Please excuse the radio silence

It was a little bit frenzied near the end of the Christmas Crunch there. I ended up staying up 'till about 5 am on Christmas Eve (really Christmas, but I'm counting from when I went to sleep) to finish everything. (BTW- it seems like everyone liked their gifts. This does not bode well for future Christmas Crunches, since their approval means I'll be just as likely to go to such lengths again. I feel a little ashamed that I'm so easily bought. But, eh, what're you gonna do? [I'll tell you what: Not much. You're probably enjoying seeing me go to such lengths. I'd claim knitters were sadists if they weren't the nicest people I've ever met.])

Therefore blogging was not at the forefront of my mind.

Unfortunately, I'll still be a bit remiss with the postings. I'm going to California tomorrow (you should see my bedroom. I'm normally a tidy person, but all the things I'll need are in indiscreet piles all over the place.), and I generally don't do much internet surfing while on vacation. Look for me after January 5th.

What's on the needles:

Vacation knitting - my 'beach' socks. I'm trying out helical striping (I love it) on a pair of socks for myself, in sand and teal colors. I'm going to try and finish them in Cali.

When I get back, I need to order needles for my older brother's birthday present (shh. He wants it to be a surprise. We'll see how long it lasts. I might just spontaneously explode from the effort.), then I'll be raring to go. I'm very excited, because it'll be the first time I'll be working with bamboo needles. I've heard good things.

[On a side note: why are KnitPicks metal needles nickle-plated? I'm allergic to nickel, and I know many people are. The last thing I want when I'm knitting are burn-y hands. You have to think it's not a good business decision to potentially alienate part of your customer base. ]

I also have some fixing to do on a pair of mittens I gifted. The pattern called for them to be knit flat, then seamed up. I did one accordingly, but the second I did in the round (I also didn't size down a needle for the ribbing like it said in the pattern). The second one was quicker and more fun, not to mention it actually fit. I think I need to find a better basic mitten pattern, or leave a note in ink to myself to knit all future mittens from that pattern in the round. Anyway, the recipient is anxious for the first mitten to be reknit, since he likes the second so much. I shall oblige.

Bye, and I'll see you after my fun-filled week in Cali. 

(Have I mentioned what I'm looking forward to most in California? Going outside. I live in Colorado, so this week of not having to wear three pairs of socks will be quite the treat.)

Bits and pieces

I'm kind of all over the place, trying to finish my Christmas Gifts and whatnot, so this entry will be rather scattered. I'll try and keep it somewhat organized via numbered list.

1. I finished my sister's wristwarmers (Fetching wristwarmers in Knitty) on Friday. They're lovely.

2. I'm thinking about knitting a headband/earwarmer thing out of the leftover yarn (I got a rather large skein) for her. On top of all my other projects, before Christmas. I might be insane.

3. I finished my brother's wristwarmers today (Dashing wristwarmers in Knitty). I am supremely jealous. I'm trying to convince myself that it would be bad karma to steal them back after I give them to him for Christmas.

4. I had a wonderful time out today with my friend. We hung out at our local Borders. She read, and I knit. 

5. I bought her her Christmas and birthday gifts and gave them to her, since I'll be out of town for her birthday. She knew exactly what I was getting her, even before I went to the checkout. I didn't even pretend I was going to 'surprise' her.

6. I'm going to attempt to knit the majority of a hat before I go to bed tonight. I'll probably have to eat and rest sometime between now (4:40) and midnight, but I can work around that.

7. Ravelry is just more addicting than I gave it credit for. I went to log my Christmas projects and new yarns (what I assumed would be a twenty minute job), and I ended up spending over an hour on various pursuits. On the upside, I found the perfect pattern for a Christmas gift next year. On the other hand, 40 of those 60 minutes was intended for the hat I'm trying to finish today, so I can stay on my knitting schedule.

8. I have a knitting schedule. I have set a project for each day. Yesterday wristwarmers, today hat, tomorrow mittens, Tuesday another pair of mittens, Wednesday slippers/earwarmer-thing (if I can manage it), Thursday/Friday hat to be done by Saturday before my flight. 

9. Every night I panic slightly around 11 pm as I worry that I won't finish the day's item. I've stayed up past midnight the past three nights to finish.

10. I'm a little short on sleep and coherency.

I think that's all. I'm off to try and finish a hat.

There are people who can keep their gifts secret...

... I am not one of those people. I was just thinking about it, and I realized that each and every one of my gift recipients (okay, excluding one, but only because she lives over 3,000 miles away from me) knows exactly what they're getting, and have likely been subjected to rants and long-winded 'thoughts' about how I'm going to make it. 

Subject #1: MOTHER - socks - Complained about acrylic yarn. Taunted with finished product ("I know your feet are cold. Suck it up. Christmas is only five days away. But have I mentioned how cool it is to wear hand-knit socks?"). Watched me slog through final vortex of stockinette.

Subject #2 FATHER - slippers - began slippers as favor months ago. Promised to have done before weather got cold. Forgot about them, though was gently reminded in October that "Sweetie, my feet are getting kind of frosty". Implied he would get them for Christmas. Recently smiled sweetly when yet another cold-foot comment was made and said, "Wow. Sucks to be you. Wouldn't it be awesome if someone did something about that?" Most recently implied that he wasn't getting anything for Christmas, though the slipper components were sitting out in plain sight.

Subject #3 FRIEND - hat - at Thanksgiving, showed friend cool hat pattern I thought would look fabulous on her. May have made comment such as, "And I'm thinking a pomegranate or rich plum color. Do you think you need an Adult Small or Medium?". May have later stated that "I can't wait to start your awesome hat!".

Clearly I cannot be trusted to keep such a thing a secret. It might be combination of my zealous geekiness for fiber, and the fact that I don't want to give a gift that won't be well received, but I think it all comes down to my extremely 'straightforward' personality.

Luckily none of my peeps crave surprises.

I think I Might Be a Masochist

At the moment, my right eye is trying to commit suicide. I was up late last night attempting to finish my mom's Christmas present, and it seems that my eye objects to trying to start another gift on the heels of such a fiddly one (which I admit was done in poor lighting). This has made my day so far delightful.

I was so happy to finish my mom's present, because my main thought when knitting it was not, "Oh, she'll love this" "What a delightful colorway" or some such thing. It was mostly, "F@!$ing acrylic". I truly hate the stuff. It's stiff, scratchy, and doesn't hold heat well, if at all. I only used it because I had it sitting around, and I'm cheap. I also didn't think it would really be that bad. I thought I was giving a better gift, because the socks will last longer. I did not realize I was committing myself to a slow death, as I tried to knit cardboard socks on little needles, with yarn that seemed to hold the needles in a dramatic death grip. (I do not lie when I tell you that those needles are now bent. They've got this curve to them from trying to wrangle the acrylic crap off of them and into socks.)

Needless to say, I am a much happier person, now that the F*&$ing Acrylic Socks are done. I even did a little jig as I wove in ends. 'I am free!' I thought.

Then I remembered what I'm making my mother next Christmas. And I began to feel a little sick.

See, my mom has these two really big skeins of yarn that she's had for a while. One is red, and one is green, and my mother would really like a Christmas sweater made out of them. Before I began the F$%*ing Acrylic Socks, I thought to myself, "I will do it. I love my mother, and I know she will adore having a Christmas Sweater." But now that I have finished the FAS, I realize there will be some problems when I try to make this sweater.

1. It's acrylic. I despise acrylic.

2. It's a sweater, so I will spend a lot of time with the acrylic.

3. I lied before. The yarn isn't 100% acrylic. It's 95%. But the other 5% is metallic thread. It is in there for sparkle and to make the yarn more eye-catching. I assume. 

I privately believe that this yarn is special yarn sold in special stores, to masochists. To those knitters who feel the need for penance in their lives. I'm not sure how my lovely mother came to have this yarn, as she is not what most people would call a masochist. (She did decide to raise five children, and chose not to sell us on the black market. I personally believe, though, that she is merely insane, not a masochist.)

But I am still going to knit the sweater. I love my mother, and I want her to have her f)*%&ing Christmas Sweater. This may make me a masochist.

3 Things to Start off With

1. I will not be posting often, or religiously. This is because I am in the Christmas Crunch period. I am trying maniacally to finish all 430o5 projects I have left, in the next six days.

2. I do not own a camera. This makes knitblogging somewhat difficult, as I admit to skimming new blogs for their pictures. I depend on the pics to show me the knitter's skill and creativity.

You will find none of that here.

3. Some of my current projects lack, shall we say, "zest". I am on seconds of most of my pairs gifts (second sock [plain and in acrylic], second wristwarmer, another second wristwarmer...), and I would find it difficult to describe the sheer excitement that knitting seconds entails.

It might get exciting when I get around to putting together my dad's present, since I've really backed myself into a corner with that one. (I am not a seamstress. I persist in believing I am. What I call "putting together" actually involves somewhat complicated stitchery, and my sewing machine is broken anway. It will be Fun.)

So my apologies, but hopefully things will pick up a bit when I dig myself out of this rut of seconds.

Reasons I Should Have Spent My Christmas Gift Money on Books

1. I Should really be trying for personal growth and enrichment. You know, enlightenment. Being able to sound intelligent in front of my peers. I hear books can help with that.

2. Really, my friends/family have enough "stuff", anyway. They really don't need any of the things I got them. And buying myself books wouldn't count as "stuff", anyway, because I am obviously doing it to attain a higher understanding of the world.

3. Really, I'd be giving back to the family. They trust me for the recommendations I give them, not to mention the witty insights into daily life provided by my constant reading. ("Your nose is stuffy like the padding in Alanna's armor! [re: Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce]" "...What?" "I thought so.")

4. Re: Giving back - they always end up borrowing my books anyway, since I'm the one in the family who reliably has new good reading material. I could almost count the books as my gift to them. Except, like, mine. Because I would never let them permanently keep my precious books.

5.Terry Pratchett, Laurell K. Hamilton, Tamora Pierce, Meg Cabot, Robin McKinley, Dorothy Parker, etc. I do not own, nor have I read, all of their books. This is a travesty that must be fixed.

I'm sure I could find more reasons that my attempts to buy my family's love are remiss, but I'd rather not acknowledge some of the ways I've tried convincing myself that I don't really need to prove my affection over and over again each year, and it's really a disgusting holiday anyway, considering all the waste and ill-will that goes into it generally... I do love my family. Really, I do. But...Amazon.com has free shipping for orders over $25. Does anyone but me realize how many books it is possible to get for $25?

...I should really stop now, before I dig out my receipts and this gets even uglier. Besides, now that I've gotten all my presents, I can spend my money on books. Hey, yeah!


PS- Book review forthcoming.