In recent knitting news

Observant readers of this blog might recognize these arm warmers, though it's been about 15 months since they were last posted on the blog. Back then, I had finished the first one and started the second. The student in knitting club at school had seamed the first one for me, because she's an awesome seamstress.

Then, I finished knitting the second, but set it aside because I didn't want to have to seam it. I love knitting, but I hate seaming - probably because I'm not very good at it. The pattern, from "One Skein" by Leigh Radford, is pretty simple, but they do take a while since the yarn is lightweight and the needles are small.

Since we've been out of school the last few days, and it's super cold outside and in here, I decided it was high time to seam the second one so I could wear them while knitting and working on the computer. So glad I did. Thanks to Hubs for shooting this photo (in which you can see I'm wearing our Snuggie...)

Adam gave me a 2010 Knitting calendar for Christmas, and he picked this striped alpiner hat pattern out. It was a very quick project - just took about two days. The pattern calls for it to be knit flat and seamed up the back, so another one I had to challenge myself with.

I knit this with Bernat Baby Alpaca yarn, which feels delicious. And, bonus: it was on sale two for $5 at Michael's the day after New Year's. I will most likely be buying more of that yarn soon. You might notice the crochet edging around the bottom of the hat (the white part). This was a good project because it forced me to exercise a few different skills.

I'm working on this matching scarf. The color in the photo is a little funky, it was just a quick iPhone pic to post on Twitter. It's looking great so far, but will require lots of end-weaving-in because of the stripes. I can't wait to get a photo of Adam modeling both pieces once they're finished. Stay tuned.

Baby, it's f#@*ing cold outside!

That's what we do in the Chittum household when it's cold and we're off of school...If you are an avid reader of the ChittumFiles, you probably saw Sunday's post about the frosty windows. Well, we took a drastic step today.

You know it's cold when I'm forced to move the catbox (yes, I'm actually writing about my cat's litterbox on my blog. I'm officially a crazy cat lady) from the back laundry room to the craft room. Unfortunately, Gracie is a weakling, and she can't push the back door open on her own. So, we have to prop the door open just enough for her to come and go as she pleases. That way, she can get to her food and her bathroom whenever she needs it.

Well, that works fine in a normal climate, but since we now live in what feels like the Arctic Circle, we've had to make some changes. The back room isn't insulated very well, since it was added on at some point, and it's quite drafty. I think I saw some teeny-tiny little ice-skaters in the back bathroom's toilet bowl early this morning.

For now, the back door will stay closed, and we're getting ready to hang up a blanket over the door to keep the cold air in the back room.

Yesterday, we opened presents with Mom and Dad. Here's a photo of Dad modeling the hat and scarf I made for him. I got lucky, because I was already working on it for him, when around Thanksgiving, he said "Why don't you knit me another scarf? I need another warm one."


I can post this next photo because I know that Grandma Jarsulic is NOT going to be hopping on the Innernets any time soon to read the blog. We went to see her yesterday and she said they keep it cold at the home where she stays. I've been working on this for a couple of weeks now. I hope it can get it done before Christmas night when the family gets together.

My plan is to make it like a lap blanket, so she can cover up with it when she's rolling around in her wheelchair.