Month of Me: Keeping warm
Thursday, January 31st, 2008Kind of a silly thing to say, being that I live in one of the warmest places in the country. In my defense, I’m getting a little too acclimated to extreme summer heat which there by makes me a big baby when it comes to cold. Secondly, my craft room is the coldest room in the house and third, my hands are always cold. Who can work with conditions like that. So, I’ve been working on these fingerless hand warmers. They really do the trick, even though I only have one done. The other is 3/4 of the way done and I thought I’d better share since this is the last day of my “Month of me” posting. I think I did pretty well, getting most of what I wanted done and feel pretty good about it.
So this is how I’m doing with only one hand warmer. I wear it on my right hand for a bit to warm it up then switch it over to the left and I keep it there, leaving my right hand free to move the mouse, paint, draw, carve–the things I’ve been doing lately. Eventually I will get the other one done. I am only able to crochet when watching tv or movies (which I rarely do) and that makes it a lengthy process. (p.s. there is no pattern for the gloves , I was just winging it).
Another thing that keeps me warm is Hot Fudge Pudding Cake from thimble. It’s really tasty, especially when you remember the baking powder. Don’t ask, but it’s an essential ingredient. This recipe works really well with soy milk and earth balance.














I’ve written about it being hard to understand as far as learning to knit. It makes total sense now that I’m knitting a little (I have a little bag in the making btw). It’s an amazing book. My grandmother gave it to me over Christmas. She’s had it for years. Everything you need to know about needlework is in this book. The best thing about it is that there is a picture of EVERY kind of stitch! I haven’t been able to stop looking through it! Check out these flowers. Pretty cool I think.



I promised myself I wouldn’t start something new to knit until I finished this scarf. The problem is that I dont really like the color or the yarn (acrylic) and I cast on 25 stitches but now have 27 which may be due to the two holes (see white circles). They seem so obvious when I have it in hand but not so obvious here. Anyway, there is ribbing to this scarf, so maybe once I get to that part I’ll like it a little better. This scarf would actually look really cute on my little E-guy. So, I will tread onward and finish this scarf!!!
I had a wonderful 34th birthday. It was quiet and simple but very nice. My thoughtful hubby took me out to dinner with the two little guys and I ate a few very delicious avocado spring roll appetizers and a very large bowl of the most tasty vegan pasta dish loaded with eggplant, broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts. After dinner, we went home to eat the most delicious homemade vegan chocolate cake (made by me but frosted by my boys) then we opened gifts. The two boys got for me (via daddy) a very beautiful peridot ring. It is really very gorgeous. And my very very thoughtful hubby bought me this book, Stitch ‘n bitch: the knitter’s handbook , to encourage and support my continued quest of learning to knit. All very exciting. I read the first 4 pages to my son for his bedtime story(sometimes I can get away with reading just about anything as long as I make it sound interesting with animated voices). Probably would have looked pretty funny from an outsider- me reading about knitting in several different animated voices. Fortunately, the first few pages of the book are about the author’s family and not about the actual knitting process. Still, probably only very slightly interesting to a 4 year old.
Anyway, my grandmother gave me a very cool book about needlework ( The Complete Guide to Needlework circa 1979) . I tried learning by reading the knitting section from this book but that was a disaster….
Learn to Knit is a kit complete with video, yarn, instructions and needles (#8). I’ve watched it and am trying to make a real scarf with real knitting and purling stitches. From this I was able to watch someone do each stitch… rewind…. watch…. try…. rewind…. watch… try… etc, until I finally figured it out. I’ve learned so much from this little video. You are given instructions to make the pictured scarf. I really don’t fancy the blue yarn or the look of the scarf but its purpose is to teach you the garter stitch, stockinette stitch and ribbing. All very exciting.
The Cool Girl’s Guide to Knitting has simple instructions that are easier to follow now that I watched the above video. It has lots of cool and simple projects that I can’t wait to get started on.
Alterknits was given to me by my sweet husband. He likes to set high expectations for me because he thinks I can do anything. This book seems a little more complicated, but the projects are ultra cool and hip. There are some great felting projects in this book too. Another things I’ve always wanted to learn.










