Hat and scarf weather again

...and the cold temperatures descend on Central Texas once more this morning, making it nice and chillified outside. On the negative side, I have to drive to work in the wind and rain. On the plus side, I get to dig out my hats and scarves again - let's see, which ones haven't been worn in a while? :)

Too bad I just can't snuggle back under the blankets for a few more hours...

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all my American friends and readers, Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day, whether it is a holiday or no in your part of the world. I've been relaxing at my mother's house for the break, knitting and frogging like a crazy person. I washed out both my hand-dyed warp and skein, and they're hanging to dry. The skein looks more orange, orange-red and green than the peach, deep red and brown I had originally envisioned. Perhaps redye-ing is in order. The warp came out in the most glorious shades of pinks and purples, though, and the hint of teal and blue sets it off just right.

I started on the Hurry Up Spring wristwarmers from the new SnB book, but I don't think I like the cabling pattern. It's a pain in the derriere, for one, so I've ripped it out. I also started and ripped two different slipper patterns, and I'm on my third incarnation. This pair looks like it will work (Mom's house is bleedin' cold), so perhaps I'll have the time to finish it off while I'm here. One of the two is halfway done, after working on it for the morning.

Mmmm, and the smells of fresh bread and roasting turkey are calling me, so I'm off.

You found me how?

I love the odd searches that bring a person to this site... I wonder what this has to do with me, though. Of course, with the onset of the Christmas season, a bunch of searches have come through for patterns and music that I've referenced. Odd, what brings the internet together. :D

I spent a good bit of my Sunday (after church, naturally) learning to handpaint warps. I even painted a skein to play with, and photo-documented the process.


Just getting started...

...and there's lots of dye to play with...


Fianlly, a beautiful (and saturated) finished skein:


When they were all dyed and cooked, we left them out to cool. Nature decided to help with a sprinkle of water, and they looked like so many snails in the rain. We also discovered, that even the trash looks fabulous after a dye job. :D

The warp I dyed is mostly shades of pink and purple, with a splash of teal thrown in for contrast. The skein I dyed will (hopefully) go from a light peach to a deep red to a reddish-brown. Both are a rayon chenille. During the Thanksgiving holiday I am taking them to Mom's to wash out the remaining dye and hang them up to dry. I haven't yet decided what I will knit or crochet with approximately 500 yards in the skein, but the warp is destined to become an ab-fab scarf - possibly a gift if it turns out well. All in all, a very fun venture!

I like you

Yup, I do.

Thanks for the gem, Lisa! :)

OH, yeah, that's how I like it...

In a word, wow. Until today, I had never known the true meaning of massage. I have had local massages (back, neck, legs, that kind of thing), but never a full body, lay on the table and do it all kind of thing. It is so choice. If you have the opportunity, I highly recoomend it. (bonus points to those who spot the reference)

I'm so relaxed right now, I didn't even care that I got a call for data from my boss after I'd already gone home. I even offered to go back to the office if I need to -- I must be sick. :D Man, too relaxed to knit...I really hadn't better do that too often. *grin*

Snickerdoodles

Wow, it's been a week since I posted -- time flies. I spent a week in a training class (good class, but it is very draining to do a semester's worth of work in a week), and now I have to get back into the normal swing of things.

The weather has finally turned cold enough this past week that we can turn out en force with our knitted hats, scarves, sweaters, and gloves. Even my Hallowig got a cameo. (No, that isn't me wearing the wig -- I had to be in church that morning).

I've taken to wearing a different scarf every day. If the cold weather doesn't last, at least I can say that I wore them all once. :)

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

My, but the weather has been fabulous today. I had a training class (in it all week), had my hair done, stretched out, and got absolutely nothing accomplished.

Okay, not nothing -- I've finished the blue capelet, and perhaps I'll be able to get a picture of it tonight. I also got a few more rows done on Grandma's vest, so maybe I can get it to her before Christmas.

My laptop apparently has come down with virus issues in the last couple days, which is a bad thing. All my pictures from Europe are on there, so I'll be burning them to CD. I may just have to blow the installation away and reformat the hard drive on that puppy if I can't get the virus to clean up. Don't know how I picked it up, since I always keep antivirus installed and up-to-date, but I guess I need to update it with ZoneAlarm as well. I have ZA installed on the desktop, just not on the portable, and heaven knows what wireless network I managed to get infected from. Sigh. Oh well, there's always knitting therapy.

In the "hm...interesting" segment of tonight's broadcast, I just noticed that my one political blogpost captured more comments than any other for this entire year. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing; I just found it odd.

Flitterby out.

Shopping is good for the soul...

...if not for the pocketbook. :D

I heart First Thursday. Of course, because of it I am well on my way towards SABLE status, but hey, at least I'll enjoy myself. *grin* Among the goodies was a copy of the new SnB Nation -- and I'm in the picture on page 107!!! W00t, famous in a knitting book. :D This new book does seem to have quite a few better patterns than the original (not that the original was bad, but it was not completely...satisfying), not to mention more variety.

I even got to RAOK a friend (who may or may not be on the actual ring, I'm not sure - but it felt good, so who cares?). Life is good.

Brrr.

Yes, winter has finally come to Central Texas. Of course, by next week temps should be back up in the high 70s during the day, but right now it is in the 40s and too cold for my blood. (Oh, hush, you northerners -- I'm too used to 100 degree summers... :)

It is, however, perfect football weather. Unfortunately, I just got tickets to a UT football game this weekend that I can't attend because I will be singing in a concert during game time. Argh. Perhaps someone will buy them off me. Who knows. :)

Today is First Thursday, so get your knit on!

All I have to say is...

Congratulations, Mr. President. :)

Do you know where your rights are?

Okay, peeps - it's the 2nd of November, so if you're a registered voter in the US and haven't done so already, GET OUT AND VOTE! :D

(P.S. The argument that the electoral votes for your state are already set won't wash - if everyone who feels that way didn't vote, perhaps they could all have changed the outcome if they did.)