Thursday, November 30, 2006

A late, post-Thanksgiving post

Thanksgiving!... Being vegetarian we had everything but the turkey. All the good stuff that would normally go with it (and a few non-tradional things) became the star attractions instead. We made stuffing in the crockpot (thanks for the hint Mom!) which came out gloriously tasty and moist, cranberry sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, corn, sauteed kale from our back yard, veggie gravy, and a yummy butternut squash and apple bake. Oh, and pumpkin pie! How could I forget dessert!


On the Friday after Thanksgiving, our friend Diane came over for "Movie Pants Night." What's that you ask? Well... I'm not exactly sure how it started, but somewhere along the line, we started calling our flannel PJ bottoms "movie pants." It had something to do with changing into them to be comfy for watching a movie. So "movie pants night" involved Diane coming over for pizza, some beer and then movie pants and a movie! However, by the time we were ready to watch a movie we had all had a little too much to drink. So instead of a movie, we settled for the Pee Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special which is always a treat. The whole thing is so campy and laugh-out-loud hilarious that we often watch it two or three times each Christmas season.


Not much to report on the knitting front. I have been super busy with work and therefore neglecting the knucks. One is completely done so if I can set aside a few hours I can finish the other one. It's getting to be that time of year so I better get on the ball!

I'll leave you with a picture of one of our dogs, Tully. You can see that she's thinking "ME?! Digging in the yard? What makes you think I was doing that?!"



LISTENING TO: BELLY - "King"

This is Belly's second and, sadly, last album. It wasn't as radio-friendly as some of Star was and didn't have a copycat single to match "Feed The Tree." But there are plenty of great moments here such as "Now They'll Sleep." Plus Tanya Donelly has carried on as a solo artist and has a new album coming out in December called "This Hungry Life."

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

...or at least it's getting there. We went from warm and rainy last week to dry and cold this week. Which is why I've started myself a pair of "knucks" as seen on knitty and popularized by Matt and Micah. This pattern is made from the fingers (which only go to the first knuckle to allow you to use your fingertips!) down to the cuff, the opposite of the only other pair of gloves I've made. So far I like this method much better.

The first thing the pattern calls for is making all the fingers individually and putting the stitches on scrap yarn until ready to use. So here is a picture of my hand with only the "fingers" in place.

Doesn't look like it'll add up to much, huh? From here you have to take each individual finger and place it on two needles in preparation to join them all together. Here's what that looks like...

From here you knit in the round down the length of the hand, stopping along the way to add on the thumb that's been waiting patiently on the side this whole time. Here's what mine looked like a few rounds after adding on the thumb. (Look Jaci, I'm using the lovely stitch markers you made and sent my way...thanks again!)

I just started this one last night and hope to have it done before bed tonight. Then I can start on the other one tomorrow and hopefully have the pair done by Thanksgiving weekend. If you're looking for a slightly challenging (but not hard) and fun to make pair of gloves, I'd definitely recommend giving these a try.


LISTENING TO: TYRO - "Audiocards"

Tyro is made up of Katie and Skip, both originally from the now-defunct, but ever-terrific Toenut. Tyro carries on the basic themes presented by the first band with a bit more electronic manipulation thrown in for fun. If you like early B-52's, you may like these guys too as they have a similarly twisted sense of humor and off-kilter harmonies to boot. Here's a sample of the Tyro track "Blameless."