thunderstorms in december? really?

it has been raining all day long - light, misty rain. then heavy, loud rain. then lightning and thunder rumbles. then misty rain again. my parents, bro, and sister-in-law came for a short visit this weekend, and we spent the bulk of the morning in my favorite bookstore on the square, the book corner. really, it houses hundreds of magazines, paper doll books, pop-up books, art tattoos, stickers, stencils... and a few books. which is probably why i love it so. i spent too much money there, but i got a jump on my christmas gifts. so there's that.

what have i been up to lately? let's get the non-knitting stuff out of the way first and foremost, shall we?

exhibit a: hanging out in my house, taking photos of my outfits.


exhibit b: petting my cat in orange tights.


exhibit c: making lists on my hand.


exhibit d: making christmas cards.


exhibit e: taking silly bedhead pictures.


whew! i'm glad i got that off my chest. now for the knitting. first, i had a lacy, gorgeous version of the branching out scarf that i had slaved over for quite a while. it was slated to be a gift for a friend's birthday. i had blocked it on my kitchen counter, then folded it up and set it on top of the towels in the kitchen. i get home from work and, lo and behold, my cat had gotten to it. at first i thought the damage wasn't so bad... then i saw the BIIIIG hole right smack dab in the middle. i still feel sick thinking about it. i have not pulled it out since to see if it is at all salvageable. it breaks my heart, but, hey, lesson learned: no delicates (or not so delicates) near the kitty's reach. damn cat.

so yeah... rest in peace, branching out scarf.


to try to un-break my heart over the scarf, i decided to jump right into a couple of other projects. i got some noro for the first time in years and decided i really needed a new pair of mittens. voila! mittens in the makings!

yarn: noro kureyon, #212
needles: US 4 for the cuff, US 5 for everything else
pattern: warmest mittens

i so, so love this pattern (super easy, super quick) and this yarn. i may do another pair with a big ass cable along the top of the hands. maybe - we'll see. i'm working on mitten number two at the present.


and my first attempts at entrelac! i'm not very good at picking up stitches, but whatever. i still think it looks pretty damn cool, if i do say so myself.

yarn: soy wool stripes, natural violet
needles: US 9
pattern: entrelac scarf