Little Snowman Mittens

I have had the idea for these wee little mittens rolling around my head for a long time. I had the colors worked out, and the black hat, and the carrot nose. The idea just never left my head, until now. I made these for a school fundraiser, for a 2-3 year old. They are just wee little mittens, and the Cs gave their approval and both said "Awww" when they saw them.

Intarsia in the round, nearly kicked my a**, but I prevailed.

There we go! Yep, it is intarsia in the round.

Starting to take shape now.

All done! Better light here.

 Personal pattern, yarn is Lamb's Pride Superwash Bulky.

Guess

I got together with some old friends for dinner over the weekend. It was a lot of fun, and I laughed quite a lot. In fact I was laughing so hard most of the time the photos I took were totally blurred. 

Below is a photo the waitress took:

L-R: GF, me, LS, and GG

I think everyone knows which one I am but, can you guess which one is:

a) my first boyfriend

b) my best friend

c) a heavy metal guitarist?

What do you think?

Oh and a hint here, they are all musicians of some sort, except for me, I am tone deaf.

AND

if you know for sure - looking at you HGT! Keep it quiet!

Finally finished Mitts from the book of Yarn

I started these mitts, um, let's just say a long time ago. I incorrectly remembered being nearly finished with both, but in actuality only one was done and the other had just been started. I am trying to clear up some of my WIPs this year (okay, quit laughing already). So I dragged these things around and knit a few rows here and there trying to make some progress, and I showed them to my friend S. who works in a place that can be pretty cold in the winter. She tried them on and liked them, and so now they are hers.

Princess Mitts, Berroco Ultra Alpaca, less than 1 skein

Not great color here, photos from my phone and fluorescent light.

No, that's not a cat hair, just a long alpaca fiber.

 

The Cat is in the Bag

 Yes, he really is.

Ollie no longer needs boxhab.

Wondering if he has hit bottom of the bag.

What?

 Today is his 4th birthday, happy birthday Ollie!

Flashback! Hard to believe he was so little.

In the Park for the Luminous Bean

Millenium Park, at the Bean, for the Luminous Field installation. 

A lot of people mentioned that they were disappointed that there were so many people

standing in the range of the lights, making it difficult to see 

the full effect of the lights. I didn't mind, it made it so much more interactive. 

Overall the whole thing was okay, but it was fun to get out to the park at night.

You can see a bit of the lights reflected on the bean.

I thought the skyline looked more interesting than the lights.

This is the theater at Millenium Park, the illumination really enhanced the different planes of the structure.

On the bridge in the park with a view of the theater and more!

I Had to Frog Them

The color difference was too great. They looked completely different. 

I am going to re-knit using alternate ends every couple of rows. 

Why yes, that IS a great pain in the .... but I still do like the color, 

and the pattern is so pretty.

Here I go again.

The color difference is not so apparent in the wound yarn.

The question is when will re-knitting re-commence?

Getting Ready

Getting ready for a performance, the first thing you do is put on your tabi, you know, the white split toe socks.

 After the tabi, and the change into kimono undergarments and a simple cotton kimono, you do the make up. Next is the kimono, then the wig, then the hands and arms (and sometimes legs) are painted white.

The make up table, showing some of the items and the beautiful wooden combs!

Y. almost ready for her wig.

Tying up her hem.

Tying her hem in place.

 This is a pretty heavy double layered kimono, and the hem gets tied up so that the line of the kimono isn't ruined from dragging around on the carpet, and it allows Y. to move more freely and sit easily.

Putting on a wig can be a 2 -3 person endeavor.

Touching up her lips.

A closer look at the hair ornaments.

This is what I wore.