Packing again

Every once in awhile I get sort of deep. I start thinking about something and my brain delves deep and comes up with these sort of insights that I didn't know were there. I'll give you an excellent example.
This weekend we're going up to my cousin's house. (yes, I'm packing again, arrrgh!)

Now, I may be 29 years old but in my family we divide ourselves into sort of loose age brackets. Although all of us (my 6 cousins, brother and I who are all pretty close) are adults now. My youngest cousin turned 18 in September, we still call our parents the "adults." What's really strange to me is that my cousin Sam (short for Samantha) is hosting Christmas this year. She's hosted before and she and her husband live out in the country now so they have plenty of room for outdoor winter sports that some people participate in. What's strange is that she and I as well as our cousins have become the adults. Time has slipped on and now we are the ones that our children will remember as hosting and baking and such.

What sparked all this is that my aunt requested that I make some Angel Food Candy (some people call it sponge candy) and bring it along because she and my uncle are so hungry for it and to buy it in the store is ridiculously expensive.

Growing up my mom was the one who always did all the baking. She made all these wonderful cookies and candies that everyone would eat way too much of. My grandma might do a few things here and there but it was my mom who did the majority. We also hosted Christmas for many years there.

What struck me today is the shift in responsibility. Yes, my mom still bakes quite a bit and as a matter of fact, I have it on good authority that she baked some chocolate chip cookies to bring along but I'm starting to have my own requests put in for things I make. I try my hand at recipes that my mom makes but she usually still makes her own of those. But I'm the only one who makes the Angel Food Candy and usually the fudge and shortbread cookies and I am definitely the only one who makes the Homemade caramels that have become quite a favorite.

It just seems so strange to me that I am becoming what I remember my mother being when I was growing up. Except I'm just the fun auntie, but you get the point. Time is marching on, whether we want it to or not and I'm becoming more and more the adult. It's a scary, scary thought.

Makes me want to lie down on the floor and kick and scream and beat my fists on the ground, shouting, "I don't wanna!!!" but I won't.

To get off my serious topic, I'm packing knitting (of course). We leave tomorrow morning, drive about and hour and a half and then spend the night and drive home again on Sunday afternoon.
I'm planning to pack:
The Monkey socks I'm knitting for myself,
The Green Lantern socks I'm knitting for hubby,
Something else that I'm not sure what it will be yet but this:



is calling to me from the stash. I think (I got it on clearance at the yarn store and it didn't have a label) that it might be a Lorna's Laces and there's tons of yardage, my arm hurts from winding it but I'm not sure yet what it wants to be.

P.S. I looked on Ravelry and I think it might be Lorna's Laces Fisherman Solid. 500 Yards! Whoo hoo!

Still trying to finish

I've been pretty quiet about what I've been knitting lately. I just feel like I should have more finished things to show off so here goes.
Two whole finished things!

Thing the first:
Versatility

Please excuse how awful I look in this picture and note that I have cropped out my face. Hubby took it at my parents' house and while he loves me and thinks i look nice all the time, I do not. I am also wearing my pajamas. A cute flannel set given to me for Christmas last year.

Here it is from the back too. Again, ignore how bad I look. I am only wearing it the one way in these pictures because I like it like this. I'm pretty happy with it so here are the specs:
The Pattern: Versatility
The Needles: I used Bamboo Size 11 circulars. I believe they are 29" long and were plenty big. I also used a size 10.5 dpn as a cable needle.
The Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick in Charcoal (an inexpensive yarn found on sale, bringing the cost of this project WAY down)
The recipient: Are you kidding? ME!
Other Stats: I bought 32 buttons about 1" wide. They work pretty well but when I wear it like above, I button the front button and the back button for more stability. I just grabbed a ribbon I had lying around to try it out. I'm not sure what color I will "really" use when I wear it.
Notes: I was concerned that a "chunky" yarn would make me look more chunky than I already am. It actually looks pretty good. I also have to say that I could completely see myself knitting another one out of a regular worsted weight and modifying the pattern accordingly. I just think it's so useful.

Thing the Second:
Autumn Colors Scarf

The color in this picture is not accurate though so check out this one:

The Stats:
The Pattern: One-Row Homespun Scarf from our illustrious Yarn Harlot.
The Yarn: Patons Decor in Autumn Varg (almost two skeins)
The Needles: Knit on US size 6 bamboo straights
The Recipient: This will be going to my lovely cousin and best friend Samantha this weekend.
Notes: Not much to say about this. I like the pattern a lot and like the colors too. I made it 37 stitches wide (I think, I fiddled around until I was happy with the color changes.)

My attempt at an artistic shot.

Ah, lovely. Makes me feel like I'm actually getting somewhere.

Back home.

Sorry for the blog silence folks.
We went out of town on Saturday for the weekend and planned to come back Monday evening after my sister's wedding. The weather was bad so we stayed another night at my parents' then we got up on Tuesday morning and the car wouldn't start. They were at work so we tried to make do until they got home.
Honestly, I don't blame her for not starting, it was -12 when I looked at the temperature. We charged the battery and got going again but not until the evening so it was late. Since it was later by the time we got home, yesterday was a weird day. I was tired and didn't get much done but lying around the house. Not many household chores I mean. I did get some knitting done.
Today it's -23 and that's before the windchill.
Today I'll weave in some ends and take some pictures and post something interesting but for now, know that I'm still alive and well (despite the cold.)

The Super Secret Project

Today let's discuss how to make a Christmas present for your brother.
First come up with an idea. Last year he loved his gift. So, I decided to make him something similar this year.

Step 1. Come up with an idea. We love the Pirate Movies. So I decided to do something with that. I thought a hat based on Jack Sparrow's Sparrow Tattoo would be appropriate so I made some scribbled ideas on a piece of paper and got out the yarn.


Pretty soon I had something started and with all the Christmas knitting I was doing, it was kinda pushed to the side but I knew I had to finish it.

Step 2: Finish Knitting it, making little changes along the way. It's double-knitted just like last year's hat so I tweaked a little here and there, tinking back when appropriate and I have to say that it was a learning experience to ladder down stitches and do them back up in double-knitting. (I like the double-knitting for hats for him because it makes it extra warm, keeping his ears from freezing in the Minnesota winters.) Finally:

Success. The knitting was done but it wasn't quite ready to gift.

Step 3. It's time to block it.

The hat is shown here with my "blocking tool" It's a coffee can (full size) with a hand towel wrapped around it and secured with a rubber band. I wash out the hat in the sink with a little of my natural laundry detergent and wrap it in a towel, walk on the towel to get the majority of the water out and put it on the coffee can.

I try to put it somewhere where it will dry fairly quickly because I'm impatient and if it's a bit snug I will sometimes pin it to the towel but this time it was plenty big.

As a matter of fact, I thought it was far too big and stretchy so I ran it through a washing machine cycle on warm so it shrunk just a bit.

I still wasn't quite happy with how it looked so I did a little backstitching on it to make the bird's head and tail look a little bit better.

Now it was ready to gift so I made a tag and wrapped it up.

Here's my brother, right after he opened it. (That's my mom's arm. She was anxious to see it too!)

(Notice please that he's wearing the hat from last year.)

He must really like it because when we went to my grandpa's house a few days later for Christmas with them, guess what he was wearing?

Please excuse my poor attempt at an artistic shot of him playing pool.

Glad to have finally shared that with you. So what's on the agenda for today?

Well, that and my coffee cup means my day is pretty much set.

Not Much

Since Christmas and therefore Christmas knitting is pretty much over, I find myself with little to say on the blog. I mean, I want to have something interesting to say. I think about it while doing other things (like knitting or cleaning) but since I've mostly been spending my days trying to put the house back in order after the amount of time I shirked housekeeping in favor of finishing gifts, There isn't a whole lot of interest to knitters.

When I do take a break for a few minutes, I've been knitting the aforementioned Monkey socks as well as these:

They are just plain green socks right now but they are called the Green Lantern socks because eventually they will have a Green Lantern Symbol stitched onto the side. They are (obviously) not for me. They are for my large-footed husband and sadly I made the mistake of knitting them on size 1s so they are taking a loooooooong time. For anyone interested in those things, they are knit out of Knit Picks Essential Sock Yarn in Grass.

I keep thinking I will finally finish something and therefore have that to show you but I just don't find the time to sit down and finish. I really should though. I would hate for the blog readers to get bored. I mean, two pairs of socks in two weeks. Yawn, I bore myself.

I'll try to do better tomorrow.

Ouchie

Yesterday morning I got up and realized I have somehow managed to pinch a nerve somewhere between my neck and left shoulder. It is not a happy place in there right now.
That coupled with the fact that hubby kicked me in his sleep last night (which woke me up) then I got back to sleep and he bonked me on the head with his elbow in his sleep (That woke me up too.) means that I'm in kinda of a bad mood today.
I pretty much cannot find any comfortable position no matter what I do so knitting is kinda on hold which is super annoying because I have several things I'd like to finish.

This is a Monkey sock. I'm knitting it just for me.

That's one nice thing about knitting for the holidays. When it's done you're so grateful to just be able to do something for yourself.

Over on Ravelry I joined the Lime & Violet Sock Marathon 2009 group so today I will be calculating how much sock yarn I have. In miles. Any bets?

Melancholy

Today (well, and yesterday) are kind of melancholy for me.

Hubby was off work for 5 whole days and I knew I'd be ready for him to go back to work by the end (please don't remind me that in 30 years or so he will retire. I will cry, seriously.)
It happened just as I thought. By last night I could have made him go sleep in the car. I didn't but I kinda felt like it. Just too much close quarters.

Then, today hubby went back to work and here I sit. Missing him. It's so strange. He drove me CRAZY yesterday. Bugged the heck out of me and now it feels weird that he's not just in the other room listening to his new ipod or watching TV. It's too quiet.

Yesterday hubby's friend from work and wife came into town and we went out to eat and to see a movie. We saw Marley and Me. I would like to say that I heard somewhere. A commercial or something that while this seems like a simple famiy movie about a man and his dog that it is really a story for anyone who has ever given their heart to a dog. (I don't remember where I heard that, a commercial I think.)

I couldn't agree more. I haven't really talked about our love of movies here but honestly, we love the movies! We could only rival that with our love of books and we own more movies (and books) than is probably healthy but given the fact that 2008 was kind of a hard year for my family in regard to pets, (1 & 2) this movie touched me in many ways. The ending made me cry for literally over an hour. I left the theater crying and didn't stop even when we got home. I still cry about it if I think about it too much. (I'm kind of a sap that way though.)

I have a list as long as my arm of things I'd like to get done today but I will probably just sit down and knit and have a nice long remember about my pets and cry. Then sun is shining and it's cold as anything outside but I'm just gonna take my day and then tomorrow, I will get up and get back to that to-do list.

Ringing In the New Year

It's an ironic thing, the new year, isn't it?

We had plans last night to go over to a friend's house for the New Year celebration that seems obligatory. We weren't feeling great. Waaaay too tired and worried about the fact that at the warmest part of the day was -3 and our van is 13 years old and it would be at least a half an hour drive there made us decide to stay home.

Hubby spent the evening playing on the computer and I watched my Netflix DVDs. (Lost Season 2. Don't tell me what happens. I haven't been watching that long.) Ironically, we were both up late. I'm tired today but feeling like this year is a good one. Full of hope and promise.

With the government and financial analysts going on about the economy (rightfully so) it's uncertain for many people but I think it has a lot of potential too.

I set down some goals for myself yesterday. Things I want to accomplish in 2009 and so today I'm focusing on those. Although I have found a few minutes to knit (I'll share another day.) I think this year will be a year of personal growth in several areas. One important one will be my health which is a focus this year. I intend to lose some weight so please bear with me if I tend to focus on it a little bit. I'll try not to make it a focus here but it's something I've been wanting to change for quite awhile and now is the time to turn over a new leaf and do it.

Enough about that, the most important thing, the thing I really want to say today is:

Happy New Year from Chez Kalkette to you and yours. :)

Disaster!

Just when we thought it was safe to say Christmas knitting was finished:


Didn't catch that? Here, take a closer look.

This is one of my stepsister's arm warmers. (Pattern Dashing from Knitty) The cat got it.

If there were just one hole I would probably try to fix but there are several. We will be reknitting this in short order.

Then I can give it to her when I see her on the 12th.

*headsmack* and I thought I was done.

Expectations

Do you ever feel like your expectations are too high?
I sometimes do. Not about major things like how much money we have (I would be constantly disappointed) but about little things.

Like, we got home on Sunday evening. Hubby had to work at 7:00 am on Monday morning so I expected him to go to sleep. He didn't. He played on the computer until 1:30 am. His own fault, I don't feel bad for him. (Much.)

Me personally, I was overtired and not feeling well on Sunday night so I went to bed early (for me) at 10:00 pm. I expected that I would get a little extra sleep and feel infinitely better. My body decided that it was somehow "done" sleeping at I woke up at 3:30 am. For no reason at all. I was up the rest of the morning although I did lie down for a bit later because I was so tired. I honestly think this was because for the last few weeks I have been going to bed late and getting up not late so I could get more knitting/baking time in that my body got used to that amount of sleep and thought something was wrong that I was letting it get more.

I expected therefore that I would get a better night's sleep last night. Some idiot called our house at 2:30 am. Me, thinking that it might be an issue with a family member, fly out of bed and across the room to the telephone. Even though I don't recognized the number on the caller ID, I answer it. It was a wrong number.

Let me reiterate that. A wrong number. At 2:30 am that got me up out of my cozy, warm bed. Thinking that it was an elderly grandparent in the hospital or something. Yeah. Not happy to say the least. I crawled, bleary-eyed back into bed and waited for my heart to stop pounding from the scared thoughts running through my head when I thought it was an emergency. Just as I was ABOUT to fall back asleep, it rang again. I wisely ignored it. This morning I checked and it had been the same number calling back. Dummy!!! I normally am very kind and understanding of wrong numbers but this one was at 2:30 am and I got up for it and then they called back almost a half an hour later, just when I was falling asleep again.

My stepsister gets married in 14 days. It's just a small ceremony at the courthouse but we are going anyway. She texted my mom today to say she is expecting. Yes, that's right, another new niece or nephew for me to spoil! Yay!! I'm not all that surprised. Honestly, she had been talking about having more children and said she wanted to be married first. Not really a very nice way to tell the parents though.

I was expecting to be warned that my crochet night would be cancelled. I even emailed the lady that runs the classes and organized us teachers to make sure. No answer, so I drove all the way across town in the snow to find that the store is closing at 6:00 pm due to the weather. It's been that kind of day.

A scrub the toilet kind of day. *sigh* Oh well, off to find something safe to do while I wait for it to no longer be today.

Flamed Out

I have definitely flamed out on re-entry. I have a little bit of an earache and an exhaustion such as I don't think I have ever known before. All deadlines were met although the scarf was finished on Christmas day but my dad didn't care.

I am taking care of this exhaustion both mental and physical by drinking coffee, doing nothing constructive whatsoever and knitting whatever I want. (Hint: It's for me.)

There are still a few gifts that I'd like done by Christmas in Wadena which is on January 17 with my extended family but they can wait a day or two. I need a little mental break.

I'll wash the dishes and clean the house and put away our abundant gifts later but I just wanted to check in here and mention that we had a very wonderful Christmas, filled with people we love who love us back and I'm gonna go make the bed with our beautiful new sheets and take a nap.
Later.

Tempted

1. In the last few days I have been tempted to say screw it all and just go shopping and not knit any more gifts.
What stopped me? Um, aside from the insane crowds at the malls and all other stores? I feel bad. I love these people, why not knit for them?

2. I have been tempted to forget this stupid living in Minnesota crap and move somewhere warm, without snow. Like Jamaica or someplace.
Not really sure what stopped me here. Lack of money for a ticket? The thought of moving again?

3. I have been tempted to forget about Tuesdays are for Crochet and take knitting to crochet night so I can get something else done.
I didn't. I crocheted a dishcloth that might be an after-Christmas gift to someone.

4. I've been tempted to forget about my to-do list as long as my arm and clean the house. I haven't cleaned the bathroom in like two weeks and it's driving me crazy. Plus I spilled some laundry soap on the bathroom floor (while handwashing gifts in the sink) and I have been SO tempted to use it to mop in there. I never thought I'd say that I am looking forward to cleaning!

5. I've been tempted to completely give up trying to get everything baked, knit and wrapped. Who needs it?
But I'm so close!

Today is my last chance. I'm behind by a sock. I still have deluded beliefs that I might finish. Ya know, if I completely disregard my need for sleep tonight. (I almost did last night but at 2:00 am, I decided I needed at least a few hours.)

Merry Christmas to everyone! (Or, you know, whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year.)

Breathe, just breathe!

You may or may not have noticed (but I did) that over the last few days my post titles have gotten a little weird. Maybe not so creative. Maybe don't tie into the post like I try to get them to do. I may be nearing the edge pretty quickly. I give you exhibit A:

This is a sugar cookie that required surgery last night. It was successful but


He's still angry. I think it might be the lederhosen. Not sure though.

I did manage to finish something yesterday:
(Drumroll please)
May I present: The Pirate Mittens

The Specs:
The Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino in Aran and Black.
The Needles: US size 7 bamboo dpns
The Pattern: Pirate Mittens a free pattern from Hello Yarn
The Recipient: A Family Friend's Daughter. Julia.
Notes: The original pattern calls for sock-weight yarn and knit on MUCH smaller needles (US size 3) I tried it. It didn't work. Then I went to heavier yarn and size 4 needles. Still, didn't work. This young lady is taller than me so I think her hands will be slightly larger and my hands fit comfortably in these. Other than that and the reverse colors on the chart (Black is labeled mc and is represented by a blank or white square. The contrasting color, which is white, is a grey square. Crazy making), it was a fun and fast knit. I of course, modified the pattern slightly by adding a single color cuff. (I just couldn't knit it a 4th and 5th time)
For people who are curious about that sort of thing, the backs:


And one close-up shot of my not very pretty stranded knitting.


One last item of business today before I take off for parts unknown (real life stuff).

Last year I knit a whole lot of Fiber Trends Felted Clogs and I took a picture of them all together before I wrapped them up. This year, I wanted to do the same with all my socks so I've been waiting to wrap. And waiting...and waiting.
I decided that I couldn't wait any longer. It's been driving me crazy to have so much unwrapped so you are getting a couple of things still on the needles. Deal with it, I have to.

As you can see, it pretty much takes up my whole bed. In the back, right corner I have placed the two things that remain on the needles. The Boot Socks for Teri and the scarf for my dad (that's an old project really. It had been gifted already and I'm just adding more length to it.)

I'm still hopeful that I can get done although it's gonna really come down to the wire. Why you ask? This is my to-do list for today:
Coat Angel Food Candy in Almond Bark,
Take a shower,
Wrap all the above presents,
cut and wrap caramels,
Plan dinner and put in crock pot,
Fix hair and makeup,
Have lunch with hubby,
Take hubby back to work so I can have my van,
Gas up said van,
Finish the Boot Socks,
Finish the Super Secret Present (somehow),
Go to crochet night,
not go insane.

There you have it. I keep thinking, if i just keep plugging away (and breathing) that I will somehow make it through the holidays this year. (I hope)

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!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas (Again)

What am I doing today? Well, I finished another pair of boot socks last night but they look the same as all the others so I'm being lazy and I'm not going to go take a picture of them. Instead I will talk about the snow.

Yeah, again. It's snowing like crazy and we are in a Blizzard WARNING apparently. I have nowhere to go and knitting and baking to do so it isn't a big issue with me.

I'm still in my pajamas and unless I get bored, I will probably stay that way. Hubby is bugging me to get onto the computer to WoW (I find it hilarious and ironic that the company that does WoW is called Blizzard. Ha!) so I will have to get going soon.

That's okay. I have work to do.

I have about 4 projects left to finish by Christmas so I will be knitting my fingers to the bone until I collapse from exhaustion.

Okay, time to get to work. Later.

Marathon Finished

It seems like every year as I work on my Christmas projects that I have one that is a big one.
One project that is huge to me. Whether it is actually a big project or just emotionally big to me.
This year I started in October and I can now present the Big Project:

Here it is! My Mother-in-law's new (soon-to-be) afghan. My own personal marathon.
It's called Musical Interlude from one of the Mile-a-Minute books (I can't remember which) It's crocheted and I've been working on it at my crochet nights every week.

Here's a close up of one of the strips. It's crocheted in strips and then the strips are attached together. It isn't huge but it's a nice size for a lap blanket when you are sitting in the living room. It isn't any special yarn. (Just Bernat acrylic yarn) so I won't do the normal specs for it.

Things are continuing along and I'm still hoping I'll be done by Christmas. I will have to work hard to get done but I think I can do it.

Dashing

Well, the finishing continues apace. I spent yesterday focusing on Tuesdays are for Crochet. The afghan is nearly finished so I will hopefully have that to show you another day but for today,
I have these:

They are some nifty Armwarmers.
The specs:
The Yarn: Some JoAnn Sensations Tesoro I had lying around in the Stash. Purple and yellow.
The Needles: US size 7 Bamboo Dpns.
The Pattern: Dashing from Knitty Spring 2007

The Recipient: My Step-Sister Shelly. She specifically requested Arm Warmers for when she's at work counting registers to try to keep her hands warm.
Notes: I tried these on for pictures. I may love them:

They are soft and warm and nice.



I may have trouble giving them away next week.

If you need me I'll be over in the corner crocheting.

Planning Ahead

Continuing with our parade of finished items, we have more socks:


Does anyone get tired of my endless parade of socks?
These are also boot socks, knit of DK weight yarn. They are the exact opposite of the other boots socks so I won't bother with specs. They are just blue with grey heels and toes instead of grey with blue heels and toes. Knit to men's size 11.5.

I am thinking about the secret present. The one I was gonna frog. I don't think I want to.
Last night at our knitting party the lovely Leah suggested that I might be able to needle felt on it. I also thought if I could stitch on it a little, it might not be so bad.
I would like to believe that I can make it work or I might be up all night coming up with a new plan which involves me building an igloo in the snow that's falling again and hiding until after Christmas so I don't have to worry about finishing anything.

We'll see.

Still Hopeful

To start off with, I'm sorry I went MIA for a few days there. I went down to my mom's house to do some baking with her. (Our oven acts kinda funky sometimes and I was afraid I would destroy anything I would try to bake.) I had thought I would have time to post on Thursday before I left but time got away from me as it tends to do.
Since we are down to one vehicle for now (so close to the tires, I can almost smell the nasty new rubber smell) I had hubby drive me down to my parents' and then come and get me on Friday. The whole weekend kinda went Whooo hoooo! at us after that. The weather decided to throw a big old storm at us. Our friends were supposed to come up and see us but the weather kept them safely at home. We went out to lunch on Saturday for a baby shower. I gifted the mom-to-be with this:

This is the first thing I have ever knit for a baby and I think it's hilarious how tiny it is. It's pictured here with a cute little candle holder thing on my coffee table. It's a little votive inside just so you can see the scale.

While I was down at my parents' I managed to finish these as well.

These are my second pair of Monkey socks.
The specs:
The Yarn: Sockotta in the poetically named colorway 6515
The Needles: Knit on size US 2 Bamboo dpns
The Pattern: Monkey from the incomparable Cookie A. at Knitty
Notes: I don't really have anything else to say about these. I like the Monkey pattern a lot though so I KNOW I will knit it again. (Maybe for me the next time!)
I tried on the socks for modeling purposes.

Does this not epitomize Winter in Minnesota? It sure does to me. On the loveseat in front of the fireplace, knitting and drinking coffee/tea/cocoa.
One more gratuitous shot of the socks:

They look pretty nice if I do say so myself. I think they will be well-received.

Tomorrow we will continue the marathon of project finishing. We're down to about 9 days and I'm still nervous about getting as much done as I need to do but I'm still hopeful that I can do it.

I'm dying to tell you about the disaster that happened with the secret project but I can't yet. After it's gifted, I promise.

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

Did anyone else notice that my text changed color mid-post yesterday?
Weird. I don't have any idea what I did.

The Christmas knitting continues apace.

Today was supposed to be my day to lie around and get things done. I had no open Crochet night, no class to teach, I was gonna have a pajama day and knit and knit and knit.

That didn't work out. Hubby was feeling a little bit lethargic and bluesy today so I took him to work. (Not sure why he wanted me to take him to work, I wasn't planning on using the car at all today.) Then I came home and did all the decorating for Christmas except for putting up the big tree in the living room. But I did clear a space for it. We're ready. He then decided to use his vacation time and come home early. I went and got him. He was pleasantly surprised.

Tomorrow he is off work so we will decorate the tree and maybe (finally!) get to the new library to check it out.

This of course meant that I couldn't get my knitting done. Plus, I was hoping to finish my baking this week so I have that to do too.

*sigh* I think I'm taking a vacation as of December 26th.

Trying

The last few days have been trying and I have been trying to hold it all together.
When last we left our intrepid Knitblogger (don't you hear superhero music as I say that? I do, but maybe it's just because I'm married to geek-husband.) she was preparing for a meal for 13.
How did it go?

The apple pies. Shown here amid various baking things at their house.
It went great. We had two turkeys which were almost completely gone. We munched later in the day though so it wasn't all at one big meal. The pies turned out well and one whole pie came home with us. (That's because the pumpkin dessert was so darned good!)

Later in the evening as geek-husband and geek-friends gamed, I sat and knit with the other ladies. I managed to get this done:

These are the Peaks 'n' Valleys socks that I have been working on for what feels like FOREVER.
The specs:
The Yarn: Sockotta sock yarn. I lost the ball band so I couldn't tell you the color number, oops.
The Needles: Knit on US size 2 bamboo dpns
The Pattern: Peaks 'n' Valleys Socks (ravelry link) from this book.
The Recipient: Originally intended for my step-sister, I'm now debating so I'll decide later. Hopefully before the gifting day.
Notes: I love this pattern but hated knitting these socks almost the whole time. Why? I'm not sure. I don't love the color repeats in the yarn. I don't like the wide stripes things and the socks are fraternal which doesn't make me very happy either. I don't know but I will knit the pattern again but I most likely will not buy the wide stripes yarn again.
How fraternal are they?


This means that with the boot socks finished earlier in the week, I managed to meet my goal for the week. I'm still on track with my Christmas knitting. These last few weeks will be harrowing but I still (maybe delusionally) think I can do it.

Then something happened which the Knitblogger did not intend. (Why yes, I have been watching Lord of the Rings. What? It gives me copious knitting time.)

Saturday night, an hour from home, we are getting ready to go home. I pack up the leftovers that we are taking with us and get everything organized and ready to be loaded up. Hubby goes out to start the car. Nothing. It's dead.
What do I do?

Console myself with yarn of course.

We get out the jumper cables, we attempt to jump it.

Nothing.

I start knitting. We let it charge, we wait. Nothing. We watch a hilarious old movie on TCM. Bachelor Mother. We try again. Still nothing.

We end up spending the night on the couch at our friends' house. In the morning, we try again. Nothing. We call Mechanic-Uncle. He comes to the rescue and jumps it with his pickup and our friend's car. It starts. Success. I drive home instead of letting hubby drive.

We get home fine. No problems. We sleep. Monday morning arrives. Hubby goes to move it for the snowplows. Dead.
Firk, ding, blast!!!

Hubby's car has a doughnut tire on it still. We find the receipt. It says it was purchased at Cenex in my hometown in 2006. It has a 3-year free replacement. Hooray! Problem. No Cenex with a service station in St. Cloud. We can't get to my hometown Cenex with one donut tire car and one totally dead car. I speak to my mother. She offers to take the afternoon off work and come get me, we will exchange battery.
I agree. She comes. We go to Cenex. The mechanic guys are at lunch. We have to come back in an hour. We go bother brother.

I knit and worry. An hour passes so we go back to Cenex. It isn't their battery. Then mom remembers (my car used to be her car.) she had a dead battery at my grandma's once. My brother traded batteries with her. They never traded back. We go to brother's house.
He doesn't have a receipt.
I knit.

I worry. We go to Wal-Mart to exchange anyway. They exchange it.

Hooray.

My mom brings me home. We install the battery.
Yay women! We did it!!!
It starts right up! Hooray.

I come upstairs and get ready and go to Crochet class.
I think it's okay now. I was really worried not only that it wouldn't be fixable but also that I would have to spend all of our money on a new battery.

My mom's house is 2 repeats on a Monkey sock away.

One is done so I'm going to completely disregard my own Tuesdays are for Crochet rule (at least until tonight) and work on the other one.

That or this:

Another pair of boot socks. This time they will be blue with grey heels and toes.