{Yarn Along} He doesn't look quite evil enough....

The pattern is Monkey With Miniature Cymbals from Knitmare on Elm Street: 20 Projects that Go Bump in the Night by Hannah Simpson. He's been on my to-knit list for months, one of those projects I'll get around to when I've got the time and am in the right mood. I've chosen yarn from the stash, changed my mind, chosen different yarns...and then with Halloween week just around the corner, I grabbed what I had and cast on.

I wish I'd taken a picture of the disjointed legs and arms and ears and cymbals. It was hard to believe that this was going to come together into anything at all.

This is the first time I've used safety eyes in a stuffed animal. I thought they'd be complicated, but they really aren't, not even wrestling the little post through both layers of knit fabric. I'd planned on using black buttons, because I'm cheap and this is a "from stash" project, but I was at Joann's anyway to buy muslin and  decided to see what they had. I'll be using these again, if only because there are four more pairs left in the package.

While I was cleaning out the sewing room, I unearthed my copy of Skeleton Crew. I've got vivid memories of bring a copy home from the library just after it came out, and reading The Mist in the back of my Dad's car while he was in buying a new prop for the boat. This time around, I only took  time to reread The Monkey and Gramma, but those got me in the mood to reread the rest.

I also read A Haunting Is Brewing: A Haunted Home Renovation and a Witchcraft Mystery Novella. It's a fun, atmospheric Halloween novella that brings together the characters from the Witchcraft and Haunted Home Renovation mystery series. Life-sized dolls coming to life in the attic of the dollmaker's old house? Of course I was going to read that one!

For more pretty knitting projects to drool over, check out On the Needles at Patchwork Times and Work in Progress Wednesdays at Tami's Amis. For more finishes, check out Sew Much Ado, Finish it Up Friday, Can I get a Whoop Whoop?,  and Freedom Fridays, Wonderful at Home, Make it Monday and Inspired Friday.