Here Comes 100

It's a very important time in my life as a needle-worker. I am about to start my 100th* needlework project. I wanted to do something special, but then got all flustered when deciding what that special project is! So, I decided to outsource the decision making. I have quite a few WIPs under way (see right) that I will finish out before starting on this landmark project so there is time before I CO. Thanks for helping!

What Should My 100th Project Be?
	Bunny All In One by Debbie Bliss
	110-41 socks by DROPS design
	Torreyana Shawl by Elizabeth Freeman
	Maze by Charlene Schurch
	Cable Clock Socks by Ann Budd
pollcode.com free polls

Links to the patterns:
1. Bunny-All-in-One
2. 110-41 Socks
3. Torreyana Shawl
4. Maze Socks
5. Cable Clock Socks

*as documented by Ravelry

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Update

Torreyana wins!

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10 things #8: Seven's M.I.A.

I finished another project in my 1000 day challenge. This time it's a cute little hat that I made from 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders. I used some leftover Socks That Rock medium-weight yarn remaining from a design project about which I still am waiting to hear back.

Number eight was completed ahead of number seven, owing to the tragic loss of seven at some point during our house moving excitement.

That's Seven!

Well, This Sucks!

Grumble. I broke my hand today. It's not looking good for my knitting in the near future. I will work on rigging my cast (it's in a splint until I meet with the orthopedic surgeon) with a knitting needle holder. But for now, I'm just going to feel sorry for myself.

Homer

My cat Homer died today. I wasn't with him, but my Mum was. I found out from a voicemail that he had passed. I don't know why this has hit me so hard- he was 12 after all -but it did. So, I decided to acknowledge his life in my blog.

I thought long and hard about how to write about my furry friend; whether to tell a linear tale about how he featured in my life or a more sentimental piece about what he meant to me. It all fell short and was deleted as quickly as it was written. I feel that my mother's email said all that could be said in words:

The vet confirmed that he had cancer and showed me the lab report... Anyway, he had to give poor Homer two injections of a valium type drug which Homer naturally resisted! It wasn't pleasant holding him while the vet did it, but Homer did soon relax and lay down and I petted him and the poor darling was purring as he died. His eyes glazed as the drug hit his brain and he was dead though his heart was still pumping and the vet was going to give him another shot, but the heart did stop then.

Homer died as he lived, a real sweetheart. Even as I had him in the cat carrier in the surgery waiting room, children gathered around him and said how lovely he was and poked their little fingers through the bars of the carrier to stroke him. I was trying not to cry, but Homer seemed to like their attentions.

I can honestly say I have never loved any animal as I loved Homer. He was a true friend, always there for me as I hope I was for him. He 'nursed' me in his catty way through my thyroid illness, fussing over me as I lay wearily on the bed and cheering me up greatly in his catty way. He always welcomed me back when I was away, almost tripping me up in his enthusiasm to greet me. He had a huge appetite for food, much greater and greedier than his brother's and a bit like me in that respect! He was gregarious and sweet natured, rarely bad tempered... All in all, he was the best cat that ever lived which I told him as his little spirit slipped away. Anyone who thinks that only human animals have a 'soul' is greatly mistaken.

Goodbye Homer.

FOlympics!

I entered, and completed the 2010 UFOlympics. In case you don't know what that means, it's a Ravelry group in which you declare one or more WIPs that are foundering. You work on them furiously between the opening and closing ceremonies, and get a gold medal if you finish everything you proposed during that time. I declared my baby blanket that I started back in July, and a grown-up's blanket that I was given. I am glad I joined the group as the two projects I declared for the event had been my guilty WIPs for quite some time! Now I am down to 2 WIPs, and I am contemplating COing another project.

A Tale of Two Mitties

It was the best of times, it was the worsted of ti... sorry. I am a slave to even the most belaboured of puns. Besides which, the knitting project I am going to speak about was made from sock weight yarn!

I made some mittens for a design collaboration with my friend, Kristine. Thankfully, I test knit the adult size, because they do not fit quite as well as I would have hoped. There is too much room above the fingers and not enough room between the cuff and the thumb, meaning they always feel like they are just about to fall off. I corrected the pattern and sent it off, but that left me with a pair of slightly ill-fitting mittens.

I was finally motivated to make a new pair when I started cycling, and was given the gift of an iPod (Thanks Ben!). Both activities necessitate the use of my hands, so I set about making a pair of Broad Street Mittens using the 100 Purewool Merino Fingering I purchased quite some time ago. The pattern has some gaps in the instructions, but I was able to improvise and I was really happy with the end product. The last part of the project was completed in Ireland, where my brother, Sam, saw them and asked that I make him a pair. I adapted the Knucks pattern, which has a child's size, and made him a pair in Noro Silk Garden Sock.

289 reprazent!

I got back to the US, and wore my mittens all of twice before losing them. I searched high and low for them. I phone-stalked the Olive Garden I had been to that day, ransacked a friend's house and even had my realtor search her office for them. They were gone. I don't deal with loss at all, and found this particularly hard to cope with as I was homesick and they were a memory of a fun time with my brother.

I tortured myself with the idea of finding them for over a week before deciding that I had to come up with a more productive way of forgetting about them. I have more of the yarn I used to make them, so decided to reknit them in time for my Father and Brother's upcoming visit in February. I prefer the colourway of the new mittens and once I repose the silly photo of me and my brother in our matching FOs, I will be chock full of closure.



I just hope that someone out there is enjoying my orange mittens.