HO. HO. HO.

Santa has brought the photos!

This is the stuff I've made for my family, aka the stuff with the Good Yarn.
The Shedir hat and the Lake Park gloves for my mom:

Socks for my dad (I love the way the Wildfoote feels when it's knit up, but it's pretty splitty and a bit of a pain in the tushie to work with. Still, the loveliness of the finished product totally wins,) and two pair of fingerless gloves for the brothers. The black ones are Lanett, and I love them and wanted to keep them. So I threw them in a box and mailed them before I got too attached. They're really gorgeous. Hard to believe that plain black mostly stockinette could be that gorgeous, but they are. Somehow the yarn manages to make this simple pattern extremely elegant. And now I don't have any more Lanett to make out with, and I am sad.

I still have one more set of gloves to make, for the third brother, but I don't like the way the green Opal is knitting up, so I have to make a new plan. But since I'm going home two weeks after Christmas, my mom has decreed that we'll just do Christmas then, so I've got plenty more knitting time. I have enough time to knit pants if I wanted to. Which I don't. Knit pants are so last year.

grrr.

Dear Jo-Ann's:

Why don't you carry 16-inch size 8 circulars? It's pissing me off.

Love, Me.

ps: Screw you, Jo-Ann's.

discoveries

Hey! Sorry about the lack of posting, if anyone reads this here blog. Between my show and the Christmas knitting, and a parental visit--which really cut into the knitting time--I've been swamped.

Anyway, today I have discovered two things:

1. You can't make a whole pair of men's gloves out of one ball of Lanett. The yarn's magical, but not that magical. Dammit. Oh well--I've got enough for fingerless gloves, and they're very elegant.

2. It's not so easy to count rows while you're listening to The Twelve Days of Christmas. Stop it with the numbers! You're confusing me!

Photos of my nearly-finished holiday knitting to come! Really! I made my mom a pair of Lake Park Gloves out of the Colinette Jitterbug I mentioned ages ago, and they're pretty awesome. Awesome to the point that I want to keep them for myself. So much better than the Autumn Mess version.

proof of blanket

Behold the new psychedelic blanket:
This first picture's a bit busted, because I re-sized it for another website, but you get the idea. I wish it was in a multiple of three, but sometimes you take what you can get. It's not like I'm an expert psychedelic-blanket designer, but I might be eventually.

Close-up of the edge, which is my favorite part. Look at the fun candy-cane striping. And, believe it or not, though I had to attach a new skein for about the last four inches of applied I-cord, it went ahead and matched up really well. Christmas miracle, y'all.

So yay! Now on to smaller things. My dad's socks will be finished today. On to gloves next, and possibly gloves made with Lanett, so I will be in what is known as heaven.

ouch.

You know you're way too into knitting when the first thing you think, when you cut your finger and it's bleeding all over the sink, is: "Oh good, it's my left pointer finger. I can totally still knit."

Oy.

But hey, I sent the blanket! Now I don't have to think about it anymore! On to socks. I can't quite decide if brother #3 should get gloves or socks. The yarn I have picked out for him is a little crazy. I have this problem where (if you couldn't tell from the rainbow blankets) I really, really like color. And sometimes when I'm in the yarn store, no matter how I try to restrain myself, I can't quite remember that other people might not like insane green socks as much as I would. Or insane green gloves. Don't they sound fun? I would wear insane green gloves. There's something so Batman villain about the concept.

THE WINNER!

The blanket is finished. On time. And it's pretty goddamn cute. The border--oh, the border. You know when variegated yarn sometimes does something awesome? Well, it did. I took pictures, but I'm in no mood to fight with iPhoto right now, so, as usual, you'll have to wait. But damn. Finished on time.

I feel like such a winner right now. And I cast on for my dad's second sock, and I really feel ahead of (or at least even with) the game right now.

And then I can knit stuff for myself. Today in Target I found myself inspecting a sweater in the kids' department that was precisely what I want to knit out of some burnt orange impulse-purchase wool. I want one of those round-yoked, swingy cardigans with big buttons. In burnt orange. Can you picture the awesome? I can.

progress!

The Squares of Satan are done! Better yet, I've sewn in the ends of two and a half of them. Ha! All I need is some good tv and I'll be sewing that mess together this afternoon.

Yesterday's Knitting Movie Count involved:

1. The end of Batman Begins
2. About a minute of Rise of the Silver Surfer (God, it was horrible)
3. V For Vendetta (Natalie Portman should not get to make movies anymore)
4. A Charlie Brown Christmas (yay!)
5. The Holiday (Surprisingly cute. Kate Winslet should be in everything, really.)

God knows what we'll watch today. I'm running out of options.

better now

After a day without very much knitting, my hand feels a whole lot better. But can you believe (you probably can) that I only managed to sew in the ends on one square? Urgh, three more to go. This is mostly because sewing in ends bores the crap out of me, and unless there's something good on the teevee I sort of can't do it. And since the internet isn't working at the theater I don't bother to lug my laptop over there these days. So with no video pictures to keep me company between shows, I read a book instead. Shadow in the North, which stresses me out. If you were wondering.

And today I haven't done a damn thing on that blanket. I need to get cracking. Yeah, it's my day off, which means I have to run errands and stuff, but seriously, me? If you want to mail the blanket on the 6th, you need to haul some ass. I mean, the as-yet-hypothetical border is getting smaller and smaller every second I procrastinate.

Oy. Better run to the post office, then. Oooh, and I can get a box to mail the blanket. That'll almost be like working on it, right?

dammit

My right hand has had enough.

It really, really, really doesn't want to knit anything right now.

Silly right hand. We have a baby blanket to finish in four days! Which is totally doable--or would be if all hands were in good working condition. We could conceivably finish the last square today, and then get on with the putting-together.

Maybe I'll sew in ends today. I loathe sewing in ends, but at least it'll be a different repetitive motion. Hmm. Good plan, me! Let's do that. Thanks for helping me figure it out, blog!

maybe just a touch of panic

Haven't been blogging (clearly) but have been knitting. For the last three or so days I've been slogging away at the blanket, and am now well into the last square. This means almost nothing, as the last few edges of each square take me forever. Doom and destruction, my friends. Doom and destruction. I'm still hopeful that I'll get it done by the 6th, but its not going to be pretty (the process, I mean: the blanket'll be ok) and my hands might fall off. And the border might have to be crochet with some applied I-cord to finish, instead of more garter stitch. I don't think my needle is long enough to handle four feet of garter stitch. And crochet will be quicker, though the change in style might put a little crack in my soul.

Anyway. Gotta go knit things. Did I mention that if I get my family presents done by the 16th I can send them home with my parents and save on postage? Or I can put the presents in a box. And put the box in another box, and mail it to myself, and when it arrives, smash it with a hammer.

Nah, I'll just do my best to save on postage.