PFO

Pretty, finished objects!

I have one sock down and a good start on the next in this black pair for my Dad. I now know why I haven't knit black socks before. It's very hard to see what you're doing with small black stitches during the shortest days of the year.

I like this pattern but all the k2, p2 is starting to become tiresome. Fortunately, as with all fancy sock pattern, this will become half as bad when I turn the heel and work the sole stitches in stocking stitch. I like to think of the foot part of the sock as the home stretch. It's just a bunch of straight stuff until you hit the toe and then before you know it, your sock is done.

And my pride and joy, the Tangled Yoke. I really like it. Because it is knit on circular needles as one big piece, you can try it on as you go. This allows for a better fit, I think. And you can see that you're making progress.

I do recommend buying a little extra yarn for this one. This is how much I had left.

Who said knitting wasn't dangerous?

It's so hard...

...to NOT blog about your Christmas knitting projects.

I am dying to post about some wonderful pieces. One in particular. And I can't. Well, I could but then it would be no fun for the recipient at Christmas.

In the meantime I will bore you with my boring knitting.

My Hanami (no, it's not done).

This big blob-o-knitting (that's all the info you get. And it's knit with this.)

I started this....

And this finished object.

It's lovely but it was a pain in the butt to knit. The pattern stated to cast on 52 stitches in a DK weight yarn. Do you know how big of a circumference you get with that? About 10 inches. That's about 50% TOO SMALL for any human head - no matter how small they are. I ended up searching the pattern on Ravelry (who doesn't love Ravelry?). Someone else had knit it and had the same problem. I followed what they did (cast on 96 sts) and then converted it to knit in the round. Lucy would be so proud. It turned out ok - perhaps could have been a little longer. Just have to add the flower stamens in the middle of the flower then voila - one more Christmas gift done (the recipient of this gift doesn't read my blog as she is 17 months old).

Next up - some more covert knitting, finishing the Hanami, starting some socks for someone and then re-evaluate. How many days left till Christmas?

I'm a Big Girl Now

I have grown up. A little.



When people ask my age, I have to stop and think. In my head, I'm 25. In actuality, I'm older than that. By a bit. Less than ten years. That's all I'm saying.



Sometimes when I'm walking down the sidewalk holding my daughter's hand, I have to remind myself that I'm the Mom. I know that in my heart and when I hold her or comfort her, that is all that I am. There are times, though, when the fact that I have a kid slips my mind and I am surprised that I am at this point in my life.



I know that I've grown up because I do my own laundry. In fact, I seem to do everyone's laundry. I cook supper. I wash the floors. I have a credit card and my own car. I think more about my family and less about myself. I watch the news.



And I was willing to frog back 3 rows of my Tangled Yoke Cardigan in order to fix a minor mistake that would have haunted me. There was a time when I would have left it, finished the project as quickly as possible, given it away and moved on. I'm beyond that now. I want to do good work and be proud of what I've done.



So I'm getting a little wiser as I age. I still like blowing bubbles and running around the living room. The Backyardigans is my favorite show. A girl has to have priorities.

Living Vicariously....

There are many benefits to sharing a office with someone, depending on who it is of course. I have lucked out with my office mates. This one is a "keeper". The upsides to having an office mate is that you always have someone to bitch with, and someone usually has ibuprofen when needed for the mid-afternoon "what the hell is going-on" headache (we're both pharmacists - we have a plethora of drugs tucked in our office).

There are even more benefits to sharing an office with a fellow knitter.

Sharing in stash enhancements. This is Catknip's new stash acquired from a trip to Canmore's Knit and Caboodle from this lovely lady.


Actually there is more yarn in the bag at my feet (which you can't see). There was a lot of yarn. A. Lot. Of. Yarn.

And not just any kind of yarn - but really good stuff.
Like:

Manos del Uruguary in Agate and Prarie

Misti Alpaca Worsted

Shelridge Farm Soft Touch Ultra

Mirasol Hachu

NoroKureyon

Malabrigo

Other than the Noro, I haven't knit with these yarns. This is some high quality stash. And because it was Catknip's birthday they gave her a ball of Makalu - a wool and recycled sari blend. Very cool.

As a fellow knitter, my office mate Catknip also never judges the size of my stash, as I never judge the size of hers. I have no comment on the fact that she keeps having to go buy new containers to put it all in. Or the fact that she has one giant container just for sock yarn (she's getting me a number on this - it's my goal to figure out how many pairs of socks can be knit from different people's stashes.....even if J. isn't giving up this info, others are....).

We've previously discussed how beneficial sharing an office is with someone who has a major swift/ball winder operation (we try and keep that thing running along).

The best of all is that I can live vicariously through her knitting as well. I am almost excited as she is when she gets new yarn or needles or patterns. We do knitting show and tell on a weekly basis. We also scare the other people in our office when we wield are mighty needles.

All we need now is a couple of rocking chairs and an espresso machine. Then our office would be perfect.

Except maybe for the fact we actually do have to work...

Crackdown

Christmas is coming! (Don't look if you don't want the gory details.) While I am glad to have had the foresight to start knitting Christmas presents early this year, I still find myself in a bit of a panic.

I have stuck with my sock knitting schedule and have only one more pair to knit once I finish these. I'm really enjoying this pattern, even though I have arsed it up twice now. (Ask T. It wasn't pretty.) It's hard to find good patterns for Men's socks. This book has a few good socks for Men, Women and Children and is one of my favorites.

It turns out that black socks don't photograph that well.

I have been chugging along on the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. The next step is to join the sleeves to the body and then I'm sailing toward one big @ss cable.

Can I be honest with you? When I get stressed about knitting or anything really, I like to make lists. I make lists of what I have left to knit. I make lists of the yarn I have. (No, T. I will not reveal how much sock yarn I have. It is a mystery best left to its own devices.) I make schedules of when I need to have things done.

Unfortunately, I often find myself adding projects to an already full knitting lineup. I could whip up a little vest or maybe one more pair of socks, right?

Who am I kidding? (Myself, actually, but that was a rhetorical question.) I can't knit anything else. I don't have the time and I don't want to drive myself crazy. (It's a short trip, believe me.) So, I have 7 projects to complete by Christmas. I'll keep you informed on my progress but you might not see details on all of them since they are gifts and should be a surprise.

Thanks for keeping me on the straight and narrow. I'll try my best to be honest but I have been known to be a little sneaky when under pressure.