There's Good News and then there's More Good News!

I have delayed going to the tire shop because I feared what I would hear - "OMG LADY! Your car is death on wheels! You must buy these four very expensive tires!"

Didn't happen. My tires are fine except that they are very underinflated. As for having no traction on ice and snow? It's a MUSTANG. A SPORTS CAR. Not an SUV. If we get another ice storm, he suggested that I get a ride with a friend. (I think I'll just stay home.)

But it will have to continue serving as a pick up until I get this move over. In a few weeks it can be a sports car again. And I will wash it and clean its upholstery and get it two new sporty tires. And by then we should have spring, so ice and snow will be a memory. That's the plan.

As for knitting, I'm still working on the (endless) mandala scarf. It is so blue. Paul Newman and Robert Redford's eyes blue, deep sea blue. Stunning. But it is seven feet of garter stitch. I'm trying to keep the meditation going, but since this is the third scarf, there's more boredom than meditation I fear. It is UFO #7 on the list, though, so it will get finished!

UFO list added

I made a list of the UFOs I want to complete in the next 12 months. YIKES! Who knew?

To be honest, I had a hunch things were stacking up. In my defense, however, this list is NOT my FO (finished objects) list, a list that I have yet to start.

The most important and timely UFO on the list is the dissertation. Must. get.that.finished.

The UFO Challenge!

I've enrolled this blog and its many unfinished projects in the UFO ring. As I've been packing, I've been digging in boxes and bags and piles. The number of UFOs that I've found is bordering on astronomical. Time to get these puppies finished. Thanks, UFO ring members, for keeping me on target! (See the UFO ring listed on the right side bar.)

Five for Dulaan!

I've made my five (and more) for Dulaan, so I've met the pledge! I spent yesterday (a snow day) going through and sorting finished projects. Mittens, scarves, hats. Today's on campus project is to print the packing list for the box (check). Tonight I'll finish washing everything so they can go out by the end of the week. I'll get some pictures of them before they get sent off. One thing I'll be sending is something I spun, dyed and knit. Won a blue ribbon at the Boone County Fair! It's a cross between a shawl and a scarf, done in a 4x4 rib so it's really stretchy. Merino top so it's really soft. And a variegated green so it's ... green.

I've been looking for the perfect house, and I think I've found it. Well, not perfect because the bathroom is indescribable, but it's a unique idiosyncratic building, that's for sure! The Warming House. Pictures coming.

Mandalas and EZ Surprise Jacket

While cruising one day, I learned that the North Dakota Museum of Art is creating a mandala of knitted (and crocheted and woven) scarves! They are accepting donations of yarns, 8" by 7' long, that will be distributed to shelters in Grand Forks after the exhibit. How cool is that? TWO rounds of karma -- good art and good deed!

A seven foot scarf can get a little tedious. To help show me that I was indeed making progress, I'd add a string or marker on the edge of the scarf each morning as I began knitting.

To keep myself going, I would make it a point to knit at least a row in the morning before going to work. Since it is mindless knitting, I took it to work and knit during breaks/lunch/whenever I could steal a stitch or two. When I finally got to the last foot of the first scarf, I tied on a little gold bell to remind me that I only had one more foot to knit.

It worked! I finished the first one and almost immediately cast on for the second scarf, which I finished rather quickly. I'm now on my third.



Both scarves: Noro.
Green = Kochoran (the clumps of angora make this yarn so appealing!)
Bright multicolor= Kureyon (two different colorways; used my stash)


I also got the chance to try out Elizabeth Zimmerman's Surprise (baby) Jacket. Knit all in one piece, this knitting was all-consuming, painful, and totally worth it once it was finished. I'm seriously thinking of doing another one. One of the bloggers on the EZ KAL wrote that she wished she'd knitted hers in a variegated yarn, so that's what I did. Details follow. I still need to sew the two shoulder seams and add buttons. The recipient is Charley, who was due Feb. 2 but decided to come during our ice and sleet storm last Friday night, January 12th.


Happy Birthday, Charley!