1,000 Shades of Gray

We awoke to a dense fog this morning. Heavier than any fog I've ever seen. These pictures were taken about and hour after I got up and it had lightened up a little.

I took Mr. W to work this morning and we went over an overpass where the visibility was so reduced that it looked like the road would end any second and we could see nothing but fog on either side. From a safety standpoint, it was pretty scary. From a cool standpoint, it was awesome in a sci-fi way. I really wish I had had my camera with me.

The weather was dreary yesterday too, but not nearly as interesting as the fog. It was more stir-crazy weather. Can you tell I've been a little bored? I'm loving the free time I have to craft right now, but you can only do so much.

Knitting Bag

* how can I not make at least one gift?*

My 9 year old nice has started knitting. I taught her how to purl when I visited over Thanksgiving and she learned it easily. I'm really impressed with how quickly she can knit, especially since she uses really long straight needles. They reach from her fingertips to just past her elbows - forearm length needles.
Her yarn was all in a tangle too. It's hard to keep a yarn ball in neat order when you drag it around with you everywhere.

So I couldn't resist making her a knitting bag. Well, knitting backpack. I bought the bag pre-made at Joann's and stenciled it. I bought the star stencils, but I printed and cut out the stencils for the knitting skull and her name. (The weird snaky blur thing is her name I scribbled out in Photoshop for privacy.)

Her last birthday party theme was pink and black pirate skulls so hopefully she's still into it.

Growing up, I had a family member that I rarely saw and persisted in giving me ceramic carousel horses years after the very brief period in which I collected them was over. It's not the gift, of course, and as an adult I see that clearly. But I would like to give gifts that are thoughtful and relevant, even if I only get to see some members of my family once a year or so.

Also, I worry about being the crazy aunt giving homemade presents, but I think a homemade gift from one knitter to another is always welcome.

cout out and keep.net

There's a new craft website in town - cutoutandkeep.net. It's another online craft community, but it's entirely devoted to free step-by-step tutorials. Ravelry and I have quite the love affair, and Craftster is great when you just want to aimlessly browse so I'm not quite sure how this new site will fit into my online craft community thing. (OMG I am such a nerd.) It seems like it will be a good resource and eaiser to navigate than Craftster. My sn on there is wagon full of stars.

House

Mr. W and I have wanted to buy a house since last year. We occasionally break down and look at houses on Austin Home Search or Zillow even though we really won't be able to start looking for another 6 months or so. We got into a debate about what we would want in our perfect house. He wants a good kitchen and a comfortable living room. I want a sleeping porch and a tower, etc.

I had a bit of free time at school last Friday so I decided to design my perfect house. When you walk in, the room to the right is the living room. To the left is the dining room and from there you can walk into the kitchen, which is in the smaller brick tower. On top of it is the kitchen garden, where perfect tomatoes grow year-round. There's nothing like a really good tomato.

The next tower, the yellow one, has the library / studio and master suite. And, of course, the master bathroom has two sinks. The long, low part of the house is for the other four bedrooms. The roof is tin, so it sounds extra nice when it rains.

The taller brick tower has the lap pool on top and the garage on the bottom, with a little room below the pool with a changing area and dry sauna.

And you can't tell this from the drawing, but there is a courtyard in the middle and the sleeping porch in the back.

If anyone knows someone who works in daydream real estate, let me know :)

Colorless Green Mitts Breed Furiously

I made these immediately after Fetching, but it's taken me a good long while to write this up. I made up this pattern sitting bored at school one day and I'm very happy with the results. I thought I would share it. It takes very little yarn, is quick, and could be a good gift knit. so, here ya go:

Wiggle Fingerless Mitts

Yarn: Worsted weight and soft. I used Berroco Ultra Alpaca. It took much less than one skein.
Needles: Size 6 dpns.

CO 44 sts an join rnd, careful not to twist
R1: (p1, k4) 4 times. p1. work in 1x1 rib, starting with a knit st, to the end of the round. Repeat this rnd 1 more time.

R3: ( p1,C4B, p1, k4) 2x. p1. work in 1x1 rib, starting with a knit st, to the end of the round.
R4: work the same as rnd 1.

R5: Work in cable panel pattern as follows:

1: (p1, k4, p1, C4F) 2x. p1. work rest of round in stockinette.
2: (p1, k4) 4 times. p1. work rest of round in stockinette.
3: (p1, C4B, p1, k4) 2x. p1. work rest of round in stockinette.
4: work same as round 2


Repeat these 4 rounds until you're ready to place the thumb. for me, that was at 4 inches.

Thumb: For the right hand, work across the cable panel. K2. Using waste yarn, k7; slip these sts back to left needle and k them again using working yarn. Continue working the rest of the round in pattern.

For the left hand, work the round you're on until 9 sts remain on the left needle. Using waste yarn, k7; slip these sts back to left needle and k them again using working yarn. K2.

After setting up to make the thumb, work in pattern for another 2 inches and BO. Almost done!

Finish the Thumb:
Remove the waste yarn and place resulting live sts on two double-point needles. There will be 7 sts below the opening and 6 sts above. Attach yarn and k the 7 sts on lower needle; using a second needle, pick up and k 2 sts (I wrap the picked up sts. to help avoid holes) in the space between the upper and lower needle, k first 3 sts from upper needle; using a third needle, k remaining 3 sts from upper needle and pick up (and wrap, if desired) and k 2 sts in space between this needle and lower needle. 17 sts.

K 4 rounds. BO and weave in ends.

Ta Da!

This is the first time I've ever written a pattern out, so please send me any corrections!

Around the Corner

Ever since 9/11, Christmas has come earlier and earlier. Target started putting out decorations before Halloween. The retailers have learned to prey upon our emotions. Everyone is all down about the economy and Christmas cheers people up...until they realize they have no money. This season is supposed to be a big hit for retailers.

But it is Christmas (your whatever winter holiday you celebrate) and gifts will be given. I'm a fan of handmade items. I like supporting individual creativity and there are a lot of special, unique items. I've become addicted to Etsy...there are so many beautiful and affordable things. I've rounded up some of my favorite sellers to share today.

*from left to right*

*top row*

Tilly Bloom - Surreal jewelry and art
Joanna Rutter - Simple silver jewelry, mostly nature themed
Zygopsyche - Neat stuffed animals

John W Golden - Cute prints
Toy Breaker - "Ties that don't suck"
*bottom row*
MaryInk - Screen printed clothing and housewares
Bunny With A Tool Belt - Fine art sculptures
Revisions Design Studio - Neat housewares and jewelry
Blossom Toys - Adorable baby gifts
Luxedelxue - Beautiful jewelry. I've bought a necklace from here and it's very well made. Also, there's an under 20 dollar section with nice things.

**Also, there's a thing on Etsy called Alchemy. You can request custom items and designers will bid on making them for you. I've had good luck with this.

There's a Handmade Pledge website if you want to sign up or find more gift resources. I don't plan on buying handmade gifts for everyone so I'm not officially taking the pledge because I know I won't buy everything handmade, but will look to buy some things.

Shooting Weekend Number 2

Despite the bitter cold, this weekend was a blast. Waking up at 5 am and working for 12 hours on the weekend isn't most people's idea of fun, but the awesome crew and script make it worth it.
Also, I don't get to see the sun rise often. It's not called the magic hour for nothing.

*This is less magical*

Did we encounter a fancy hobo tent? Nope. This little lean-to is something I helped put up to keep out the icy wind while we ate lunch on Saturday. Sunday was more pleasant.

The wind stopped and I got to be in the crew car for our mini car chase around the capital. It was really fun to see people on the street reacting to our "gang members" hanging out of their low rider screaming hilarious insults back at our main character. I think some people who didn't notice us following them with a camera were truly terrified and will tell their friends that Austin is going downhill.

We've got one more weekend to go. There will be more car action and hopefully more "freaking' out the squares" (as a friend used to say in high school).