Where's the love, NoDak?

I've been doing some research over at Google Analytics, which tracks my blog stats, and I've come to a disturbing realization. I've had visitors from all 50 states except North Dakota! "Why is this so disturbing?" you might ask. It's disturbing because North Dakota may very well be one of my favorite places on the planet. Before relocating to subtropical paradise and more recently to the east coast, I spent a summer in Grand Forks, N.D., and loved every minute. I spent long weekends traipsing across the prairie, soaking in the Big Sky and marveling at the windswept plains. I saw my first buffalo in North Dakota. I did my first solo travel in North Dakota. I saw my first hockey game in North Dakota. But perhaps most importantly for this blog, I learned to KNIT in North Dakota! That's right, my first foray into needles and yarn came during my time in the Peace Garden State. (The Peace Garden reminds me of a time when border patrol accused of smuggling rocks into the country — incidentally not the only time that's happened, but that's a different story...)

Maybe it was the post-college I'm-an-adult-now depression or the loneliness factor of living a thousand miles from anyone I knew. Or perhaps just the need to find an activity to fill the endless summer afternoons — it literally never got dark until 11 p.m.! Whatever the case, something about North Dakota inspired me to learn a new craft. The fruit of that effort turned out to be a really crappy acrylic scarf that I've never worn and never will. (Seriously, it's so embarrassing, I don't even include it on Ravelry.) Nonetheless, North Dakota holds a special place in my knitting heart.

And this is the reason why I'm so upset that no North Dakotans are reading my blog. I know you knit; I've seen you! I know you have computers — and Internet; I've used it! So where are you Bismarck? Minot? Rugby, the geographic center of the continent? Uff da!

For that reason, I'm going to hold a little contest. The first North Dakotan to read my blog and respond with a comment gets a prize! I'm thinking the prize will be some awesome cotton fingering weight yarn I got at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival last weekend, but I'll have to check my stash later to be sure. Maybe the North Dakotan knitters would appreciate something warmer. I'll post some pictures of the fabulous prize later this weekend to entice all you North Dakotan readers. And be sure to leave your email address when you comment so I can get in touch with you. Blogger doesn't provide it automatically.

Back in black

Sorry for the dearth of new posts, folks. It's been a crazy couple of months for me (for instance, I no longer live in subtropical paradise!) But that's all for another post.

Today, I'm linking to a great blog contest over at One Scheme of Happiness about summer reading ideas—and y'all know how I love my books!

Happy VD

As a Valentine's Day present to you, dear reader, I'm inundating your Bloglines or Google Reader with lots of posts (OK, just two). In this post, I wanted to showcase a recently finished object and the progress being made on a couple of WIPs.

First up: the Little Gems Mitts. I finished these while traveling to visit my friend, Kate, in St. Louis a few weekends ago. These were my sixth pair of fingerless mitts to knit, according to Ravelry, but they are the seventh pair to be a part of my life. I bought my very first pair of fingerless mitts during a school trip to St. Louis many moons ago. In honor of that seemingly life-changing event, Kate and I took a drive-by pilgrimage to Union Station, location of the historic sale. Here's the camera-phone picture to prove it. But while that original pair are buried deep in a closet at my parents' house, my new Little Gems Mitts are out and about in full force. We've even had a couple of unseasonably cool days here in Nola, so I've been enjoying them.


I used the Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift called for in the pattern and really loved it. I'm glad I have so many lovely shades of green left over to make something else.


The first WIP is my brother's work sock. I've finished the first one and have started the second one. Here's a couple of shots of the first one. I'm using Nancy Bush's "Gentleman's Half Hose" pattern from the Knitting Vintage Socks book and Koigu Premium Merino in brown.




Finally, I've been plodding along on the Turkish cape. Stranding five colors while purling is definitely a challenge but not as difficult as I originally anticipated. I'm actually coming along pretty quickly with this knit—but maybe that's also because I love the pattern and the bright, bold colors.

Sparkle flair, part 2

As alluded to in an earlier post, there is another obnoxious blinging garment to share. This one is all for me, and I wore it for the first—and most likely only—time during Mardi Gras last week. I used this pattern and some multi-colored green, purple, and gold sequined fabric to come up with this:


I somehow accidentally altered the length or else the Burda model is the world's shortest human being, because I was going for a dress but ended up with this tunic-esque length! But it wasn't a problem. The shininess still attracted lots of bead throwers' attentions.

Here's an "action" shot with my friend Hilary.

Rock star

Many of you already know this but for those who don't: I love rocks. Yep. It's true. Rocks make me happy, and I have lots of them—pretty rocks, dirty rocks, shiny rocks, ugly rocks, contraband rocks (e.g., did you know the penalty for taking rocks out of Turkey is prison? And I've seen "Midnight Express," so the lovely piece of calcite I discovered near Denizli stayed where I found it, and I have this picture to remember it by instead. I could not comment, however, on how various other chunks of granite, pieces of basalt, or piles of green sand have mysteriously left their respective outcrops and ended up in my living room. OK, I'll admit it, the green sand is all thanks to my sister's sacrificing her tennis shoes!).

Long asides aside, what self-respecting rock lover doesn't have a favorite rock? Mine happens to be my first favorite rock—it has stood the test of time. I first discovered unakite during a geology field trip in college, and despite intensive one-on-one time during several research papers, some geochemical analyses, and a thesis, it's still my favorite. I guess I will always hold a special place in my heart for unakite. And now, thanks to my good friend Kate, it has a special place near my heart—literally.


Kate discovered these unakite beads during a recent trip to Costa Rica, and knowing my love for the epidote-and-feldspar metamorphic beauty, she decided to whip me up this necklace! I love it so much that I wanted to share it with all of you. Thanks Kate!

'Every time I come around yo' city, bling bling'

Who doesn't love a little bling? I wanted to make my friend, Kate, some sparkle flair for her 26th birthday last week. So, with a little of this:


and a bit of this for inspiration:

photo: Mccallpattern.com

I came up with this:


Doesn't she look fabulous?


Coming to a blog post soon: Kate's crafty endeavors plus more obnoxious sparkly garments!

I found my thrill on blueberry hill

I took a quick trip upriver last weekend for a friend's birthday celebration in St. Louis. And while I didn't visit Chuck Berry's famous Blueberry Hill on this trip (or Stan Musial's for that matter), it was a fun-filled, action-packed weekend. And I saw an amazing sight: ice—in the Mississippi River.


Who knew?!? I mean, I've seen ice in rivers before (Kennebec River in Maine, Maury and Potomac Rivers in Virginia), but the mighty Mississip? I was amazed. Imagine what it looks like at Lake Itasca in January—probably just a solid trickle of ice.

And amidst all my excitement about ice in the Mississippi, I made another amazing discovery. I discovered the perfect way to kill two proverbial birds with one stone: antsy airplane time and ever-so-tedious weaving in ends of (almost) finished objects. With all the airline travel restrictions and my desire to travel with as little bulk as possible, I decided not to bring any ongoing knitting projects. Instead, I brought my Little Gems Mitts that were finished other than the weaving in of the (dozens of) ends. It was the perfect airplane activity, filling a two-hour flying block of time and eliminating all the distractions that normally keep me from completely finishing projects when I'm on the ground. The Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift I used in the project was easy to break with my teeth, and I got only a few odd looks from my seat neighbor. And when I landed, I had a nice warm pair of new fingerless mitts to wear. I plan on spending future flying time doing all the boring finishing activities on otherwise finished objects. I apologize for the blurry phone pictures in this post. Stay tuned for pictures from a real camera of the superbly obnoxious sequined bubble skirt I made for my friend for her birthday. Coming soon to a blog near you!