Thursday, December 01, 2005

Catching Up with Life

Sorry - no pics today. I decided that I needed to post something, even though I haven't downloaded any of the pictures that I have taken lately. Hopefully I'll do that soon (like tonight, or tomorrow).

It has become obvious to me that I am not ready for Christmas, not ready for company (6 people are coming for 12 days over the holiday), and certainly haven't finished all of the gift items that were planned. Folks are arriving on 12/19, so several hats, beaded cell phone holders, felted clogs, and mittens/fingerless gloves are in my very near future. Additionally, I have not yet quite finished DH's 2 pairs of socks, though all 4 socks are at least 3/4 completed. Lest you think that I am a total procrastinator, I should mention that I have already done 3 pairs of socks, mittens and fingerless mitts, a shawl, a scarf, and 2 hats, for various recipients.

A quick aside on my personal take on socks. They are always toe-up, done on dpn's, knitted on 2 sets of dpn's as close to simultaneously as I can do it. This means that every couple of inches and at the toe and heel, I switch to the other sock, resulting in both being done at about the same time, give or take an hour. This also means that I have many, many sets of dpn's in sizes 0-3. My favorites are the Brittanys and Crystal Palace in 5"-6" lengths. I also like Lantern Moon Rosewoods, and Bryspun, even though they are sadly not available in sizes smaller than #2.

When knitting for me and my favorite aunt, socks are usually handspun because that is absolute my favorite sock yarn. When knit for DH, my parents and nieces, and most others, they are of commercial superwash sock yarn. Either type, I generally have at least 2 and sometimes three pairs on the go, especially near Christmas because I need to get some done without the recipient seeing what I am doing. So following this method of sock knitting, you now understand why I have 4 socks going for DH, of which 1 needs only to have the ends woven in, its mate is done through the first 2" of cuff, another lacks only 2" of ribbing, and its mate is done up through the heel. Say, about 75% finished on the batch of 4.

So for now I am going to focus on getting some things done, and done before guests arrive. No more knitting on my KR NBP, no more spinning or de-hairing and carding qiviut. Lots of knitting, and house-readying, and pre-arrival cooking and baking that will be stowed away in the freezer. Am I a little crazy? Sure, but aren't we all this time of year?

(pictures and driving to TX report still to come, in a hopefully not-too-distant post)