Addendum.

I am adding item #7 to my knitting gift list. I found these vase/pot patterns after hearing about them on the Lixie Knits It podcast (sorry, don't remember the episode). I bought the "Autumn Duo" pattern at the bottom of the page. I know my Mom would love one, and thought my Mom-In-Law would like one too. So I guess... that would be #7 and #8.

So you don't think I am adding to the list without having finished anything, here is the tea cozy being blocked on my bathroom counter last night:





I think you can tell how it is constructed in this photo. I'm sure it is dry by now, but I don't really feel like doing all of the finishing embellishments tonight so it is still sitting on the counter. Hey, the week's still early!

Cozy.

I hope everyone in the U.S. had a relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend. My favorite part was where I didn't have to go to work on Thursday and Friday...

We had a very cozy Thanksgiving dinner with just my husband and I, my parents and my grandparents. My contributions to dinner (well, desert mostly) were homemade cranberry sauce, jello salad with pecans, apple slices and whole cranberries, two pumpkins pies, a sweet potato pie, and ginger-spiced whipped topping. Yum.

I didn't work much on any of my gift projects - this is getting serious here. I'm not sure how things are going to be finished if I never work on them! But I did start the tea cozy kit for my aunt's gift Thursday night while watching a movie with my parents. (See #4 here.) You knit two squares and then join them and knit in the round, to make opening for the spout and handle. I've made decent progress so far:





Not bad. Once again, the cabling-without-a-cable-needle trick is saving me loads of time. I would like to finish this by next weekend, since I will be seeing my Mom again and she can include it in the package she mails to my aunt. The kit included embellishments and closures for the bottom corners which all need to be attached by my deadline.

Finished: Very Warm Hat

I mentioned a while back that I was making a hat as a Christmas gift for my husband. (He requested “black and plain”.) Well it has been finished for a few weeks, and since the weather is becoming cold and snowy here in Chicago it seemed silly to wait until Christmas to give it to him.






I used the Very Warm Hat pattern from EZ’s The Opinionated Knitter. Fast and easy to knit; I loved adding the second layer to an otherwise plain hat.

The black outer layer is Knit Picks Swish Superwash and the lining is Main Line, a cotton/wool blend. I found the black Swish superwash a little “squeaky” and slick feeling which surprised me because I have used other colors of this yarn with no problems. Maybe it has something to do with the black dye on superwash yarn?

Anyway, I used almost the entire ball of the Swish, and a little less of the Main Line. My gauge was tighter with the Swish, so I had to adjust the number of stitches slightly when I added the lining.

Quickly.

I can't believe I wrote that last post a week ago. Time seems to be moving at warp speed. The fact that Thanksgiving is next week is blowing my mind!

I have made very little knitting progress, gifts or otherwise. I spent most of the time I've been home this last week just sitting and staring at something on TV; usually I can't stand to do that. Maybe that means work is starting to melt my brain? Eeesh.

I'm hoping to have some photos of the gifts I am working on soon, but it's been impossible to get home before dark to take them. If I can't get them in natural light tomorrow, I'll just give in and use the flash. No photos make for a very boring blog!

I spent all of yesterday and today with my husband. That's actually very unusual, since he is a restaurant manager and weekends off are few and far between. It was fantastic - I appreciate the time with him more than ever because of this.

OK, I seems to be rambling here. Off to make holiday (yummy baked goods) plans! Knitting to come soon!

Dreary Sunday

First, the good news: I found the missing sock-in-progress!





It was in the front pocket of the bag I packed the weekend it disappeared.

(You can stop laughing at me now.)

Today is the kind of overcast fall day that makes you want to sit at home and do nothing. So besides a trip to the grocery store this morning that is exactly what I am doing. I cooked up a few batches of chicken and rice to freeze for lunches next week (one with broccoli and one with black beans and corn), put some laundry in the washer and now I'm watching an X-Files DVD. All I need is my knitting a maybe a little hot chocolate and my night is made!

Christmas List.

I am a champion list-maker. I’ve got notebooks of lists (work bag notebook, kitchen notebook, knitting notebook), a cascade of post-it notes stuck to the checkbook flap of my wallet for short-term lists, lists I email to myself… it goes on from there.

Many times I find that I never even look at a list again once I have it written down and out of my head. This list, my holiday knitting ideas, I am posting here so I can refer back to it in the future.

If you are reading this and think you might be on the list to receive a knitted gift please turn back now. I mean it. (Dad, I’m looking in your direction…)

1) Hat for my husband. He requested “black and plain”. Sigh. I am making EZ’s Very Warm Hat from the Opinionated Knitter; black wool with a brown wool/cotton lining. So he can wear it brown side out if he is feeling particularly adventurous.

2) Socks for my Dad. Worsted weight, superwash wool. I’m probably going to put in a stripe or two, but haven’t decided if I want ribbing all the way down the leg and foot or not yet.

3) Socks for my husband. Because he is acting jealous of Dad’s socks.

4) Commissioned tea cozy for my aunt. My mother gave me yarn and a pattern for a cabled tea cozy and said “wouldn’t this be a great gift for your aunt if I gave her a matching teapot?” Hmmm.

5) Socks for Mom. Now this is a kicker. She picked out two balls of yarn at Stitches Midwest for socks. I was going to surprise her with the patterns, and have them done for Christmas. I was more than halfway done with the first sock and I lost it. No, really. Lost It. I have no idea where it could be, since the only place I would have had it is in my apartment, in my work bag, or in my car after a weekend road trip. And it’s not any of those places. I mean come on, it’s not like I could have drove off and left it at a gas station as it was buying a pop.

6) Lace scarf for mom, from an IK mag (I’ll have to look up the pattern name). I really really want to make this for her. Nevermind that I haven’t started yet, or that I am a very slow lace knitter. Or that I haven’t finished the lace scarf I started for her last Christmas…

These are the main things I’ve got going this year. Which still seems like a lot (if you count the lace) since this is a busy time for me at work. I’ve had tons and tons of ideas such as felted potholder sets for aunts and cousins and a shawl/wrap for my MIL but I know I am not going to have time. Maybe next year. If I start in June.