Friday, December 29, 2006

health update

turns out it's not the flu - it's viral pneumonia. Lucky me. Staying home from work, which will annoy them to no end, and trying to recover.
Happy New Year, All!

Thursday, December 28, 2006

ugh

Yuck - sick with flu. Be back sometime soon. Scarf is coming along. LuckyCanuck is the coolest friend! (She gets me Fleece Artist on sale...) Going off to die now...

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

back briefly...

Hi All,
I'm back, but just briefly. Sorry, no pictures today. I'm back at work for three useless days, and it's worse than ever. I'm seriously on the hunt now -I'm not sure how much more I can take. I have a week's holidays coming, and I'm going to take them in early January just becasue I need to be away from where I work. How bad is that?
Christmas was wonderful - full of family and friends - we all got nicely spoiled, and my knitting is going to be about me for a while - I'm working on Stephanie's Harlot Scarf, but since I don't spin, her handspun is replaced by Noro Silk Garden, and I am in love with it. Beyond that, I can see some lace in my future (I have some wonderful alpaca that is calling out for something from either Arctic Lace or Victoian Lace Today.

Contest Notes:
I still need some emails from people - unfortunately, I can't contact you directly, because your email through blogger comes up as "anonymous-comment@blogger.com".
So would the following please contact me at curlerchikATyahooDOTca? with your address and prize preferences?
Heide
Mary Tess
Lisa W
Jen - I know where you are, but what do you want??

Pictures hopefully tomorrow and maybe by then I'll be in a better mood, which is way more conducive to cheerful blogging. I mean, really! Who wants to continually hear about the trials and tribulations of my work environment?

Friday, December 22, 2006

holiday wishes

My very best wishes to you, whatever you celebrate. And if you don't celebrate anything, have a kick-ass long weekend!
I will be off, celebrating with good friends (the golf socks will be given on Saturday... the hockey hats have been delivered and will be opened in Barbados, and the bamboo scarf and regia socks will be given on Sunday night), and family - most of the rest of the knits and other gifts will be exchanged in a whirlwind trip around the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) on Monday. Regardless of anything else, it's being with the people I like and love that make this time of year so great.

On another note, there is all kinds of talk about Wendy's "Knit from your Stash" project for 2007. Sorry mates, this is one knitter not partaking. As epically proportioned as my stash is, if I see something I like and want, and I can afford it, I'm buyin' it! Life's too short to ration my yarn. I will however, make a more concerted effort to finishing up some things - there's a Fiddlesticks Whisper scarf in Jaggerspun Zephyr that has recently resurfaced. And some Socks that Rock for me. And... well who knows what 2007 will bring. Hopefully, nothing but good things (and a new job for me).

A final thought - Stephanie is working hard for MSF. Now, I realize that we can't all donate to all the causes that come our way. I myself limit my charity to Muscular Dystrophy, Cancer Society, MS and Heart and Stroke - all things that have touched me personally. But I have also added Heifer International and MSF in the past few years because of the good work they do. If you can, do what you can. If financial aid is not in your budget, (and I know it's not possible for a lot of people), then think good thoughts for those that need some help. I've donated to MSF, and I've also given Steph 10 sets of my hand beaded stitch markes to distribute. It's a small thing, but it brought a smile to my face, and it gave me a chance to explain what MSF does to my son, while he helped me package up the markers.

Okay, enough of that. I'll return to my regular scheduled apathy after the holidays. Cheers, all!

Thursday, December 21, 2006

and the winners are...

SInce tomorrow is going to be crazy busy, I present...

The final gift knitting tally!

10 pairs of socks...

3 sets of slippers and a belt...

10 assorted scarves...

9 different hats...

4 more slippers and a pair of socks...

And a rather nice lace shawl!

2 more scarves, (the mohair one has big tassels on the ends...


And the "not quite done" stuff...
green cotton socks for my MIL
Knit Picks cape cod socks for Hubby
Cotton sweater for Hubby
Fish Hat for Son


so the final tally is:
41 complete
4 incomplete
7 total charity (2 to my Guild, 5 to my Mom's church)

52 in total! Man, I've got to scale back next year...

So, since no one got it right, and there were so many variables, and since 11 people entered, I figure, prizes for everyone! To make up the difference in 8 prizes and 11 winners I will throw in: 2 sets of beaded stitch markers, and a mystery prize! If you choose the mystery prize, you never know what kind of yarn you will get! You'll have to trust me! I used the random number generator, and came up with the following order:

TracyKM
Lunadog
Nancy
Smariek
Lee
Marlyce
Heide
Mary Tess
Jen
Lisa W
LuckyCanuck (sorry Lucky! guess it's obvious I didn't play favourites!)

email me at: curlerchik AT yahoo DOT ca (substituting appropriate symbols) with your top four picks of prizes from the following list and your email and snail mail address so I can send these out. I can't guarantee you'll get your pick, but I'll do my best.

PRIZES:
4 balls Patons Bohemian
6 balls emerald green blend
6 balls regal purple blend
1 100g ball Regia sock yarn (makes a pair of men's large socks)
1 100g ball of orange cotton blend sock yarn (makes a pair of men's large socks)
4 balls Elann Peruvian Highland Wool in Sapphire
3 balls (440 yds each) (less a bit) of Knitpicks 100% merino lace weight in Jewels
1 ball (440 yds) of Knitpicks alpaca/silk laceweight in Grape Hyacinth
1 set of handmade beaded stitch markers
1 set of handmade beaded stitch markers
mystery prize

thanks for playing, and have the happiest of holidays, or just a fantastic long weekend if that's what you celebrate. I will be offline for a bit, enjoying time off with family and friends. Prizes will be sent off soon..

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

beaded knitting



Because I really have nothing else, I thought I'd show off some beaded knitting I've been playing around with. I took a course in the basics at the Downtown Knit Collective's April Knitters Frolic, and have gone on from there. It's very addictive, but since this is made with 1.0mm needles, it's a bit time consuming! This is a little bag/necklace I made, not following any pattern, but simply working off the top of my head. I think it turned out pretty good, and I've never given it to anyone, even through I usually give away most of my knitting, and pink is not my colour! I guess I'll have to do more of the bead knitting so I can give this piece away and still have evidence of being able to do this. After the class, I ended up buying a whack of beads and the perle cotton needed, but haven't got back to it. In the fall at the Kitchener Knitters Fair, I picked up a beaded knitting book with some very pretty jewellery pieces that I want to get at. Maybe once the holidays settle down, I'll pick it up again. Or maybe during, if someone annoys me. Thes 1.0mm's are steel and sharp! The perfect weapon of someone interrupts my counting one more time...

I really have to apologize for the crappy pictures. There is no light when I'm taking pictures, so I end up having to use the flash, or depending on the halogens in my kitchen, neither of which is an option I like. I'll try to do better, I promise.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Christmas Meme (or, no knitting content today, folks!)

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot Chocolate - I think I'm the only one so far - I can't stand egg nog.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
He wraps them in his own special wrapping paper, and puts them in a six foot stocking that gets left by the tree. It's great fun to watch Young Son dive into the very tiptoe of the stocking to find the very small gifts that Santa leaves there. Santa also leaves footprints of magical North Pole snow leading from the fireplace to the stocking. He's very kind, as it the non-melting type that we can simply sweep up.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Mostly coloured, against my will - I'm a white light fan, but since Hubby hangs the outdoor ones, they are coloured. I'm working on a change.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Nope, no need. I take my kisses anytime and anywhere I can!

5. When do you put your decorations up?
I have a late November birthday, so I am adamant that Christmas does not appear until well after my birthday! We put the outdoor ones up early December and turn them on as soon as others on the street do. The tree went up last weekend because we had free time to go get one.

6.What is your favorite holiday dish?
Turkey and stuffing. My own basic bread / sage stuffing, but my secret is the bread I use - a combo of egg bread, multigrain baguette, ciabatta and any earthy type bread around.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
Every Christmas, my brother and I (Who DID NOT GET ALONG 364 days of the year) would wake up early and hang out together until we were allowed to wake up the parents. We would then open our gifts, Dad would put the turkey in, and we'd make "the rounds" We'd visit the M family, the T family and the L family. We'd get back home and have turkey and play with toys. Just a cool way to spend the day with family and friends.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
WHen I was a kid - the truth being that Santa brings things to good boys an girls. Why? What do you believe?

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Only the ones from our friends that we spend Christmas Eve with.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
Lots of lights. lots of ornaments - Yound Son makes a lot, so we have those front and centre.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
Ummm... Canadian, remember? Love the snow, but prefer not to have to drive around Christmas Day in a blizzard! Love it when there's tons of snow at the cottage for New Years. Sadly, this year, it looks like a brownish/grey Christmas.

12. Can you ice skate?
Ummm... Canadian, remember? However, a broken ankle a few years back have cseverely curtailed this activity

13.Do you remember your favorite gift?
A photo album my Mom made up - pictures of grandparents, Mom and Dad's childhoods, them and Bro and I growing up, with enough room to add yound Son's pictures. And my fist 10-speed bike - very cool metallic green. Man, I loved that bike!

14.What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Time to relax with family and friends, and time off from the hell that is work

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
A turkey and stuffing sandwich, about 4 hours after dinner.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
sweeping up North Pole snow after Young Son has seen it.

17.What tops your tree?
An angel given to us for our first married CHristmas from dear friends that we spend evey Chrsitmas Eve with

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
Giving stuff that I've knit.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?
Bruce Springsteen singing Santa CLaus is coming to Town, and John Mellencamp's I saw Mommy kisisng Santa Claus

20. Candy Canes?
Yup.

Monday, December 18, 2006

oh crap!

Your Christmas is Most Like: A Very Brady Christmas

For you, it's all about sharing times with family.
Even if you all get a bit cheesy at times.


This cannot be true - I am so NOT a Brady. It's hubby's family that made me this way... dear god, save me from the smarminess...


In other news... a couple of extra gift recipients have arisen. (Don't yo uhate when that happens?) So a few extra gifts need to be created. Thank god for scarves - quick, easy and I'm amazed at how popular they are - especially in luxurious fibres.

Also -I will be closing comments for the contest on the 21st, so I can show the final tally on the 22nd before I go offline for a while. (Hard to be a secret blogger when I'm surrounded by family for 4 days...)

Friday, December 15, 2006

Icarus, she is done

And I love her. Note enough to keep her, but enough to think about keeping her... My SIL will love it and really care for it, which makes it easier to wrap up.
Specs:
Icarus shawl designed by Miriam Felton for Interweave Knits. Miriam is a genius pattern writer - great charts, and I will easily knit one of her patterns again.
Yarn - Knitpicks Shadow 100% merino in the Jewels colourway. These pictures in no way convey the depth of colour of this yarn - blue, but an undertone of violet with flecks of other shades. Very nice and holds up great to blocking.


Before blocking, she measured a mere 24 inches from top to point, and 52 inches along the wingspan.

Blocking brought the measurements to 36 inches top to point, and 74 inches along the wingspan.


Up close, you can see how the pattern opens up.
And finished, you can see the filminess of the yarn (yes, you can see my overcrowded kitchen table right through her!!)

Also, this is the first time I've really used my foam pads for blocking, and I love them! The pins stick right in and hold tight. It makes adjusting easy, and a bonus is they are nice and soft to kneel on! I may just get another set, as you can see that Icarus just fit, and I still needed to grab a couple of son's foam mat things to cover off a couple of points in the corners.

You will also see what appears to be blocking wires along the top. Not really. I helps to have a husband that engineers brewery equipment. We have this kind of stuff around the house. They are stainless steel rods, very thin and very strong. And now, they are mine. He is not getting them back!

Icarus gets added to the Christmas total! Have you made your guess? Yarn and stitch markers are on the line, here!

Thursday, December 14, 2006

I know it's old...

but I just found this while reading through someone's archives.
GO to Google, type in your name, plus the word needs, and see what the top ten results are. So in my case, typing in "Sandra needs" results in the following...

Sandra needs to be punched in the neck. (Um... no thanks)

Sandra needs not to be confused with the porn star Sandra Dee, there is absolutely no connection there. (so you think...)

Sandra needs to go back to preschool. (yeah, I probably should...)

Sandra needs to be recognized for the countless hours she spends caring about everyone that she comes in contact with. (see! someone thinks so!)

SANDRA NEEDS A LOVELY HOME. (already have one)

Sandra needs a hero. (already have a few)

Sandra Needs £100. (bring it on!)

Sandra needs glasses. (already wear them)

Sandra needs to recover some of the transmitters. (uh, OK, I'll get right on that...)

Sandra needs a diversion quickly so she asks Bob to explain all the features and benefits of the product to the customer.(who's Bob, and what features is he explaining?)

Contest stuff...
still lots of time to enter - just leave a comment! Oh, and I've decided to lift the "1 comment per person" rule - if only 5 of you are going to enter, then you each are getting two prizes... Plus, some of you think I have way more spare time in my life than I actually do, so adjusted guesses are allowed!
Icarus is almost done! I just have about 1/3 left to bind off, then it's blocking magic, baby!

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

contest time!

It is official - I will be having a Christmas (or "sacred or secular gift-identified festival of your choice" if you prefer) contest. Yes, you can own some of my yarn if you can guess how many gifts I will be knitting for this year!

Rules:
1. leave a comment saying how many FINISHED gifts there will be, AS WELL AS how many "started, not yet done" gifts there will be.
2. Bonus question (used for tie-breaking) - how many gifts did I knit for charity?
3. One comment per person, please.
4. Contest closes December 22 - winners announced December 23. If something's not done by then, it ain't gonna be done in time!
5. Prizes will be awarded on a "first come, first served" basis. When I email you that you have won, you get to choose what you would like.

To even out the playing field, members of my Guild know the following:
- I have 22 members in my extended family. (But I don't knit for all of them, and some get more than one knitted gift).
- I knit for some of my friends and coworkers.
- I gave two items to my Guild charity drive, but remember! My mom snagged some, too!
- I count anything fibre-y - remember the woven scarves...

What can you win, you ask?
4 balls of Patons Bohemian - tweedy mix of browns and greys - very soft chenille.

6 balls of emerald green Twilleys Featherspun. I've had this stuff in my stash forever - knits up very nice, 15%wool 85%acrylic blend with a mohair-ish halo.

(here's a more accurate representation of the colour)

6 balls of regal purple Featherspun

4 balls of Elann Peruvian Highland Wool in Sapphire - a very rich, very deep blue almost purple. Already wound into centre pull balls, all same dyelot.

3 balls of Knit Picks Shadow - Jewels colourway.
440 yards of each. 100% Merino - who knew? I always thought this was alpaca. I don't know why I have so much of this - I've made 2 shawls of this - it's lovely, but I've used enough of this colour already! (One of the balls will be about 20 yards short - Icarus was greedy and needed a little extra)

1 ball of Knitpicks Shimmer - 70% alpaca, 30% silk, Grape Hyacinth colourway

1 ball of Regia sock yarn - enough for a pair of large men's socks

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1 ball of Lana Grossa Melienweit Cotton sock yarn

Depending on how many right answers there are, I may also throw in some handmade stitch markers.

Knitters, start your guessing!

Monday, December 11, 2006

felting fun

I've made some felted slippers for Christmas gifts this year - quick, easy, done on the machine, and quick sew up, and into the washer. What I find interesting is how different yarns react. These samples are all exactly the same - that's one of the nice things about knitting on the machine - no worries about tension or anything else. Set the number of stitches and use the row counter, and voila! all the same.

These 4 slippers are all alike - 40 stitches (every other needle), 60 rows, highest possible tension setting on my LK-150. The solid coloured ones on the left are made from Gjestal Naturgarn, and the striped ones on the right are Needful Joy. Both yarns are similar in construction - a loosely spun single fibre. The Joy is much, much softer than the Gjestal, which feels somewhat coarse in comparison. As you can see, the Needful Joy ones knit up bigger, yet felted much smaller! (No, these aren't pairs, there is a matching set to these four slippers...) They were all felted at the same time - I put a pair of slippers in a zippered pillowcase, and toss them in my washing machine (top-loader)with an old throw mat, hot water wash, small load setting, cold water rinse, and a dribble of Eucalan. This is one pass through the machine, and I was happy with the results when I opened the pillowcase with the Gjestal. Then I got to the Joy - when I made these rainbow striped slippers, I originally planned them for my Mom. My size 9 wearing Mom. Right. They don't even fit my 7 year old son. Not to worry - I found a recipient for them, but she has a sister, which necessitated the need for the blue/green striped ones. Can't have something for one, and not the other!
I still wanted to make a pair for my Mom, so back to the yarn store. They had a very nice pink stripe Joy (Mom's favourite colour is pink). I got 4 balls this time, and adjusted the stitch and row count. 55 stitches wide by 96 stitches long. (Mom has very thin feet - unlike her daughter's paddle feet...) Here's one pre-felting:

(6 inch ruler inserted for scale). They were approximately 20 inches long - it's pretty funny. Hubby is used to seeing strange things coming off my needles, so he didn't even flinch. Will they work?
(Last minute addition - they worked! They are too skinny for my feet (PERFECT!), and a touch too long for me (ALSO PERFECT). They are also still wet, and hubby was hanging around, so no picture taking took place.

Friday, December 08, 2006

trying to distract you

Since I have no knitting content today, I will distract you with a pretty picture

This was the sunrise this morning as I drove into work. If you ignore the fact that I need to clean the windows of my car, this is the sort of thing that makes it worthwhile getting up in the morning. (although, then I get into work, and well, it blows the whole "what a great day!" feeling.)
But here's the interesting part of my drive. This is something that has bugged me since they planted these trees in the fall. Now, I'm all for trees. The more the merrier. I love walking in the back bush at the cottage, especially in the fall, but really, any time of year. Trees were one of the defining issues when we bought our house - we couldn't buy in a new subdivision, because there were no trees anywhere. (Now, we probably have too many on our small lot, but whatever, we like it, and I have become the master of shade gardening!) Anyway, along one of the roads I drive along, they planted a line of trees. I like this. In a few years, there will be a line of stately maples, shading the road, cleaning the air, all that good stuff. (Sorry for the crappy pictures - the sun wasn't all the way up, and well, I was driving at the time. Believe me when I tell you what is actually in the pictures. Really. It's what is really there.)
Here's the good part:

Planted along a guardrail, a nice 10 feet from the road - a good distance to allow for the roots to spread, etc. Further on the same road, they had to move the line of trees closer to the road - now the trees are only about 3 feet from the road - and I can see in a few years the trees either dying or the roots pushing up the asphalt. This seems dumb to me. Why did they move the trees closer to the road, you may ask?

BECASUE THERE WAS A FOREST IN THE WAY!
Ok, am I the only one who thinks this is asinine? The cost of the trees, the cost of the labour involved in the planting, etc.
Just another entry in stupid government decisions.
Knitting to come after the weekend...

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

done, done, done, done and done.


that's 5 more things done for Christmas gifts.
There's the big ass needle scarf for one SIL.
A white and blue hat for my nephew. (One more hat to go for my son, but I have either lost my ability to count, or have cast on the wrong number of stitches - stay tuned).
Chenille scarf (highly fringed) for another SIL - yarn from Yarns Plus, melon colourway, thinner than the pewter and bronze, and just as nice to knit with, although I ran this stuff through the machine this time. 2 hours, start to finish, even with all the fringe.
Another woven scarf - this time made with stash yarns for my niece.
Another ruffled scarf for a co-worker.

Obviously, it was a productive weekend, even though I spent alot of it driving hither and yon. Speaking for driving - this is my current drive to work and other destinations - construction, plus snow. What I want to know is this - if we Canadians are so used to snow, why does the first drop of it paralyze the drivers around me? It seems they lose the capability to deal with the dusting (dusting, people! We're not talkin' a blizzard here!) we got on the weekend.

Add to it that a road I travel often is being seriously rebuilt, and well, it was a bit of mayhem last Sunday. Annoyed me to no end.
(And yes, I took this picture while driving, but we weren't moving fast. Really.)
There seems to be a lot of annoyance in my life right now - centred on my place of employment. Even hubby has had enough with the crap around here and is urging me to leave sooner rather than later. So now, instead of "sort of lookng around" I'm seriously on the hunt. Wish me luck...

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Blitzen? Maybe 10 years ago...

You Are Blitzen

Always in good spirits, you're the reindeer who loves to party down with Santa.

Why You're Naughty: You're always blitzed on Christmas Eve, while flying!

Why You're Nice: You mix up a mean eggnog martini.


OK, well, maybe... (Great, all my dark secrets coming out...)

Knitting Update - The big ass needles are almost history - 3 or 4 more rows and my son can have them.
Another hat (I think the last one) is done - simple striped pattern.
Another chenille scarf done (with much finer chenille that I found when digging through the stash. Machine made, diagonal like the black bamboo one, only fringed on both ends and along one long side. No worming, but the rayn chenille doesn't have a lot of give, and can break easily in the machine. But it steams blocks nicely, and again, the shine is wonderful.
Another woven scarf for my niece is done - and all with stash yarns!
One more ruffled scarf done, the last one is halfway there.
Now, if I could only bring myself to finish the last few rows of Icarus, and a couple pairs of socks...

Pictures to come - one of these days...

Friday, December 01, 2006

owwwww...

I knew I hated big ass needles for a reason. My hands hurt. At least it will be over soon, and I have enough other projects to turn to when the silk and 15mms get to be too much...
Icarus is being resurrected - I have about 8 rows left. Each row has a little over 500 stitches, and they are full of YO's, K2tog's and K2togtbl's, so each row takes a fair bit of time, because of course I'm interrupted by son, hubby, phone, tv etc. Yes, the TV interrupts me. I like TV, and watch a fair bit, usually knitting through it all. For the most part, I don't have to watch my knitting, if it's straightforward stuff, but this lace weight alpaca on 3.5mm needles demands your attention - all the time. I had hoped to have Icarus done and blocked before my Tuesday Guild meeting, but I highly doubt it - the weekend was busy. I also did a bad thing - All the charity knitting I had ready for my December Guild meeting? Gone. My Mom was telling me about her church charity being short on kids hats and stuff, and she felt bad that she didn't do as much since she was laid up after her surgery. So I gave my stuff to her. I guess it's not really bad - charity is charity, whether it's York Region or Peel Region. But, I'm going to look like a slacker on Tuesday night when all the other Guild members pile up their donations. So, if any of you are reading this, I'm sorry!
I'm also going to be sweaty at the meeting - Tuesday is also my son's last basketball practice until January, and they are having a "team vs. the parents" scrimmage. Unfortunately, the coach knows I was a point guard during high school and university, and hubby was a power forward, so we've been hit up to play. Great - I get to be shown up by a bunch fo 7 to 10 year olds, then get to go to a knit night, and feel inadequate. At least it's our holiday pot luck night, so there will be lots of good food to partake of. I will be bringing caramel cheesecake bars - hopefully that makes up for being sweaty...

And,added late, because I write some of these ahead of time... it was a good and bad weekend - good because I have pretty much finished up my shopping other than the last minute lottery ticket, candy stocking stuffers - a short trip to Shoppers Drug Mart, and we're done. Plus, the knitting is on track for getting done. Bad becasue I'm waiting for a phone call any time now. "M" is in hospital, and well, she's not coming out. She's my best friend's Mom and my Mom's best friend, so by process of elimination, she's a pretty damn good friend of mine. She's closer to me than any aunt, and is the next best thing to my Mom and my MIL. And it's not fair. So if I'm not at Guild on Tuesday, or not around here for a while, well, you know why. And if that's the case, have a cocktail for M. She always appreciated a good Martini, or an "Orange Blossom". At least my Dad will be saving her a good seat.

shocking!

Me and big ass needles don't get along. My favourite size is probably a 3.5mm to 4.5mm. They fit in my hand rather nicely, create a nice fabric (with the right wool), and are quite comfortable. Then again, I knit alot of socks, and prefer a 2mm for those. Not that I limit myself. I've been known to grab the 8mm or 9mm for something to be felted, or if a pattern demands it. I've also done beaded knitting on 1 mm needles - very sharp metal ones!
So this is a complete departure for me.


But, before anyone thinks I'm breaking out the fun fur next... (And yes, I've made my share of fun fur scarves. Shoot me.) This is for my SIL. The Tibetan Nun. (remember the socks? - yeah, they're almost done) The burgundy and gold are the holy colours of her faith, and to her, they are very powerful. Well, who am I to deny power to someone? I end up making or getting something each year in these colours - there were the years of the flannel pajamas, the tea set, the burgundy lace shawl last year... This year it's socks and a scarf. But not just any scarf. A silk scarf. But not just any silk:

I found this at the Kitchener Waterloo Knitters Fair. It was tucked away, and I'm sure Lucky thought I was an absolute idiot to buy not one, but two hanks of it (One burgundy, one gold). Would I have bought this if it wasn't called Baby Yeti? No way. It's thick, rough, unforgiving, and needs to be knit on 15mm needles to get any kind of drape. Warm? probably not. Attractive? not to me. But how could I resist anything called Baby Yeti? And it's from the Himalayas! It's meant for her, and she will love it for the tag and the origins if for nothing else...
She'd better - this stuff is killing me to knit. At least it's quick and will be over soon...