Mittens Accomplished

Thanks for all of your warm wishes! I really consider myself very lucky to have only been in the dark for a few days. I believe there are still people without power and I can only imagine the frustration they must be going through. I really can't imagine what it is like to go through something like Katrina or a personal loss such as a house fire. I suppose we can only be thankful for what we have and try to give a little more to those without. I've certainly said it a lot this week, but I know I take it for granted that I'll wake up in the morning with a latte and a hot shower. It's good to be reminded of just how rare it is to have such luxuries.

Anyway, on to the knitting. First, welcome anyone who discovered my little internet home via the knitting blog ring. I feel like a real knit blogger now! My blog is fairly simple, but it keeps me entertained.

It was a long week of trying to pick up the pieces around the office and at home, but I did manage to finish my October Surprise* mittens and even do a scarf from the leftovers. Talk about a great one skein project!

Pattern: Super Mittens from Weekend Knitting

Yarn: Brown Sheep Burlyspun, 1 skein

Needles: 10 1/2 dpn's

Dates: 12 Oct - 17 Oct

Recipient: The Cold One, me

Notes: My row gauge was way off with this one so I kinda improvised. On the thumb gusset I increased every other round rather than every third round. I didn't even bother counting rows for the hand but just knit until they felt right. The picture makes them look like they differ greatly in size but they're pretty close, if not the same. They're about as close to same as I could get considering both were knit under the influence.

The scarf is a simple drop stitch pattern over 8 stitches on sz. 17 needles. It's not very long, but will work to tuck into my coat on days I feel the need to have a matching set.

Overall, I'm very impressed with this yarn. The mittens have a solid fabric that's stiff and hopefully reasonably wind/snow/cold-proof, but not so stiff that I won't be able to move my fingers. I like the single-ply feel to it and the dye job is very, very pretty. (Much prettier than my pictures show!) On the right person (i.e., one much smaller than yours truly), I could see this making a nice sweater with a rolled-neck. All you skinnyKate M0ss knitters charge up your needles and I'll like vicariously through you.

Although my pattern was only really influenced by the Weekend Knitting book, this was a great excuse to take it out and drool over the pages again. This is one of my favorite eye candy books and I really should make more things from here. All the pics of frolicking on the New England farm are just too charming to resist! If it's not in your library, check it out. It's the right kind of eye candy.

* The jury is still out on what they're calling our latest weather debacle. I'm personally going for the day we all got caught without a shovel but it lacks a certain ring so October Surprise it is, I suppose.

Dude, We Have a Crisis... We're Out of Beer

So when I last posted, I was just settling in for a nice, cozy evening with wine, a good movie and some knitting. There was a certain thrill in the air as the city got its first dose of winter. I went to bed Thursday evening, chilly but generally content.

I woke up Friday morning to this...

2 feet of snow... in October.

Oh yeah, and no power...

Little did I know that I wouldn't have power for three and a half days.

And at that point, I'd be one of the lucky ones since there are people who are still shivering in the dark and may have to for another week. Yes, that would be ten days without power. Buffalonians are tough, but it could get a little crusty around here if people are without heat for ten days.

Sorta gives a new meaning to advertising Buffalo neighborhoods as being full of tree-lined streets. On Friday, most streets were unpassable with more trees in the road than ones standing. The last report I heard stated that the debris is the equivalent of 200,000 trees. The clean-up process could take up to six months. We hadn't even hit our peak color yet. Most of those branches being turned into mulch are covered with green leaves.

Rioting was barely averted when the beer trucks were able to get into the city. On Friday night, when 340,000 people were without power, the city ran out of suds. This, in a city whose philosophy is that the best way to beat a blizzard is to get a six-pack and stay home. It was a frightening hour for all involved.

Remember the snow I found inside my apartment on Thursday night? Well, I decided to add my own indoor ice skating rink on Sunday when my toilet began spewing water from the tank. Imagine yours truly in the dark in a very cold apartment, holding a flashlight and a cell phone in one hand with the other arm in the back of the tank, wet to the shoulder, trying to jiggle all the parts described by my brother and father in Missouri, who were warm and content after a homemade meal. Yep, I know how to party. Want to come for a visit?

At least I was one of the lucky ones with generous friends who had electricity, warm food, hot water and an extra bed. Oh, and lots of alcohol. It's great to have friends with power... especially the AC/DC kind.

Now if the Great October Surprise isn't a reason to knit a mitten, I don't know what is.

Super Mittens from Weekend Knitting, made with Brown Sheep Burlyspun

Hopefully I get the second one finished before our next snow. We should be flake-free for a few days, though heavy rains are supposed to start tonight, flooding the entire area, especially streets where debris is blocking storm drains. You know, like every street in Buffalo. I'm going to start building my ark now. At least I won't have to cut down any branches for timber.