Christmas Knitting 2018

Christmas knitting is in crunch mode.  I decided to make Marluks for Kristin.   She lives in an old house at school.  I thought these would be good for keeping her feet warm this winter.

This pattern calls for an after-thought heel.  This is a technique I've never done before. On the pattern page in Ravelry, Andrea Mowry has a link to a video to show how she uses lifelines to hold the live stitches after she removes the scrap yarn.

I'm also making these two-at-a-time.  The gauge is tight  which is making the knitting slow.  Fortunately it is worsted weight yarn so it compensates for the slow knitting.

When I asked Blake what he wanted, he mentioned a scarf.  After work Thursday I popped over to my LYS and got some chunky yarn in a color that should match his favorite cap.  I am using a stitch pattern out of the book Sequence Knitting.  It is a simple 9 stitch repeat, but if you don't pay attention, and pay too much attention to the television before you get your rhythm, you can mess up.  I had to rip it out and restart.  Since this is chunky yarn, it is working up fast.

While I was at the LYS I found this lovely skein of BAAH.  I love the colors.  This is going to be me-knitting after I get the Christmas projects finished.

This weekend is dedicated to finishing the docorations.  We are going to have a challenge with everything placed low.  Nala has decided that under the tree is one of her favorite places to hide.

The Cat Loves Yarn

This is my oldest brother Joe.  Joe is developmentally disabled.  After Mom died, he moved in with my sister Karen.  He spends his weekends between Karen's house and the homes of my other three siblings in Cincinnati.  He handles the transitions very well and loves being with the pets at each house.  He spent Thanksgiving week with us.   He particularly loves cats and wanted to hold Nala often.  She would tolerate it for about a minute and then jump away.  To be fair, Nala doesn't tolerate being held by anyone if they are sitting down.  Joe didn't seem to be offended when she jumped away.  He was very happy when she curled up on the ottoman by his feet.

I've asked the kids what kind of knitwear they want this year.  All of them didn't seem too enthusiastic with their response.  Trisha did ask for a headband.  I was able to bang it out quickly while watching television.  It was such an easy knit I might make a few more for friend gifts.  I did modify the patter slightly.  Notes are on my Ravelry project found here.

Since I'm not pressured to get any big projects done for the kids, I'm able to work on some of my own things.  I dove into the stash and pulled out the Color Changing Cotton that I bought in August at Stitches Midwest and cast on Bellrose.  Since the threads of this yarn are not plied I have a tendency to split the yarn but the more I work with it the easier it becomes to use.  The split problem occurs most on certain rows when the tension is tighter.  As far as this pattern goes, I love it!!  It is easy to follow and the sections demarcate my progress.  This will be a nice additions to my Spring wardrobe.

After the kids and Joe left on Sunday, Ed and I put up our outside Christmas lights.  For the past couple years we had not been able to have any outside illumination because of an electrical issue.  The issue got fixed a couple months ago.  The photo below is a little blurry but I love how bright the lights are.

Kristin decided before she left to leave Nala with us.  Nala does not like being in the car.  Kristin has only a couple more weeks of school for the semester and then is going to Chicago to visit friends for a few days before coming back home for Christmas break.  She felt it would be easier on Nala to just stay.  Nala is a very attention-seeking cat.  She doesn't let us do anything that does not involve watching and petting her.  Laying on keyboard is her way of making sure we are paying attention to her instead of working on the computer.  The only reason I am able to blog right now is because I tossed her on the floor.  She's now mad at me and pouting under the couch.  Given the look in her eyes I'm sure she's plotting her revenge on my yarn.

Speaking of her revenge, while I was out Thursday evening with friends, Ed wasn't paying enough attention to her so she got into on of my balls of yarn.  I found it wrapped around the furniture in the dining room.  I wished I had taken a picture but I was a bit annoyed that Ed didn't even notice what she was doing.  Last night I untangled the mess and wound the yarn into a ball.  She was fascinated with that yarn still so I decided to quickly crochet a little cat toy for her.  It ended up being a huge hit.  She played with this 'mouse' for about an hour.  She was one tired kitty when she finally stopped.

November Travels

Because the holiday season isn't busy enough, my husband and I went on a cruise the week before Thanksgiving.  It was a 4-night cruise out of Miami.  Ed always worries about missing the cruise because of travel delays so we flew to Florida the day before.  It was an extremely early flight.  We got up at 3:30 am, got to the airport around 4:45 and was on our way by 6:00.  Being the first flight out in the morning we had to deice before taking off.  We got to see the sunrise somewhere over Kentucky.

We had a brief layover in Tampa where I enjoyed a tea and a little sock knitting.

We flew into Fort Lauderdale and spent the night at a dingy hotel.  To be fair, the bathroom and sheets were clean, but the rest of the hotel left a lot to be desired.  Even the curtains were stained!  I was so grateful that we made it out of there without getting bedbugs or experiencing some other disaster.  The lesson learned it to read the comments before booking.

On Monday we Ubered down to Miami and got on the ship.  Everything was dramatically better.

Here is our view of South Beach as we sailed out of port.

Tuesday was spent in Nassua, Bahamas.  It welcomed us with blue skies and a rainbow.

Wednesday was at the RCCL private island, Coco Cay.

Thursday was at sea.  We got to see some incredible sunsets from the balcony of our stateroom.

It was a very nice trip.  The only thing I wish were different concerned the ship.  All of the public areas were loud.  There really wasn't anywhere to sit in a quiet area and just watch the sea go by.

We lucked out going home.  We were able to get off the ship very early.  Another Uber ride back to Fort Lauderdale got us to the airport by 8:00.  Our flight wasn't scheduled until 3:00 so we asked about switching to something earlier.  Luckily we got the last two seats on a flight home connecting through Tampa.  We were home by 4:00 pm.  We learned our original flight was delayed.  We would have missed our connection and not gotten home until after midnight.

The reason for the flight delay was a weather system that swept through the Midwest on Thursday and then northeast on Friday.  When we got home we found a dusting of snow on the deck and part of our Bradford pear on the ground.  That tree has survived many windstorms.  But I guess the ice storm before it had a chance to drop its leaves was too much.

This week was Thanksgiving.  Kristin came home on Saturday (with Nala) and then Blake came home Monday evening.  He brought my brother Joe to visit for the week.  I love having the kids at home.  I enjoy having them hang out in the family room to watch tv with us or to play a game.

  I'd like to say I enjoyed Thanksgiving but that would be a lie.  Thanksgiving was always my favorite holiday.  Growing up it was always a big holiday spent with my dad's side of the family.  Everyone would come to our house and stay late into the evening.  I'm finding lately the special feeling of the day just isn't there.  This year especially.  I spent two days cooking the entire meal myself only to have the guests show up an hour before the meal, congregate around the table until the meal was served and then leave before dessert.  It was a huge let down.  I didn't even get a chance to visit with anyone.  This wasn't the first time this happened.  It happens almost every time anymore.  I guess I need to figure out of how to accept this.  I'm going to focus on the rest of the weekend and enjoy having my kids home.

Seeking a Few Quick Wins

Sweater knitting is a commitment.  At best, a project can get done in a matter of months.  Some of my sweater projects have been lingering for years.  Sadly, some will probably never reach bind off.  But, when one does reach completion and it fits perfectly and it is soft and cuddly, it is time to celebrate.  

Introducing my Weekender!

I wore it to work on Friday.  It was a grey, rainy day and the sweater was perfect.  While taking the photos, Ed commented that it looked itchy.  It is the complete opposite.  With the knit side against my skin it is super soft.  I love it so much I'm thinking about making a second one someday.

Now that Weekender is finished, I am focusing on smaller projects.

These gloves for Blake have been hibernating for over a year.  My plan is to get these done in the next week or two.  and then stash away until Christmas.  Blake asked us to give him money to go on a trip in lieu of his birthday gift.  The cost was more than we usually spend on birthday and Christmas combined. We worked out a deal which includes no big ticket item for Christmas.  I don't want him to have nothing to open at Christmas so I'll load him up with knitwear.  A pair of slippers will accompany these gloves.

Last year at Wool Gathering I was on a mission to find a skein of yarn that mirrored autumn colors.  I found a skein from Deep Dyed Yarns that was close to what I had in mind, but wasn't perfect.  A bit later I found the perfect skein, which then became my Autumn Colors socks.  Because the leaves around here are finally turning beautiful colors, I have been thinking about that first skein of yarn that I bought.  Yesterday I decided that it needed to become a Starshower cowl.

This is the second time I've knit this pattern.  I first made one back in 2015.  It was a quick, fun project which gets  a lot of compliments every time I wear it.  What I like best is that it stays put when I put it on and lays nicely over a long sleeve t-shirt.  My plan is to have this current one done by Thanksgiving.

While I was winding the yarn for the second Starshower, I wound a couple other skeins.  It is an ambitious goal, but I'd also like to turn this skein of Destination Yarn Under the Christmas Tree into another Starshower cowl.

I also wound the skein of Baah! that our daughter's cat Nala chewed.  I was happy to see that the split was near one end.  I'm not sure what it will become.  I'll see what it whispers to me.  

But it's whispers will have to wait until after Christmas.  I have plans for projects for the girls and Ed too.