Parents of children in the Zoboomafoo age bracket will recognize the reference. (Sorry if you only just got that song out of your head.) Facing an evening of trudging about in the cold and dark with a small pink flying unicorn for the express purpose of collecting a sizeable bag of simulated food substance containing every chemical known to turn said unicorn into Attila the Hun, I feel.... distracted. (Just call me the Grinch of Hallowe'en.) So, here are a few random ramblings:
1) You may have noticed I took the plunge yesterday and installed Haloscan to host the comments - primarily so that I would have the capacity to reply personally to comments, especially questions. It was pretty much painless, with one huge exception - contrary to their assertion in the pre-installation blurb, the old blogger comments DO disappear. Apparently they would come back if I were to uninstall Haloscan (which kind of defeats the purpose) but otherwise they remain locked in an inaccessible corner of cyberspace. This makes me sad. I have them all in my email archives, but the blog now looks all bare and lonely and monologue-ish - it's the warm and funny and caring interactions that make a blog real. Sigh.
2) I have Sixteen gift projects lined up (maybe 17, but I think I've pretty much talked myself out of that one.) As of today, I have completed 2 1/2 (I'm supposed to be on number 8).
3) Progress on the Magnificent Turkish Scarf:
I plan to knit the scarf from each end and graft in the middle - no upside down motifs, and no wastage of precious yarn.
4) Progress on DD's gift:
Kind of Hallowe'en-ish as is, don't you think?
5) Sneak preview:
I originally intended to work up a string bag pattern for Christmas that would be a masterpiece of holly leaves or silver bells, or some such. Then I came to my senses. What do knitters (me especially) really need at the beginning of November? Something fast. This fits the bill perfectly, and looks good. I just have to test knit it one more time, and will post the pattern (along with a list of ideas for environmentally responsible things to put in it) later this week.
6) Sarah asked (though you can't see it any more, so I can't even retrieve the link) whether I intended to post a pattern for the sari silk shell. Truthfully, that particular garment was made long before I really thought about anyone else being interested in my designs. (But I wouldn't rule it out :)) I can tell you that the key to sari silk is knitting it along with another, more "regular" yarn. In the case of the shell, I alternated rounds of SS and Estelle's aran weight silk. If you don't mind a bulkier weight, you can also strand it together with another yarn - in the case of the vest, I used a worsted weight wool.
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