HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Check out the cool HIGH top sneaker Little Red Riding Hood is wearing!

Friday is my volunteer day at the school so I didn't miss the Halloween parties! The kids marched down to the end of the road and back up again, played games and of course ate goodies (although healthy snacks are encouraged!)

First Halloween parade at the new school!

And some more Teddy bear clothes - a pumpkin hat for Halloween (Tori will get that in her goodie bag tonight) and it will also come in handy when her bear goes out to play during hunting season!

And a hat to match the sweater I made last week. I think he's going to need some snow pants now!

What I Love about Wool

If it comes out too small, you can stretch it, if it comes out too big, you can felt it! I actually swatched before I knit this beret and got gauge. The finished hat turned out to the right measurements, but when I soaked it so I could block it on a dinner plate to shape it - it grew at least 4 inches! So, it had to go into the washer for a little bit and it did lose some of the stitch definition but at least it doesn't look like a giant frisbee!

I don't know who is going to wear this beret - not me! But I just had the urge to make one.

My sister is visiting from Maine and we went to Bar Harbor this week - great time of year to go. A lot of the stores are getting ready to close for the winter and are having big sales.

And of course I can't go to Bar Harbor without stopping at the yarn store there. It's a tiny store, but full of really yummy yarn. I didn't need any yarn of course, but walked out with a skein of OnLine self-patterning sock yarn in purple shades. Not sure what it will become (not socks!) but I couldn't pass it up.

On the needles: Another Old Shale Smoke Ring Cowl

Reading: The Beekeepers Apprentice by Lauri R. King

Listening to: Everywhere that Mary Went by Lisa Scottoline

Why There are More Girl Teachers than Boy Teachers or Using Both Sides of your Brain

I subbed in 2nd Grade on Friday and while I was working with a group on some math problems one of the boys asked my why the teachers are all girls and no boys. I said that was an interesting question - we have only one male teacher at our school right now and he is the technology teacher. So I turned it back to the group, like I love to do, and asked why they thought all the teachers at the school were 'girls'. One boy said he knew why - "It's because girls think with both sides of their brains and boys only think with one side." I don't know who told him that one - but I wasn't touching it LOL. Another little boy in the group said "It's because men really didn't like being around a lot of little kids all that much." Hmm..... could that be it? Then a little girl in the group spoke up and with complete confidence said she knew why. "It's because men like to have more money." I think she wins, hands down! No one becomes a teacher to make a lot of money. Although I am going to tuck away that both sides of the brain idea for a time when I can use it!

Today I went to a Christmas Card making workshop - a fun get-together including a pot-luck lunch.

These are some of the cards we made. Also brought home the materials and instructions for making 20 more cards. I think I used both sides of my brain today - and nope - no boys at the workshop!

Knitting Update

Back in June I went to a Farmer's Market and bought some handspun, hand dyed alpaca from a vendor, and it's been sitting in a basket looking pretty and waiting for the right project to come along. When I saw Stephanie Pearl McPhee's one row handspun scarf I thought it would be perfect for this yarn. I had to laugh when I started knitting, the yarn looked like my attempts at spinning. It went from fingering weight to bulky weight and back again, had pieces of twigs or something still in it, and a definite scent of alpaca. As you can see, the striping is all different widths - with the natural alpaca being the first color on the bottom. In spite of all that - I loved knitting this scarf and love the results. When I bound it off, the scarf was only about 4 feet long, but after a soak in soapy water and a rinse I hung it up to dry and it stretched to almost 6 feet - perfect!

On the needles:

Another Old Shale Smoke Ring Cowl - love knitting these an will be giving them as Christmas gifts. I'm knitting this one with Araucania http://www.araucaniayarns.com sock yarn in fall colors.

Cabled Beret knit with Killarney Irish Fisherman's wool (thanks again Roni!).

Snowbaby Cloth (cute!)

Fingerless mitts from the Holiday Mystery Gift-Along Yahoo Group

Listening to: The Shack by William Young

Reading: Secret Admirer by Patricia MacDonald

On the Shelf: The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King

Maxine

If you don't believe me - check out the sale at Little Knits!

Organizing

That's how I spent my morning - organizing my knitting projects. I'm always searching for a certain yarn, (which tote or bag is it in?) or a pattern, (where did I see that - on Ravelry? in a Magazine? in a book?) or the right needles, (located in different kntting bags all through the house. So I picked out a dozen projects that I want to make or finish and put them in zip lock bags along with the yarn and needles to knit them with. I put all the bags into a large tote bag along with a little plastic case with the essentials. Row counter, stitch markers, tape measure, etc. So now I am all set to plug in an audio book and knit. I'll let you know how it works out!

And a couple of finished projects - A simple pair of fingeless mitts - one of my project bags has the yarn and patterns for several more of these.

And another Teddy Bear sweater from the Knits for Bears to Wear book. Love this yarn - it's self-patterning Plymouth Encore sock yarn in worsted weight, 300 yards per skein. Think I'll make a little hat to match and some socks if I have enough left.

So, that's how I spent my morning - how did you spend yours?

Knit The Season by Kate Jacob's Giveaway

Darcy is having a contest on her blog to give away a copy of Kate Jacob's Knit the Season which is due to be released in November.

Knitting for Bears

Another Mystery Knit from the Holiday Gift Along Yahoo Group. This started out as a fingerless glove - below - then the last clue gave the option of making it into a regular mitten. So clever!

The fingerless version was just a little too big for me, and so was the whole mitten, so I felted it just a bit and it is perfect now. Except that ....yes, I have to make another one! It's a beautiful pattern stitch and was fun to do.

Another fun project - clothes for bears! My granddaughter is obsessed with "Build-A-Bears" and their accessories. So I'm making her bears some clothes for Christmas. The book is "Knits for Bears to Wear and has some really cute outfits in it, including a mermaid outfit, which I know Tori will love. I'm thinking I need to get my own Build-a-Bear to model the outfits! I still need to sew the buttons on the dress and put the hook and eye closures on the hoodie.

Also OTN some more fingerless mitts (perfect for texting) for the teens on my Christmas list (and their mom too!)

On the todo list: The Ilene Bag (market bag) using the Louet Euroflax yarn I received in my Whoduknit Trick or Treat Swap package from Bonnie, along with the circ. needles to knit it with, A Book "Where There's A Witch, a box of Godiva chocolates (Gone!), a cute little Beanie Bat, and the "trick" a little jeweler's box with a fake spider inside!

On my bookshelf: Laced With Magic by Barbara Bretton, Where There's a Witch (above), Ghost Stories by Peter Straub (are you seeing a theme here?) and In my CD player - MAX, the 5th book in the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson.

Rainy Sunday

I've been a lazy poster lately! Spending too much time on Facebook and Ravelry. If you are a knitter or crocheter and you haven't joined Ravelry yet, your missing out on a good thing! If it has to do with knitting you can find it there - plus a group for every interest imaginable.

I got a surprise package in the mail yesterday from my niece who lives in California. She was wishing me a happy retirement and sent some great teas, along with the most awesome mug - can you see the cable stitching on it? Also in the package was Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's new book "Things I Learned from Knitting whether I wanted to or not." I love her books and I didn't have this one yet. And the biggest surprise - the beads, which I had sent her from Morocco when we were stationed there 38 years ago (she was a little girl then of course), and which she had kept all these years!
Thank you Linda - what a day brightener this was!

Seems like I haven't been finishing much lately - but here is one FO. The hat pattern is called "Megan's Braids" and it's One Skein Wonders.
It's a darker purple than is showing in the picture and the mittens below that go with it are really purple too, but for some reason they came out blue in the picture. This will be a Christmas gift for one of the little girl's on my list.