Month: August 2011

Current Events · Weather

We Were Lucky

Jen4 Comments

This was the scene when I woke up this morning:

It was very breezy at that time and there were many leaves and small branches down. At that point it was still raining a bit as we were still waiting for the center of circulation to pass over us. Even now, it’s still really windy. We never lost power and are on top of a hill so we don’t worry about flooding here either. But many low-lying areas in my town are flooded and about 30% of people are without power.

There are a lot of people on the internet bitching that this storm got hyped up for no reason. Seriously? I’m sorry it didn’t ruin your day enough, but there are millions of people without power, at least 10 people dead, and countless others whose property has been damaged due to flooding or trees falling on them. If you weren’t affected by this storm much, you were lucky. Now qwityerbitchin’ and count your blessings. It could’ve been a lot worse.

I mean, honestly.

Current Events · life · Weather

Emergency Preparedness, I Has It.

Jen1 Comment

(the red line of the forecasted path passes right over my house)

So yeah. You may have heard that there is an enormous hurricane heading our way. This is my first hurricane and I am excited and nervous so I have been busy getting ready. Yesterday was the epic grocery store run/quest for batteries and flashlights/search for bottled water. Everyone in town had a similar idea, unfortunately, so bottled water was in short supply, as were batteries and flashlights. Luckily I managed to score enough of everything to tide us over until Tuesday at least. Also, I have plenty of knitting. In the meantime, we are watching the news with great interest. Our cell phones are charged up, and I charged my camera battery too. It will be a miracle if the power stays on, but if it does, I’ll be sure to post pictures. Any readers out there in the path of Irene? How have your preparations been going? Are you ready?

free patterns · Knitting

YaYa Mitts

Jen4 Comments

I’ve had a pretty little ball of Classic Elite Inca Print in my stash for a long time now. I think it was the first alpaca yarn I ever purchased and, until now, I could never figure out what to do with it. Now that it’s officially the middle of August and with giftmas fast approaching, I finally thought of something to make with the Inca Print. YaYa Mitts!!

[ravelry]

These mitts will knit up quickly and with just 50 grams would make a lovely, inexpensive gift for anyone (with women’s size medium hands) on your list. Sadly, the Inca Print is now discontinued, but any DK weight yarn would work.

Materials: 50 grams of any DK weight yarn.
Size 5 needles

Cast on 36 stitches. (I found a great tutorial for casting on 2 at a time here.)
Work in 2×2 rib (K2, P2) for 1.75 inches

Thumb:
Knit 1, CO 8 stitches (I used the backward loop method), Knit 1, K2, P2 to the end of the round.

Thumb Gusset:
Rounds 1-4: K2, P2 to the end
Round 5: K2, P2tog, K2, P2tog, K2, P2 to the end of the round.
Rounds 6-9: K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P2 to the end of the round.
Round 10: K1, P2tog, K1, P2tog, K2, P2 to the end of the round.
Rounds 11-14: K1, P1, K1, P1, K2, P2 to the end of the round.
Round 15: P2tog, P2tog, K2, P2 to the end of the round.
Rounds 16-19: P2, K2 to the end of the round
Round 20: K2tog, K2tog, K2, P2

Continue to work in established 2×2 rib pattern until the mitt is the desired length or until you run out of yarn. BO loosely in pattern (I recommend JSSBO) and weave in ends.

Since I made mine on the short side, I have enough of the Inca Print to make a second pair!

Meh.

Checking In

Jen2 Comments

If anyone out there is wondering, yes I am still in the land of the living. The last couple of weeks around here have been crazy busy, and so therefore extremely draining. But, at least the cats have been inspected and inoculated, and I have a new pair of glasses headed my way. (Hooray for the Internet!) There might have been an acupuncture treatment in there too, as well as a couple of trips to the beach. *whew* I have been knitting too, but I never seem to think of taking any pictures before the sun goes down. So, yes I am here, and yes I am thinking of the Blog. Maybe one day I won’t be too exhausted to be interesting.

How is your summer going?