Christmas Knitting????!!!!
Who actually finishes Christmas knitting on time anyway? Oh, sure, it all starts with good intentions. The carefully selected yarns and colors....the perfect pattern for the right person. I have it all laid out in my head. If I can get these mittens done this week, I can finish all 183 sweaters and those socks by next week. It sounds rational. To me. In the twisted little part of my mind that handles time management....at least until Christmas Eve. I have never been good at my to-do Christmas knitting lists. Always putting my ambition in overdrive and being disappointed when I couldn't finish on time...never mind the fact that my lists are as long as a roll of toilet paper and would scare the be-jeeezus out of even Martha Stewart. I was secretly glad that when she came out of prison she had only her poncho to show for it. When I found out she was knitting I feared she would put us other knitters to shame with the sheer volume she would produce. I was relieved she didn't step out gifting pairs of socks and scarves to reporters and nearby homeless. I know...it's an ugly side of me. I am not proud. But, it didn't offer reprieve from my mania. Still, years later, I sit here and work on my Christmas knitting (pared down to a few wash cloths and some mittens) on the 27th of December. There's always next year.
These are some convertible mittens from Never Knit Your Man a Sweater* *unless you've got the ring by Judith Durant. I have used this book previously on researching argyle socks. They are Christmas presents for a friend of ours that plays bass. He mentioned one time a couple of years ago that he would love to have convertible mittens that would also open on the thumb so he could feel the bass neck when he plays outside. I am morphing the pattern just a bit. He also has extraordinarily large hands. Maybe, New Year's presents?????? No, you can't see the wash cloths. I actually finished them on time.
I got out of the house tonight and went down to Dallas to Passion Knit to spend a gift certificate I got in March!!!!( Yes, E., it's the one you gave me.) Even got out of my pajamas. That is a big feat for me between Christmas and New Year's Day when I relegate every spare moment to knitting, quilting, sewing and watching the news channels 23 1/2 hours a day. Yes....yet another small issue of mine. Another day we will discuss that one. Anyhow, I will have you know I do put on clean pajamas and brush my teeth. Yeeee! I digress.
The store has a nice selection of novelty yarns as well as a lot of typical designer yarns we all look for when we knitters (yarn snobs) enter a yarn store. It is a neat lay-out with a loft upstairs perfect for sitting and knitting. Starbucks close by. A 30% off sale. What more could one ask for? A must on your Dallas knitting shop tours.....I was able to come away with a couple of lace Addi needles and some Shi Bui Silk Cloud. It is very much like Kidsilk Haze but with much more yardage. It is 60% mohair and 40% silk where Kidsilk is 70/30. I imagine it will have more of a halo on it. I am thinking Icarus shawl or maybe even....this.
V's brother from Germany is here visiting for 3 weeks so we have been doing a few touristy things we never get to do..or just don't do...on our own. I have seen more sporting goods stores than I knew existed. Do you know some of them have live fish and ducks in them???? Oh yeah. I actually have a yearning to tie flies now. No, nevermind there are no places to fly fish near here...or that I don't even fly fish. Hell, I would even get a bow and arrows if I didn't have this clutzy streak...but we all know that could only end in a hospital visit and some kind of blood letting. Mine or an unsuspecting neighbor. So, I refrain for now.....I hope when we take him to the Ft. Worth stockyards I don't have a sudden need to cow wrestle or bull ride. We took his mom there a few years ago to see the cattle drive. I have seen too much TV and cattle drive to me involves danger and fast moving herds. I had Pamplona-esque visions. What were these people doing in the street!!!!!! After yelling for people to move off of the street and onto the sidewalk ( I was saving lives) I saw the first hundred year old cow round the corner in a wheelchair. Nothing like being in a geriatric cow stampede. I was humiliated. That's the last time I save anyone's lives.
These are some convertible mittens from Never Knit Your Man a Sweater* *unless you've got the ring by Judith Durant. I have used this book previously on researching argyle socks. They are Christmas presents for a friend of ours that plays bass. He mentioned one time a couple of years ago that he would love to have convertible mittens that would also open on the thumb so he could feel the bass neck when he plays outside. I am morphing the pattern just a bit. He also has extraordinarily large hands. Maybe, New Year's presents?????? No, you can't see the wash cloths. I actually finished them on time.
I got out of the house tonight and went down to Dallas to Passion Knit to spend a gift certificate I got in March!!!!( Yes, E., it's the one you gave me.) Even got out of my pajamas. That is a big feat for me between Christmas and New Year's Day when I relegate every spare moment to knitting, quilting, sewing and watching the news channels 23 1/2 hours a day. Yes....yet another small issue of mine. Another day we will discuss that one. Anyhow, I will have you know I do put on clean pajamas and brush my teeth. Yeeee! I digress.
The store has a nice selection of novelty yarns as well as a lot of typical designer yarns we all look for when we knitters (yarn snobs) enter a yarn store. It is a neat lay-out with a loft upstairs perfect for sitting and knitting. Starbucks close by. A 30% off sale. What more could one ask for? A must on your Dallas knitting shop tours.....I was able to come away with a couple of lace Addi needles and some Shi Bui Silk Cloud. It is very much like Kidsilk Haze but with much more yardage. It is 60% mohair and 40% silk where Kidsilk is 70/30. I imagine it will have more of a halo on it. I am thinking Icarus shawl or maybe even....this.
V's brother from Germany is here visiting for 3 weeks so we have been doing a few touristy things we never get to do..or just don't do...on our own. I have seen more sporting goods stores than I knew existed. Do you know some of them have live fish and ducks in them???? Oh yeah. I actually have a yearning to tie flies now. No, nevermind there are no places to fly fish near here...or that I don't even fly fish. Hell, I would even get a bow and arrows if I didn't have this clutzy streak...but we all know that could only end in a hospital visit and some kind of blood letting. Mine or an unsuspecting neighbor. So, I refrain for now.....I hope when we take him to the Ft. Worth stockyards I don't have a sudden need to cow wrestle or bull ride. We took his mom there a few years ago to see the cattle drive. I have seen too much TV and cattle drive to me involves danger and fast moving herds. I had Pamplona-esque visions. What were these people doing in the street!!!!!! After yelling for people to move off of the street and onto the sidewalk ( I was saving lives) I saw the first hundred year old cow round the corner in a wheelchair. Nothing like being in a geriatric cow stampede. I was humiliated. That's the last time I save anyone's lives.