The days are passing quickly

I'm still hopeful that I can get done before Christmas. Still on my list is fixing the secret present, finishing a scarf (again) and a pair of boot socks.
Add to that the baking list which includes; coating the Angel Food Candy with chocolate, decorating my sugar cookies, cutting and wrapping my homemade caramels and assembling my shortbread cookie sandwiches.
Of course there's also packing for the long weekend that we will be away and wrapping everything. I haven't forgotten that, I just haven't gotten to it yet.

Since you are probably sick of hearing about me freaking out about knitting I will instead share a funny story with you. (Don't worry, it's about yarn and knitting)

I knew that I wanted to knit socks for my niece for Christmas. She is 3 and I know she will outgrow them in about 90 seconds but that doesn't stop me. I went to the store looking for a single skein of sock yarn that wasn't too expensive that I thought would make cute socks for her.
What I found surprised me. Red Heart's Heart & Sole Sock Yarn. I was unsure. I'm not a total fiber snob but I was interested in washability and cost here so I thought I'd try it. It surprised me.

Who would have thought that this skein of yarn (pictured here with my sheep tape measure):


Would wind up like this:

Please pardon the crappy pictures. It was dark and cloudy when I took them. Much like pretty much every day lately.

And that yarn would knit up like this:


It made a cute and nearly matching pair:

The Specs:
The Yarn: Red Heart's Heart & Sole with Aloe 70% Superwash Wool, 30% Nylon, 1 skein Spring Stripe (213 yards)
The Needles: US size 2 bamboo dpns (like usual)
The Pattern: Just a basic stockinette sock sized for little feet.
The Recipient: My Niece Emma.
Notes: The yarn wasn't bad. It was pretty and I think they look pretty nice. I did notice a tiny bit of acrylic-like squeakiness on the second sock but that was probably my slightly damp hands or the nylon. I would definitely use it again given the price. There's quite a bit of the skein left too. Enough that I considered briefly offering to make them larger when she outgrows them.

That's about all I have for today. I have something blocking that I'm excited to show off tomorrow though!