A Little Yarn On The Side

When one has been making Christmas decorations for 11 months, it's kind of a strange realization that Christmas is actually coming soon.  All year it's been a very distant sort of idea, and BAM!  Here it is--the week the trees actually go up! So, since there is really nothing I won't put off until the last minute, I have been soaking and drying the rather large stack of free-standing lace ornaments.  The gold stockings and treble clefs are actually left over from LAST year--guess I didn't feel like washing and drying them last year either. I've been wrapping gifts, as well as trying to make some.  Theo hasn't been interested in sewing for a while, but  there wasn't rope to lay on previously.  It seems to be right up there with laying on patterns and fabrics a human is trying to cut out.  Needless to say, there isn't a finished bowl just yet. And speaking of unfinished projects, I worked on another WIP yesterday.  I'm closing in o...

It turns out none of us really like Mondays around here, but at least it's a holiday week - and in my experience the week that almost all real work in America stops until January.  I don't think it's a coincidence that Cyber Monday--THE biggest online shopping day of the year--occurs on a work day.  Of course, when you're getting ready for the holidays, healing from a back injury, and not in possession of a "real" job, one day can be pretty much like all the others.  Of course, my back does a nice job of keeping things fresh and new.  I was a bit sore today, so there was extra knitting time, and NO ORNAMENTS.  Instead, I finished Andy's socks!!!!  That's WIP number 4!  Okay, that still leaves 18 knitting WIPs to go, but at least it's progress!

Today while working out our Christmas gift list, I decided to do full sets of lace icicle ornaments for two people instead of just one, which strangely enough meant, more lace icicles.  Most of the white ones I made were from last year and have already been used to decorate trees here, so I need to do the other 3 tomorrow for the second set of six.  These three brought me to 364, then I finished two more dog ornaments this evening, which makes 366!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And scratches one full gift off my to-do list.  I even started my new ornament idea for an engagement gift.  I'll frame this on red felt, which will hopefully be finished up tomorrow so it can go out in the mail.  Then I can get on with some of the slower projects........... Of course, I'm still not actually "done" as I want to make 3 more terrorized gingerbread men for my youngest niece and nephews and can't use the existing ones as they all have to be slightly differen...

 I need five more ornaments!!!!!!!!!!!  You read that right--FIVE.  If I hadn't had an incident with the accidental mating of two ornaments, for which there are simply NO clean jokes, I would only need four.  Words simply fail me--which is best as any attempt to describe this is going to get me on some VERY unfortunate searches on Google.  I did manage to make a second G-rated Santa,  as well as these, for friends who recently lost a dog and my cousin who adopted one this year.  There is a third in the works, and will be a fourth when I get another piece cut out.  Jeeves is now busy on blue icicles, which cannot possibly achieve an R- or even a PG-rating, and I have been doing nice, wholesome things like washing the starch out of the pile of lace ornaments: Believe it or not, this has taken a rather elaborate trial-and-error method, resulting in: They can't dry on fabric, because the starch sticks.  If left to their o...

While I continue to make great strides with ornaments with 3 new mittens for the Holiday music dash,  and two new french horn ornaments, you might have noticed a spectacular lack of progress on my WIP-marathon.  I have actually been working on my WIPs, but most are still a very, very long way from completion.  I just turned the heel of Andy's second sock today, so I have high hopes for a finished WIP by the end of the month, but the project has reached a snag: Our oldest niece just got engaged, and I bought this yarn last year "just in case" I would have need to make an engagement shawl.  In general, I'm not a big fan in marriage under the age of 25-28, but they've been together for 3 years and were friends before that and everyone really likes her fiance, so it's a good snag. Andy will make wooden wine goblets for their actual wedding gift, but I thought a lace shawl would make a great shower gift and be something special.  And mercifully the pattern...

“FILL YOUR HOLIDAYS WITH MUSIC” STASHDASH Your holiday mission, should you choose to accept it: Find a cute holiday-ish basket that will inspire you to fill it with yarny-goodness Between November 15 and midnight of January 30 , fill it with any combination of the following:   A. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - knit something small (less than 6 inches or thereabout) B. Frosty the Snowman - knit a snowman of some sort or something with a snowman on it C. Toyland - make the toy of your choice D. My Favorite Things - make “warm woolen mittens” in your choice of yarn and size. Mini mittens do count E. Here Comes Santa Claus - knit a Santa or something with Santa on it F. A Marshmallow World - spin the fiber of your choice G. Silver Bells - make a bell or something with a bell motif H. Jingle Bells - make something (such as an ornament or stocking or whatever) that can have jingle bells attached to it I. Blue Christmas - make something blue J. White Christmas - ...

Okay--more like snow/sleet/rain Saturday, but we did wake up to actual snow.  Needless to say, those last couple rows of garlic didn't get planted today.  Instead, there are two new lace ornaments, and more cross stitch!  For the " Fall Back Into Love" Stashdash , one of the categories was 6 rows on your most frustrating WIP.  I was originally thinking the mohair sweater, but every time I thought the word "frustrating" I thought of the 7+ year cross stitch progress.  There are actually far more than 6 new rows now, but I thought I might as well do the thing right and have done another 3 square inches today. Incidentally, I found this yesterday: I don't know if you can see this exactly, but in the first row of yellow/gold stitching there is something wonky with one of the stitches--making it more of a star than a cross.  I know I'm not doing this exactly right as a real purist would have ALL the stitches going the same direction with all the to...