knitting, knitting everywhere

Stealthy and subtle though she may be, I can feel Fall creeping up on me -- the slight chill in the air that lingers for the first few hours of morning, the irresistible urge to brew pots of tea and bury myself in books and blankets the moment I get home from work, the pumpkins taking their stations in front of local grocery stores, and, of course, the knitting. I'm desperate to wear all of my nearly-forgotten sweaters, and I'm noticing more and more knitted items hitting the streets.

Exhibit A - The Diner Pirate

My hubby and I were grabbing a late breakfast at our favorite local diner yesterday. As we were shown to our table, I saw a few familiar faces: Clearly there have been a few mods, but I'd recognize that face anywhere. Suffice it to say that I could scarcely contain myself. The folks at this table probably thought I was some kind of freak, as I was openly staring and intermittently grinning and clapping. It was just so cool to see a variation of my current project out in the wild, especially given that so few Californians are donning their knitwares just yet.

As for my own Mr. Bones, I'm just one row shy of starting my decreases. Given that I have the luxury of an exact replica head model (as I mentioned in an earlier post, this gift is for my hubby's identical twin), I managed to avoid making the hat disastrously too tall. I mucked around with the pattern a bit, and am starting my decreases 4 rows early. Normally this would mean losing the charming little bones arranged horizontally across the top, so I'm improvising. I'm going to lose the cutsie diamond pattern at the top and do a simple crossed set of bones instead, which ends up looking oddly like a Cross Fourchee. I think it's actually going to turn out quite cool, but I've been wrong three times before. :0)

I told McR on Friday that I needed to make Mr. Bones my constant companion if I'm to beat my looming deadline. Well, I certainly made good on that.

Exhibit B - Affordable Solutions for Better Knitting

The Pigeon (husband) and I did one of my least favorite things yesterday as well. We went to IKEA. IKEA is barely tolerable any day of the week, but going on a Saturday is absolutely soul-destroying. The normally odd crowd was even odder than usual, complete with a couple prowling around the picture frames section dressed in medieval jester costumes.

The Pigeon was after a desk, so I knew I was in for a good twenty minutes or so of waiting. Nothing to do, I thought, but knit. So I knit. At IKEA. In the Nominell office chair, which is incidentally quite comfortable:

Strangely enough, it was the most natural thing I've ever experienced in an IKEA store. And be warned: they now charge you 5 cents per plastic bag. Or you can spring for their 59 cent plastic tote thing (tarp with handles, really). Note that there is no non-paying bag option anymore. Wish I'd known before I was at the register and woefully without other options.