A Mocha Squirrel

“Yeah, Hi. I’ll have a large iced mocha squirrel with skim milk, please…”

While driving home today The Boyfriend ordered me a mocha squirrel instead of a mocha swirl latte. “Champ, I think I ate your chocolate squirrel.”

I also finished my lace shawl! A week and it’s done. I’m not sure it’ll be the 50” in length but maybe after I block it. Sometimes my color and pattern sense come into conflict, or at least my desire to knit with a yarn and a pattern out weigh my common sense about color variegation and intricate patterns. See my first lace shawl as a prime example. Love the Socks That Rock colorway, pirate booty but it completely distracts from the stitch details of the lace, spring bandits. C’est La Vie! As Dad would say, maybe next will be the time I remember this lesson.

Speaking of Dad…Check out the Knitted Christmas gift recipients

Socks Socks Socks and a Hat.

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We had a brilliant Christmas. As always Mum is a hosting genius. We stayed for a week and felt welcomed and at home the entire time. Even when the kittens were bouncing around on us as we slept, we felt like we belonged there. The extended family gathering was fun, not as fun as the cocktail dress but that might have been an unmatchable high point. We tried out the game Apples to Apples which had us calling bottled water chewy and boyfriends untrustworthy (yes The Boyfriend did take slight offense to this). Christmas with the in-laws wasn’t long enough but as compensation there was a very tasty vegetarian pot pie and mountains of yarn. And lastly we rounded out the holiday week with a visit to AP. It was great to be with my extended family for so long and truly enjoy the time with family who are also friends.

Christmas Preparations

Ok, let me explain what happened in the afternoon. The boss walked into a coworkers cube and said, “Ewwww! What is that?” And then the coworker explained that a friend in another department had a prank pulled on them and their desk was covered with these fake cockroaches and she took some to bring home to her son. I immediately popped up and said, “so wait, that bug wasn’t from my Secrete Santa?” To which everyone started laughing and the joke was on me. I’m so glad I didn’t get the equivalent of a lump of coal.

I did a bad thing. I started a pair of socks for myself while I’m on a knitting deadline. And then, I really liked the pattern and how the stripes were working up, which means I haven’t touched the last pair of gift socks for a few days. I have about 4” to go. Totally do able but every time it’s knitting time I’d rather work on the new stripy socks for me.

The Boyfriend has been a super trooper this week. Finishing up his classes and taking part in wrapping more than just my presents. He does the paper and I do the decorating. We wrapped miss LT’s gift in two stacking boxes tied together with string. Linus thought this was irresistible and claimed it as his own. It’s funny to look over at the Christmas tree and see a large fluffy Christmas kitten bow.

Not wanting to be left out, Isitt has been busy addressing Christmas cards. I think I shuffled her off my lap and table five or six times the other night while I was working. Oh and Mac, well he’s always been fond of hitting those bottom branches of the Christmas tree. One year he brought the whole thing down but since then he’s been gentle with it. And The Boyfriend ties the tree to the wall with fishing line, so you know, no worries.

Hope your Christmas preparations are going well.

Christmas Report

The list of knit gift recipients continues to grow as the allotted time in which to complete them continues to shrink. I started the holiday season with three people in mind, then it quickly bloomed to six. And then I felt an urgent need to knit a baby set of legwarmers, mittens, and a bonnet for a baby that won’t be arriving until March. I’ve finished two of the original gifts and two of the later additions, which leaves me with, yup you guessed it, two unfinished gifts.

One is a pair of socks that I’m 70% finished but man it’s a slog. The mindless rib seemed like a good idea at the time. Then I knit two pairs of socks that way and I’m really just over it. The other gift is more of a happy just because present since I wont see them between now and Christmas and I don’t want them to feel obligated to reciprocate.

Audio book wise, I’ve begun Dragons of the Dwarven Depths by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Wait, I think my geek flag is showing a little here. I still have a couple of hours left on Atlas Shrugged. I’m past the big speech and it just seems anti-climatic at this point. I also listened to the first Sookie Stackhouse book, Dead until Dark by Charlaine Harris. I thought it might be fun since I enjoyed the first half of True Blood so much. Yes first half. The show just fizzled out for me at the end of season one. I won’t not watch seasons 2 & 3 but I wont go crazy searching for them. When they’re streaming on Netflix I’ll check them out, but not before. Oh and the book was even more graphic than the shows. I bit too much for me. But I must say, the show did an excellent job bringing the books to life.

I’m off to work so I can knit on the remaining sock at lunch. Have a pleasant Tuesday!

Finished!!!

I knit these so fast. Like someone who doesn’t work. Three days off for Thanksgiving helped out with that. Berroco Sox seems to be a durable yarn, not soft but worth it if the sock wear well. Loved the pattern, Groovy Socks. Simple to knit with a decorative result (best kind of sock pattern if you ask me). These are the Speta & Finach socks. I thought Mum’s version of feta and spinach was too memorable to let pass without memorializing it. Oh and I’ve knit 26 socks since June 1^st!

Closer view of the stitch pattern.

Early Morning

This morning, Isitt, Mac, or Linus woke me up. At 5:30 someone walked into the bedroom and started scratching on the recliner. This cannot be allowed so I admonished the offending cat and tried to go back to sleep. No luck. Just the other day Lucy, MMH and I were discussing how fate would have it, that on the mornings when you can sleep in, you aren’t able to. For me it’s usually the realization that I can have quiet knitting time that pushes me out of bed.

But honestly when you’re woken up that early. The least they can do is pose for some in progress knitting photos!

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First there are the Bernstein socks. I started them at a cat show while listening to the little guy belt out his objections. It proved too difficult to capture the detail of this sock with a kitten model.

Then there are the Mittens that Mac was embarrassed to show.

And lastly Isitt really turned up the cute to show off these.

Haul in a Linus...repeat

Last night I thought drinking a latte at 7pm was a good idea. Well you know, the Samurai goes out for drinks after work and then the Samurai falls asleep. I didn’t want that to happen hence the caffeine. I successfully stayed up until 11:30 and did lots of knitting. I was helped by the fact that I started watching The Lion in Winter without realizing it’s a 3 hour movie. I’d give it a B+. Excellent acting and dialogue. It could due to be an hour shorter though.

I Finished a Christmas gift, yeah that leaves one to go. And while motivation was with me, I cast on for a new sock. One can never have too many socks on the needles. The yarn is knitting Fever Indulgence With Aloe and I’m doing a simple rib pattern. So far I’m about 3” into it and it’s random stripes are really working for me. I have to say, now that I work full time and the majority of my knitting is done in public where I find the simpler the sock pattern the better. I’m not going to win any design contests but I will be able to talk and knit and not think about what my hands are doing.

SO yeah, latte. I don’t know if this is an age thing or what but lately if I have evening caffeine, not only does it keep me up, but it also wakes me up early. Well before the sun came up I was awake. I tried to sleep, I played with Isitt and Mac, I tossed and turned, and then I gave up. 5:15 on a Saturday morning and I’m up. I pulled on my toasty sweats and headed down to the garage. If I’m up I might as well be productive. Thinking I’d have a good 3 hours to myself, without prying eyes or judgment it seemed the perfect time to pull out the stash and at least get all the various sock yarns together. It’s not that The Boyfriend ever says anything about the stash, it’s our silent third partner but I feel his eyes on it and it makes me cringe. Best to deal with it when he’s not around.

Haul a bag or a box or a bin into the house. Haul in a Linus. Haul in a different bin. Haul in a Mac. Haul in a bag overloaded with yarn and haul in the same Linus. Can you see how this morning started?

Endeavors such as these never go the way one expects. I thought I could quickly sort through the sock stuff. Put away some recent sport and alpaca purchases (my yarn is sorted by weight except alpaca which is kept in a special separate bin in the house, almost like I expect the wool and alpaca to start fighting if left too close together). I sorted the sock yarn. Found the missing yarn, that had prompted me to reorganize, I couldn’t find a skein of sock yarn yesterday morning before work and it had been weighing on me. If you can’t find the yarn when you want it, then what’s the point of a stash? I also found 6 projects, ok more than 6 projects, but I found 6 hibernating projects that could be frogged. 4 of them were from 2008. One and a half socks, a design I had no desire to finish. A sweater I’d never photographed as it was a design in progress that fell short of the mark. The colorwork Devon Rex bag and mittens have been sitting for too long. The vest out of alpaca from a pattern written for a size 34 that I was adapting to a size 44 but hadn’t thought through enough before I began. The fuzzy angora cowl with hidden cables and lace. All of them were missteps in judgment that weren’t worth finishing. It makes me happy to frog and realize the errors of my ways, knowing that I’m a better knitter now than I was just a year ago when I cast on that angora cowl.

And the fruits of my labors? This massive pile of needles and stitch markers suddenly appeared from the flying yarn. I’m resolved to knit the 4 thumbs that are needed to finish the 2 pairs of fingerless mitts that were also hibernating. And it’s only 9 O’Clock!

Rhinebeck and Webs

Thought you kids too far to make it to Rhinebeck or Webs might like to see what I got. I didn’t get nearly as much this trip as previous times so it won’t be a display of excess but there are some pretty yarns that now live at my house.

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Blue Moon Fiber Arts: Socks That Rock in medium weight in the Raven color Corbie. It’s a blue purple color over dyed with even darker blue. I can see something manly with The Boyfriend’s name on it. A hat perhaps, since even the lightweight is too heavy for socks in my opinion.
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Blue Moon Fiber Arts: Socks That Rock in medium weight in the color Sugarplum. It’s a lovely purple, lavender, sea foam green mix. Definitely has my name on it. I’m seeing fingerless mitts or some such thing.
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Blue Moon Fiber Arts: Socks That Rock in medium weight in the color Jingle Bells. OK, I’ll fess up to it. I already have this color…but but….but it’s in light weight. I just love the pale green and vibrant red contrast. I see baby clothes when I look at this color. I think The Communicator may have knit baby clothes in a similar color which is why it’s been labeled as such in my head.

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Glamour Bunny was my cave purchase. I’ve seen this at all of the New England sheep and wool festivals. A couple of the girls are knitting the softest fingerless mitts I’ve ever felt with this stuff. Not wanting to be a follower but wanting a pair of my own, I was over come and purchased a navy blue and pastel blue blend (theirs are solid so mine are different!). I’ve knit the mitts except for the thumbs already. Sooooo soft!!!!

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After flashing the Decadent Fibers women so that she could see my Hey Teach Sweater made out of their Crème Brulee yarn, I found my way back into the booth and happened upon more Crème Brulee. Can you believe it? I just love their yarn and it knits so nice oh and they dye such pretty colors. Well I was destined to buy another sweater’s worth. I went with the a light charcoal gray color knowing that I’d be more likely to wear that than a flashy purple or red, which is what my eyes are typically drawn to. I’m not sure what sweater this will be, but knit on size 9 needles, it will work up fast. I’m feeling inspired after my Diorama success and want to launch into another sweater straight away but I also sense the snow and holiday season coming. So I’ve put a Christmas countdown on the site to help remind me to work on those Christmas gifts in addition to my usual sock knitting and occasional sweater knitting. It is funny though, the time when I’m most inspired to Christmas knit is January. Definitely not October-November. I think it’s the hype around new fall yarns that pulls my brain toward thoughts of self indulgence rather than charity.

And that’s it for Rhinebeck yarn. I feel slightly embarrassed to say that is all I bought. I was trying so hard not to buy sock yarn and to find the perfect sweater yarn that I passed up on a lot of yarns that were beautiful and deserving.