From the Knit Picks special buy wool, I've made a hat and fingerless gloves and the never ending glitter shrug continues to be knit. The total cost for the hat and fingerless gloves is about $4.00. The colourway is Claret Heather. Not sure heathered yarns go well with my complexion but warmth first; fashion statement later. I didn't use a pattern for either of these.
I have to be patient with the glitter shrug. It's one large rectangle with ribbing at the ends that will be folded in half to create sleeves and then the rectangle is opened again for wearing. I like it because it is not a "boob" hugging shrug.
Now the next picture might be a little frightening. This is my first fingered glove. The yarn tails on the fingers need to be woven in and the markers are there so that I can write down the pattern (rows) for the left glove. This glove took a day to complete. It was knit with Knit Picks Andean Silk (23% silk, 55% Superfine Alpaca, 22% Merino Wool in the discontinued Cinnamon colorway, which I bought when the yarn was on sale. The fingers were a bit fiddly and I had to do some darning between two of the fingers where I failed to pick up properly. I am using size 8 needles for the ribbing and hand and size 5 needles for the fingers because my fingers are just so darn thin and I wanted a snug fit. But I think I shall use size 5 or 6 needles with this yarn in future to get a tighter fabric. Nonetheless, I suspect these gloves will be warm!
I will post a piccy of the finished gloves (sans yarn ends) when I finish the left glove.
One of the casualities of my busy schedule was the November Novel Writing Contest. I won't win but with what I was able to write, I have the characters and the plot firmly in my head and can attack the writing during my time off in December.
I've had problems with our local Target since it opened. My main complaint has been the carry out food kiosk. They were always either out of whole wheat hot dog rolls, the hot dogs weren't ready, the popcorn wasn't ready, or there weren't any pretzels. Hence my irritation at not being able to indulge in a guilty pleasure. Until yesterday, I hadn't been in the store in over a year. Much to my surprise, Pizza Hut has taken it over. There were hot dogs, four different kinds of pretzels, and pizza (which I'm never interested in). I treated myself to a salted pretzel. Instead of spraying it with water to make the salt stick they used some sort of oil which I'm sure had it's origins in tiger habitat somewhere in Indonesia.
Having read about Target expanding their grocery options, I didn't expect to be surprised, but man was I ever wrong. There's not a "great" variety (no canned cream corn, for example), but what they carry is nicely priced and packaged and cheaper than the grocery store. The find of the day was a box of no-brandname fabric softner sheets (100 for $1.99) that not only softened my clothes but reduced the wrinkles and clinging cat hairs. Now I wonder if Bounce at $8.99 for 100 sheets would work as well. Somehow I think not.
There is a new IHop in the mall and I am going there with Tim for brunch next Sunday. I love IHop. It's menu so incredibly sinfully full of sugar, carbs and saturated fat. They have a menu for people over 55.
The mall continues to be a disappointment. It sits squarely in an area where there isn't much shopping and yet there are so many retail spaces available. You'd think a population dense area like ours would attract more shops.
Toupie has found a friend. Their only frustration is they can't get to each other. I suspect this new kitty lives in one of the apartments with a patio and wanders in an out. Toupie and the cat meet and see each other through the window. Such meowing, vocalizing, pacing and quick changes in direction, I've never seen. The funny bit is the poor thing is so exhausted after one of these "visits" that he falls dead asleep for hours. No catnapping, puss boy is out for the count.
The leaves are almost all off the trees and yesterday I realized that I could see the bus coming when I looked up the street. It so different seeing trees that were in golden glory a fornight ago now with just limbs and branches reaching to the sky.
Haven't seen many movies; just been too busy. But I can highly recommend Billy Elliot. About a lad in the North of England during the miner's strike who gives up boxing for ballet.
Am looking forward to a quiet December and working on the Kidney Fund Awareness Event in March.