This is the cardigan that I’m working on for my friends’ baby. I’ve had the yarn since the kiddo was born, but I somehow was mulling over what to make? Even though I’d had the idea before I even knew my friend was pregnant? No idea. I guess I was just lacking motivation. Seeing as how this is not the most timely of presents, I’m making it 18 months size, so that it should fit the kiddo for about a year.

I started it last night and picked it up again tonight after work. I was trying to figure out where to put the name on the back, and thinking that I would start it sooner than I did on the other name baby cardigan that I made. Then I started to freak out about how I would do this in the round, considering that the contrast yarn wouldn’t have to go in the front and I would obviously then end up with the longest floats ever. The horror. Then I remembered that I’m doing this back and forth, and the point was moot. I realized that I’d already spent 10 minutes mulling this over, and concluded that I must have been exhausted to miss the obvious for so long. At this point I decided it might be time to call it a night.

It’s snowing quite a lot here, so I decided to stay in today, knit, and drink beer. Needless to say, um having a great day.

I made my Halloween costume (well, a lot of it, anyway). I was one of those Candy Button packs. Anywho, in addition to being voted best some thing or another at my drinking knitting group’s Halloween party, I was also featured on the Ravelry main page. Feels good

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.

Some lovely patron donated old knitting books to the library. We’re adding the best of the lot to the collection. I’m keeping the so-so books for my knitting group; these patterns require reworking since they’re almost uniformly huge, but aren’t dealbreakers. The final group is books of patterns so ugly and busy that I couldn’t in good conscience even sell the lot. First I’ll make sure they’re not somehow classics that go for a lot online (the library could use the moolah). Once I’ve done that, if they’re as unwanted by everybody else as they are by me, I will put them in the book sale, on the off chance that somebody wants to pay $.50 for these collections of almost uniformly unflattering knits.

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.