Pros and Cons of A Life Without Internet

There are definite pros and cons to not always having the internet available.  A big con is when I do have access, there's so much to do, that I don't get around to getting it all done.  A big pro is how much knitting time no internet affords me.  So, when I do finally get on the internet and I do finally upload my work, there's a lot to show for my efforts!

At the end of July, Lisa presented me with a jar of tea she'd brought back from Missouri.  She assured me that this tea was delicious and would help me sleep.  I didn't point out that I was finishing a run of Wicked (a very long show that was in house for a month) and that the last thing I needed help with was going to sleep.  I will never come even close to turning down something edible!  In turn, since we both love tea and share notes about tea, I thought there could be no better thank you than a tea cozy!  I pulled the pattern from the Bernatwebsite.  the only change I would make is knitting it longer and, quite probably, with a ribbed bottom to help hold it to the curve of the teapot.  I will be making another for myself, so we'll see how this goes!  And let's face it, it only took me two undevoted days to knit and only a very little bit of yarn (Caron Simply Soft in navy, in case you were wondering).  Also, I'm amused by how hat-like it looks when not in use.

The next knitting project was a scarf (again).  I can never seem to stop knitting scarves even though I honestly don't wear them all that much.  I'd had my eye on the Corkscrew Scarf from the Loop-d-loop book for quite a while (and I needed to knit something from the book for the sake of my "make something from every book" self-imposed challenge).  I also had some Lion Brand Moonlight Mohair in my stash that I'd been meaning to use up for forever.  Two skeins and 4 days later, I had this:

A furry torpedo (or Christmas tree).  It actually looks pretty great on Venus:

On me, not so much.  It's a tad too short.  If I had realized that whenI was knitting it, I would have alternated with the dark purple skein of Moonlight Mohair.  It's still cute, though.  It feels like something I'd wear at the Christmas party at work.  And, in honor of the yarn name, a picture of Venus in something close to moonlight:

Of course it wasn't long before I decided to return to my number one obsession of late: socks.  I wanted something fun and summery and not toochallenging to knit.  I found the answer in The Diagonal Cross-rib sock pattern from the Interweave Favorite Socks book (also fulfilling my "book" challenge).  I used the Sweet Lime colorway from Yarn Pirate and am quite happy with the results. 

And one picture with terrible lighting but great stitch clarity:

The day after I finished these socks and started casting about for an idea of what I should knit next, I stopped by Petsmart.  The cat rescue organization that teamed up with this particular Petsmart needed donations of anything.  I remembered the box of brightly colored yarns that I had no idea what to do with.  I also remembered my urge to try both the Log Cabin blanket and the mitered squares blanket from Mason-Dixon Knitting (and loving the idea that I could score another book for my challenge!).  So I have embarked on knitting blankets for them!  I am in love love love with the log cabin process and can't wait to start on one for me!

I'm pretty in love with the miters, too, although I don't find it to be quite as intuitive a process for some reason.  I'm planning to get all the color combinations knit up and then start deciding how I want to seam them together.  Four squares and a knitted-on border will make a decent size blanket (about the same size as the log cabin, which fits well over my pudgy kitty!).  Now that I have a volunteer cause again, I feel so fulfilled!

Comments

[Julia]

Wow, you have been busy! What great work - tea cozy, socks, scarves, and kitty blankets! Good for you, and lovely work!

[jennifer]

Cute socks! Those springy colors make me think they'll be good for Feb. and March when you're ready for winter to be over but your feet still get cold.

[Gina]

You have been really working away! I love the twirl scarf and the multi colored squares. Wow!!!