Appropriate?

What type of kniting project is appropriate to take when you're here?

Apparently the answer is none if your husband is with you when you're getting ready. I'll have to plan ahead a little better next time and stach a small sock project in my pocket for next time. So now I'm wondering what kind of socks would be appropriate for deer stand knitting? Definitely not anything complicated or brightly colored. Maybe even little Tot socks? Oh, now that sounds like fun!

Note: No deer were harmed in the making of this blog. There may have been an attempt to photograph them, but they were most definitely not harmed. This time.

About Procrastination

It's not like I'm TRYING not to knit. I don't purposely seek out other activities with which to waste my time. I don't sit down in my favorite chair, knitting in hand, and PLAN to lose count and therefore waste the valuable knitting time between the Tot's bedtime and mine. A very early bedtime that, by the way, takes much planning ahead and patience on my part since it involves the Tot NOT NAPPING for a whole day. No sir! I have not intentionally procrastinated. But the results are the same aren't they? Yup, no finished objects. Unless you count these:

OOOH, pretty, shiney stitch markers. Hey, I know what you're thinking, but I NEEDED some of these and it was easier to make them myself than to order them and wait. Besides, while I was getting the beads to make those, I found THESE:

Cutie-pie little bunny buttons for the baby cardi that isn't finished yet!! But won't these be the perfect buttons when it is? Bunnies and babies-perfect match. So now I have an added incentive to get that done-I can't wait to see what these look like on it. But then, what's the rush? The baby still won't be ready until January, and who says this is going to fit a newborn anyway? Just gettin' the excuse ready in case I need it.

Still Not Knitting

This week has really just been, well, I'm not sure exactly how to describe it. Suffice it to say that the needles have not been picked up in two days, and Mama's gettin' a little cranky. I had big plans to knit the cousins each a lovely scarf for Christmas, but I haven't even had time to get out the knitting machine, much less do any hand knitting. I will have some of that waiting room knit-time tomorrow morning, so that might appease me for the time being.

Work has been extremely busy and there are lots of things that need to be done in the next month or so. It's not so bad except that all of it really needs to be done RIGHT NOW! But things will settle down in time and I will calm myself with some knitting after I put the Tot in bed tonight so that I won't have to kill anybody before the weekend. I might be able to make a couple of odd socks before Christmas and call them stockings (I can't knit two socks just alike anyway, so with a few candy canes and a pretty ribbon, who's gonna' question whether or not it was intended to have a mate?) Doesn't that sound like a good plan?

By the way, I'm ignoring the fact that it is almost Halloween on purpose. That is my sister's birthday and I have finished nothing for her either. SHAME ON ME!! I haven't forgotten the tiny cardi for the wee one due in January though. I'm not that bad a sister.

I Finished SOMETHING!

This was knitted from some of my handspun merino. This picture shows off the striping pretty well. I really enjoyed spinning this and it was easy to knit with too. I think I'll have to acquire some more of this soon. It took about four ounces to make this scarf. I need to work on my spinning next time, as I way over-twisted the yarn.

Obviously I haven't been knitting much. But I do still plan on finishing the Kiri by the end of the month. No pictures of that, since there isn't any noticeable progress. It just looks like a small pile of pretty colored alpaca yarn. Not that that's a bad thing.

Christmas?

How many days is that away? You're joking, right? HOLY COW!!! A couple of cousins got nifty new scarves last year, and I was going to try to gift a couple more with hand knitted scarves or hats this year. I'm afraid it's not gonna happen. I could cheat and do some on the knitting machine and then crochet some cutesy picot edgings on them or something. That's better than no gifties at all.

I have made pretty decent progress on my Kiri shawl, but not so much that it's worth another bad picture with the cat hogging the lens. I'm hoping to have it done by the end of the month so I can do something else. I like the way the Kiri pattern looks when it's done, but I also like the idea of a shawl that starts at the longest side and gets smaller and smaller and smaller........
I might not do another one that knits up like this since I'm impatient and easily frustrated. Then again, I'm also forgetful and easily persuaded by pretty yarns, so you never know. I could easily end up doing another Birch, but I'm still stalled on the one I started in black alpaca. I don't know if the pattern got boring or if it really was the black yarn. I really, really need to do that one by Christmas, because I promised it to somebody. I really, really need to shut up more often too.

Knitting At Last!

And I have evidence:

I didn't say it was a good picture, but it does prove that I did something productive. I took about twelve shots, and they all had cat parts in them. Yarn must be like fly-paper for cats. All the pictures turned out equally fuzzy. Hard to be still when the twenty pound behemouth is nudging you for some lovin'. So this is the KnitPicks yarn I got last week. I thought it might like to be a Kiri shawl. The yellow in it is alot brighter than I expected, but it's growing on me. I might keep this one for myself too. I've almost talked myself into buying a pattern for some of the other alpaca laceweight that I'm hoarding. There's just so much stuff to look at online and when you have access to so many choices it can be very hazardous to the yarn budget.

Also on my knitting agenda for this month is the baby cardi. I've got to get that out of the way. I'll feel really bad in January when my new neice gets here and I don't have a warm cozy something to give her. I know I can make myself finish that pretty quick. I think.

Not No Knittin', Not No How

Nope, not around here. I've thought about it, and I've planned to set aside time, but somehow, my time keeps getting confiscated by some-other-little-something-or-other.

Yesterday's 'little' something-or-other was a doctor's office, an emergency room, another doctor's office, the hospital's x-ray lab, and then the doctor's office again. And this is the part where I could tell The Husband "I told you so" but I think he feels bad enough and now knows exactly why The Tot is strictly prohibited from jumping on the bed. The good news is that nothing is broken, the bad news is that she is a very fast study in how to manipulate people and convince them that what she wants is what they wanted anyway. Luckily, she started walking again this afternoon- yesterday, I couldn't bribe her into getting off the couch even for pie! And all this time I thought she was already about 35 pounds, the doctor's scales MUST be wrong. A mere 28 pounds couldn't possibly feel so dang HEAVY!! Actually, last night wasn't so bad. I can't remember the last time I cooked supper without her standing under me. I wonder if we could teach her to start playing the 'sit on the couch quietly game' every evening for about a half hour or so?

Expanding My Family

Not literally, just the yarny part of it. Look what came to live with me:

Meet Knit Picks Shimmer in Happy Dance colorway. It's 80% alpaca (what did you expect?) and 20% silk. The other yarns seem to like it, but I haven't let them spend much time alone together yet. You have to be careful when adopting a new yarn to make sure that you don't let it get lonely. So I have been spending time with it and trying to make it feel welcome in our home. I have also taken it to meet some of it's new family. Happy Dance seems to be settling in nicely.


The Tot is perusing yarn catalogs with Mr. Bear:

"Yes, yes, I know your tie is blue, but I really think you should wear more green, it brings out the brown in your eyes." I wonder what kind of tastes in yarn she'll have?

I have a truck load of planty things that need some attention this afternoon. I'd hate to have spent all that time digging stuff up just to kill it with my laziness. Perhaps the Great Tot-ly One will allow me to have a brief nap before I get into that. Then again, you're never to young to learn how to accept a monetary bribe!