Felted Clog Heaven (or Hell?)

I've momentarily abandoned all sock, hat, mitten, shawl and sweater knitting in favor of my newest passion--FELTED CLOGS! At least I'm hoping these will be a passion because I've purchased enough yarn for a baker's dozen of these nifty slippers. (That would be 70 balls of yarn).

Two pair are for pre-Christmas birthday gifts, ten are for Christmas gifts and one pair for ME. I got most of the yarn from KnitPicks, and the rest from Loops.

I have one pair done, except for felting . . .
And one pair in progress . . .

So, by the 20th of December I should have found my way to Felted Clog Hell. I have a different Holiday Hell for myself every year. . . the more memorable ones were:

bike shorts hell . . that year I made chamois-lined lycra cycling shorts for EVERYONE because the kids were so small, I couldn't buy any to fit. I re-drafted adult patterns to fit my pre-school kids. So, while I was at it everyone in my family who bikes got a pair, I made shorts for 10 people.

AND, there was apple pie hell. Kelly asked me to make apple pies for everyone in his department for Christmas. It was all fun and games until about pie 15 and I had 9 to go. 24 STUPID double crust apple pies. (for the record, there was NOT full disclosure on the number of pies to be made--the number sort of grew as the pie-making weekend progressed) Anyway, you can't start making homemade crusts and using fresh apples and go to frozen and canned implements. And, you can't decide at pie 15 this is too dumb--what do you do with 15 pies? You can't give pies to some and not others. You just have to keep making the stupid pies. I started Friday evening and by Sunday afternoon, I was ready to kill Kelly. Every freakin' flat surface in our house had pies cooling, and I was a wee bit cranky.

That's quite enough revelation of my nuttiness for one sitting--no need to re-live wire & bead bracelet hell, or cotton throw jacket hell right now.

Nice Buns!

(Rolls, really--cinnamon variety)
I made these sourdough cinnamon rolls for Kelly to take to the office today.


If you are in the mood for a delicious and EASY pumpkin treat to share, check out Phara's recipe for pumpkin pie bars.

Today was a big-crafty day for me. I wore my newly completed sweater/jacket/cardigan and hand-knitted socks to work today. Note to self: The extra 10" of visual girth added to silhouette by sweater knitted of extra bulky weight yarn is NOT flattering to the queen-sized frame. Oddly, I like the sweater anyway.

I decided what to do with some of the Mountain Colors homespun (lupine colorway) that I've been hoarding. I'm making the Loops 3-some mini-wrap. (again, with the super bulky weight). The stitch pattern doesn't show with this yarn, and it will not drape like the cashmere the pattern calls for, but I know that and it's OK. I LOVE this yarn -- wool and silk and deep colors. If I could afford it, AND if the whole gamut of Mountain Colors was available locally, I'd knit EVERYTHING with it.

AND finally, I HATE EASEMENTS!!!! We have this mess of electrical crap in our back yard. The mess was previously hidden by bushes, but for some reason AT&T was not happy with that situation, so last week they tore out bushes and relocated the post from the hidden spot to a more visible locale. (See the bright obelisk in the center of the photograph).
Notice the tree stump and the tilt of the green electrical box in the picture? A monster cottonwood tree grew atop that stump once. It was up-ending the electrical box, so we notified PSO of the problem and they graciously removed the tree. That solved the worry we had that the big tree would someday crash into our neighbor's house. BUT, the idiot sticks left the stump which is still causing the electrical box to tilt. So, PSO solved our problem, but not their own. We've called over and over to advise PSO. They've sent crews out who (no kidding) eat their lunches and take naps in our yard but are unable to work on the stump.
So, one day the stuff in the electrical box will overheat or short out like it has before. And, several houses or even the whole block will be without power, like they have before. And, PSO will replace the box, like they have before. Unless PSO takes action on the e-mail I sent today. We'll see . . . anyway, THAT's why I HATE EASEMENTS!!!!

My first EVER sweater--Completed

I just finished seaming up my FIRST EVER SWEATER!! It was made with a bulky yarn, Trendsetter Savvy. I wasn't exactly sure what I would use to secure the edges while I sewed the seam. THEN, I noticed a #2 circular needle, all lonely and needing something constructive to do. I sort of basted the seam together by stringing the needles and cable through the seam. It made the sewing easy to complete and was simple to remove. That's probably something other knitters do all the time, but I've never seen that suggestion.

AND, in other news . . .

Halloween pointed out what a pathetic person I am with an empty nest. You need not look any further than THIS for evidence. Lacking other ways to entertain myself, I made some properly burnt toast (homemade whole wheat sourdough) and smothered it with pumpkin butter (not homemade) and then . . . TA DA. . . decorated the toast with canned whipped cream for Jack-O-Toast. I said I was pathetic!

Then, there is THIS:

A co-worker brought SCARY chocolate body parts to share. As it turns out, it looks like MY finger was the model for this particular scary part.