A Little Yarn On The Side

My garden is still alive.  That means it should still be October. Early October.  Not November.  I am not ready for November. I think I have all the table runners finished that we need for Christmas--though even writing that sentence freaks me out a bit, so  maybe I should finish a couple more, just in case.  It's not that I can't count (usually--when large quantities of knitting stitches aren't involved, in any case), but every year I have forgotten someone or someone new is going to be with us at Christmas or somehow about 10 people get added to the list at the last minute and I'm tearing around like a madwoman trying to find something that doesn't look like a last-minute gift (Chia Pets, chocolates, anything in the "men's executive gifts" category).  But I think I really could be ready this year.  Or I have failed to check my list thoroughly. Anyway..... My back/hip has been sore since the trip--which is not terribly surprising.  ...

Some friends of ours got married on Long Island this past weekend, so bright and early Tuesday morning, we learned that airport security in Boise opens at 4:30 in the morning.  To be fair, I could have lived without this knowledge, but when you live in a smaller city, there aren't always a lot of flight options.  If one flies out of a little airport, one is almost always sent to a big airport somewhere, and if one is traveling east from Boise, those bigger airports tend to be in a westerly direction, so flying 2 hours west to catch a flight east is pretty standard, but dreadful when one has a sore back.  I did find an airline that would send us through Minneapolis, but that's a once-a-day option.  Still, the perk to a 5:00 AM flight is that one can take a muscle relaxer and STILL be no more groggy than most of the other people on the plane.   However, it does not to wonders for knitting, so the new begonia shawl did not get a lot of attentio...

October is almost over, so I've been thinking about my crazy goals for next year. I really like the idea of "Me Made Mondays," so that is going to be the big one.  I'm toying with upping the ante to say pajamas don't count, because what I would like this to do is to challenge me to make more clothing, which would MAYBE finally shrink the fabric stash.  And should it be something different every Monday? THAT would really make it interesting.  and how crazy do I have to make this challenge to finally see a dent in the stash?

Do you ever just look around your crafting area and think, "Wow!  What happened here?"

It's now been 100 days since I lost bought yarn. Why isn't my stash smaller?

So I'd like to pretend that I'm so organized that I always order Christmas gifts two months early, but I think we all know that's the not really the case.  I worked it out this year because I'd figured out what to do for people who don't get handmade gifts and wanted to order before I forgot what I'd come up with.  But it looks good, right? I AM ON THE LAST REPEAT FOR THE SHAWL!  I am going to graft the ends together instead of sewing them, which may be interesting, then I'll figure out how the pattern says to join the edging to the main part.  And if I can resist the temptation to set it all aside in order to cast on a new pair of socks, I could actually finish it.....................   Ahem..........