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It’s still perfect, just without the snow. In fact, my dad said that instead of shoveling, maybe he’d take Max and Alex out and show them his new lawnmower.

Seriously, there is no snow. None. There were flurries on Saturday, but only enough to make one asymmetrical little ice ball for Max. No snowmen will be constructed this year…

We’re still having fun.

Jojo and Sami are enjoying some down time, and this afternoon we’re going to go shopping. Yesterday Max and Alex went to the Railroad Museum in Green Bay, and today they went to Great-Grandma’s with my dad and Penny to help put up the Christmas tree.

My mom collected black walnut hulls throughout the fall, and this morning we’re dying wool.

And I’m still trying to finish my Christmas knitting.

I’m cautiously optimistic that I’ll be able to finish, but I might just buy some back-up gifts in case I don’t.

Now that the turkey has been consumed – along with the green beans and sweet potatoes and stuffing, not to mention the pumpkin pies – we have started the stress filled countdown to Christmas. 27 days…less than four weeks…are you feeling dizzy yet?

I’ve been working on my Christmas knitting since the middle of summer, and I’d be done if I weren’t so easily distracted. But since I appear to have the attention span of a gnat on crack (thanks to my lovely husband for that phrase), I have completed quite an impressive number of projects, but only two Christmas gifts.

It was with this serious deficiency in mind, then, that I found a couple of really great projects that I’d like to call to your attention if, like me, you find yourself with an ever dwindling amount of time and a list of finished objects that refuses to grow regardless of your efforts.

First up is “Wisp”, a very pretty scarf knit with silk/mohair yarn whose beauty belies the complexity of the pattern. A shortish scarf can be made with a single skein of yarn; two skeins will result in a luxuriously long, fluffy strip of mmmmm! I’ve used Debbie Bliss’ “Angel” yarn, and the 15 row pattern is so easy to remember (you really only need to keep track of your rows) that I was able to knit up the first skein in less than a week whilst working on a bunch of other stuff at the same time (in other words, I knit for about an hour at a whack once or twice a day over the course of a week). In addition to being really quite pretty, people will think it took immense amounts of skill and focus to create when, in truth, 99% of the greatness of this scarf is due to the yarn.

Next are the “Alberta Clipper Boot Socks”. Knit in worsted weight yarn on size 4 needles, I was able to finish the first sock in less than a day, and the second one is nearly finished as well.

I used Cascade 220, and the results are incredible. They’re thick and squishy, and look soooo very warm. As soon as I’m done with the Christmas knitting, I’m going to make myself a pair. And maybe a pair for each of my kids. And Alex (yes, they’re quick enough that I’d be willing to knit a man-sized pair). Spike (our chihuahua) might even get some.

I have some more quick ideas, but I’ll have to tell you about them tomorrow.

First up:

Baking the sweet potatoes so I can make…

Twice Baked Sweet Potato Poppers (but in casserole form – too inconvenient to make conventionally for so many people)

Next, may I present to you

A little bit of both of my homes. Cranberries courtesy of Wisconsin, orange courtesy of California.

Nearly there…

Mmmm, cranberry sauce!

My final contributions are 7-Layer Salad (the bacon for which is already cooked; I’ll assemble it in the morning) and a Cranberry Salsa that Alex has agreed to construct. I plan on eating nothing all day tomorrow in preparation for the great feast in the evening, so if any of the Cordero clan is reading this, be warned!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, especially all of our family members whom we won’t get to see in person (Sami, did I get the whom right? I struggled with this one…).We love you all!

When I was a kid, I remember the adults around me marvelling about how quickly time passes, how it seemed that last Christmas had been just last week, and summer couldn’t have lasted more than a day or two, and hadn’t the new school year started yesterday? And I also remember thinking that they were insane. Christmas was, like, two years ago. And while summer went by quickly, school had been in session for ages, and I was ready for the winter holidays to start.

This year I find myself in the same position. Last Christmas zipped by, and then the school year ended and started again, and now we’re nearly to the end of November! How can it possibly be Thanksgiving already?  I’m not ready!

My Christmas knitting is progressing, but I’m so far from done that it’s not even a little bit amusing. I’ve finished one pair of mittens and a stole. I still have thumbs to put on another pair, a whole other mitten to make, plus a thumb, for yet ANOTHER pair. Oh, and a pair of socks. I still have to make a pair of socks.

We’re going to Wisconsin for Christmas this year, and I really can’t wait. It’s been about 4 years since we were last there during the winter and I miss the snow and cold. I love watching Alex’s reaction when we pass by the bank and he sees the temperature – not including the windchill. I love watching my kids interact with my parents and all of the people who love them regardless of how long it’s been since they last saw them. This year I’m especially looking forward to playing in the snow with Max, because he doesn’t remember it from the last visit.

But I know that I won’t have much time to knit during the flight  to Chicago. And there are parties to attend and cookies to decorate and people to visit while we’re there, so I can’t depend on that week before Christmas to magically yield thumbs and mittens and socks

So I guess I should get back to it

Orifice hook with seed pods and a star-anise

…made by the very lovely and talented Tracy Lee Black. Thank you, Tracy!

The yarn was delivered last Friday, and I immediately set to knitting the first hat in pink for the little girl. I finished it on Saturday, and as soon as the last end was woven in, I started the brown and blue hat for the little boy.

I adjusted the number of stitches I needed based on my swatch and his head circumference, and knit away. I finished the hat on Sunday afternoon and popped it on Penny’s head to test it, and only then did I realize it was too big. Way too big. Like, by three or four inches. I ripped it out, re-swatched, and tried again. And again.

And again.

I finally got it right (I hope) on Monday evening, and moved on to the mittens. I faced the same issue here, where everything I tried ended up being far too large, or teensy. I didn’t finish the whole set until late last night, when I stayed up especially so I could wake up this morning and not have to deal with the little buggers. I gave them a quick wash and popped them into the dryer, hoping against hope that the yarn truly was super wash, and that I wouldn’t have to knit these AGAIN because the dryer shrunk them to the size of nickels.

I added i-cord loops to the top of the hat and the cuffs of the mittens reduce the chances of them getting lost. See, they can be collected onto one of those little link-things! (I thought this was incredibly clever. Keep it to yourself if you disagree. I’m not in the mood)

This hat is actually folded up along the decrease lines, which is why it looks so little.

I can tell you, with much relief, that the yarn performed perfectly. It didn’t shrink, but it did put all of the stitches in line the way they’re supposed to be. This is great yarn, and I highly recommend it if you find yourself needing to knit something for a small someone, or for an individual who won’t give regular wool the care it needs and deserves. It is extraordinarily soft and squishy, and comes in several weights, so it will work for a wide variety of projects.

As for me, I’m just happy that I’m done with these, and that I can return to my regularly scheduled Christmas knitting, which is very, very behind. In fact, I think I have exactly none of my gifts completed.

Bye.

Max, Penny and I ventured out just before lunch to pick up some essentials, and to take advantage of the temperature change to stock up on “winter clothes” for Miss P. She made an impressive haul, and might get a chance to wear one or two of the outfits before this storm moves on and leaves us with our regular warm October weather.

Upon returning home and putting Penny down for her nap, I made good use of the nearly quiet house to finish up two projects that were recently off the needles but not quite done.

First up is Jojo’s Entrelac Scarf. I started this last December, and brought it with me for the Christmas Eve festivities at my in-law’s house. In the confusion that often accompanies leaving at the end of a party, especially one where gifts have been exchanged, I left the scarf sitting on the back of the couch. My mother-in-law, who is an impressive knitter and crocheter, was intrigued by the design and attempted to reverse engineer it. She eventually gave in, and proceeded to hold the scarf hostage until I had an opportunity to sit down with her and show her how it was done.

Needless to say it was many months before I finally got the scarf back, and I had moved on to more emergent knitting deadlines. So the scarf was placed unceremoniously into the-basket-that-holds-projects-that-I-started-but-will-likely-never-finish. And there it stayed until last week, when Alex cleaned up both our living room and our bedroom and the basket ended up sitting in the middle of the bed, begging to be dealt with.

I salvaged several of the projects, and all of the yarn, and decided it was time to finish Jojo’s scarf. And finish it I did. Look, I have proof!

Next up is the “Cardigan for Merry,” which is not for Merry, but is instead for Penny. The cables on this sweater nearly killed me, but now, looking at the finished product, they were totally worth it. I have to remove the buttons and turn them 90 degrees, because the top one hits her right under her little chin. I may also adjust the spacing a bit, but that would necessitate moving the loops as well, so that might not happen. Any way, I’m very pleased that she’ll be able to wear it tomorrow (since it will probably still be chilly).

So, now that those two are off my list, I should probably get back to the mittens…

After the trauma of the first Lotus Blossom mitten, I decided to take a break from my barely started Christmas knitting to work on a project that I’d been thinking about for a while. I even started it once, but made a mistake early on and set it aside in frustration. I picked it up again a few weeks ago, and it’s been happy knitting ever since! I’m making a sweater for Penny, from the “A Cardigan for Merry” pattern from annypurls.

The front of the “Cardigan for Merry” (everything else is just flat blue pieces), knit on size 3 needles with Wool of the Andes Sport Sapphire Heather

All of the initial parts are done (fronts, back and sleeves), and the only thing left to do is knit the hood and sew the seams. This is a great pattern, but there’s one little weird thing that is bothering me, almost to the point where I’m considering frogging the 10 rows of hood I’ve finished so far so I can fix it.

The weird thing is this: the stitches left after decreasing for the armholes on the fronts and back are left live so they can be used for the hood. But the three stitches left at the top of each sleeve are bound off, only to be picked up when the hood is knit. This results in a weird little seam thing at the top of the sleeves. I’m sure it’s no big deal, but it does look strange, and it would have been easier to leave the sleeve stitches live as well.

The cables for this sweater are from Kate Gilbert’s “A Cardigan for Arwen“, and are reversible…very cool

But then again, Anny has designed many great sweaters, and maybe that little seam is there for a reason. Ok, I’m over it – it’s not bothering me any more. Back to my needles I go!

Some days, it seemed I’d never sit down again.

But I’ve made it to the final weekend of summer, Max’s party is a memory working its way toward “pleasant” as I begin to forget about how hot it was and how tired I was when it was over, and I’ve found a few minutes to sit down, have a cup of coffee, and catch up on my blog.

I finished the first of the evil, stubborn, wicked, but still beautiful blue and white mittens* yesterday. Then I took some photos of it with my new camera (I’ll tell that story later). Enjoy. And after you’ve basked in her glory, I’ll fill you in on the nightmare of her creation.

Lotus Mittens (ravelry link) by Heather Desserud, knit (eventually) with size one needles using classic elite one fifty yarn

This mitten…not “this pair of mittens,” but this one, single mitten, was started two weeks ago. It’s for someone cool, who I think is wonderful, and therefore I felt – even more than usual – that it should be perfect and lovely.

The first time, I cast on with the size needles requested by the pattern, and after about 15 rows, it was sloppy and horrible. So I pulled it out.

The second time, I cast on with smaller needles. It was still sloppy and horrible. So I pulled it out.

The third time, I cast on again with the smaller needles, but paid extra-close attention to my tension. Finally, my stitches were lovely. I knit and knit and knit, and when I got to the beginning of the third little lotus blossom, I put it on. And it was claustrophobically small. (Oh, deja vu… I think I’ve already told this story. Eh. I’ve already re-typed it, and you’ve probably already read it, so I’m just going to leave it, OK?) So I pulled it out.

I went back to the original needles, and paid close attention to my tension, and the stitches looked nice and neat. So that’s four times that I’d started this mitten. Of course, the adventure wasn’t over yet. Throughout the final iteration of this mitten I repeatedly made errors that required ripping out four or six rows and reknitting them, or tinking back half a row of stranded color work on DPNs to correct a spot where I’d done blue-blue-white rather than blue-white-white. By yesterday morning I had only half of the thumb left to knit, and it was only my anger and frustration with this poor little mitten that got it done.

But now that it is done, I think it’s lovely and I may have a hard time parting with it.

* I should mention that ALL of the issues that I had with this mitten were my own fault. The pattern is written without error, and the chart is perfect as well.