Watch Out, Liz!

There are some hats coming your way for Project Nepal!

I spotted this pattern on Grumperina's blog. The hats were extremely fast and fun to knit. One hat took me about a football game and a Daily Show episode.

Pattern: Thorpe by Kristen Kapur
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky (one skein is enough for a medium hat with leftovers for trim): Old Sage, Wild Mustard, Aran, Clemetis.

Send your warm, wooly goodies to Liz by the 25th!

Nepal Update

It doesn't take much to move me to tears during the holidays. I am an unabashed sentimentalist, and I embrace the traditions, the giving, even the insane busy-ness of our family during the Christmas season. But this year, what really got the tears flowing was not my annual viewing of "It's a Wonderful Life" or hearing "the Little Drummer Boy" or even seeing the faces of my children light up when they saw the tree on Christmas morning.

This year, the magic came for me in several packages mixed in among Christmas cards and endless amazon.com deliveries over the holidays. I received woolen hats, socks, and mittens bound for children in Nepal. I was so touched that knitters would take time out of their busy holiday-knitting marathons, their Christmas baking or whatever obligations they had to knit, package up, and send along warm items for complete strangers on the other side of the world. Thanks to Karen S, Mar H, and Diana S for their contributions and for giving me more happy tears to shed this holiday.

The current tally is 20 hats, 5 pairs of socks, and 5 pairs of mittens. But there is still time for you to send something too. I made a pair of worsted socks in a small child's size in two days with less than 1/2 a skein of stashed Lambs Pride, and will be cranking out a few more pairs with the remaining Lambs Pride stash.

The deadline to get items to me is January 25. Please contact me at lizjosh1ATverizonDOTnet for mailing information and please knit what you can!

Small Steps

Thank you for all the encouragement and support. I've needed it and I deeply appreciate it. I'm still mulling over the suggestions for the "scarf of grief" (I like your ideas, Teabird) but as for the socks ...


They are now finished!


There is a lot to be said for taking time and having patience. Yes, Anne Marie, the knitting is slowly finding me again.

These are Cookie A's Monkeys with Socks That Rock (24 Karat?). I put them on last night after weaving in my ends and haven't taken them off since. Cozy! Don't they look great with my old beat up clogs? They are a great flash of color.


Also, thanks to my wonderful in-laws, I now have an Ashford Knitter's Loom. I've only tried a few projects so far, but I love it! Learning a new skill has been an excellent distraction.


This is now one of my favorite scarves.

Warp: Brook's Farm Acero. Weft: Louet Gems Sportweight and the Acero.

I'm going to devote a few mornings a week for fiber/handwork. Between the loom, the knitting, and our new sewing machine, I'll have plenty of projects to keep me busy and creative during this long, cold winter.