Thanksgiving Eve

....It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Someone around these parts might be very excited for the holiday weekend. I don't usually feel as in the holiday spirit as I do this year...not sure what's gotten in to me, but I like it.

I absolutely love the palpable excitement, anticipation, and, well, for lack of a better word, magic of the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving. We always get out at noon (I mean, really, not much work would get done in the afternoon anyway, so it's good we're turned loose early) and then it's a flurry of activity as I run around town getting last minute things.

There's a very specific kind of panic that sets in in Skagway right before the holidays because our one main grocery store closes down for Thanksgiving and the day after. And for some reason, faced with eating the things that are already in my kitchen for two whole days with no way of buying anything else, I kind of freak out and go to the grocery store with no list in mind, but just the need to make sure that I have everything I could possibly want while they are closed.

This is what happened to me today. I did all of my Thanksgiving dinner shopping yesterday and I truly had all I needed and more (there is, after all, just the two of us and I could realistically feed about 20).  So, in theory, I really had no reason to stop by the store when I got off work.  

But I did...and this is what I walked out with:

Because you never know when you're gonna need a pomegranate, right?  I did actually need the cranberry sauce, because I had forgotten it yesterday, but the other stuff just somehow magically landed in my cart. Hmmmm....guess I was hungry for junk food.

And now I am happily ensconced at my kitchen table getting a head start on some pattern writing that is due soon, eating a yummy cheese sandwich on a fresh baked roll from the local bakery, watching a funny movie and drinking some coffee nog.  Lovely! (Just wish I hadn't eaten those jalapeno Combos...hello, indigestion.)

I am so thankful for so many things this year...and I've never been more thankful for a long weekend of knitting while curled up on the couch by the fire, watching the snow fall.  

I'm working on secret deadline knitting this weekend....what are you all working on? Whatever it is, I hope you enjoy!

Random thoughts on a blustery morning...

I'm really really having trouble concentrating at work this week...like, really.  It would be easier if I wasn't doing something so fantastically boring. (No, data entry is not what I'd call a good time.) 

I think my lack of concentration can be blamed on a combination of things: 

1. It's a 4-day weekend coming up and I can't wait to knit my way through it. I have a to-do list a mile long, but knitting takes precedence over all on a long weekend. (And, no, that's not really any different from a regular weekend.)

2. There is no one in the office right now. Everyone is either gone on vacation or working remotely. We have a year-round staff of about 17 and there are only 5 of us in the building right now. It's too damn quiet! I miss my boss singing Chaka Khan in the hallways.

3. I'm a week and a half away from leaving for a month: work conference in Vegas, visit with a dear old friend in Montana, and then Christmas in Ohio.  Too much travel excitement to think straight!

4. I have three secret knitting projects I'm working on for upcoming projects and they all have the same deadline that is swiftly approaching...yikes. I can't rest until they are blocked and on their way!

5. Thanksgiving Eve is one of my favorite nights of the year. No lie. I've always loved the anticipation of a holiday more than the holiday itself. And apparently, because I'm so looking forward to Wednesday night, the time between now and then will move at the speed of slugs.

6. And as if being stuck in my office wasn't torture enough this week, we've been plunged into a deep freeze and it's super blustery, snowy, and so damn cold that I don't want to leave the couch, let alone the house.  Perfect knitting weather but, then again, what isn't? 

I've been trying super hard to combat this sudden onset of ADD, but I've come to realize that I'm defenseless. Today I remembered that I had a bag of yarn in my office that I had not taken home yet from my trip to Juneau in early October...so I proceeded to take each and every skein out of the bag and admire/pet/drool over each one.  So much yarny goodness!  

Don't mind me....I'm just doing all I can to avoid doing actual work.

Thankfully, my days have been repeatedly brightened this week (and every week) by frequent texts from my sister. She knows if she doesn't send me pics/videos of my nieces and nephew daily that I will bug the shit out of her until she does. I've got her trained pretty well. ;) Some days my sanity is literally saved by these little nuggets of cuteness.

This is one of the gems that came in yesterday. Seriously. I can't handle the cuteness some days.

She really knows how to get me through my day. How can you not smile at that?! Consider my sanity preserved...at least for today.

Stitch and Bitch, Skagway style

For awhile now I've wondered what it would be like to have a knitting community in my immediate vicinity.  For so long I've been a solitary knitter and I prefer that, for the most part. Knitting is intensely personal for me: a time to really be still with my thoughts while I mull over every topic under the sun, from what I'm going to eat for dinner to what my life's purpose is (deep, I know).

I've grown in my craft for the most part by myself, with no one around to tell me that I'm doing something wrong, or that I'm doing something right. I kind of vaguely knew that there were others here in Skagway who knit, but it was never anyone who I felt like I would or could hang out with.  So my stitch and bitch nights consisted of me, myself and I. And I really started to wonder what it would be like to not have to bitch to myself.

So, to solve my problem of having no one to stitch and bitch with, I've been casually pushing my friends to learn how to knit.  A couple weeks ago, a lady in town offered a beginning knitting class and I oh-so-discreetly texted my friend Sarah and told her about it.  Sarah has been on the receiving end of some of my handiwork, so I knew she was at least semi-interested in knittery things.  I was so excited when she decided to go!

She learned the basics in the class and then came shopping in my stash last week for a suitable yarn for her first project (she chose a gorgeous blue alpaca blend yarn, by the way...a girl after my own heart). We then had our first stitch and bitch the following night at a local bar. 

We numbered only three but I'm encouraged that we'll have another very soon and hopefully our numbers will grow. It was surprisingly nice to knit in the presence of others...and I felt only a little bit self-conscious (mostly because of the curious looks we were getting from fellow barflies), but I'm hoping that will wear off in time. And I'm hoping that I can encourage even more of my friends to pick up sticks! Yeah!

Winter IK 2011 Preview

Be still my knitting heart.

I have been obsessively going to Interweave's website to see when the Winter IK preview photos would be uploaded.

I guess maybe I haven't checked in a day or so, but this morning I went to see if anything new had been put up and....it has!

My Offset Cable Mittens are included in this issue...my very first print publication!

Here's are some links you should follow right now!

Winter IK 2011 Projects Preview
Offset Cable Mittens - Extra Photos 

I'll give these mittens a proper post soon, but I just had to shout this from the rooftops as soon as I could. You understand, right? Right.

Twist Collective Winter - Swansea...New Design!

Okay, so the Winter 2011 edition of Twist Collective has been out a little over 24 hours now and I'm still not coming down from the high I got from leafing through the virtual pages.  What an amazing collection!  A couple of my favorites are Yukimi by Maureen Hefti and Bellevue by Robin Melanson.  But my jaw literally dropped when I saw Voluta by Rachel Erin. One word: Stunning.  But you really can't go wrong with any of the designs in this edition. I might choose to knit them all if I had the chance!  You definitely have to appreciate the amazing talent that goes into creating these unique gems.

Considering the caliber of talent in this issue, I'm so honored and excited to have a design included!  

Meet Swansea:

Photo by Jamie Dixon...Courtesy of Twist Collective

Swansea is a hat/mitten combo that combines twisted stitches and nupps, two of my hugest obsessions right now.  I liked the idea of the twisted stitch rib coming from different directions and then interlacing, ending in a cute little bobbly nupp...here's my original vision in the submission swatch, knit in KP Wool of the Andes.

Taking that idea and adding in some Quince & Co Lark in a vibrant green and you get the finished product below! While the stitch pattern covers the back of the hand, the palm and thumb are worked in the simple but lovely reverse stockinette.

Photo by Jamie Dixon...Courtesy of Twist Collective

 Now, my original submission was just for mittens, but Kate asked me if I could come up with a complementary hat.  An idea had been already bouncing around in my brain, so I naturally said I would and the resulting topper turned out just as I had pictured.

Photo by Jamie Dixon...Courtesy of Twist Collective

Although I had envisioned these designs knit up in a heathered yarn (when DON'T I envision something in a heather?!), I thought the solid effect turned out great and was a perfect fit for their Bright Spots feature.  

Photo by Jamie Dixon...Courtesy of Twist Collective

Let's get down to details, shall we?

Finished measurements:
Mittens: 
Mitten circumference: 7 ¾ (8 ½)" / 19.5 (21.5) cm
Length: 9 ½ (10 ½)" / 24 (26.5) cm
Shown in size 7 ¾" / 19.5 cm

Hat: 
Head circumference: 18 ½ (19 ¾, 21, 22 ¼)" / 47 (50, 53.5, 56.5) cm
Hat height: 8 (8 ½, 9, 9 ½)" / 20.5 (21.5, 23, 24) cm
Shown in size 18 ½" / 47 cm
Intended to be worn with 2" / 5 cm of negative ease.

Yarn:
3 skeins Quince & Co. Lark (134 yds / 123 m per 1 ¾ oz / 50 g hank; 100% American Wool ) in Parsley
Two skeins of yarn will make either the hat or the pair of mittens.

Needles & Notions:
Size 5 US / 3.75 mm needles in style preferred for small circumference knitting in the round and 16" / 40 cm circular needle.

Two stitch markers, tapestry needle, waste yarn

Gauge:
26 sts and 34 rows = 4" / 10 cm in p3, k1 tbl ribbing in the round
24 sts and 34 rows = 4" / 10 cm in Stockinette stitch in the round

Construction Notes: The mittens are worked from cuff to tip, and the hat is worked from the bottom up. The twisted rib and bobble patterns are presented in both charts and row-by-row instructions.

To purchase Swansea, please follow this link to the Twist Collective website.  Thanks very much for your interest!