Where have I been?

I've been under the weather.

A vicious bout of chest cold/bronchitis. High temp. Missed work.

So I go back to work yesterday, coughing like I'm going to bring up a lung. I did not cough up a lung. I am pretty sure I coughed up a jellyfish, though.

Aren't you glad I shared?

Tiny knit handbag

What got into me?! I finished all the body parts of the cocoa buddy, and was thinking how much I dreaded sewing it together. So make a tiny handbag. It may end up on the Christmas tree of tiny knits. If you want to make one, here's how:



On 2 dpn's, cast on 20.

(K1, slip 1 purlwise) across row, turn.

Repeat row 10 times.

Carefully remove needle, and gently open tube.

Place live stitches on 2 dpn's.

Turn tube inside out so that knit stitches show.

Bind off.

Knit 4 stitch I-cord about 24 stitches long.

Stitch inside purse edge.


I'm sure it could be made more easily another way, but opening the tube feels like magic.

Another single sock slowly grows

This was last week. Cute colors, like rainbow sherbet.

And now, about 4 1/2 inches along. I'm going for a 5" k2p2 cuff.

I made a discovery about my sock knitting. I thought these socks were being knitted on size 2 needles. Nope. They are 0's. All my double points are actually two sizes smaller than I thought. No wonder all my socks are firm and dense.

Dog on Thursday Flashback

It's hard to remember just how little Gus was when he came to live with me. This was his first day, all tuckered out. Now he weighs 9 1/2 lbs. Then? I don't remember. When I picked him up he would curl into a ball. It looked like I was holding a tribble. He's still such a baby, and so unlike the other dogs. If a car backfires, 2 dogs bark and one comes running to get between my feet. He still curls when I pick him up but now he tries to maneuver onto his back to get a tummy rub at the same time.

Super Secret Swap Scramble

A preview of my cocoa swap pal's new buddy. Some assemble required. At this point you can't tell how flipping adorable it will be. Trust me. I've seen a picture.

This weeks topic:What is the most 'random' memory you have from your childhood? I know it's not knitting content, but I love learning about the little quirks and interesting things about people!

My first thought was that when I was very young, I wanted to be a hermit when I grew up. And live in a cave.

How to Help Fledglings

I've taken needles and yarn and a book to another convert at work. We don't have much time for lessons, which is why I give them each a magazine or inexpensive book with basics in it. This leaves me wondering how I can better help them. While I am an adequate knitter, maybe I'm not in the best position to teach them. At this point we're all still casting on and doing knit stitches. Binding off has been demonstrated, but not yet attempted. So far no one has ventured to purl.

My thought is that I could knit small swatches to demonstrate stockingnet, garter, rib, etc. I wouldn't want to knit a copy for everyone, but I could photograph them with brief descriptions. Maybe trimmed to index cards on a ring.

I was searching stitches and realized how little I know. I've never heard of Andalusian stitch or roman stitch. So many simple ways to look different. My goal should be to knit swatches for my OWN education. A swatch a day would be quite an undertaking for someone as lazy as me. I think I'll go knit the first one right now.

A Poem for Dogs on Thursday

EVERY DAY FOR EVERY DOG

Mondays dog is fair of snout,
Tuesdays dog will never pout,
Wednesdays pup is dog-eat-dog,
Thursdays dog is on a blog,
Fridays dog is squirmy and wiggly,
Saturdays dog antics make me feel giggly,
And the dog you find on the Sabbath day
is loving and happy and good all day.

First I forgot it was Thursday. So I picked up the camera to track down a beastie for a picture. Yuck, they need baths and a good brushing. No photo. Can't think of anything to write. I'm sitting here thinking "dogs on thursday, dogs on thursday..." & that poem about mondays child gets stuck in my head. O.K. So I'll google the poem with dogs and see if there is a dog version. Nope. We need a dog day poem, don't we? The hard part for me was rhyming blog. And I only went with blog because I couldn't rhyme "on the web".