We'll have a Green Christmas...

The Gambler and I decided to deal with holiday stress by taking evasive action this year; on December 19 we leave for the Dominican Republic for a week. This gives us an excuse to not bother with putting up the Christmas tree this year (I don't remember what last year's excuse was...) So instead I knit a Christmas tree out of some Manos: With cat for scale: Decorated with vintage buttons (I inherited The Gambler's Nana's button collection): The pattern is available at Kniterary, my LYS away from home. Next year I might just knit 2 of these out of some bulky yarn and make festive touques for myself and The Gambler.

There's someone for everyone...

I finished both the Cow-IL and the Softie Cowl in time to give them to their respective recipients (and I'm pretty sure they were only a wee bit damp - luckily tissue paper breathes). I didn't take a photo of the Cow-IL (imagine a square of pale blue stockinette with a few rows of garter stitch at the top and bottom), but here's the Softie Cowl: The pattern would definitely be a good choice for a luxury yarn - I had 4 metres left of the 100m skein. Now I just have to figure out what to do with the second skein. I might use them as the lining for a pair of Fiddlehead Mittens. Because I don't have nearly enough projects on the go. Actually, on December 24th, I decided that it was high time to add yet another new project - one for me. I'm calling it The Mixed Marriage Kerchief. Pattern here. The bride is Midori - exotic, capricious, and trendy. Her tastes are expensive, and you never know what she's going to do next. The groom is Gunter - steadfast, kindhearted, with a quiet sense of humor. Predictable, but not without personality. He's a big teddy bear. Like all good couples, together they are more than the sum of their parts. I've realized that I prefer to wear a triangular shawl rather than a scarf, because with a scarf, I always end up having a little patch of exposed neck just below the knot - I can temporarily cover it up with the scarf ends, but invariably, they shift during wearing. I've been wearing my Tri Tri Again Toscana a fair amount - I just put the point in front, wrap the rest around my neck and tie the knot under the body of the shawl. Wow - what an incredibly awkward way to describe a simple action. I have newfound respect for people who write instruction manual copy. GOOD instruction manuals that is. My favourite instruction manual quote comes from my Vehicle Owner's Manual: "Dynamic Stability Control prevents the driving wheels from losing traction when you pull away from rest or accelerate. The laws of physics cannot be repealed, even with DSC. An appropriate driving style always remains the responsibility of the driver." Bwa Ha Ha - love that German humour!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...

The socks for my Dad will probably end up being bed socks due to the abbreviated cuff. Or maybe he'll start a new trend of men's cuffed ankle socks. This was the amount of yarn leftover from each sock: Now I did use 3mm needles, and the hybrid heel does use a fair amount more yarn than a short row heel, but still! My dad has size 9 feet! What if I'd been knitting socks for The Gambler with his size 11 feet?!? The yarn is Stomp by (the now defunct)Needful Yarns. Other than the yardage, it was pretty good to knit with. I'm sure that if you used 3.75 mm needles, and were knitting socks for a women's size 8 foot you'd have no problems at all. Definitely a good buy if it's on clearance somewhere. I finished my Dad's socks just in time - the morning that we returned home from a short visit to Winnipeg (when it's -25C without counting windchill, a short visit is all I can stomach!). On the plane, I worked a bit more on the first Stick to Your Ribs sock: I'm quite happy with the Garter Rib - it's nice and stretchy, so I'm able to continue the sock up a bit past the point where my calf widens. I do like the look of it with this yarn. But there are still more gifts to knit - I picked up some Bamboo Alpaca blend yarn at the Royal Winter Fair this fall, and am knitting it into a cowl for my Non-evil Stepmother-in-law. The yarn is loosely spun - the label calls it "Lopi yarn", and it is wonderfully soft. The pattern is The Diagonal Ribbed Cowl. The yarn fuzzes up a bit, so I think it looks better this way than it would as a simple stockinette. After that is done, the only Christmas knitting I have is to finish the Cow-IL, and knit a shawlette for The Gambler's Nana with 3 bulky yarns held together and obscenely large needles. And I am on call from Friday morning through 'till Wednesday morning. Luckily we won't see Nana and the Non-evil Stepmother-in-law until the 26th!

Green is the new Catholic

Is it just me, or do other people experience guilt over not recycling/composting? It pains me to throw recyclables in the garbage, and causes me angst if I see something recyclable sitting in a garbage can - sometimes it is very tempting to take it out and put it into the appropriate collection bin. I'm starting to fear that I am on the road to Crazy-lady-that-rifles-through-garbage-bins-ville. ********************************** I ended up christening my Mom's Cowl The Fuzzy Navy Abby - it looks black on the white background, but it is indeed navy: It knit up quite quickly: After 6 pattern repeats, it was 12 inches long. Since my Mom will wear it around her neck rather than as a headcover, it's plenty long enough. Now I'm onto a pair of sportweight socks for my dad: They also look black against a white background, but are in fact a dark blue/teal colour. I'm not very hopeful that I'll have them finished by next weekend when we go to visit my family, but if I can at least get to the heel, he can try them on to make certain they fit well.