I admit, I have a blog addiction. Though granted, there are only half a dozen I regularly read. A good blog is like really great nonfiction that never ends. One of my best girlfriends has recently started a blog about running. Now, I'm not a runner, but she makes me want to be one, and I figure that can't be a bad thing. There are two things you need to know about Robbin:

1) She's awesome.

2) She's hilarious.

(she's also single, fellas...but good luck catching her..she's fast!)

Also, if you notice her banner, I took that panoramic photo of her at Coney Island. Is she fun or what?

We're finally getting some real snow around here. I'm glad. It's given me some cozy down time in the house to really get some knitting done on Book III.  There's nothing I love more than curling up in my room with a mug of hot coffee, and my needles. I knit, listen to NPR, and gaze out over the snow-covered river. It is heaven.

This week I finished my badger scarf. You may recognize it's similarity to the Stone Cold Fox scarf, which I used as a jumping off point, with some changes. The head is flatter, and the stripes were fun. I don't know why knitting vertical stripes is so fun?  These's something magical about how seamless it looks. Best of all is the yarn I chose. Cascade's Eco Duo is a lovely alpaca self-shading yarn. I used that quality along with a gradual fade between different colors. I think the effect is lovely.  But then again, what could be more lovely than a dead badger?

What a wonderful holiday break! The kids and I had such a great time with family. There was plenty of time to relax, sleep in, play, eat, and of course...knit!  I made some headway on book #3. So here's a preview of things to come. I knitted these Ninja Mitts using Cascade 220 Superwash. They are so soft. There are a few fun fair isle projects in this book. Knitting a book of wearable projects is giving me the chance to explore all the techniques I love.

As for New Year Resolutions, I only have one this year. Last year was an emotional roller coaster, lots of high highs and low lows. This year I want to slow it down and try to keep my mind on the big picture. We're so lucky. We have such a wonderful life. I don't want to waste another minute of my life that I could be enjoying with my family, worrying about things I can't change. This isn't a resolution I can accomplish overnight, but it gives me something to work on.

As a good omen, my chickens finally started laying eggs on New Years Day! Here's to a fruitful and productive year, full of wonderful little moments and small things to be thankful for.

I suppose I'm a bit overdue for an update. It's been knitting and holiday madness around here. A couple of weeks ago we had the Handmade Market, which was a great success. I made lots of full size toys, as well as lots of tiny things, like this tiny felted bomb. We spent the next week in New York, visiting friends.  So much fun, so much mischief.

I've also been busy with projects for the new book and the Hungry Monsters Project. Today we all drove up to Apple Hill Farm in Matney. My friend Lee owns this wonderful alpaca farm. They make the most beautiful yarn. They also have llamas, goat, horses, chickens...you name it. It is extraordinarily beautiful. Sophia went for a pony ride. We took some pictures of projects for the new book, all wearables.  I'm embarrassed to admit the llamas are far more photogenic than myself. The Apple Hill folks are also putting together Hungry Monster kits, using alpaca yarn.  The money will go the the Hunger Coalition. We're all pretty excited about this new addition to the charity project. 

All in all, fun happy times, although the holidays are sure to be over in a blink. 

Working with the kids on the Hungry Monster Project has been really inspiring, and I've been doing some thinking.

After my divorce, things were sometimes very difficult financially for the kids and I. There were times when I had to figure out how to get by on almost nothing, buy a week's worth of groceries with $20, and a winter we we couldn't afford oil for our heater. It was sometimes scary, and certainly depressing. But the difference between myself and so many others, is that I had a safety net, family I could turn to when things got really bad. As embarrassing and hard as it was to ask for help, I always knew we wouldn't go hungry.

There are so many who are not so lucky. Thousands of families and small children don't know where their next meal is coming from. The project with the kids is going well, but I want to raise as much money as we can. So I've decided that for the entire month of December, ALL my pattern sales will go the the Hunger and Health Coalition. You can find my patterns in my Etsy store, and on Ravelry under caffaknitted.

Thanks and Happy Holidays to all of you who have donated so far.  

The Hungry Monsters Project is officially underway. I published the pattern. It's a choose-your-own monster pattern, with different options for heads and bodies. Remember, all pattern and monster sales go to the Health and Hunger Coalition.

Read more about the project. 

Purchase the pattern.

So far we've raised $160, which is wonderful, but still pretty far from our goal.

In addition to selling the knitting pattern, I'll be selling the monsters at the Handmade Market at the Turchin Center this Sunday. I'll have other toys, patterns, books, and Christmas ornaments too. Come by and say hello!

I'm launching a new knitting project with first graders to raise money to fight hunger. Read about it!

Hungry Monsters Project

This year I couldn't resist:

Over the summer, Dave and I adopted what seemed to be the sweetest cat in the world. Slim is so incredibly docile. He loves belly rubs. He's a great foot warmer. However, after about a month, we began to see an entirely different aspect of his personality...bad kitty.

Suddenly, the same cat that had spent hours laying blissfully across my lap, was ambushing me at every corner. He'd climb my leg like a tree, do a backflip, and run out of the room in 3 seconds flat. And then there is the whining. If he's hungry, bored, or ready to go outside and chase the chickens, he is unbearably whiney.

That being said, he is still the best cat in the world. He still love belly rubs. Every cat needs a dose of crazy, right?

My daughter did a couple of portraits of Slim. One is titled "Bad Kitty!", featuring an adorably diabolical cat with claws and fangs, and the other is, of course, titled "Good Kitty".

And so came the idea for Reversible Cat! Reversible Cat is two cats in one. He flips back and forth through a flap in the back, much like one on a pillow sham. Both cats are knit in the round. The toy is one piece. When you look at bad kitty, good kitty is folded neatly inside of him, and vice versa. It sounds complicated, but it's actually a really simple concept. Reversible Cat is a moderately easy knitting pattern. It includes a photo tutorial and templates for the felt pieces. You can find it in my Etsy store, or you can purchase it on Ravelry.