Quick, cozy and purple.

Every time I looked at Pam's gorgeous fall photo (which was often), I found myself wanting, nay needing some fingerless mitts, and fast. Faster than I was realistically going to finish that second Endpaper. (Yeah, remember that?)


This pair is actually for The Lady, as they're more her color than mine, and I'll whip up another pair for myself soon.

The Dirt:
Pattern: Hand/Wrist Warmers, by Joelle Hoverson in Last Minute Knitted Gifts. (Also excerpted online here.
Yarn: Cascade 220, not sure which color, at most 1/2 a skein.
Needles: US 6
Mods: 8 rows seemed too small for the thumb slit, so I did 12 instead. When I make these again, I think I'll try 10 rows, as these are tad large.

Katie loves them, and knitting them was a snap. Highly recommended for all sorts of outdoor fall activities. Like teaching your middle-aged dog new tricks.

High five. No... well, yes, that's the peanut butter. High five. High five!!

ps. Thanks for the input re: knitting in class. I think y'all are right -- I should either ask or just not knit. I've only done it twice so far and frankly I'm not even sure she's noticed, but I'm still thinking I'll go with the latter. Couldn't hurt to take more copious notes anyway.

Trying to avoid being a heel.

I started my Microbio class a couple weeks ago, meaning that I don't get home until after nine two nights a week, which is totally harshing my mellow, man. It's also cutting into my already not that frequent TV-knitting time, so it's all but a miracle that I've made it halfway through the heel of the Bee.

Which I'm still loving, btw. I wasn't sure about the Pond Scum for this pattern, but it turns out it looks like twisty tangly vines. Awesome.


The other good news is that Thing Three is cranking right along, despite being a commute-only knit, for secrecy's sake. Well, commute and class. Which brings me to my dilemma, a propos of which I want to conduct a little informal survey: Is it ever acceptable to knit in class? I know some of you folks teach -- would you be offended if someone were knitting during your lectures? In this specific case, it's a class of about 50 people, I sit at the back, keep my knitting in my lap, frequently pause to take notes, and am engaged in discussion when there is any. In other words it's nearly all review so far and I'm arm-gnawingly bored, but I think I hide it pretty well. The prof is a nice lady and I don't want to be rude. I thought of just asking her if she minds but that feels weird somehow too, like it's making it a bigger deal than it is... Thoughts?

Kicking off the 'fest.

What better way to start Socktoberfest than with one sock finished and one begun?


I don't think the Twisted Tweed will be getting a mate for a good long while. It's soft and beautiful and I love the pattern and everything, but there's so much else on my plate right now.

Chief among which, of course, is Drunken Bee. Jesus H. Crackers how much do I love this pattern? So much. Much more than before I started knitting it, which was already a lot. The chart was much easier to learn than I had feared, and the result is mesmerizing -- you sort of can't take it in all at once, so your eye just keeps moving, which is one of my favorite qualities of any piece of art.

In fact, I like it so much I'm having a hard time working on anything else.