One to-do off my list: a Tomten jacket for a sweet little guy.
Rainy Wednesday
Our weather took a turn to balmy, bringing in a lovely bit of rain (it’s been an unusually cold and dry December up to the past couple of days). As much as I dislike walking home in the rain, our reservoirs need it and rain here at sea level means snow in the mountains!
New to-do
I had a bit of negative progress on the red lace scarf, and charts are not train-friendly anyway, so I grabbed a fix-it project as my new commuter knitting. I am reknitting a pair of socks that turned out too big around. It only took a couple minutes to unpick the knot and cast on new toes, directly from the too-big socks. While it’s odd to knit with ramen yarn, there is something to be said for not having to deal with balls of yarn rolling about.
I have the equivalent of a mending basket but with yarny stuff in it. I took stock of these projects this weekend, and think I need to commit to a few weeks of clearing my to-do list before I get the irrestible urge to cast on something brand new, so I’ll be working through a pile of almost-finished, and just-needs-the-ends-woven-in, and I-keep-meaning-to-fix-this projects – starting with these too-big socks that have been glaring at me for months. Right this minute, here is what I can think of that needs attention: one fully knitted gift needing toggles (had to order them online), sew clasps on my own woolie vest, seam up a granny square blanket, re-knit the heels on another pair of socks, re-knit the outer edge on a baby blanket, rip out a pair of sock toes that I can’t stand (bad yarn/pattern combo), darn a hole in a sock, and re-knit the button band on a cardigan that I’ve been unhappy with for ages and ages and don’t wear because the button band turned out so badly. I also have a couple of WIP’s that I can work on when I get tired of fixing things – the red lace scarf and a recently found half-knit shawl (it was lost for about a year. This sh0uld in no way reflect poorly on my organization skills.).
Speaking of knitting, the Yarn Harlot had a fantabulous final post on what to give a knitter for Christmas. It’s applicable to any handmade gift at any time of year, and I hope she doesn’t mind that I’m copying a bit in right here:
“Knitting may look like stuff made out of yarn, but it isn’t. Knitting is actually a container, that your knitter has filled with time and love. Time that they chose to give to another person, that they could have spent doing anything else in the world. When you see a knitted object, don’t see a hat, or a sweater, or a pair of socks. See twenty, forty, a hundred hours of your knitters life that they have decided that you, or someone else is worth. (How much time did you spend getting their present?) Understand that far from being a thrifty or lesser way of giving a gift, things that are handmade are the most expensive objects there are.”
Merry Christmas
To those of you who celebrate, I hope you had a fabulous Christmas. We did: spent the day with local family, ate lots of goodies, and Skyped with family that is too far away to visit right now. It was great to see everyone! Now, I’m going to sit in my comfy chair with a cup of tea and some popcorn, and do a bit of reading (would be knitting, but I don’t want to get butter on my yarn). Happy Holidays!
And now, for me
With gift knitting done, I can return to projects that I put on hold around the time the leaves started to turn. First up: a Laodice Scarf for yours truly, in Zauberball wool (my first time using this yarn). It’s lovely, squishy, soft, and I can’t wait to see how it turns out.
Peaceful morning
I know I posted a picture of my view just the other day, but really – in Seattle, any time it’s not overcast and rainy one just doesn’t pass up the opportunity to document it. This morning is one of those days, and I wish I had a better camera to capture it with.
(Seattle waterfront, 8:45 am on 12/21/11)
Holiday Zenitude
I’m feeling very Zen about the holidays this year. I decided early in the year that I would not stress myself out over gifts or become over committed; the most rewarding gifts are family and friends – so why get all wound up (and go in debt) over a gift list? Setting realistic budgets and focusing instead of spending time with those I love has made this one of the most relaxing holidays seasons I can remember.
This morning I sealed up two boxes destined for distant relatives. Combined with the box sent yesterday to the distant son, this completes my gifts-that-need-to-be-shipped list and allows me to focus on the gifts-to-give-local-family list.
I also wrapped most of my gifts last night! (this didn’t take very long since I don’t give a lot of gifts but HEY! I have a little stack of wrapped gifts on the table!) No ribbons or bows this year due to the The Kitten, which kept the wrapping quick and easy.
There are three family members on my list for which I would like to find a gift; it would help immensely if I could figure out what kind of gift I want to give each of them, but so far I have not had any epiphanies. I’m keeping my eyes open for inspiration and am mulling over some ideas to see what sounds right. I’m sure something will fall into place.
Knitting: I am down to one knitted gift to complete and it’s more than halfway done so I know I’ll get it done before the weekend. And that’s it, all other knitting is for myself or next year’s gift list.
Baking: In the holiday baking arena, there is very little to report. I decided not to make much this year – a bit of fudge was made on Sunday and I’m considering some bread or marshmallows this week but haven’t committed yet. I’ve been working with my soap wholesale account on some changes for next year and it’s hard to focus on food when you are surrounded by soap…
Sewing: Hm, just remembered I have a couple of sewing gifts to finish… I’m feeling pretty optimistic about those, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I didn’t get them done by Christmas, could always just be a late gift.
I spy something green
Another teaser pic today – I’m knitting something green!
(Paton’s Classic Wool in ‘leaf green’, not quite as neon as this pic appears)
Half baked knitting
Looming – that’s a good word to describe Christmas. We have, what, eight days? Less if you have to mail stuff to distant relatives. I’m trying to keep my expectations low, but even so I find myself with several projects on the needles that are supposed to be Christmas gifts this year. There’s this one, which I should be able to knock out tonight (or tomorrow at the latest):
And this one, which is about half finished but which takes more of my attention and concentration than usual and is therefore taking me longer than anticipated:
And this one, which is technically half finished, but which I think is going to be too small and therefore is not at all finished and is actually in the negative progress arena:
(I know those photos are teasers; can’t show too much detail, since they are gifts!)
A beautiful day
This morning’s frost and foggy low clouds burned off and it turned into a gloriously sunny day, which I got to enjoy from my desk every time I glanced up from my paperwork. If I lean over my desk a bit I have a great view of Mt. Rainier as it perches over the two stadiums (The Clink and The Safe), which in turn are nestled nicely above the waterfront (as per my view).
As I type this, the sun has gone down and so I am instead viewing a collage of lights against a pitch-black background: white headlights on the Viaduct with the red-and-green stoplights along the waterfront and the white and blue brightly-lit stadium for tonight’s game. Rather festive!
