Not your normal end of the year post.

  Normally this time of the year is when I run around my house and look for all the things that need only a few minutes to finish them, and then get them done.  Since I have started a "bonus" job, I don't have as much time.  You will see that there one though.

  I will take advantage that this is the last day that anyone can use this joke.  There are quite a few pictures with this joke on them, but I liked the glasses in this one a lot.

  This only needed 10 stitches bound off and one end woven in.  Mr. Jag is over there asking me why it took me so long to finish it.
  He is feeling a lot better from his skin infections.  The bacterial one was super easy to deal with.  He has gone through two rounds of the anti-fungal so far and the vet thinks he will need the other two as well.
  I had hoped that the knit-a-long would end before the year ended, but my mom had some Christmas knitting, Cathy and Andrea only cast on, and I didn't want to get too far ahead.  That's fine, I'm not upset about it.  We will get them all done in time.
  Now to go get ready for one going away party and one super-close friends party.  I hope everyone gets to spend the end of one year and beginning of the new one with those they want to.

Another kind of virtual cat.

  Lots of people love games with virtual animals in them.  You can play with them but don't have to worry about allergens, or vet bills.  This website combines the fun of playing with cats on your computer with real cats.  iPet Companion has put camera in the kitty rooms of some shelters and lets you play with them digitally.  You get two minutes to move three toys in the room.  It can be tons of fun, and if you choose a shelter near you, you might find a kitty that you could even go and adopt and keep for yourself.

  I have been mentioning starting some fingerless mitts since I finished the socks.  I still have not started them, but I have been working on my Spectra.  I am getting closer to the reds and yellows.
  This is the yarn I am thinking of using on the ribbed sections of the mitts once I start them.  Kris from Monday night was going to make a hat, but she wasn't feeling it in this yarn. 

  Juniper Moon Farm is hosting a fundraiser by selling the wooden cut-out animals on her Etsy shop (linked below). A portion from each sale of the wooden animals is being donated to Heifer International.
  Allison from Monday night got a bunch of us some of those little bunnies and sheep. This one isn't mine, but I did get one just like it.  Juniper Moon Farms suggested using some scrap yarn to make sweaters for the alpacha, sheep, bunnies, and goats.  Susan Anderson had another idea and posted a tiny flock of sweaters for good.  They are all so cute!  The one pictured above is not one of those, but something that was made-up on the fly.

  I'm off to go finish wrapping presents.  I hope everyone has a super awesome holiday season!

Radio silence.

Sorry for the unexpected silence.  I have been feeling kind of crummy since before Thanksgiving, but it really hit me hard.  I have been sitting on the couch and drinking a lot of tea and orange juice.

  I had not heard back before Monday, so I cast on.  I was going to post about it, but then I got a fever and spent a lot of time on the couch.

  I went to dinner with my mom when I was feeling better and here is the beginning of my jacket with a Red Lobster biscuit.  Since then I have gotten past the decreases and have started the increasing.  My mom is also working on Christmas presents, so I might start those fingerless mitts so I won't get too far ahead of her.  Not that I don't have two scarves on the needles that could use some love or anything.

  Though I haven't been doing as much for my make-up bags, I saw this post on FaceBook and thought about it.  That was really cool what Dollar Shave Club did.

Finished the socks in time!

 

  I did it!  The socks were done with two days to spare.  Though I started late, my HiyaHiya Flower Lace Socks Oct/Nov KAL is done.  I have some plans on using the lace pattern to make some fingerless mitts, but those will probably have to wait until after I finish the Baby Surprise knit-a-long.

  One of the other people from my Monday knit-nights has a group of knitters in her neighborhood who also want to knit a Baby Surprise jacket.  I asked her if they have a start date yet and have not heard back.  If I don't hear back by Monday I plan on starting.  So unless you hear anything different from me, plan on casting on around Monday.  Some of us do refer to it as Cast-on Monday in my area.

  Carola is at it again.  The group had been given a few finished duck heads.  Most of the people seemed confused, but I figured it was for crochet taxidermy.  Andrea had never heard of it before, but now loves the idea.

  Since I'm waiting to hear back about the start date I decided to work on my 10-stitch blanket some more.  Ravelry doesn't have an option to put that you are working with US size 18 needles.  They have US 17 and US 19, but no US 18.  Here is my proof that I really am working with some.

  This is the 10-stitch blanket my mom finished.  The little squares that the yarn made are really cool.  It has already been passed on to Renae's son, so he will be getting a blanket made out of the yarn that was intended for that.

Sock stuff and my beef with Black Friday.

  Two at a time socks seemed really straight forward at first, then kind of confusing.  I worked the leg with no problems and worked all of the heel flap really easily.  I then turned each heel, one at a time, also with little problem.  Then I got to the slightly confusing part.  I had to pick-up along the heel flap, but I also didn't want tons of stitches on one side pulling some of the stitches from the other side out of whack.
  So I picked up one side with one the heel stitches and the other with the top of the foot stitches.  Decreasing was easy enough to keep track of, but then I wondered what I would do once I was finished and was then working on the foot area straight.

  As you can see, I still have six of the sole stitches hanging out with the patterned stitches that go along the top of the foot.  This would have been fine until I got to the toe decreases, but it kind of bugged me that they weren't with their other sole stitches.

   The six stitches that needed to move on the sock nearest the end of the needles were easy to move.  The set on the sock that rested between the two was a bit more difficult.  When it was time to move them the cable on the circular needle had half the stitches of the first sock in the way, you couldn't just move them over.  So I worked the stitches and then slid them to a tiny circular I had laying around.

   Then once I got back to the sole stitches of the correct sock, I just slid them on.  It probably sounds harder than it was.  That extra needle was only there for a few minutes and didn't even get in my way at all.

The corn pudding is missing because it was still in the oven.

  This year was also the first year that I had Turkey Day at my house!  We usually all go over to my parents' house and eat there.  Bill wanted to smoke the turkey and since I wanted to make a few sides we knew it would be easier at our house.
  It didn't go as bad as I feared.  The turkey's temp probe got put in a bad place, my stuffing base boiled over because my mom had moved my can opener and no one could find it (it was in the laundry room), I burned my fingers slightly, my favorite serving dish got broken, and my corn pudding took over twice as long to bake as it should have.  Though it was very memorable, nothing was brunt, and nothing was raw.  Everyone left the table feeling way too full and we all had to wait an hour before we could fit pie in.  The whipped cream was even a spitter.
  The rest of the night was spent playing Cards Against Humanity until we all got too sleepy and found our beds.

  Mary had wanted to go Black Friday shopping with me, but I tend to tell people I am against Black Friday.  Then I thought about it more and realized that I have purchased things on most Black Fridays.  Though I think the most I've spent in the last 6 years on a Black Friday was $13.
  So I am not against buying things on Black Friday if you are going about it the smart way.  A lot of the deals that are being offered are going to be offered again before Christmas.  Some will not.  I know where I work that the prices of the flannel and fleece are their best at Black Friday.  A lot of the other things will have better prices before Christmas.
  I do not agree with how early everything starts.  You don't hear about stores opening at 4am for their Martin Luther King Jr. Day sales.  Instead of special sales going from 6am-1pm can't they go from 9am-4pm just as easily?  It makes it so much harder on the employees.
  I also don't agree with the hype.  I don't see anyone camped outside of Best Buy for their Valentine's Day sale or hear about people getting trampled during Wal*Mart's Presents Day sale.  A lot of the things people are so eager to buy will just get returned once they get a good night's rest and look through all the bags.

  Anyway, I am done ranting.  I shall go eat leftovers in my PJs and hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday weekend.

Knit it Black

  I was scrolling through my Facebook feed, like most of us do, and stumbled upon this.  Alex has made a few knitting patterns and some of the money she makes off of them will go to helping black cats and black dogs in shelters.  They are the last to get adopted for a few reasons.  She had a successful Kickstarter and you can find her patterns on Ravelry.
  I think this is awesome.  I love my Mr. Jag and would be sad if some other awesome black-furred animal didn't get to be in an awesome home too.

  I was also given a link to this GoFundMe.  The Magic Yarn Project makes hats for little girls who are suffering from cancer.  Though instead of just being standard hats, they are made into wigs so they girls can become their favorite Disney Princess.

That time of the year.

   Soup!!!  If you guessed that I am making lots of soup out of medium sized pumpkins, you are correct!  I wanted to get super fancy with this one and added the cheese to make a creamy soup base.  That cheese melts into a very liquid and not at all stringy form.

  I also promised a picture of the shrug.  This is my finished piece for the Scuttle Shrug(Ravelry link).  I made the x-small and put a cat into the picture for comparison.

  If you think that yarn looks familiar, it is because it is the same yarn that my mom is using to make her 10 Stitch Blanket.

  I also got an invite to the Hiya-Hiya knit-a-long group.  I saw these socks and knew that they would be fun to knit.  For the knit-a-long you get clues.  Clue 1 was the main leg part of the socks.  Clue 2 is the heel and gusset.  I have gotten the other clues, but from pictures I am guessing that Clue 3 is the foot and Clue 4 are the toes.

  Since I would have to finish each clue before I got the next I thought it would be a fun time to try making them two at a time.  It both seems slower and faster.  You feel like you are working on each row for a lot longer than twice the time/stitches, but it also seems to grow faster.

  Here is where I am on them right now.  I have turned the heel and now I'm working on the gusset.  You can see where I have the markers to note where the beginning of the round is.  I probably don't totally need them and I know I will be taking them off once I get it down.

  I plan on transferring all the sole stitches to one needle once I am done decreasing even though the beginning of the round will be in the middle.  I find I only need to pay attention to that while decreasing at the heel and at the toe sections.

  I will try and take pictures when I transfer the stitches since it isn't as straight forward as it would be if you were only doing one at a time.

  I also have not forgotten the Baby Surprise knit-a-long.  The deadline for the socks is the end of the month, but I hope to have them done before then.  So anyone thinking of joining along should plan for starting on the first of next month.
  I don't know if I will finish my own 10 Stitch Blanket before the knit-a-long, but I'm okay with winging it.