Merry Christmas!
This week in Facebook:
Grammar and spelling complaints?ย Check.
Music complaints? (Okay, this one wasn’t in Facebook but it was about people singing Happy Birthday offkey) Check.
Government, politics, religion, moral, lack of moral, complaints? Check.
Ipod, computer, laptop, car complaints? Check.
Weather complaints?ย Check.
I think all of Facebook needs a nice, long nap.
We are ready for the family Christmas party ๐
P.S. I cannot express how happy I am that the scarves were wanted. I’ve not had much luck in the past with my knitted and crocheted gifts. They always seems to end up as pet blankets, or couch covers or stuffed somewhere in a closet never to be seen again. This year, though I’ve given 4 scarves and they seem to have been well received. Before the party started, I gave my MIL the HP 3 scarf that I hand knit and she actually laughed and danced when she opened it. At the party the family has in the past done this white elephant type thing in which you can pick a gift or steal something that someone already picked. I was a bit down-hearted this year when I heard that they were doing things a bit differently and presents would be passed to the left or the right a number of times and what you ended up with at the end of the game was yours. My goal since last year had been to offer something that would be get stolen and now I wasn’t going to know. David’s grandparents, however, warmed my heart and made themselves forever knitworthy in my heart. When they each in turn ended up with a scarf they scooted themselves out of the game and hid the scarves. Yes, it was cheating, but I figure people in their 80’s who gave birth to this fabulous and funky family I married into were allowed. And they warmed this knitter’s heart forever.
I’m staring at a pattern, a sweater pattern I really like and have admired for a long time. The pattern is not sized for my demographic group. As I sit and stare at this beautiful pattern, I wonder several things.
Can I figure out how to make it in my size?
After I do all the figuring can I really knit it?
Is it worth it?
Maybe I could make it the size I would like to be and by the time I finish it be that size?
Do I often delude myself like this?
Why couldn’t there be something in Big Girl Knits that I like? Would I have thought it worth my time?
Why don’t I think I’m worth the time of knitting something, anything, for me, no matter what size it is?
Why does the media insist on covering their magazines with women who are already tiny and beautiful but still must be airbrushed into unreality?
Why are there dads out there who tell their daughters that they used to be pretty and to go home and lose 50 pounds?
Why are there daughters out there who go home and gain 140 instead?
Do I really want to spend $100+ on yarn just in case I can make a sweater I like and fits?
Why do I have to keep seeing sweaters that I would knit if only _____________ ?
1. Yes, I’m one day late. That seems to be a norm for me. I still haven’t mailed my mother and sister’s birthday cards. It’s well-known in my family that things will arrive late.
2. We still don’t have the amount of snow that I’d like. We got this much the other day.
3. My grand plan to print address labels to speed up the Christmas card process (I was trying not to be late – see #1) has been thwarted by a printer that won’t print. First it was that I couldn’t find my address book. I acquired the addresses through Facebook and email. Then my color cartridge appeared to be empty although I swear I had just put in a new one. A new color cartridge was acquired. Now the printer won’t print. I printed coupons yesterday, so what happened between then and now?
4. More Bamboo Ewe yarn has been found at Hobby Lobby, multiple trips are required to maximize coupon usage. The Long Range Non Acrylic Blanket Plan (LRNABP) advances. Why can’t one store carry all the colors? And then have a fantastic sale? I don’t think that is asking for too much.
5. The hand and machine knitting continues, but slowly because there are just so many things I have to do in World of Warcraft ๐
6. This doesn’t bode well for me finishing things on time. See #1
7. Jessica doesn’t seem to share my urgency. But at least I finally caught her in the Kitty Pi. She even stayed for a few minutes after I adjusted the edges so that she was in it rather than on it. She’s such a good kitty for indulging me.
The only Black Friday shopping that I did was to brave the crowds at JoAnn’s and add a bit of yarn to my stash. I also added a bit more to my stash during the Cyber Monday sales. I’m collecting some colors ofย Bamboo Ewe that will eventually turn into a log cabin type blanket of many colors. There aren’t many colors available but they seem to change every once in awhile so I figure eventually I will have a nice amount of several different colors to make something like this:
This really neat blanket comes from one of my favorite books, Mason Dixon Knitting. The only afghans I have created so far have been made out of acrylic yarn. I don’t mind acrylic yarn but I want something out of a nicer yarn, one that wasn’t so expensive that I would have a complete meltdown if the afghan got damaged somehow.
JoAnn’s had these colors in stock and I ordered two more colors off their website:
There are three more colors out there somewhere and I’m hoping I can find them in a store, otherwise, I have to order them online and that gets pricey. I struck out at Michael’s and they were my last hope, so I guess it’s online ordering for me :/
I just need Stitch Nation to release more colors ๐
You know how everyone keeps saying “Holy Cow, it’s (insert month here) already?”? I’m going to try really hard not to say that. While everyone around me is commenting on the passage of time, I seem to be just floating along and not really noticing. I’m happily enjoying the Christmas season. We have our lights up and plans to attend a Handel’s Messiah Sing-In on Friday. We need snow to make things really wintery.
I do know that I have little time left to finish any knitted gifts that I currently have on the needles and on the machine. I’m pretty sure I can finish these things without too much stress and swearing. I’m also pretty sure the Knitting Goddess is just about to launch a little Universe Balancing grenade so maybe I should knock on wood or sacrifice a fern. I need to finish one machine scarf and then seam all four of them up and add fringe. Those will be going to a family party. I need to finish two hand knitted scarves and a few dishcloths. This seems doable to me.
I might be deluding myself.I might be deluding myself to the point where I think I can add a few hats to the knitting list. And some fingerless mitts.
I was going to add a few words to non-knitters that love a knitter but the Yarn Harlot always says it so much better. Suffice it say that we knitters have lots of knitting stuff because we like knitting stuff and enjoy getting more knitting stuff ๐
Speaking of knitterly gifts, on our anniversary a week ago, hubby and I had a lovely day that consisted of a small bit of Black Friday shopping where I added a small bit of yarn to my stash. We got pedicures after which I felt like a new woman. David bought a handy yarn project bag for me. I am currently making a blanket from Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Yarn that I had originally intended for a Doctor Who scarf. Since I didn’t want to make that scarf again with acrylic I thought the yarn would make an interesting blanket in Doctor Who scarf colors. The handy yarn bag is this little cutie in periwinkle:
If I hadn’t wound one of the skeins of yarn into a ball it would have held all seven large skeins perfectly, if a bit snugly. That will work itself out as I get more of the blanket done. Apparently getting the yarn to fit in the bag is more of an incentive to work on the blanket than having a finished blanket. I’ll have to ponder that sometime.
The next knitting bags on my wish list (other than the Yarn Drum in raspberry) are these:
You can never have too many knitting bags, right?
Happy Birthday to my mother. I remember her knitting and crocheting a little bit when I was really young. She gave me all of her knitting needles after I started to show an interest in knitting. And she learned how to cross stitch after I taught myself when I was in my 20’s. She used to play a mean game of tennis. She’s called the fun grandmother by my kids. Here is this most lovely of ladies with my daughter at her high school graduation.
And here she is ridding Azeroth of digital evil. She is a force to be reckoned with.ย
It doesn’t get much cooler than having a mom you can play World of Warcraft with. Happy Birthday, Mom. You’re the best.