A Nice Surprise!

I had a nice surprise when I went out to the mailbox yesterday.  About 6 months ago, I took out a subscription to Knitter's Digest.  I have been very disappointed in it.  The last couple of  issues left much to be desired.  I was not going to renew.  Well, yesterday in the mail, was a new magazine -- apparently Knitter's Digest is no more.  It has been replaced with Creative Knitting.  It reminds me a lot of FCEK now.  There are patterns for a lace stripe sweater, lots of scarves (still obviously big this fall), there is also a sweater out of Melissa Leapman's new book Hot Knits. There are other Melissa Leapman sweaters, along with socks and things for children and afghans.  And my favorite of all -- on page 28, the "Soy Delicious Shell."  It is a long tunic style form fitting sleeveless shell with slits on the side and seed stitch ribbing.  It has definately made it onto my "Must Do" list!  The sweater in the book is made out of Soy Silk Ribbon yarn, hence the name Soy Delicious Shell.  All in all, I liked the new magazine.  It was a definate upgrade from the issue of Knitter's Digest I expected to find in my mailbox!!!!

Warning: Addictive!

That's the warning label that the "No Hair Day Hairy Chemo Cap" pattern should come with!  What fun!  I have made 4 of these so far, knitting at lunchtime at work (which seems to be the only time I have to knit lately!)  They are so much fun to knit, and my coworkers have gone nuts over them.  I have been besieged by requests to sell these caps, but I politely refuse.  I tell everyone that wants one that I will furnish them with a list of needed supplies and gladly teach them how to make their own. My goal is to make a bag of these adorable hats to take to the Hematology/Oncology Center before the onset of the cool fall weather.  Pictures of these caps really don't do them justice -- they are simply the cutest hats I have ever seen!  I have been making them in "hair colors" like white and black and brown, but I think I will branch out a bit and try a few brightly colored ones, too.  And for those thinking ahead to Christmas present knitting, how cute it would be to make a matching hat and scarf -- maybe even put a furry cuff on a pair of gloves to complete the set.  But be warned -- you can't make just one of these hats!!!!!!!!

Pop Quiz!!!!!!!!

Okay class, close your books and pick up your pencils.  It is time for a pop quiz!  The quiz consists of only one question, but any of you that have been reading my blog for a while will have no problem getting it correct.  So, here goes:

"Why hasn't the Santa Fe Shawl turned up in the Completed Projects column yet?"

a)  I am a fickle knitter, constantly flitting back and forth between projects

b)  I suffer from "start-itis", an affliction that compels one to begin new projects

c)  I walked through the novelty yarn isle of Walmart in a weak moment

d)  I dislike the finishing process of a project -- I much prefer the knitting part

e)   All of the above

Okay, quiz over.  Put down your pencils and pass your papers forward.  So how did you do?  If you answered  e)  All of the above, you got an A+!!!!!!!  The shawl finishing is going slowly due to the fact that I dislike the finishing aspect of a knitting project.  Seriously dislike it.  I would much rather be knitting!  The blocking process was a complete sucess!  After all the grunting and muttering and pulling and tugging, I was very afraid that the pieces would go (((Sproing!!!!!!))) back into their original shape when the pins were removed, but to my immense relief, the pieces stayed put in their new dimensions.  Now for that dastardly sewing up part -- but wait a minute, since I missed my mother-in-law's acutal birthday, what is another week or so going to matter, why not begin a new project now???  So that's what I did.  It did not help that I happened to find myself in the yarn department at Walmart on a day that I was feeling a bit down.  The brightly colored, cheerful novelty yarns got the best of me, and some of them found their way into my cart.  Sneaky things!  Some of that cheerful yarn has already begun its new life as "No Hair Day Hairy Chemo Caps!"  I found a link on Spunknits blog (Innane Knitting Babble) for charity crafters, and one of the links on it lead to http://www.headhuggers.org/.  There are so many cute caps on this site, but this furry one with the silly name really caught my eye!  http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/kpatt10.htm.  A short walk from the hospital where I work is the Lynchburg Hematology / Oncology Center.  Two summers ago, I spent many hours sitting there playing cribbage with my Dad while he was receiving chemo for colon cancer.  When I found this link, I knew instantly that I wanted to make these caps to give to the Oncology center to give to their chemo patients.  As with Conner's prayer blanket, I find that making things to help others feel better actually helps relieve the heaviness in my own heart caused by my own problems.  Charity knitting is a beautiful thing.  Thanks to Spunknit for providing these links!