Mitten, Meme, and NaNoWriMo

First, the mitten #2, which will be mitten #1:
Off the hand, which totally sucks eggs. I hate this, I hate this pattern. I followed it to the stitch. Look at that. It's too pointy for a non-Norwegian mitten. The picture showed 'roundy' and I loathe those stupid thumb holes. Lion Brand's mitten pattern has those holes, but at least Homespun hides them.











On the hand, however, it's not quite so horrible and actually, the cuff is quite cute. The yarn is thick enough on the palm to be warm without making the hand sweaty. The Homespuns are great, but ten seconds in the house and the hands get icky. Hmmm, mittens made of felting wool, sweaty warm hands, agitation...yes, it's a new horror movie, Curse of the Tiny Mittens! Logline is: They went on nice, and NEVER CAME OFF.


A Knitting Meme.
Some lovely knitter created a knitting meme. I haven't read much of her blog, yet. So many out there that are interesting, I'm having a tough time not reading every one.


What is your all time favorite yarn to knit with?
Berroco's Plush. I love to pretend it's a powder-puff, too. It's so soft and gooshy, mmmmm. One of my students showed up with this in the Crayon Mix and I tried to talk her out of it in a joking way. I hope she knew I wasn't too serious. I also love Wild and Cool Stuff and adore Alp.


Your favorite needles?
Yes. All of them. They all have their purpose. I don't like bamboos for lace knitting but love them when knitting the unnatural fibers.

The worst thing you've ever knit?
So many choices... There IS a sweater, unfinished, lurking in my yarn room. After sewing it together SIX times, the sleeves still pointed up. Unless, of course, I let the sleeves be wrong side out. Bleh!

Your most favorite knit pattern?
The last two scarves I knit with the same pattern. I have some recycled Tibetan silk perfect for that pattern.

Most valuable knitting technique?
Unraveling, then fixing stitches. As many mistakes as I've made, I'm good at fixing them.

Best knit book or magazine?
Vogue Knitting. My favorite knitting mag is a tie between Interweave Knits and the yearly Knit it!.

Your favorite knit-a-long?
While I love the Summer of Lace, Warm Hands is speedy, which I love. Also, the Guilt is fantastic because I'm getting UFOs out of the house. Love that, too.

Your favorite knitblogs?
Look to the left, please. There's a few I need to add, too, and they're currently in no particular order.

Your favorite knitwear designer?
Kaffe Fasset. Since I totally stink at color changes, I admire anyone who can do the work, and I love Fasset's way with color. Very intricate.

The knit item you wear the most? (how about a picture of it!)
Because I'm an intrinsically lazy person, I'm not draggin this out of the closet to scan. In the meantime, the collar on this is finished and I love wearing it. It's like a soft hug all the time. Lovely on me and lovely to wear.



NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, starting November 1st. For some odd reason, I've been in the mood to write a contemporary romance. Why? Probably because I found all these Romantic Times magazines in the basement. I enjoy the conflicts and the happy endings. The genre is pretty strict, and I think the writing is better than science fiction (excluding Asimov, Bradbury, and Adams). There are some romance authors that are so God-awful that they're unreadable, but for the most part, I like the writing. I'm a whole lot more lax with the writing in my Blog than I am in my novels or screenplays. Even then, I've been known to read back over a few days later and edit a bit. Words left out, misspellings, or word echoes get changed as well as some use of passive verbs. The last really bugs me, but usually I'm too lazy or busy to correct them here. I think my Mom will be happy about the NaNoWriMo, since she likes my work. She's about THE only one who reads my fiction writing without coercion.

Because this is the two year anniversary for Hubby receiving word he'd been deployed, I've been rather nervous and somewhat depressed. Will he be deployed again and when? Divorce rate is high among returning officers, higher than the enlisted, so I'm glad we're totally flaunting the odds with our marriage. As I've written this, a charity called, asking for donations for the reservists' families. What a hoot! I'm like, um, we ARE a reservist's family, so how about I give him a nice present this Christmas, or maybe just spend the money on us and call it even? Plus, my active duty brother-in-law is due back from Iraq, so how about I spend the money on him and my sister? I actually laughed and told her all this, so I think she has the hint that I'm tired of being a soft touch.