won't lie, it is a process. The slicing of the oranges is very time-consuming, not to mention all of the boiling-draining-boiling-draining-boiling routine. I found that this technique is not only easier, but was a lot nicer looking: when cutting the orange rind to remove from the orange, section it first only two ways...vertically and horizontally around the orange. After you do this, carefully remove the four sections from the orange. Cut the edges of the sections so that they look more rectangular, and slice it lengthwise into thin strips (about 1/8'' if you want more bang for your buck).

I did learn that I'm not much of a rind-fan, but I did seem to find that my family enjoyed the treat. I even passed them around at my work. They sure do look artsy & yummy though!

And so it begins

Jeepers creepers. Where has the time gone? I've got under 8.5 months left before the big day and I still feel 15-20 pounds out of shape for it. Call me insane, but I can't have all of the cousins twice as skinny as the bride. Not even kidding...most are like 100 pounds. It just feels wrong.

My foot is far from healing, so the least intensive thing I can think to do (besides crunches and all that good stuff) is swimming. My swimsuit from 11 years ago (yeah, I know...that sucker just held out for me) finally got replaced the other day for a dark blue number. After having my old one basically be a chest peep-show for all the guys (as well as little rips starting in the behind area), I knew it was time to bite the bullet and fork up 60 dollars for a new one. And that was with the sale! Chlorine and hair (especially blond hair) doesn't mix too well, you know, so I also had to buy a rubber cap for my head. I had a heck of a time trying to put it on for the first time, but you know what...not only did I feel like a legit swimmer (despite my crappy technique), but I felt like it was easier to swim and my goggles fit more properly along my eyes.

Ok, here's the start of the first of many overviews:

WEEK 1:
The work-outs
Sunday: 20 minute swim
Monday: (30 minute swim? Can't remember if my mind is just making this one up)
Tuesday: 30 minute swim
Wednesday: 40 minute swim (all sorts of ways to swim), stretching, plus a few crunches
Thursday: 40 minute swim, 5 minute leg extensions in water, more stretching, crunches
Friday: Streching
Saturday: 60 minute swim & lots of stretching in water
The diet:
Sunday-Tuesday: Cereal, sandwiches for lunch & dinner-?
Wednesday: Turkey & egg sandwich, cereal & grapefruit, home-made chicken soup & salad
Thursday: Lean egg pocket, chicken soup, salad, healthy tv dinner
Friday: Weight watcher's breakfast quasadilla, BLT sandwich, tacos
Saturday: W.W's breakfast quasadilla, Turkey sandwich, 2 chocolate nuggets, smoothie & rice

Weight-loss total: 7 pounds!!!

Side-note for all you Twilight fanatics: I'm 1/3 through Breaking Dawn. If reading burned calaries, I probably wouldn't have to worry about weight-loss at all. ;)

From the knitter's journal: "Cropped Sweater" v.1

There's something about a bulky quick-knit project that makes you toss your previous WIP aside for a little while. (Sometimes tossed indefinitely aside....but hey, let's stay a little optimistic; it's tossed aside until the new project is finished.)

It's a new year, that means its time a be a little bit more organized, no? Let's face it, if you really knew me, you would know that I have the rough draft of my patterns on little sticky notes, scratch paper, journals...really anywhere and everywhere. Most of the time, some of the patterns that never make it to this blog get lost. Thrown away. Recycled, sometimes. I think it's long overdo that I officially write in my notes, patterns, charts and such onto an official pattern journal book-for Pete's sake-if it doesn't make it quickly into the computer.
Voila: charts, notes, yarn sample and such.
Hopefully it won't end up like my old diaries. You know, a few long and heart-felt pages filled out and then....wham! A sea of blank pages. I am in the process of designing my own cropped sweater that should have a shape relative to the cropped sweater above. The yarn will be bulkier, the cables will be different, and the color rather brownish with some blue specks. I will use a 2x2 ribbing for the base and sleeves. I'm still undecided about the collar.
Ever since Twilight, I've been racing through all of Meyer's Twilight series. Since I work at the library, I know how the "hold" system work...and how fast the books usually come in...so I planned putting two books at a time on hold while reading the previous book. I read Twilight & New Moon, and I am half way through Eclipse. Thanks to my system, I won't be deprive after I'm done with this book because Breaking Dawn is safely harbored among my other library books "booty." I loved the first book, but I'll save my various criticisms for another post. My officially theme colors for my wedding. Notice the color of the felt on top. And my mom wonders why I could never "specify" the true color of the green that I had in mind for one of my theme colors. What would you say? "Light minty sea-green?" The picture is awful, and the green is a tad sea-greener and brighter, and the brown's darker, but hey, that's artificial light for you. I'm making a large felt blanket of squares out of this wonderful color combination. I do realize that I have a unique vision for my wedding reception decorations. But I'm not faltering in my green choice though. It's my favorite color.

Let's toast to 2009!

Once again, the year has come and gone, leaving nothing but experience, troubles, joys and lots of memories. We have faced more obstacles, the good and the bad, and have survived another year in the modern world.

Some people may have already adjusted to the norm of adult livelihood, while others (like me) are just beginning. There's the whole notion of finding jobs, paying actual bills, warding off injuries (incessant buggers that won't seem to go away), learning to heal relationships, and the big question of will things pan out according to plan after recent events. There are a lot of uncertain details lately, but I am truly optimistic for the 2009 year. After all, dust that rises must eventually settle.

This holiday season has been rather interesting, and I mean that entirely in the hind-sight & stand-offish in the whole mental/physical/emotional sense. I want to thank everyone for wishing me & my loved ones well. I was (and still am) suffering from tendinitis in my left foot & right elbow as I work every day on it-really, the least of my emotional issues-while learning that the wedding might not be in October anymore. The shortest explanation is that Joe will now be graduating in May now, his future work life will be put off now at least 4 months later, which leaves me in rather a tight spot. Because everything is still uncertain, I still don't know whether or not I will need to quit my two present jobs and move back to Iowa for his remaining months so that everyone is safe, healthy, and on track. The whole situation is a little overwhelming, and It gets harder and harder to listen to everyone talking about our wedding when I don't even know myself if it's still on this year. I really love my wedding date, and extending an already 3-year engagement is a little stressful. Joe and I have been ready for quite some time to get a move-on with our lives, as we have been together for almost 7 years, and the whole constant advise to "take your time, you have your whole life" from bystanders is getting a little old. Joe and I both know that I can't really settle into a full-time job because when he graduates his job location isn't necessarily in IL. To me, it's worth it to not have as much monetarily if you reap more in happiness. I don't need a lot, just enough to be comfortable and be able to officially start my adult life. Lately, I feel like I'm trapped in Limbo.

In all, this Winter season has been particularly taxing on me, and I have nothing really to show for my knitting work but the finale of my "Movies" KUAS club.

Meet the revised mitts of Ebeneezer Scrooge. They are interchangeable fingerless mitts with a long 1x1 ribbed cuff and triangle pattern on the main body of the mitts. These mitts are great for when you have to bounce back and forth between using your fingers and keeping them snug under the interchangeable top. They fit perfectly, which really satisfies me.

Pattern: an original KUAS pattern, "Mr. Scrooge's Interchangeable Mitts"
Designed for: the December KUAS knitting club
Inspiration: Mr. Scrooge in the Christmas Carol, with his plain grey fingerless gloves
Yarn: 1 skein of KUAS "blizzard" fingering weight yarn
Needles: size 2US & 3US dpns
Start to finish: few days to complete

Joe and I travelled back and forth between my parent's and his neighbor's New Year Eve party. We started at my place until we were stuffed (not to mention 5 pounds heavier), and mingled (a little awkwardly) for another 2 hours at his neighbor's two houses down, and made it in time for the New Year & the view of lots of drunken folks back at my place. I guess we missed out on a lot of drinks in those two hours. Ha. I will be getting back to the knitting force today, working some more on my 2-stranded hat that I designed a while back. In the near future, I plan on making a semi-sweater. I personally call it a sweater-shrug, to be a little loose with terminology.

As for resolutions, I have finished 26 books this 2008 year (that's one less than 2007-boo!), and have been rather bad to resolving the rest of my previous resolutions for the 2009 year. I didn't loose much weight. I didn't learn new knitting techniques (although I do intend to this year). Eh. I didn't do a lot of things beside graduating and getting some new jobs. That's good enough for me though. This 2009 year will hopefully be more productive. Instead of creating a long list and making it seem like I HAVE to do a bunch of things or "heaven-forbid," I'll make a mental "wish-list" in my head, and hopefully be more motivated to do them.

I wish you all a merry NEW YEARS....2009! Wow! Let it be good to all of us!

New beginnings

There, unfortunately, has been a surplus of health factors for myself on top of very recent family crisises that now changes the immediate course of my life. I want to wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas if I an unable to return back to blogland sooner than the 24th or 25th.

I will announce the winners of the ornament charity & send their prizes after everything has settled down. To those in the Winter club, I am trying my best to send the packages within the next day or so. It is very hard to work among these troubling things, as well as a torn ligament/muscle in my right elbow. I can't even put my hair up in a ponytail at this point. Thanks in advance for your patience, and I promise that everything will get settled that needs to be settled.

Please keep my family, my soon-to-be family, my neighbor friend (Craig, undergoing complications from surgery), and if you have time...myself in your prayers. Thank you.

"Deck out the tree 4 charity" (ends the 12th!) Contest too!

NOTE: This free pattern has been removed 10/17/12. It may or may not return, but if it does, it will be tweaked and pdf’ed and available for an inexpensive $1.99 price.
 
A simple gift of hand-knit (or crocheted or sewn) ornaments to lighten up a stranger's heart.

Please tell your crafty friends about this project & post this to your blog if possible. The charity pattern is posted in the bottom of the post.

The day after Thanksgiving, my whole family gathered yet again, but this time to visit my Grandfather in the nursing home. This is the same grandfather that underwent major heart surgery a while back, didn't recover, and started to deteriorate and have part of his foot removed because he couldn't walk...because he couldn't recover. I know, sick cycle. This was the first time that I visited him in the nursing home, and I was appalled at the sight of these lonely nursing home residents barely doing anything but staring at other people's visitors or falling asleep in front of a large TV in the "theater room" because the nurses are too busy or unwilling to wheel them around all day. The activity coordinator barely provides activities, doesn't even own a keyboard for visitors playing carols during the holidays, and residents are surely bored out of their minds all day. Every day. The loneliness of boredom and the every-day nothingness is seen in their eyes. It's enough to burn your heart.
I watched one elderly woman try to wheel herself in another direction and had trouble doing so. Every time a nurse walked down the hall, she tiredly tried flagging them down with her weak and shaky arm while also giving each the "puppy eyes" look. She craved attention. From anyone. Nurses. Residents. Other resident's visitors. All ignored her, leaving her with all the more heart-broken eyes. I asked one of the nurses why he kept ignoring her as he walked down the hall with an IV stand while she constantly tried to flag him down. He responded in a nonchalant way, "oh, she always does that." Yeah, and? Was my response. She's still a human being, and she might actually need help this time. All of them do.

This whole paragraph will seem a little weird, but I had a dream Saturday night (the day after I visited my grandfather) that I was in some sort of wreck and lost all of my money and possessions and for some reason, barely clothed besides a long shirt. I was very embarrassed walking among all the people in my dream. I ended up begging some people on the subway to loan me a couple of dollars so I could go to a Dollar Tree or thrift shop to buy shorts, pants, pj bottoms....anything to not be half-nude. It was amazing how much I had to plead with these people to donate a just few bucks. I ended up waking up in the morning with tears streaming down my cheeks. I haven't balled in my dreams for quite a long time. The dream was intense. Disturbing. An actual reality for someone around this planet, I'm sure. It reminded me of how cold it is getting now, and how I should be putting more efforts into charity knits. The message that I really need to become more proactive with charity knits was reiterated by the Homily the same morning that I woke up for Sunday mass. It was all about "The least that you do for my people, you do for me" and how you should live your life like the world would end tomorrow and make a difference in someone's life. (Something like that.) Once I got the message that this homily was corresponding to my feelings all weekend, I instantly thought of how I was going to solve my huge Christmas knitted-gift list. I wasn't going to knit anyone a gift. All of these people who were asking for knitted gifts from me have everything. They are loved. They have money. They have a warm house to live in,... and friends. I thought back to these nursing home residents and how they might not even get a single gift in the mail, let alone a card...or a visit from any family members. Even if I could knit them all something small, no matter how insignificant it may seem to the bystander, it would be something hand-made... and for them. Not shared, like all of the amenities in the facility. Something small for them to enjoy that's theirs. I will also spend the other time working on my "prayer squares" afghans, from the other organization I started, and hopefully knitting more scarves and such for PADS shelters.

So, without further ado (and hopefully you read most of above to get the gist), I'm starting a new charity organization that is devoted to knitting each and every single 100+ resident from that nursing home a knit holiday ornament: "Deck Out That Tree!" I am asking each and every one of you to see if you can find it in your time this week to knit some ornaments with the pattern I provided below. If it turned out that only a dozen people sent me just a few ornaments, it would save a tremendous amount of time on my part. I can only do so much, and knit so fast in under a month. Whether or not you do it as a competition, the top 3 people to send me the most ornaments will receive free knitting yarn & goodies (see contest info below). Any other peeps will receive a new free KUAS pattern via email. SO PLEASE LEAVE A STICKY NOTE WITH YOUR NAME & EMAIL ADDRESS in the package so that I send you your stuff. I really feel like I was meant to do/start this project this year. But I know realistically, I'm gonna need a lot of help from you all. I have a small tree in our living room that will be filled up during the week with all of the knit organizations. I hope to fill the entire tree up.