Merry Christmas

WISHING YOU ALL A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY!

Purging and Planning

Purging

It has become very clear to me that it is indeed time to purge. I've donated a few items to a local charity and given a few items to a neighbor. However, a major expulsion is needed.

This weekend, in between Christmas shopping, decorating, and normal household chores, I will be packaging items to be removed from our home. I have so many items of my son's that I had been saving that just need to go. There's no room for them and a child somewhere could use them. My intention is to donate or give away whatever I can bear to let go, in an attempt to achieve more order, more space, and to be a charitable citizen.

Among the things I'm debating about purging are these lovely skeins of Silk Garden.


I hate Silk Garden. I love the way it stripes but I really don't like the yarn at all. Originally, the yarn was planned for knitting Klaralund. I purchased a lone skein to test it to see if it bothered my hands. Because it was so pretty, I kept trying to convince myself that I really liked this yarn. The truth is, I never want to knit with it again.

Somewhere, there is the beginning of a Klaralund sleeve. I'm debating about frogging it to knit another hat, as I do think the hat I knit with SG came out nicely. It was my first dpn project.


Now I must decided whether to sell the remaining skeins, swap them, or figure out something I'm willing to make with them.


Planning

In the planning department, I've gotten this urge to knit a few of the mini sweaters. I thought it might even be nice to hang a few on my tree. I played with the idea of making one for a few people in my office. Most appealing to me is the cabled pattern I found at A Good Yarn. It appears to only take a small amount of yarn and looks like it could be a fun project. Now I just have to find/make the itty bitty hangers.

I still need to finish the last few rows and weave-in the ends on my son's blanket. He's ready to put the blanket to good use, so I need to just pick a day and get it done. I'm thinking Monday will be the day.

Christmas shopping is looking better. I've made the list of all persons for whom I'm purchasing/making gift. On the list, beside each person's name is a block for gift possibilities, stores to find the item, one for marking when the present has been purchased, on for when it's wrapped, and one for when it's shipped/delivered. With that done, I'm still probably going to be wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve.

I'm still planning on baking with my son most of the day on Christmas Eve, so I really have to plan the days ahead carefully. On Christmas Day, I'm hoping to watch my son and other family members open presents, then knit happily in any spare moments.

Right now, I think I'll try to knit those last few rows of the blanket. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed and I think it will help me feel better.

After or possibly during the knitting, I'll fall asleep. It's been that kind of week.

No Dead Ducks

Yesterday I asked my husband to tell me something that he would really like to have for Christmas. I had asked him several times before but yesterday he readily and easily gave an answer. It was almost as if he had been waiting for me to ask again.

This afternoon, after researching the aforementioned item, my son and I set out to acquire the requested gift. Once I had purchased this gift and a few others on my list, I started to feel some disturbing pain. I decided to cut my shopping trip short.

On the way home, as I approached a curve in the street, two ducks had stopped in my direct path. Because the street is not a straight path, nor well-lit, I didn't see the ducks until it was almost too late. They appeared to have walked from separate sides of the street because each had it's body turned in a different direction. When my headlights hit them, both looked up at me and froze.

I prayed to God in Heaven to please not let me hit these ducks. I stopped probably two feet short of hitting them.

It would have ruined my day to have hit those ducks. I can't imagine it would have been the highlight of their day either.

Now my nerves are shot so I just need to do something to calm down. Folding clothes didn't do it so I'm getting ready to try a little knitting.

I'm just really glad I didn't hit the ducks. I don't think I could have explained it to my son. Glad I didn't have to try.

Knitting content tomorrow...

It's not 33

Today is World AIDS Day. Know your risks.

I think of those I have lost to AIDS and those I know who have suffered because of it. I honor their fight and hope we soon find a cure.

In knitting news, the Stork yarn I bought is definitely not color 33. It's color 30. I'm hoping to get back to Knitting Sisters this weekend to pick up the brown, if they have it in stock. If not, I'm going to have to order it.

Sine I'm knitting the Pismo hat for my husband, I may let him decide. If he follows his normal pattern, he'll opt for the brown. Fortunately, I have sock yarn to keep me busy if I'm unable to acquire the brown yarn in a timely manner.

The Sockotta yarn is 40% wool. I'm hoping it will not bother my hands. I knit a little bit with Zephyr, which is 50% wool, and I seemed to be okay. I'm still deciding upon a pattern but I'm anxious to get started. My husband will likely be the recipient of the first pair. My feet are very sensitive some I'm a little apprehensive about using any wool at all on socks for me. Since I'm quite drawn to this yarn, I may chance knitting a pair for myself using it. If I break out from the yarn, I can always give the socks to my mom.

I saw a few colorways of the Sockotta that I really liked. I'm going to check Wise Needle, then Google to see what others have to say about their experience with this yarn. My hope is that knits up nicely, wears well, and doesn't get crappy looking from being washed. I'm willing to wash hand-knit socks by hand if necessary.

I'm also still holding out hope for mastering knitting with Cascade Fixation. My tendency was to stretch it to tightly. Of course it would pull itself back into the unstretched state. This created a tiny item that was not wearable. I may need to just knit a few more flat swatch-type pieces with it just to get the hang of holding the yarn in way that is comfortable but still produces a nice fabric.


I haven't stopped knitting the blanket yet. Last night at the knitting meeting they joked about how I kept changing my mind about the length. They asked how tall my son was. When I told them, they laughed again because, for a child measuring under four feet tall, the blanket is more than long enough.

When I explained that I wanted the blanket to be something he could use for a long time, they all agreed that making it longer was a good idea. I didn't need anyone's approval but it never hurts to have someone tell you that you are right.

Meanwhile, I'm knitting until I decide it's done.