Lisa Kay Knits... and Quilts!

Our hamster, Pancake, loves wool. I started giving her little bits of wool (short enough it cannot be a choking hazard) because one of the hamster books at the library said they like to nest with wool. I imagine it is a rather scarce resource in nature... I keep little wool clippings from my knitting and put them in after we clean her cage each week. The rest of the bedding (the blue stuff) is paper-based commercial hamster bedding. She seems to love the wool! You have to love a pet who loves wool! Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay

For the new year, I took a project out of "hibernation" and finished it. "Elina" has been put away for about three years. I blogged its progress in January 2012 . I had the body done, so I just needed to makes the sleeves and assemble it. There is also an edging around the fronts and neck. I've pulled out another unfinished object, so there may be another sweater popping out in record time... Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay

Here's my first spin of the year, eight ounces of Southern Cross Fibre's "Dragon Scales" on Falkland. It is about 500 yards of aran-weight yarn. Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay

Back in October, when I began working on Christmas scarves , I asked Mitchell if he wanted a scarf for Christmas, too. He said yes in a somewhat non-committal way. When I asked him what kind of scarf he wanted, he said with focus and finality that he wanted a 'One Ring' scarf. Of course, I knew he was talking about Tolkien's Hobbit/Lord of the Rings , but I wasn't sure what he thought such a scarf would look like. I asked him, and he didn't know, either. I put it under my thinking cap, and I left it alone for a little while. I brought up the scarf a few times over the next few weeks, but he didn't change his tune. I started asking him about what it would look like. I had a picture in my mind of a gold ring embroidered near one hem. Later, I moved on to thinking of words like, "One Ring To Rule Them All" worked into the design in some sort of Fair Isle, but I didn't like the idea of the long floats on the back of a scarf. "The Hobbit" ...