Gifts

I've been knitting some gifts. Part of the problem of living in Elko is that there's nowhere to shop. There is a nice kitchen store and a lot of places to buy cowboy hats, but I'm not spending that kind of money on anyone. I wasn't going to give gifts this year, since my ticket home costs about as much as a week's work, before taxes. I have to give to a few people, though. I'm way behind for Jen and family. Not that I must get gifts, but because I love knitting for them. My siblings get things, too. And that's it. I'd make something for Dan, but I'm simply out of time. He can get a knitted present in January, for helping with the Gathering. So here's the latest.

The Rib and Cable Scarf from One Skein. I was surprised how quickly this took. Usually, scarves bore me to tears. I was getting close at the end, but I like how it turned out so I guess it was worth it (speaking of scarves, I just got Knitting New Scarves and I love it. It might make me a scarf knitter yet).


Mittens using stash yarn and a basic pattern. You can see that I ran out of grey near the end. The different color thumbs were on purpose because there's a right and a left mitten, but not the black on the top of the hand. I hope they fit. I estimated the measurements and the person they are for has bigger hands than I.


By the way, I finished We Call Them Pirates. It was a bit small but stretched with blocking. I am not giving it to the person I made it for. It would have been too small and too itchy for her. I did give it away to someone I know here in Elko who looked fabulous in it. I forgot to take pictures, though.

Not Happy

I am not happy with my blogging habits of late. What should I do? Take a break? I don't want to do that because I like sharing what I've done, and I really like the contact with the few others I've "met" through blogging. Do I just stop feeling guilty that I can't get a post together every couple days? Do I force myself to blog even if there's nothing to say (like today)?

I did finish We Call Them Pirates. It looked too small but it blocked much larger (whew). I still have to tack down the lining and then I'll take pictures. I've started the Rib and Cable scarf from One Skein. I had to put the bag on hold because I ran out of yarn. I was using leftovers from other things, and I have more of the AllHemp 6, but it's in red and the other two colors were a light grey and a blue. I just don't think the recipient wants a patriotic bag. I don't think I'd like knitting it, either. I'm not one for using those colors together for anything.

That's it. I'm contemplating starting some socks for my sister, or maybe some for Dan. I have some nice sock yarn to work and it's been awhile since I've made a pair. I need a fun pattern, though. I've been making basic socks but now I feel I need to spice up my sock making. All the yarn I have is variegated. That makes it tough to choose the right pattern. Why are all the great yarns multicolored but all the great patterns in a solid-color yarn?

Worn Out

Moving to a completely new place is hard. Starting a new job is hard. I have to learn something new every day. Not just something, but lots of things. Lots of important things. If I'm not learning something new then I'm figuring something out. I'm beat. I'm looking forward to the holidays and hanging with family and friends just for the familiarity of it all.

I'm still super busy. I've been working on We Call Them Pirates and another Everlasting Bagstopper. Both are for gifts, so I don't want to tell too much. I've finished one round of skulls on the hat and have only just started the bag.

I can't believe I haven't posted in so long! I miss it. I didn't realize it had been so long. Well, I finished the mittens and made a hat to go with them. I didn't take pictures, but my cousin says they are great. I ran out of yarn for the Bas Relief hat, since I was using the leftovers from the mittens. I might finish it with the multicolor just so I can have it finished.

My roommate and a few people have started meeting on Thursdays to knit. I haven't yet emailed the people who I met more than a month ago. I can't go to the group they've started because I don't have a car so I can't get there. If I don't get around to emailing them and they read this, I hope they will come to the Duncan Little Creek on Thursdays after work hours.

I stocked up on yarn while in San Rafael (sorry, Carrie, that I didn't let you know. I'll be back in the area for New Year's). Of note are some Pagewood Farm sock yarn died especially for Marin Fiber Arts in Bird of Paradise (mostly greens) and some Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks Kona Superwash in Brooks Browns. I'm not usually a scarf knitter, but I think this is destined for a cozy scarf. I also bought some yarn on sale: GGH Savanna in a sagey green; GGH Davos in white, brown, and blue; and Lana Grossa Royal Tweed in a tweed green. For some reason I only bought one of those. I'm sure I had a reason, but it's a pretty soft tweed so I'm wishing I'd bought more. I haven't taken pictures (yes, that busy, new job excuse again--I'm going to use this until after the Gathering, you know) of the yarn, but I'm sure I'll knit with the hand-dyed stuff very soon.

Since I have no knitting pictures, I'm going to leave you with images from my weekend moving cattle. That's right. I was on horseback (for the first time in very many years). On a real, working ranch, moving cattle from one grazing area to another. It was a blast. You can click the pictures to make them bigger.

That's me on the horse.


My new pal.

Sunday morning I fed some bulls off the back of the truck. That was pretty fun, too. I'm amazed at how shy the cows and bulls are. This was my first ranch experience and I hope the ranchers need help again because it was a great adventure.