Joy, my friend and one of the greatest beings on this planet, is raising money for Team in Training by selling off her fabulous collection of yarn (you will need a Ravelry account to read the last link). Please join me in buying her stuff and raising money for a truly worthy cause. If you don’t knit or crochet, you can learn. I will give two free knit or crochet lessons to anybody who buys at least $20 worth of yarn from Joy. If you don’t want to learn (and why not?!), you can also just give the yarn to me. True story.

So, I finished test knitting the sweetest little sweater for my Porkchop. I like the way it came out, although I still have to block it. My MC yarn was doing some weird things (like giving me randomly misshapen knit stitches), and my CC yarn had really inconsistent stretches of color, which means that none of my i-cord embellishments look the way that I want them to, but this isn’t the hugest deal. I hope that blocking will take care of the first, and that nobody will think too much one way or the other about the second. The thing I liked about this project is that I learned something new, namely how to do applied i-cord. I used this youtube video and this Purlbee blog post to help me understand how to do it on lives stitches and bound off stitches, respectively, and am already plotting how great this kind of edging would look on something else (maybe a hat?).

Wherever you are, you can help donate to Hurricane Sandy Relief efforts. If you’re near an effected area and can do something in person, consider giving of your time. If you aren’t, please make a donation. Many charities are accepting donations and helping those in need (although you should definitely be on the lookout for scams). The American Red Cross is accepting donations online, in person at their offices, and via text (text the word REDCROSS to 90999).

You may also donate items directly to those in need via Amazon wishlists that have been set up for specific neighborhoods.

Long Beach, NY

Breezy Point, NY

Staten Island

However you choose to do it, go out there and make somebody’s life exponentially more awesome.

Freezing my buns off with my bestest bud.

I went to two Mets games last week, on Sunday and Tuesday. The first allowed me to reconnect with an old friend and some of his friends, and the second allowed me to introduce Satanski to America’s pastime. The Mets won the first game, which took place on a warm and sunny afternoon, and I had an insanely good time. The Mets lost the second game, which took place on a cold and windy evening, and I had an insanely good time.

Nice selfie, Nic

To show my Mets pride, I made myself a hat. I winged this one, and worked it top-down because apparently I didn’t have enough going on in my life that week. I duplicate-stitched the saddest ever Mets logo on the hat, but cut off all evidence of my attempt at branding off as soon as I got home, because it was just too tragic for words. There is photographic evidence of this, but I’ll have to think long and hard before releasing such an image into the ether of the Internet, where it may return to harm me when I least expect it. I haven’t given up on the logo, though. I’m shall attempt to embroider it the next time, and hopefully that will allow me to walk around wearing my hat with pride.

Now I just have to learn how to embroider.

I’ve learned how to make stitch markers because why not? It seems that I enjoy picking up new things, without mastering the skills I already sort of knew.

I’m not an expert at this, but it’s a fun endeavor. I used two in my cowl project, and was pleased at how much nicer they looked than those tacky green and orange plastic markers that so often trail in my wake.

I found this post in my drafts, so I figured that since TWO MONTHS have passed since I finished this hat (which I first started on Columbus Day…jeez), maybe I could stop procrastinating and actually upload it.

I had the hardest time wrapping my brain around this hat. Sure, it came out super adorably (if I do say so myself), but it took me FOREVER to 1) cast it on correctly and 2) correctly memorize the 4 row pattern repeat. Yeah, I’m a little embarrassed about that, too. Still, I’m not terribly upset with the finished product, and have already had a request to make another one, so yay!

The fabulous Carrie made me this gorgeous beer cozy. Well, she didn’t make it specifically for me, but I did have the good fortune to claim it in the gift exchange. Yay.

She also made the star ornament that was tied on the outside of the bag in which she had placed the beer (also known as a cleverly folded page from Sunday’s Times, a little worse for wear after being toted from NYC to my house.).

How awesome. One gift, many gift ideas!