More Gift Knitting

I am almost done with this scarf. I love to wear scarves, and I love to give them as gifts. I feel like they are likely to be worn by the giftee. Fingering-weight scarves have always appealed to me. They are so pretty and light-weight enough to wear comfortably. But, few things are as tedious as a fingering-weight scarf!

I'm nearing the finish line with this, and I will be glad to cast-off! But I still think it's pretty and I know the exact person to appreciate it!

Gift knitting

No selfish knitting for this girl!

There are so many things I want to knit for myself, but I decided a while ago that I was going to give knitted gifts to all the guys on my list. Hanukkah falls really early this year, so I don't really have time to change my mind.

So, hat number 1 is almost done:

It's  the Turn A Square Hat by the ever-popular Jared Flood, who blogs at Brooklyn Tweed.

It's a great pattern, fast but a truly lovely finished hat. I'm using the yarns he calls for: Cascade 220 for the solids and Noro Silk Garden for the stripes. Noro is SO expensive, so it's nice to use it as one yarn in a project. I think I can get at least two hats out of one skein of each yarn.

Am I the only one thinking of the holidays?

Welcoming the Cold

The weather here went from summer to fall overnight, which gave me the opportunity to cover myself with hand knits:

I am wearing a hat from a Vogue Magazine pattern; mitts from a free Internet pattern; basic ribbed leg warmers knit with Kidsilk and Cascade 220; and a very simple shawl. I love fall!

We ate outdoors last night -- in a temporary structure called a sukkah. The sukkah is part of the Jewish celebration of Sukkot, a harvest celebration.

It was a potluck, and most of the dishes were vegan. It seems like more and more people I know are vegan, which I find challenging to cook for. I make a lot of vegetarian dishes, but many of them have cheese or eggs.

Are you running into this, too? My friend Tsela recommends two books: Vegamonicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, and Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson. I am going to check these out. It's not that I plan to ever become vegan -- no more cheese? forget it! -- but I  want to be able to make food for all my friends.

Are you running into more vegans these days, too?

Weekend Getaway

Keith and I drove to Milwaukee Saturday morning. Luckily we wanted to do a some indoor activities because it was a rainy, windy weekend.

We toured the botanical domes, which were a bit disappointing because the tropical dome was closed for maintenance.

We really enjoyed a special exhibit on African-American art at the Milwaukee Art Museum:

And we went to some fun restaurants, like Honeypie on the hip Kinnickinnik Street, where the meals are homey and the pies are amazing!

With school starting this week, I haven't done a whole lot of knitting. But I haven't yet shared with you this great painting I saw in an art museum in Copenhagen:

The painting, titled "Anna Seekamp," depicts the artist's sister, knitting in her hand! Bertha Wegman, a Dane, of course, painted it in 1882. It was so much fun to stumble on this little masterpiece at the Statens Museum for Kunst -- the National Gallery of Denmark.

Do Europeans know how lucky they are to be surrounded by so much beautiful art and architecture?