Tortoiseshell Cat

It's much, much too early to think about Christmas.  Regardless of what the ads on TV or in the newspaper say, Christmas is NOT in July, or August.

Having said that... I'm knitting a Christmas present.  Huh?  The perfect project came to mind.  A friend and co-worker loves cats and has 4 of them.  One is a Tortoiseshell Cat and Ancient Arts has a Tortoiseshell-color yarn.

(c) Ancient Arts Fibre Crafts

It's part of their Meow Collection and part of the proceeds goes to help take care of abandoned cats and will help them find a good home.  You can read more about this worthy cause here.

I chose the DK weight yarn and the Rustic Potato Chip Scarf pattern.  It's free, by the way!  It's an excellent pattern to use with variegated yarn and so much fun to knit.  After you've completed about 4 inches the scarf begins to twist.  Right from the beginning it's an easy to remember the pattern.  All you have to do is to be able to count to 8, 6 or 4.

There are only 20 stitches on the needle and I'm using a pair of double-pointed needles in US size 8 because I wanted short needles.  The stoppers at the end give me peace of mind that the stitches won't fall off the needle when I set it down.

I'm already thinking of making this scarf for myself in the future - but what color will I choose for me?

Which Classic Guitar Are You?

I took one of those silly online quizzes, this one was called "Which Classic Guitar Are You?".

My result.....

I don't put much faith in these quizzes.  They are just for fun.  However....what kind of guitar do I own?  A Fender Stratocaster (in black).  Hmmmm......!

Music Monday - We Can All Use a Smile

Amazing Race Canada - Yukon

If you've been watching The Amazing Race Canada on TV you likely saw the last episode where the contestants were in the Yukon.  The tasks included dogsledding, portaging and canoeing, a biathlon in which they had to bicycle for 1 km and then shoot at 5 targets, and "make your bed".  For "make your bed" the contestants were required to set up a campsite identical to one that was done.  A wildness expert then checked what they'd done and, if approved, gave them their next clue.

It was all very exciting and to say that the scenery was spectacular is an understatement.  But, being a knitter, something else also caught my eye:  the sweater worn by the wilderness expert.  This is a blurry picture of it (when I hit Pause, the picture would go blurry) but you can see the design.

Click to enlarge.

This looks like a Dale of Norway sweater, but which one?  Is it one that is ready-made or is there a pattern for it?  It looks like there are edelweiss on it.  I don't recognize the design but I certainly do like it.

MYSTERY SOLVED:  Thanks to Mary deB I know now that the sweater is indeed a Dale of Norway design and there is a pattern.  It's called Norge 2000.  I found this link where you can get the pattern if you want it.  Thanks for the great detective work, Mary!

Assembly Required

Rowan Afghan Knitalong - 48 squares

Rowan - Time To Start Sewing

As usual I'm balancing more than one knitting project.  Today, I'm going back to my Rowan afghan.  The squares are finished and blocked and it's time to assemble them.

Click on picture to enlarge.

My blanket is different from the original in some ways:

• Instead of making it in 1, 4 or 17 colors I used 48 colors.  It'll be 49 colors when you count the border.
• The original was knit with the new Rowan Worsted Weight yarn.  I used yarn that was anything but new.  It's all stash yarn in fingering weight.
• I won't be making the cabled border.  Instead, I plan to knit a garter stitch border in 1 color, well, maybe 2.  I'll decide when I get there.

The next decision is the layout.  I'd like to have it so that no two patterns touch each other, i.e. no Clue #1 touches another Clue #1.  Hopefully it won't be too difficult and that the colors end up looking pleasant enough together.

This afghan is going to be considerably smaller than the original since I used thinner yarn and smaller needles, and that's what I wanted.  I was looking for a small afghan that my little grandkids can use for a nap or a fort, or anything they like, when they come to visit.  I'm betting that they'll like all the colors.  When I look at this I think back to when I was a kid and got a box of 48 crayons and how cool I thought it was!