T-Minus 10 Days

and counting!

In our family we have Christmas over the course of like, a week.
Yule on the 21st with my best friend (on Solstice, 21st or 22nd depending)
Christmas Eve with my Mom
Christmas Day - Morning with the In Laws
Christmas Day - Evening with my Dad
If my husband's real dad lived closer we'd have to fit him in too.

We actually make our daughter wait to open her presents from us until Christmas Night. She only gets one present for Yule.

Our tree still isn't decorated, but it's got presents under it, and that's what counts. at least to me.
the box to Colorado is in the mail, i'm not that much of a slacker!

I've been a knitting fool, trying to get everything finished. I keep getting irked with people and deciding their present goes on the end of the list, at the rate some people are going they get their christmas presents next year.

I did managed to finish a couple projects :
Mom's wreath, using Lion Brand Holiday Homespun and Vanna's Choice in Cranberry. I added Poinsettias, tiny Pine Cones and a Brass Bell. i think it turned out really pretty, i hope she likes it!



I also finished a Darkside Cowl, it's the most complicated pattern i've ever done and i'm pretty proud of myself for it. It's a gift for a person i will not name here, juuuuust in case. I used Caron Simply Soft Eco, so not only is is the right warmth for florida "winters" it's GREEN only, it's Wheat.../smile


that's my ugly mug. I did find it could be pulled up as an Earwarmer, so i may have to make one for myself for those cold morning where i have to get up at 6:30am to take David to work.

I started in October with my christmas knitting, so i'm pretty proud of myself for getting as much done as i have, with time to spare!

Terrible, Horrible, No Good..you get the point..

sometimes i wish i could afford to move to Australia /sigh

Mom says some days are just like that, sometimes, she's the cause.

I need me a rich sugar daddy so i can do nothing but play with Kaeley and knit, who won't give me crap about everything. and who's more than happy to pay for my fiber addiction, yeah, don't we all?

It seems like every day i'm making a different christmas list for people, one set of grandparents get one list, another get a different list, and somehow, they ignore the list and just get whatever they want anyway. I make a list for a reason, a 4 year old does not need a drum set!

So, for the sake of my sanity, and to vent, and to feel like someone is paying attention to me (because sometimes you just need it) here is MY christmas list.

Namaste Knitube in Cranberry
Size 6 and 8 Straight needles
siz3 3, 5 and 8 - 9 Inch Circular needles
A new case for my interchangable needle set
pretty stitch markers
a yarn swift
a ball winder
a needle gauge
a retractable tape measure
all size project bags
something fun to keep my patterns organized in
anything with Koi on it
anything with Cherry Blossoms on it
anything with Wolves on it


i wonder how much of this i'll get for Christmas.

i wonder if in my frustration i'll get mom's poncho finished for christmas, in the mood i'm in, who knows.
Fug it, i'll work on spinning this pretty up to make myself something.

Miles and Miles

Of freaking Stockinette Stitch /sigh

working on a present for me Mama, and since i know she'll NEVER see this, it's a Poncho. The pattern is from the ball wrapper on the Caron Simple Soft yarn. Originally i bought this "Victorian Rose" yarn and some really cool wooden buttons to make a tank top for said mother. It's now turning into the first pattern I've actually FOLLOWED...which means

Miles and Miles of freaking Stockinette Stitch!

I finished Kae's scarf - I finished a present for my Dad (Red Heart Earth and Sky - Blanket) - I cast on last night and finished a shawl for myself this morning, we had a small cold front and then...BAM! hot as hell again, I hate Florida, i take up knitting living in a sauna..smooth Paula, real Smooth...and now some pictures!

Hurray!

I thought i was falling behind on my Christmas Knits, but I'm done! well, with everything to be mailed away, all the stuff for Iowa is finished, all the fun stuff for my Father-In-Law in Colorado, all done, now just for local family knits /dance

Kae begged and Begged me to make her a scarf, so i cast on some horrible pink she loves last night to start one for her, we live in florida..does she reallllly need it? nah, will she wear it? nah, will it get this nasty yarn out of my stash? YES!

I got a spindle in the mail the other day, Top Whorl. it's taunting me, i have nothing to SPIN on it. Hopefully for christmas.

Holiday Rush

i've been rushing around making scarves and things for people for christmas since the beginning of october, now, with November started and i have a real deadline, i find myself falling into a slump.

I don't want to finish these scarves!

I want to make things for myself with all this yummy yarn.

Each time i pick up the Bumblebee scarf, i want to put it down and work on the pair of spats i'm test knitting for a book.

each time i go to cast on to work on the fingerless gloves for my brother, i want to put it down and cast on for the scarf for myself.

I still have so much to do before Christmas, i'm not managing my time wisely. /sigh

and now i keep thinking about the Ravelympics. and which event i want to enter, even though it's almost 4 months off.

Note to self, seriously invest in stitch markers....

Knit...there's a Purl?

I'll admit I'm slow about alot of things (usually cleaning). I try not to commit myself to things i can't accomplish, stuff like that.

I volunteered to test knit a spats pattern for a Vampire Inspired Knitting book, through a forum on Ravelry, i got the pattern in my email last night, and looked through it, thinking, i know the basics, it's a beginning pattern, i CAN do this!

very much of it involves stockinette stitch, and it's not knit in the round (which i love doing btw). so here i am, sitting with my little needles and my yarn, a whole row cast on and one knit, thinking, you mean i actually HAVE to purl??! well fook!

So i tool around, putting it off for all of about an hour, then i decide to hit Youtube, the Stitch Witch showed me how! I watched the little video on purl, and did a row, and holy crap! I can purl. I mean, i knew the technical part, how it worked, i'd just avoided doing a purl stitch, for almost a year. how sad am i?

This opens up a whole new world of patterns i can use!

/squee (the picture is my inspiration photo for the spats, it's Marie LeVeux's Grave)

Family Ties

I have a routine, some things i do everyday, two of those things, are check my facebook and check my Ravelry forums. While i was checking facebook yesterday i got a note from my Aunt Jill, it made me realize something, and got me thinking.

My Aunt Jill and my Aunt Jane both knit.

Both of my mom's brother's wives.

My great-grandmother on my maternal grandmother's side of the family also knit.

My maternal grandmother didn't knit, but she did embroidery, quilting, crochet, oh hell, the woman was almost an adult during the Great Depression, she did everything! (including being a spectacular cook!)

It got me thinking about my heritage and my family, my Aunt Jill said Jane got her back into knitting just recently, but she used to do it once upon a time, and she's being genuinely supportive of my taking up the hobby. (yay!)

For the first time since my Grandmother died when i was 14, i actually feel a tie to my family, especially the women in my family. It's a Nice Feeling.

This picture is my Daughter, Kaeley, attempting to Knit with mommy.