Happy Birthday Skittles

I just love this girl!

Enough. With. The. Hats. Already!

I was able to complete one last hat last night for Children's Hospital patients. Another gaping hole in my hat series is a black and gold hat in honor of the Saints. This whole place is going nuts over the Saints being 9-0. Who would have ever thought the Saints could be doing so well. It is mind boggling to me.

Can you see the tell tale signs we have a cat in the house?

Did I Hear You Correctly? More hats?

Robyn and Michael are taking hats over to Children's Hospital for me after Thanksgiving. I decided to crank out a couple more before they go. You know I love my LSU Tigers. When I was growing up and first moved to Louisiana, the thought of purple and gold together was hideous. Now that I am older and wiser, purple and gold hold a piece of my heart. I had not knitted a hat with these colors together yet, so I had to rectify that omission. I love the thought of a child somewhere rooting on the Tigers wearing this hat.

To Infinity and Beyond

I probably have never mentioned how much I love Ravelry (only if you don't listen to me when I talk). I can spend hours looking at knitting patterns and reading the message boards. One of the hot topics lately is about an Infinity Scarf. Supposedly, it is one of the "in" accessories this fall/winter. I rarely know anything about being "in", but this scarf caught my interest. It is a wide, long scarf that is knit in a tube width wise. You can wear it long and hanging, twist it twice and wear it cozily against your neck, or wrap it once around your neck and pull the rest up over your head like a hood. I like this idea of a multifunctional scarf, so I made one...as a gift. It was fun to knit, but I did get tired of dragging all those stitches (250) around the circular needle. When I blocked it, the pattern started to look even better. I plan to make another one, but this time I want to knit it flat and try my hand at a provisional cast-on. Then I can stitch the two ends together without a seam.

More Hats for Donate

Robyn and Michael are going to Children's Hospital right after Thanksgiving to drop off the animals she has knitted and the hats I have made. I have been focusing on adult sized hats, so I am switching back to a slightly smaller "teen" size. I found the multi colored yarn in Lafayette when we went over there to look at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. I could not pass it up. It was fun. I have it in a solid pink too. A little goes a long way, so I will have a lot to spread around.

It Was a Winner the First Time Around

I made another Super Fast, Ultra-Cozy Scarf. It was a good to do since the pattern is mindless and I was watching the Yankees loose. I was very distracted by the game, but I was able to keep the pattern going.

Another Scarf from Me

I have been enjoying being able to watch the series and knit too. It is the best of 2 worlds for me. This pattern is so easy, looks great and is reversable. It is called One Row Handspun Scarf by the Yarn Harlot. If you have not read the Yarn Harlot's blog, you should check it out. Her blog is fun to read and she is very funny.

P.S. The Yanks win!

More Knittin

I have been knitting scarves to send to troops in Afghanistan. Instead of the same old boring garter stitch scarf, I wanted to try some new stitch patterns. The pattern is called Super Fast, Ultra-Cozy Scarf. I really like this one and it knit up fast. In one day! The yarn was Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick.


I watched the World Series and knit. Now if the Yankees had won the game I would have been completely happy.

Halloween Costumes

Phillip has a friend who has a blow out Halloween party each year. He and his wife go all out and have an amazing party. This year Robyn had to work, so Cara brought a friend. They dressed up as characters from one of their favorite manga series. Phillip went as an LSU fan. I wish I had gotten a picture showing his LSU socks. They really made the outfit. The party was great and tons of people showed up. It was another excellent event.

Prayer Squares

Another group I have been knitting for is one who gives small, knitted squares to people undergoing chemotherapy. They are called prayer squares. The group who offers these squares, take the knitted squares and sew a small charm (angel, cross, etc.) on them and attach a written prayer. Hopefully the squares will provide comfort to the patients while they have their treatment. Squares are easy to knit and can be made up quickly. It is an excellent way to use of bits of leftover yarn too.

Scarves for "Handmade Especially for You"

One of the charities I have been knitting for is "Handmade Especially for You". They provide scarves for abused women. The only request is that the scarves be colorful. I think these 3 scarves will fit that request. Two are just regular old garter stitch and the multicolor one is done in a drop stitch pattern. The drop stitch was a new stitch for me and I will work that one into another pattern down the road. It has an interesting look.

The Fine Art of Compromise

Cara wants a corset. Now every preteen girl needs a corset, right? No. I am not sure where the corset thing comes from, but I tried to think of something that could fill the corset square so to speak. I came up with the idea of wrist warmers that lace like a corset. She was thrilled with the idea. She picked the colors and decided on the length (somewhat). They were easy to make and it made her happy. That's what counts anyway.

Checking Out Schools

Today we took a drive over to Lafayette to check out the University of Louisiana at Lafayette for Robyn. It would be a good option because she would be fairly close by in case we needed to run over to see her. Driving into town we stopped at a light. When we looked to our left, we were all very excited to see the Lesspay Motel. It reminds me a bit of the Bates Motel. I am not quite sure if we will ever stay there should Robyn decide to go to school here, but it is good to know of a place to stay.

Handmade Nation

One of my good friends, Cindy, asked me to go to see the viewing of the movie "Handmade Nation". It is a movie about artisans who create handmade items. It is a wonderful movie and one I would recommend to anyone. Before and after the show, members of the New Orleans Craft Mafia and other artisans sold wonderful handmade creations. It was incredibly hard to not buy one of everything I saw. Every where I looked, I wanted one of those and one of those too. Three members of our group, Handmade Louisiana, had tables at the event, Mallory of MissMalaprop, Ze of Knitzy and Liz of New Orleans Umbrella Company. All three ladies have wonderful items and I hope they did very well tonight.

Knitting for Others

One of my favorite message boards to read on Ravelry is called Charity Knitting. They have all sort of interesting groups who could use knitted items. One caught my eye. It was for knitted...how should I say...boobs for women who have had mastectomies. Breast cancer runs in my family and is something that is always in the back of my mind. I thought it would be interesting to knit a boob to donate. The pattern is called "Tit Bit". I have to say it was an interesting project. It was fun to ask the kids if they had seen my boob (getting disgusting looks from them in return). I don't know if I will make any more of these, but it was fun to make one.

Family Reunion

Several days ago, Cara came to me and asked if she could have a family reunion. I was not quite sure what family she was talking about. Was she wanting to invite those who live out of town in for a visit? Or was she just wanting our immediate family to spend some time together? The answer was neither. Her best friend is moving in a couple of weeks. Cara planned to invite the "group" from last year over as a surprise get together for Tessa. Cara and Tessa don't see the rest of the group this year as they all go to another school. It was a great idea. Everyone was able to make it and Tessa was surprised. They made ice cream sundaes, ate pizza, and played the Wii. How can you beat that?

Needles(s) To Say They Turned Out Ok

Cara's best friend is moving and I wanted to make her something that would be meaningful to her. She is also an avid knitter and I had been reading on the Ravelry about making knitting needles out of dowels. I thought I would give it a shot. It was easier than I thought it would be. Tessa likes to knit on larger needles, so I found some oak dowels that would come out to be size 10 needles. I got a kick out of the looks I got in Lowe's when I was using my trusty needle sizer thingy to check the dowel sizes. I cut the dowels down to size and used a knife to make the point on each needle. After sanding them with several grades of sandpaper, they were ready for the party. I wanted the "family" to sign them tomorrow.

Written 9-12: The needles were a hit, I think. I had the kids sign them using Sharpies. I was bummed when the ink smeared on them, but they are still readable. I used a candle wax to seal the wood a bit and to put one last smooth finish on them before gluing on the end caps. I forgot to take a picture of them prior to the party, so this picture is the "after" shot.

Shortbread Cookies

On my other blog, Cheese and Chocolate, I do a weekly recipe post about a recipe I want to make. Last week's recipe was for shortbread cookies. My grandmother used to make "tea cakes". I wish I knew the recipe. All I remember was the cookies were good. They were similar to shortbread cookies, so I gave a shortbread recipe a try. They were good, but used 2 sticks of butter for 20 cookies. Yikes.

Labor Day

Robyn and Cara had a few friends over to spend the day. Cara and Tessa were holed up working on the computer. Robyn, Shelby and Andrew spent the day watching videos. I think today was a celebration of non-labor.

And Stitch Markers

Since I have a bit of a knitting obsession going on right now, I thought it would be fun to create some more stitch markers. I have made a couple of pair and I love using them while I knit. I love to see the little sparklies in the knitting.