Why Is It So Hard To Do The Right Thing?

I mean, seriously. There is right and there is wrong. And it's usually pretty clear which is which. So why is it so difficult for so many people to grasp that concept?

For example, we had placed a bid on a house recently. But then the owner of the realty company that had listed the house made a deal with a friend of his. Since the realtor can't accept a lower bid after ours, they backdated the offer to three days before our bid. Now, this is difficult to prove, but they basically admitted to doing it. And this company had actually gotten in trouble for doing this about a year ago, when one of the owners lost his realty license. But since it's a bank-owned property and the bank is getting their money, nobody really cares.

And, truthfully, I don't care any more. I don't want to purchase a house from a company that does business like that. And we have already moved on to bidding on another house. But I am a little frustrated that it's such an unethical practice and they have no problem doing it. And I've no doubt they will continue to do it, with no guilt.

It bothers me when people know they are doing wrong and they still do it.

We have a customer who has been coming in to our store pretty much every day for the last 5 years. A soda is $1.25. He tries to toss a dollar at me and run every time. Every time. Usually when I have a million other customers to distract me. And when I call him on it, he says--every time--"I thought it was a dollar. It used to be a dollar." (It has always been $1.25.) But even as he says it, he has this look on his face like, "Damn it. You caught me."

Another customer tries to keep you talking at the register and then tell you the wrong price of something. (I suppose he thinks, even though it's marked $6, if he says it's $1 and he's talking about something else, you might ring up $1.) When you say, "That's marked $6." He decides he doesn't need it, after all. Sure, that could be an honest mistake... If it didn't happen 5 times a week.

When I was an employment recruiter, people lied on their resumes all the time. They lied about education, mostly. (Stupid, because it's so easy to verify.) And they lied about work experience. Most of the time, if someone said they "managed" something or were "in charge" of something, they weren't.

And 99% of the time, people lied about why they left their old job. Now, I'm a good interviewer, so I usually got to the truth. "There was no opportunity for advancement." was usually "I didn't really want to learn new processes/skills/take on new responsibilities." "It was not a very professional environment." was usually "I got into an argument with my manager and quit/was fired." And "I was laid off" was 100% of the time "fired."

Maybe it's not known univerally, but every recruiter can tell you: Banks don't lay off tellers. Restaurants don't lay off servers. There's usually enough attrition in those jobs that they don't have to. Usually, tellers and servers quit or they are fired. And the reasons that they are fired are all bad.

Before I worked for myself, I was always amazed at how much effort my coworkers would expend to keep from working. Usually, they worked harder to get out of working than they would have to just work. What is the point to that? Is it so much fun to get paid for doing nothing that you're willing to work twice as hard so you don't have to do what you should be doing?

And don't even get me started on the way some people treat others. Look, it's something you should have learned in Kindergarten--"Treat others the way you would want to be treated." But it's pretty obvious most people don't learn that. Unless most people want to be treated like crap.

I have no answers for you. I find that doing the right thing is usually easier than doing the wrong thing anyway, so I have no idea why people choose to do wrong. If you have any insight, I'd be glad to hear it.

More Beads

As I was looking through the bead containers to see what struck my interest, I found this necklace.

This was one of the first attempts at beading I'd done. It actually was one of the very first things I'd done where I'd had to use jump rings and crimp beads and all. I was working from a pattern in a kit and broke the long eye pin that goes through this big round bead in front. So I emprovised with a shorter pin and didn't make the pattern.

Ha! When you're starting out, it never occurs to you "I can go buy another eye pin."

But, this looks really good. I like it this way. The trouble is, my workmanship was not great in those early days and this thing broke the first time I wore it. So I put it all in a Ziploc bag and put it in my bead stash to fix later.

This time around, I'm much better at doing this. I kept the emprovised design I had used before (I don't even remember what it was supposed to look like.) and just gave it better connections.

Scarf Progress

The 4th Doctor Scarf is coming along nicely. I really thought I'd be tired of garter stitch by now, but no. It's very relaxing and I've enjoyed working on it.

I've not actually had a whole lot of time to work on this lately and I was a little disappointed that I wasn't further along. Then, I really took a good look at it. I'm more than half done.

I think there's some kind of optical illusion with this scarf--the plain stitch, the stripes, the colors, whatever--that makes it all look pretty much the same. So you can knit 6 inches easily and it doesn't look, at first glance, like you've done much at all. Considering the limited amount of time I've had to work on this, it's actually coming along pretty fast.

(This picture makes it look like Tom Baker and Assassin's Creed had a baby. Ha!)

Your Brain On Knitting

This is my brain on knitting:

Yes, that's right. When I am knitting, my brain becomes a Thomas Kincaide painting. Or a reasonable facsimile. Apparently, that's not uncommon. Recent studies are confirming the benefits of crafting on our mental states. (You can read the CNN article here.)

Yeah, that's something we've all known, but now that science confirms it, it kind of gives those feelings a stamp of validation, doesn't it? Not that we crafters need validation, right? If we did, we wouldn't keep investing our time, money, and love into knitting stuff for people who don't appreciate it, right? We damn sure wouldn't invest $40 of wool and two weeks of our free time to knit a pair of socks.

Not that I knit socks. Or wear knitted socks. (Or socks of any kind, for that matter.) But, yeah. It's nice that the science backs it up.

I think most knitters and other crafters will tell you that, after a bad day, knitting a couple of inches of anything makes you feel better. Hell, even going to the yarn store or Michael's to pet some soft yarn makes you feel better. I don't know if it's the tactile sensation, the repetetive motions, or just the act of creation, but I've always known it.

So, yes. My brain does become a Thomas Kincaide painting on knitting. Unless I'm working with mohair or boucle. Then it takes its influence from Edvard Munch.

Not Knitting - More Beads

During our last Michael's excursion, M picked out some beads she especially liked. These chunks of clear-ish smooth crystal were some she especially liked. I have to confess, I didn't really know what to do with them because of their irregular shape. Also, they're clear-ish, so I really wanted to have some sort of pop of color in there.

I ended up stringing them, along with some dark beer bottle colored round beeds and some slightly smaller round amber beads. And then I threw in some seed beads that were lighter than the dark beads, but darker than the light ones. This brought out the amber-ish color in some of the chunks and also highlighted their irregular shapes with the symetry of the other beads.

Then, I had some of these beads left over, so I thought I'd put them together and make some dangly earrings, too. The earrings have the amber beads, the seed beads, and the chunky beads. They're very dynamic.

I like the overall look of this set, too. I have some creamy jade chunks that I think might work really well, using this same technique.

An Introvert's Fear

Let me tell you about this dream that I had.

I was part of a performing group--like a singing and dancing performing group--and we were scheduled to do this series of shows. This was the first one, and it was a smallish turnout, but we knew it would make or break the whole tour. I, of course, was ready pretty much before everyone else and took my mark on the stage behind the curtain. I looked over at another woman--more talented and experienced than I, but still (like me) not the star of this show. She gave me an acknowledging smile. We both kind of rolled our eyes at all the chaos going on around us while the crew set up the stage.

Suddenly, the curtain went up. It was way too early. No one was on stage except the two of us and a bunch of hands that ran off, as soon as the curtain went up. I looked out into the audience and I could see the people (in the first couple of rows at least) waiting, excitedly, as if they were really going to see something special.

But it was just me and the other woman. And we were kind of frozen to the spot.

Until, finally, I step forward, picked up the mic and started singing the Elton John portion of "Don't Go Breaking My Heart." Luckily, the other woman caught on and sang the Kiki Dee part. We sang pretty well, actually. Even if I forgot one of the verses and just ended up doing the first one over again. Even if it seemed like the song was too short, so I sang the chorus a few more times. Even if there was no accompaniment and it was all a capella. We were pretty good. I was starting to have fun.

And then I realized this was a Christmas show.

When I told T about this dream, he laughed and laughed. He said "You're always so afraid that if you finally relax, you'll screw it up."

And now that song is stuck in my head.

No More Magic Ball!

Gah! My huge Magic Ball ran out and I'm not even halfway done with this blanket. Crap!

Oh well, no worries. It's not like I don't have plenty of little balls of leftover yarn laying around, right? I totally do. In fact, just a quick scrounge around the outer fringes of my stash produced a Magic Ball of this size:

That ought to put a couple more inches on this thing, right? And, seriously, that was just a five minute trip into the stash. I've got plenty to add to this.

I had not meant to be working so much on this blanket. I only meant to have it available to knit when, for example, R was in the room and I couldn't knit the Doctor scarf. But, this is a lot of fun. And, this clears out a lot of the extra stuff just sitting around, which is something I'm trying to do all over the house these days.

Writing Again

Remember that one of my goals for this year was to write? And yeah, I've been writing work stuff. But nothing that was just writing for the sake of writing.

I miss that.

So I decided to just try and get a little bit down every day (or every other day or something) just so I remember how to do it.

I started writing a short story that's been working in my head for a while now. The characters and plot are solid, I think. We will see how they hold up after I start pounding away at the keys. Hopefully they will remain solid.

Anyway, this is part of my ongoing Save-My-Brain project, now that I am getting older. Time will tell, eh?

Well, This Is Disappointing

So, I got my swift to go with my yarn winder. I was so excited. I couldn't wait to start winding yarn.

But alas. Look at the edges of my tables:

Dining Room

Coffee Table.
And that's it. Dining room table and 3 coffee tables. All with that rounded edge that neither the swift nor the winder will clip to. WTF? So now what am I supposed to do?

Trying To Divest

We've been at this house for so long, we've actually accumulated stuff. That's a weird feeling. As you know, I am not a big one for keeping non-useful things. (Yarn is useful. Yarn doesn't count.) But always before, we moved just often enough that we would have to pare down the junk pretty often. Now that we are going to be moving again, I'm having trouble thinking of where to start. Spending a year or so in a place doesn't give you a lot of time to fill up the place with stuff.

But after 9 years... Well, let's just say this is going to be a task.

I'm looking at the closets this week. I'm sure there are a lot of things in there that can go. A lot.

Stay tuned.

Can Spring Finally Be Here?

I don't even want to say it out loud. But it's so nice out today. The sun is shining and it must be 60 degrees. I didn't realize how much winter had dragged me down until today.

I opened the windows and let the sun and the breeze in. And just that seemed to lift my spirits a little. I felt like I had a little more energy, a little more motivation.

Please don't tell me that we will get more snow. I just don't think I could take it.

Afghan Progress Too

Of course, I am working on the scrap afghan at the same time that I am working on other things. It's my camoflage project. I work on it when other people are around so they don't see the Christmas present I'm working on.

Oh Patwoman. You are so clever.

This too, is Garter Stitch. I don't know why I'm on such a big garter stitch kick these days. But I like the simplicity of it, especially for a project like this one, which just has so much going on in it anyway.

I am concerned, however, that my Magic Ball was not big enough for this afghan. It's half gone. And I am not even halfway done. Not that I don't have plenty of yarn to add to this.

On a side note, however, it's been a lot of fun to get to a new yarn and think "Oh, I remember this. I made a shawl for M's prom out of this!" or "OMG! I forgot about this yarn!"

Stay tuned.

Scarf Progress

The 4th Doctor scarf has been the perfect TV knitting. Plain ol' Garter Stitch, and just count the rows for the pattern. I'm a little less than halfway done, just in the little time I've been working on it. (In the picture on the right, the end of the scarf is touching the ground and I am standing up.)

Seriously. When I showed T my progress, he said "Man! You're fast!" Of course, it's probably not registering in his brain that this scarf is going to be obscenely long. Ha. Ha. I was like, "Yeah, only about 6 feet to go!"

I like working from this pattern, too. I like that someone actually calculated the number of rows of each color and then matched all the colors to name brand yarns. When I did my first one--it was actually during the 4th Doctor Seasons--I just watched TV and wrote down. "Uh, that looks like about 3-4 inches of light brown..."

Oh, how sad and deprived we were in the days before the interwebs.

Another Bag O' Yarn

Dude, I don't know what's happening to me, but I just can't stop buying yarn. I went to Joann's to get a paint pen, that was all. But, of course, they had that damn bin out in front again with all the bags of yarn. And it's just expecting too much to be able to walk by a bin like that without at least practically crawling inside of it and handling every single bag of yarn looking.

I ended up getting this one. It's a grey/blue/green mix. Very subtle. Again, no info on the bag, but I'm thinking this is fingering weight. There is a lot of it, too.

Not Knitting: Paint Craft

I wanted to make some letters to hang on the wall. My thought was to make some that looked metal. I wanted them to look like they had been riveted into the wall. So I came up with these.

They're your basic cardboard 3D letters that I got at Michael's. I just added the rivets and painted them copper. Looks pretty good, I think. But wait. I added some blue paint in strategic places...

Yeah. That makes it.

Christmas Knitting? Already?

Yes, well the plan is to get all the Christmas Knitting done before Christmas this year. Of course, that's always the plan. It just never seems to work out. Unless, of course, you just pare down your list so that you can say you completed it, even though you haven't--you've just made a consscious decision to fail and pretend you didn't. Kind of like how Kirk cheated at the Kobiyashi Maru.

Or as I like to call it... Patwomaning.

Anyway, I've been insanely busy the last part of last year and so far this year. I'm thinking the last half of this year is going to be even busier. So I'd better get crackin'!

I've put together a list of things I would like to knit and that I think I can manage before my deadline. (We'll see about that.) And the first item is a Fourth Doctor Scarf for R.

Now remember, I've made one of these before. Back when I had been a knitter for a very short time, a friend of mine asked if I could knit it. He bought the yarn and I thought "How much work could it be? It's just like all the other scarves I've done, only longer and with more colors."

Sigh. Don't you just love it when you don't know what you're talking about?

But that was about 28 years ago. I'm faster, better, and more patient of a knitter than I was back then. I think this will be no problem. I've even already bought all the yarn. (Although, neither Joann's nor Michael's had all the colors I needed and I ended up getting some at each store.)

I'm using Lion Brand Vanna's Choice since this scarf is most likely to be used for cosplay during the summer months. And, because it is long... it will need to be washed.

Amazing Technicolor Scrapgan!

Since I was thinking about the Magic Ball, I just got it out and started holding it and looking at it. It's really cool, with all these yarns I'd forgotten about using.

I decided to start the scrapgan now. (This also serves the dual purpose of giving me something to knit when I can't knit Christmas presents because the person is right there. Not that I have begun knitting gifts...)

I had planned to tie all this together with black yarn. I'd even bought a bunch of these skeins of black yarn at Michael's in an after-Christmas sale. I got them for like 88 cents each. Whoo-hoo! Deals!

The only thing is, the yarn is not black. It's navy blue. Three cheers for wearing your glasses, Patwoman. (Not.) I'm still using the navy yarn. I think this this will be so hideous or so pretty that black or blue will not matter. The important thing is that they are all navy. Because when you don't wear your glasses, apparently that can happen, too.

So, I cast on a crapload (150) stitches onto this #17 circular, using one strand of navy and one strand of Magic Ball. So far, it's been very interesting looking. I kind of like it.

I'll be working on this off and on throughout the next few months, I'm sure. Stay tuned.

New Yarn

I know. It seems like I am doing more yarn buying lately than yarn knitting. But, I couldn't help myself. Just look at this!

It's 100% wool yarn that I bought on eBay. No name, but I love the colors--a deep red and... well, an even deeper red. Spectacular!

And you know what? I also ordered a swift from eBay. (I already have a ball winder, but it's been kind of useless without an actual swift.) So, I can't wait to turn these hanks into little yarn-cakes! Fancy!

Ongoing UFOs

I don't know if you do this or not, but I have a sort of heirarchy of scraps that I knit with. It goes like this:

Half to One Skein: Good for small projects like hats and Christmas decorations. One skein of worsted is a scarf, a pair of mitt, something like that. Less than one skein can be combined with another one to make a striped hat, scarf, mitts, etc. Or, like I am doing now, an afghan square or two.

Less than half a skein: Good to make small things like Christmas decorations or small toys. Good for stripes. Good for jewelry, skinny scarves, and various other small things.

Less than that: I have been making these squares for several years now, just from the small leftovers of my other knititng. I'm not on any sort of deadline with it. Just making it as a long-term project.

Too little to do that: I tie the strands together, end to end, no matter the texture or weight (but I do only use acryllic so there is no weird felting or shrinking) to make my Magic Ball. My plan is to knit it with a neutral color to make one big scrapghan.

And last, but not least, here is my Snip Jar. It's where I put all the pieces I snip off after I've weaved in as much of the end as I'm going to. I had originally planned to use these snips for stuffing in toys or to mold together into a yarn bowl. But, I kind of like the way this looks in this jar. I just keep stuffing more and more in and I like it more and more.

Another Quiz

This one is What Period In History Do You Really Belong In?

Before taking this quiz (and let me say that I didn't know what the possible outcomes could be, so I had no way of knowing anyway), I would have said my Historical Period does not exist yet. As you know, I like to see/do/have the things that are 20 minutes into the future. I'm all about new and improved. My period in history, to me, would be sometime in the Star Trek timeline.

But according to this quiz, I really belong in Revolutionary France.

You don’t want to eat any cake, thank you very much, because that is too mainstream. You’re edgy, passionate, and
outspoken. When you want something, you go out and get it. Now off with some heads!

I don't know if I would choose to live in Revolutionary France, or if I would be happy living in that time. Come to think of it, I'd probably be starving to death or dying of some disease, actually. So I think this quiz is a little full of shit.

Dreaming In Color

I always dream in color. Always have. And not just color... brilliant color.

But lately I've been having dreams about color. Like the other night I dreamed I was in a mall, strolling through various shops. All the shops were color-coordinated--one shop contained teal blue dresses, blue and silver jewelry, blue dishes, blue shoes, perfume in blue bottles; one contained all of that in red; one had saphire colored items; one had orange things... etc. In the dream, I was just walking through, enjoying all the colored items, not choosing one over the other.

Last night, I dreamed of blue rooms--the floors textured to look like the sea, complete with whitecaps, the walls and ceiling were a bright ocean blue. All the rooms in this particular building were the same way, and I marvelled at how fantastic they all were.

I don't know what significance, if any, all of these colors play in the dream world, but color was a significant ingredient in my dreams. That is, it's not that there is color in the dreams, it's that the dreams are about color. Which is kind of weird.

So, I consulted my friend, Professor Google, to find out what I could. Then I ended up on an internet safari of information. Here are some things I found that were interesing.

First, it's apparently uncommon to dream in color. Like I said, I always have. But it's apparently very uncommon to dream in color after young adulthood. Like, especially after 30, the colors in your dreams start to fade like a Polaroid picture. And, by the time you hit 60, your dreams are pretty much black and white. Now, I'm somewhere between those two age groups, but I have very colorful dreams.

But wait... apparently among people who dream in color, most of them don't actually dream in color. They merely remember the dreams in color.

I don't know how the researchers who came up with this theory know that, but I find that interesting. You know, could it be that my dream was a bland, black and white mind teleplay? And maybe I thought, "Oh look at the blue floor!" and then I just remembered the floor as being blue, even if it wasn't?

I'm having a hard time believing that. Not because I don't think my brain is clever enough to trick itself in my sleep. But because I think, if it were inclined to trick itself, it would probably do something more spectacular like make me think I was covered in spiders or something.

I know my brain.

Not Knitting

Bead stringing is fun. I'm not exceptionally good at it, but I do enjoy it. And, like most things, I find that I get better with practice.

So this is a necklace I put together for M. She actually picked out the beads and spacers for it, so I'm pretty sure she'll like it. And it's pretty simple in design, so it's not too over-the-top and not too understated.

I wish I'd had a few beads left over to make companion earrings, but that's okay. This necklace turned out really nice on its own.

More Squares

These squares have been strangely relaxing. I've just really enjoyed the repetetive garter stitch, and the squishy-ness of the end product. They're like the comfort food of knitting.

Anyway, I've knit 2 more. Just garter stitch, cat on my lap, barely paying attention. That's a good night.

Shopping Trip: Bag O' Yarn

M and I had the opportunity to do a quick little shopping trip. We didn't really have a plan, but were just waiting for something to jump out and scream to be bought.

Luckily, we stopped by Joann's, because they had a big bin out front full of screaming yarn. Now, this is no-name yarn. It's probably a mill end of some sort. But it all looks evenly colored, evenly plied, and does not look to be cobbled together, so what the hell? As long as it looks good, feels good, and works up well, who cares if it has a name or not?

I'm not a yarn snob.

Seriously. Not any kind of snob (except maybe I'm snobby about being a snob). I don't need to impress anyone with labels. And maybe that stems from growing up with parents who were products of The Great Depression. I learned that quality was important, but only real quality. Perceived quality is kind of pointless in the real world.

Anyway. It's pretty.

There's not a lot of info on this bag, outside of the weight (one pound) and the fiber content. But I'd say it looks to be light worsted, or maybe sport. I haven't really swatched it yet.

Yes, sometimes I do swatches. Just not often.

This yarn wants to be something pretty. So I may have to try my hand at one of those lacy shawls I've been downloading.

Stay tuned.

Random Knitting

I had some of this Patons Decor Tapestry Variegated yarn left over from the hat and the slippers I made in December. I thought at first, I might make a scarf or something. Maybe some more slippers, since I killed mine with a carpet tack. (Yeah, damn it. Scuffed my foot on one of those tacks on the edge of this crappy worn out carpet and just ripped a giant runner in the bottom of my right slipper. Grrr!)

Anyway, I have two partial skeins left over, so who knows how much is actually there? I need to make something that doesn't require accuracy.

So, I cast on an afghan square. This is Garter Stitch (I have been on a Garter Stitch roll lately.) but I've done it on the bias. I started with one stitch and increased until I got to 45 stitches. Then, I decreased back to one again. Still, there is an elegance to this simple square. (It is square, btw. This picture is kind of crappy since I was holding the blocking board in one hand and the camera in the other.)

I will make more such squares--and probably one more in this particular yarn, since I seem to have about that much left--but I'm not going too crazy with it. I will just make them as I have time/yarn/inclination.

Not Knitting

I've felt a little deprived ever since the craft fair, when I was unable to find any stitch markers. So I bought some rings and decided to make my own.

As you can see, I'm being pretty casual about my crafting today.

Little green hearts. They are the perfect size for a stitch marker, I think. (And I just happen to have 4 of them!)

Whoo-hoo! Stitch markers!

These rings come in three different sizes, so I'm going to have fun making a few sets.

More Leaves

Knit. Knit. Knit. These leaves are actually a little more fun to knit than the first ones. I don't know if it's because they have an interesting shape, or the fact that I only need to knit about a third as many, but these seem to go quicker and just be more pleasurable all around.

Of course, these will also have to be sewn onto the wreath... sigh.

I am looking forward to finishing this wreath and hanging it in my house, but it does occur to me that maybe I should have done this in more spring-y colors, since I'll be finishing it in a spring month, right?

Or maybe I should just do another one?

Back To Leaves

So, instead of attaching the basic leaves to the Woodland Wreath, I decided to just start knitting some more leaves. We all know that the finishing is the yucky part of knitting, anyway, right? Save it for later.

Anyway, the next part of the pattern are the Oak Leaves. I pulled out some leftover brown yarn and cast on for these tonight.

They go pretty quickly. You've just got to pay attention to which line of the pattern you're on. I was doing these while watching tv, so there were several times that I had to stop and count stitches so I could make sure I was knitting the right row.

There's probably a lesson there, but I didn't learn it.

I think there are supposed to be 8 of these leaves. I'm not sure how much of this brown I have, but I'm pretty sure I have enough to make 8 leaves. Stay tuned.

FO: Fluffy Of A Different Kind

Still not ready to go back to knitting leaves. Ha! I must have some sort of knitter ADHD.

This is some nice yarn that I got a while back. It's Yarn Bee Beguile, which may be discontinued by now, knowing Yarn Bee. I bought several skeins of this and used a couple to knit the Beguiled Scarf for Jill. Then I kind of forgot about the others--blue, black, and white.

They're all really pretty, but I just didn't have anything to make with them. How many scarves does one actually need? (Don't ask M, because she has not hit that limit yet.) So, they languished in my yarn stash.

Until today.

This blue--Agean--is so pretty, especially with the fringiness of this ribbon yarn, that I decided I--in fact--do need one more scarf. As you know, ribbon yarn is sometimes a little too "holey" on its own in a scarf. So at first, I thought I should add another yarn to carry along with it. But I didn't want to detract from the ribbonness of the yarn.

So I tried some Lion Brand Incredible. This is Blue Shades. Color-wise, it matches really well. And since both yarns are ribbon yarns, they knit together pretty well, too. The trouble is, they sort of lose each other when you put them together. Know what I mean?

So, in the end, I just decided to knit the Beguile solo. And that turned out to be the best plan. The scarf is light and fluffy and the fringed ribbon of the Beguile draws the hand in to pet it. I knit this in plain Garter Stitch, but it looks anything but plain. The ridges and fringes give it a multi-tonal look, really.

And, as you can see, I added some fringe to this scarf. Normally, I'm a fringe-free sort of gal, but this scarf really calls for it, don't you think?

FO: One More Fluffy, Ruffly Scarf

Remember the Potato Chip Scarves? Those scarves that were ruffly because you increased rapidly in every stitch? So you went from 100 stitches to 200 to 400 to 800 and by the time you bound off, you had a million stitches crammed onto your needle? And they were called Potato Chip Scarves because nobody could make just one. (Although, to be fair to the marketing campaign, they should have been called "Lay's Potato Chip Scarves.")

Well, move over Potato Chip Scarf. There's a new Potato Chip Scarf in town. Yeah, you heard me. I made another Starbella Arctic scarf. Somebody stop me!

This one is for me, though. It's Sea Storm color, which is a silvery grey. (Which is really more like storm clouds anywhere, if you ask me. But hey, I guess storm clouds look like that over the sea, too.)

Nothing new here. I used the same #10 or #10 1/2 needles (or the combination of the two) and knit this in the usual way.

Winter Craft Fair

M, R, Bre, and I all attended a craft fair today. It was nice to go out with all of them. We spent the day together, really. But the craft fair was a little lame.

Not that the crafts were lame. No, I don't mean that. I mean, there were not a whole lot of booths and not a whole lot of variety of crafts. I think winter craft fairs just don't do as well. (Although, I don't see why not. It was cold. And I totally would have bought the shit out of a wool vendor, if there were one there. But, sadly, there was not.)

I had in mind to get some stitch markers, since I seem to keep losing all mine. But I saw no booths that had knitting-related parafernalia. Well, one booth had some ruffle scarves, but that was it.

I did end up buying some Orange Dreamsicle Cake Balls from a very nice lady. T loved those.

He loves Orange Dreamsicle Cake, which we had at a restaurant many years ago and I have been trying to replicate it ever since. I usally do pretty well at copycatting restaurant food. I'm really a super-taster, so I tend to be able to pick up all the ingredients, no matter how subtle. However, I have yet to get the Orange Dreamsicle Cake exactly right.

Still, these cake balls were good. And I feel a little more motivated to try a Dreamsicle Cake again.