sending up smoke signals

Have you checked out Jared Flood's Woodsmoke scarf? What a great gift idea! It doesn't take long to knit at all and I've always loved the process of knit-on edging.


The nagging began in the back of my mind two days ago. It seemed like I may run short on the edging yarn. I kept knitting and tried to focus on the positive possibility that there may be enough...just enough yarn to finish.

Sadly, my suspicion was confirmed. Last night, I knit the last full repeat possible and found myself short of yarn.

Estimates put me approximately 10 yards short and I've messaged a Raveler with leftovers to see if she is willing to part with it. Let's hope she answers my 'smoke' signal!

Malabrigo Silky Merino is very pleasing to knit with. I've used it before and remember how yummy this yarn actually is. It usually runs around $11 for 150 yards and the colors are fabulous. The inside of this scarf is knit with Redwood and the edging is, of course, Smoke.

Happy Friday!

Christmas swap

Our first Christmas party in the South introduced us to a different way to exchange holiday gifts.

In the North, you bring a wrapped gift, they put a little number on it, you pull a number out of a 'hat' and receive the corresponding gift. Nice, neat, over.

In the South, you steal. The host figures out a numbering system and each person chooses a gift in order. If you like a gift that someone else has already claimed, you can 'steal' their gift in place of your turn and that person gets to choose another package to unwrap. Ideally, you want to be the last one then you get to choose from everything then no one has a chance to steal it from you.

I must admit, the Southern method is much more fun!

This year, my day tennis team is having a gift swap. Most of the ladies are....a little more seasoned than me and I was having trouble coming up with a gift idea. Hopefully, they will love the idea of an alpaca scarf!

News and new socks

From time-to-time, I browse articles online from my hometown newspaper. I first moved away 8 years ago and had my parents send the papers. It was a fun day when a package arrived and there was time to catch-up on happenings where growing up meant you knew everyone. Eventually, the packages converted into piles to be enjoyed with a visit to my parent's house. Finally, infrequent visits to the online site replaced the paper altogether.

1980 population was almost 9,200 and ticked in at nearly 23,000 this year. You can still find a very nice home in a wonderful neighborhood (there is no 'bad' part of town there) for under $200,000. It was a great place to grown up. During returns for visits and browsing wedding announcements, I find few names that are familiar. Many of my graduating class and those near my graduation year still live in town. Sometimes, there will be reference to people who have to be the children of my long ago friends.

Today was a browse the news online day and a smile came easily. A teacher who tutored my oldest son in middle school is getting married. I am happy to have taken time today to check on my hometown.

On the knitting front, Through the loops Mystery Socks 2010 is complete. The Madelinetosh yarn is fabulous! I think yarn with some elasticity should be used for my socks and I rarely choose sock yarn with that characteristic. Our climate is warm and handknit socks are generally worn around the house so it tends not to matter much.

The pattern is lovely and a new pair of socks are in the house!