A Little Yarn On The Side

Last night we went to the Festival of Trees and saw this: It's the "Knit Before Christmas" Tree! It was decorated by a school class, and each mini hat represents four hats knitted & donated to a homeless shelter. I thought it was a great class project, and made for a pretty spiffy tree!

It's been a long time since one of these has been sighted around here: That's right--FINISHED OBJECTS! Of course, the hat still needs to be felted, but as it is easier to store this way, the felting process can wait until closer to Christmas. And, in a further burst of creativity, the puppet kits for our youngest nieces & nephews are done: Complete with hair, mustache, and bow tie options: Thankfully, we only needed 12 for each child to receive 3 puppets--otherwise Aunt Toni might need a little alcohol...felt puppets get a little monotonous after a few hours......

Last night my husband and I were discussing our Christmas list and upcoming birthdays, and as part of our "not buying anything new" program, I was trying to think of gift options for a young niece that I could make in a reasonable amount of time, and asked him what he thought of a hat & mittens combo. Bless his heart, he asked if I had enough yarn! Being an idiot, I confessed that I not only had enough yarn, but that I could knit for the next 5 years without running out of yarn. WHAT WAS I THINKING????????????????????????????? I should have said I would have to check, or that I'm sure I could find enough of something! But to admit to my spouse that I have, perhaps, a little too much yarn...what have I done???????? What's next--admitting I have more shoes than I really need? Saying that one really can have too many Cary Grant movies?? Someone stop me, please!

Yesterday I had a lovely 2-hours stretch of free time, so with that "I'm about to finish a project" thrill (which doesn't exactly rival the thrill of starting a new project, but it's light years ahead of the "I'm slogging through a project with no conceivable end in sight" doldrums), I locked myself in the sewing room with the almost-completed fleece jacket which would be quite handy right about now. 2 hours later, I was one seam ahead of where I started out. Step one: sew the sleeve hem in place, using a knit-friendly, ripping-out-hostile jagged seam, only to notice seconds later than I misread the directions and must rip out BOTH sleeve hems. Step two: rip holes in fleece with seam ripper. Spend 20 minutes fixing holes with fabric glue & tweezers. Step three: pin the sleeves correctly, sew hem. Sew cool decorative stitch using embroidery thread as described in the newest sewing book acquisition. Step four: rip out decorative stitch that l...

Last night I finished the body of the Elann.com shawl-back shrug, and have only the ribbing to knit, and out of the 8 balls of yarn the pattern asked for, I have about 1 and 3/4 balls left. This disturbs me, as that generally has meant I have missed something important in the pattern, such as, say, a sleeve. But, I have tried the shrug on, and it fits, and the 3/4 sleeves are on purpose, so maybe the ribbing is much more yarn-consuming than I am picturing.... Yesterday's WIP inventory count (which missed a few things, I admit) motivated me to finish something, so the fleece blanket for my new nephew is finished, complete with name & satin binding. OK, it wasn't a difficult project, but at least it is something that is no longer "in progress." And might be a good reason to start something new....

Sometimes, reality just can't be avoided--even in knitting. Thursday I was feeling the "new project" bug, and was seriously debating between a shawl and a sweater, when I noticed a distinct shortage of available knitting needles in my bag. For someone new to knitting, this might really be possible, but for someone who has been knitting for almost 30 years, this is not highly probable. So, I went looking for the missing needles. Generally, I have several projects going at once, but I think I might have reached an all-time high this time. A sampling: A cotton tank top, knit in the round in order to keep it from languishing in the "knit but needs to be sewn together" black hole: A cashmere blend cardigan that I truly do love and only put aside because I was wooed by other projects: A shawl intended for my next friend who turns 50, that was zipping along nicely until I discovered that she doesn't want a shawl for her 50th birthday: A new sweater for my husb...