Mittens! Stash sale! Did I mention Mittens!

NO, it ain't another hiatus...

Hello there! Sorry I've been away so long. Had tons to do, but have been really productive, so that's good.

I also went to my first DRIVE-THRU pharmacy. What a good idea! Why hadn't I done this before? Going IN to the store? It's so passé!

SOME NEWS: There is a big stash sale coming your way from HEK. Stay tuned, will post this weekend. Seriously good deals for seriously good knitters.

Update us.

1) I started a Klaralund (from Cornelia Hamilton Book 2) for my mom:

Knit during the Harry Potter 4 movie. Completed during Scrabble. Which I won. Ha!*

This is the second one I've made. Only for family could I knit something twice. It's going to be SO. COOL. Silk Garden, I love thee.

2) And, I did some more work on the Nordic gloves:

I'm in love with this gusset.

3) Madli is done, but no picture yet. I want to be able to take a good one, and today it's overcast. Soon, though. I'm super pleased with this helpful blocking post by the Harlot, as it made blocking Madli much more easy. Thanks so much for all your sweet comments on Madli so far!

4) And, I never did post a picture of my NBaT, but I finally finished it (in like SEPTEMBER, hello!):

I hated that intarsia. It actually looks like crap close up. No more for this girl for awhile. Onward and upward. Forward ho! Or something like that...

*Ok, but only by like a few points. My sister usually kicks my scrabble ass. And our dad ALWAYS, and I mean without fail, wins the following: Parcheesi, Clue, and Croquet. Amazing. Mom kicks all our butts at Wheel of Fortune. My mom can guess a wheel of fortune clue with NO letters on the board. Vanna ain't got nothin' on my mom.

They have everything that you need to enjoy...

You can hang out with all the boys...

On my trip home to see my parents, part of the deal was bringing back or getting rid of more kid crap. There's some seriously funny stuff my folks found, though:

That's right, a lovely drawring of you know who. The caption on the right says, "Village People singing their latest hit song 'You Can't Stop the Music.'" Oh my. I certainly was an artiste.

I love blogs.

While in NC, my parents allowed me to drag them to yarn stores. Who can resist this?

It's like the Mother Ship calling me home.

The COOL thing about blogs is, if it weren't for blogs I might not have known where to go. But thanks to super awesome Barbara in her super informative entry, I knew right where to go. I might have even bought some yarn...

I love blogs.

Yes. But we love knitting.

I finished the back of NBaT and started the front. I am so so so happy about the finishing on the back. Let's discuss:

First, I didn't bind off the center stitches; I'm going to just knit the loops in place for the collar.

Second, I used this fabulous method to bind off the edges around the neck.

Third, I used Nona's help for Japanese Short rows and will use a three needle bind off for the shoulders.

Here's a look.

Please, click here for a close-up. Pretty please.

Have you ever seen anything as lovely as these short rows? As in, you can't see them at all! I am in love. I can't breathe. It's exhausting.

Gryffindor! and Contest!

You all KNOW I don't do this.

But I have to post this*:

GRYFFINDOR! You scored 16% Slytherin, 28% Ravenclaw, 72% Gryffindor, and 16% Hufflepuff! You might belong in Gryffindor Where dwell the brave at heart, Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart. Gryffindors are known for their courage, audacity,and devotion to what is good and honest.

Link: The Sorting Hat Test written by leeannslytherin on Ok Cupid

Alison posted this online quiz, and it was really fun to take. I usually don't take up an entry to do this, but it is funny how if you read the HP books, you know what House you'd be in, I think. Or maybe that's just the Gryffindor in me talking...

You owe us.

Well. Here's where the NBaT is up to:

And I thought you might be interested in my graphs that I made** to visualize the shoulder shaping. I'm going to do short rows and three-needle bind offs, and I have to see what I'm doing:

**I make a lot of graphs.

Ok, I did promise a contest, and HERE IT IS....

CONTEST CONTEST CONTEST!!!!!!

OK. So, in making my NBaT, I had to decide what to put on it, logo- or design-wise. Inspired by Kim's Rutgers shirt, I thought, "I'll put my college logo on it! Whoop-de-do!***"

SO. Given the colors of the yarn in the above picture, which are incidentally my college school colors, WHAT UNIVERSITY did my hubby and I attend for our undergraduate degrees?

Some hints:
• It is in the U.S.A. (Well, duh.)
• It has generally had very good sports teams. (Ooh, ooh, I know!)
• It was established in the late 1800s. (Hmmm.)
• Lots of chants or songs played at sporting events involve spelling the name. (This might be a give-away.)
• Has the highest number of freshman National Merit Scholars per capita of any public university. (Ok, HEJ, that's just LAME. LOSER.)

BEFORE YOU ANSWER!!!! Do not answer in the comments. Do not, por favor. Instead, email me at nbatcontest@highenergyknits.net.

And here's the deal. I'm giving away stuff. Yarn, a book, maybe? Who can say? But goody goody stuff must go!!!! So all ya'll must try it.

And quite frankly, I don't care if anybody gets it right, we are CRAZY and GIVING AWAY STUFF ANYWAY!!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! So GO FOR IT. Lurkers - this means YOU TOO. More than one person will win something. Believe it.

* I changed the html for this table a bit. If you take the test, the outcome you post will be more spread out. You'll see.

***Lord knows, I didn't actually SAY that. Heavens-to-Betsy.

A Little Travellin' Knitting, Please, Paul.

I promised more stuff, and here it is.

First, I must describe how the knitting was perfectly planned for my trip to Tampa. I finished this headband on the shuttle to the airport:

That's my sis's head. She has better hair.

Don't like the colors now that it's done, but probably will redo it in a solid. Maybe black?

Then, on the flight to Tampa, I finished my sister's socks:

Here they are, at the Salvador Dalí Museum. I love Dalí. His paintings are probably my favorites of all.

We thought the Maestro himself
would appreciate the socks-as-snot shot.

Then over the weekend, another flight, and another shuttle trip, and Clapotis was done. I should travel more often!

NBaT!!!!

I have started the ever-popular NBaT, designed by the ever-fabulous Alison.

What is that book doing there?*

I am using GGH Goa and am IN LOVE with this yarn. Head over heels. Forever in it's debt. It's great to knit.

The front design will be...

OH NOT SO FAST, THERE, CHET:

That's right, I smell a contest. Stay tuned.

*I still haven't read HP6 yet. It's still sitting on my coffee table. "The anticipation suspense** is killing me. I hope it'll last."
**Oops, I quoted wrongly before...