Getting Closer to Christmas

I have my trainer's hat finished. 

I made it out of Cascade 220 Heathers and Cascade 220 Paints.  The pattern is the Boyfriend Hat.  I knit an inch with the Heather and then picked up the Paints and used the jumpless striping technique.  I really like how it turned out.  The blue bits are brighter in the photo than they really are, but the other colors are true.  This was a fantastic, fast knit.

I'm not making much progress on the Christmas gifts this year.  The kids have asked for only one thing each.  You would think I'd have it done by now.  I'm still a bit overwhelmed at work, but it is easing up a bit.  This past week I got to move to a private office.  I'm hoping that I'll be able to get more work done now, with fewer interruptions and distractions from people talking around me.   It has been 3 years since I had my own office.  It feels so good to have a space of my own.

Today my friend Donna is heavy on my mind. Her husband passed away back in July.  He battled leukemia for 15 months.  Today would have been their 29th wedding anniversary.  It has been 5 months since Dean died.  Donna is still having a tremendously hard time dealing with it all.  I am very, very worried about her.  She is receiving grief counselling and has a lot of friends supporting her.  I just wish there was more I could do for her.

Another person I'm worried about is my Mom.  Understandably she sounds so sad every time I call.  She told me that she didn't feel like decorating this year.  My siblings who live close to her took care of putting up the lights and tree for her. It will be good to have everyone together around her this Christmas.

Quick Gift

Friday after work I fought traffic to get to my LYS before they closed.  I made it with 15 minutes to spare.  My hurry was to get some Cascade 220 to make my trainer a hat for Christmas.  I wanted to work on the hat over the weekend.  I bought the yarn and turned to leave when I spied a gorgeous scarf.  I asked for the pattern and the shop owner told me it was something new from Rowan - Kidsilk Creation.  She showed me how quickly this hank of fiber could be transformed into a beautiful scarf.  In case you don't know, Kidsilk Creation is Kidsilk Haze knit very loosely into a tube.  To make the scarf you knit along the side of the tub and then stretch it out to form ruffles.  On impulse, I  bought a hank to make a gift for a friend.  Here it is:

Purple (kidsilk) Haze.  It honestly took me only 3 or 4 hours.  That time was not fully focused time either.  Very easy project for in front of the television.  Here's a close up of the ruffles.  The color is truer in this photo than the one above.