Done, more or less

All I have left to do is wrap everything. Not that I got everything done that I meant to, but enough. There's still a couple of things due in from Amazon but there's still a couple of days to go.

The earthquake this morning was a none too gentle reminder of how subject to change everything is. No damage around here so far as I know, beyond the shattered nerves. We're constantly being warned that "the big one" could come at any time. So even a small quake is enough to trigger a flight response. I didn't actually flee but I did move out from under the chandelier.

Guess I'd better get started on the wrapping. Plus I need to see if the laundry room is available. Since I'm already depressed I might as well pay bills too.

The storm after the lull

Saturday and Sunday were both incredibly busy. There were lines at the register most of the day and I had two tables full of students. As far as I could tell everyone got pretty much what they came for and went away merry. We still have plenty of yarn but a lot of the flashy, glitzy stuff is pretty picked over. And there are a few holes in the needle board, mostly the 13s through 17s. We're out of black in almost everything.

I finished Christmas project number five and have cast on for number six. I should be done with this one tonight or tomorrow. There's still shopping and wrapping to be done and a little more baking. And I need a birthday present for my friend Carol, a Christmas baby, a long time ago. And a dentist appointment on Tuesday. I'm making myself very nervous.

Lull

It was a quiet and slow day at Skein yesterday. So weird after the frantic day on Wednesday. Well, it did allow me time to totally finish holiday gift number four and to knit a few rows on the socks that I may finish in time for another gift.

Looking forward to the days when I'm not under a deadline. I've been reading Nancie Wiseman's Knitted Shawls, Stoles, and Scarves which is a book I got for Christmas last year. My fantasy is to make everything in the book, even the ones that I'm not too crazy about. And maybe not the Autumn Leaves shawl. Way too much intarsia in that one. I've already made the Shoulder Warmer shawl using some stash mohair.

There are a few things in the book that I've never tried. Entrelac and mitered squares, for example. I've done short rowing and lace and slip stitches but I could use more practice. One of the scarves, the Chenille Diagonal Lace scarf, is already on my needles. Just a coincidence. The only difference is the number of stitches.

I'll try to use yarn from my stash as much as possible. It should be easy enough to modify the patterns to fit the yarn available. Anyway, I'm just thinking about it during this lull in the action. Who knows if it'll actually happen?

Oy! my aching hands!

I don't think short circular needles are good for me. Much of my holiday knitting involves the use of some size 7, 16" circulars and my hands are hurting like never before. This may not be the fault of the needles but instead the fault of trying to make too many small, round things. But I am going to power through it and I will reach my goal, if I can stay awake long enough.

We had our Thursday night knit together on Wednesday this week due to a scheduling conflict on the part of the hostess. Not that she didn't try to get it changed but she was outvoted. Anyway, it was fun and relaxing as always. I didn't do the fringing I had planned to do because I think I need to steam the yarn first so the fringe doesn't look like a band of dried out spaghetti. Instead, I worked on one of the above mentioned round things. (Next week we'll have Thursday on Tuesday.)

When I got home, after checking what had happened during the day, I started number five project and tried to stay awake long enough to listen to all of Judas Maccabeus but was only able to get through about half of it. I do like my local classical station but I wish they'd start these long pieces a little earlier than midnight. Tonight it's going to be The Chanukah Story narrated by Leonard Nemoy (instead of Theodore Bickel) so that will be neat. And it's starting at eight.

I had more students than you could shake a needle at yesterday. Most everything was easy to demonstrate and everyone went away with progress. But, oh, it was crowded and noisy. I guess it was all the chocolate combined with all the last minute frenzy of holiday knitting. I think it makes Ann Mary nervous when people start having too much fun. Must be the high school principal syndrome she carries.

Fretting

Most of the time I drive myself right up a tree with fretting about stuff. It makes me crazy if I'm going to be late for an appointment or if I forget to do something I've promised to do. I think I inherited this from my mother who was an all time high level worrier over things that nothing can be done about. She's not here anymore so I think it's my duty to pick up where she left off.

I had an appointment with my dentist this morning. I've had this appointment for two weeks. All my plans for today are predicated on getting there early so there won't be any snags with other things I have planned for today.

Last night, on the way home from Skein, I realized that I would have to take my car to the mechanic today as something wacky was going on with the engine temperature gauge. So I spent most of last night trying to decide how to get the car dealt with so I'd still be able to keep my appointment with the dentist. So I finally decided that I'd just have to cancel my appointment with the dentist and take care of the car first.

I still haven't heard from the mechanic but I called the dentist and apologized for having to cancel with no notice. "You don't have an appointment. I don't see you." I hate it when I spend all that time worrying and have it come to nothing. Now I wonder when the mechanic will call and if I'll be able to get to Skein on time.

You may have noticed that there's no knitting content. Again. Well, there is some. I finished knitting the poncho last night about 12:30. I still have to weave in the ends and attach the fringe and figure out how to block it so it doesn't look so home made.

Anthropologie

Do you have an Anthropologie in your neighborhood? I didn't know they had opened a shop in Pasadena until one of our customers mentioned it last week. Actually she was going to try to duplicate one of the trees they have in their window.

I've been saving a trip there until Lisa could go with me. I went scouting yesterday but couldn't find it. I thought it should be with all the other new shops that have opened over by the Macy's (the one that used to be Bullock's) but it wasn't there. I did check out the Orvis shop and liked it a lot. Anyway, I checked Erica's blog for a link and found the store location page to get the address. So last night it was shopper's nirvana.

It's been a long time since I have been so excited about a store. This place is not to be believed. Not just because of the merchandise although that's pretty amazing. The seasonal decorations are just plain clever. It's enough to make me want a tree of my own. I didn't buy anything but I will. Even if it's just a lot of different soaps and candles.

So, it's not about knitting. While I waited for Lisa to arrive yesterday I knit a few more rounds on the poncho. I think I have about 8 more rounds and then casting off and fringing it. I was getting concerned that I wouldn't have enough yarn so I did some math to see how much I'd need just for the fringe. Barring some unintentional math error I should have about half a skein left.

The way I figure it I have two more days in which to get Christmas under control. So I'm off to see what kind of inspiration I can find for those hard to buy for people on my list. Actually, there are only two of those so it should be easy to come up with something. What do you get for someone who has everything? I mean, that you can afford.

Still in the throes of knitting socks, poncho and other things that need to be done before Christmas. I worked on one of the projects at Skein yesterday even though I was surrounded by students. And I'll get some more done this afternoon after I get back from prowling the mall.

Lisa is coming over tonight. She was supposed to come last night but spaced out and didn't make it. You never get over being a parent.

I finished another holiday present last night and have cast on for the next one. I also brought home the yarn for what I hope is the last one. Now I just have to keep plugging away. I'm not doing anything difficult but it still takes time.

I'm going to lunch with some friends today and Lisa is coming over this evening so I won't be getting much knitting done. I should be able to work on Lisa's poncho while she's here since she already knows about that.

I came home last night with a couple of boxes of candy and some cookies. Thank you gifts from customers. I feel really special. And I'll enjoy all the goodies. Especially the truffles that Ann Mary's sister made. I'm not even thinking about calories until after the first of the year at which point it may be too late.

All the people who didn't show up on Thursday and Friday decided to come into Skein yesterday. We were close to swamped all day! I had a new knitter first thing in the morning and a few quick questions throughout the day but mostly it was getting yarn into people's hands and getting them in line at the register. Some of the glitzy yarns are sold out or almost. Time to get really creative.

A scarf a day

Scarves continue to save the day. There was very little traffic today and what there was, well, scarves are still the thing. I only had one student today and she was there for five hours. At least I had someone to talk to. Ann Mary took the afternoon off, or most of it, and went for a perm. Her husband filled in for her on the register. All in all it was a long day.

Getting started on the holiday baking tonight. Some applesauce and more spiced pumpkin bread. I think that's about it for now.

One sock is done and the second has ribbing. That's about it for today's production. Except that I worked on the poncho tonight at Mendy's and am almost 80% done. It's even colder now than it was last week. I'm pretty sure that I'll be done by this time next week, except maybe for the fringe.

I'm really anxious to start some new projects. But I still have the Mt. Hood socks to complete and the Hearts scarf. They're both so barely started that they will be like new projects when I pick them up. Somehow that's not the same.

Knit together was fun and relaxing as always. We all seem to be working on the same projects we were on last week. It was just so good to be with people who share so much, not just knitting. I took some of Mendy's stash that I've been storing so she could show it off. And we decided what needs to go back to the store.

I spent most of my time at Skein working with the bipolar student. We're on to a new scarf that is actually more challenging than anything she's done before. So far it's going quite well. I think she's making good progress overall. She still has moments when she forgets what she's doing but we have a good enough rapport that she is comfortable letting me know. And she's beginning to recognize mistakes and is learning how to fix them. Being able to really focus on her knitting seems to help her calm down when she's stressed about something else that's going on in her life.

Even more decorative than I thought. The Christmas cactus is loaded with blossoms. I've never had one of these before and I must say I'm pretty impressed.

I took the shawl in today and showed it off. Ann Mary is very pleased so that's a good thing. We don't have a holiday window display as yet but when we do the shawl will probably go in it.

It was pretty quiet today considering how busy we've been recently. I managed a few rows on the socks but that was about it. I did have one student who required my attention most of the afternoon. She had made two right fronts for the baby sweater and they were both equally short compared to the back. So we got that fixed and then I showed her how to do a three needle bind off. That took a couple of tries since she dropped stitches and didn't notice it until she was finished, twice.

Renee came in with her niece and my faux grandson Nicholas. The kid's a riot. So we had a chance to play a little but he doesn't know me very well so he's a little apprehensive. He'll be ten months old on Christmas day.

I really need to do some shopping. So I'll probably be on-line a lot tonight.

Seems like there's some problem over at Blogger. Trying to log on for a couple of hours. Oh, well.





Finally, I'm finished with the shop shawl sample. The top photo shows a detail of the yarns, well sort of. It's Prism Popcorn and something fuzzy, also from Prism. The lower photo shows how the poppies are distributed across the shawl. The black background is Bouton d'Or's Organdi. Not what the pattern called for but we didn't have the Trendsetter Dulcino in stock.

I'm glad it's done even if I don't care for it very much. I've been trying to only work on it while I'm at Skein but decided to just finish it at home tonight. Now I can concentrate on holiday stuff.

It was insane again this afternoon for about an hour. One person commented that it was like the day before Thanksgiving at the supermarket. I'm not sure if Ann Mary ever got to have lunch. When I left tonight about twenty minutes after the store closed there was still one customer trying to make up her mind.

I just finished writing a pattern for Lina using the Sweater Wizard program. We're doing a bell sleeve. I guess SW doesn't know how to do decreases on the lower part of a sleeve. It did show the stitch count but didn't have any text explaining when to do the decreases. I like Sweater Wizard but you still have to do a lot of the work yourself, sometimes.

Dim Sum

What a delightful way to break up the day! I just got home from dim sum with Lina and Irene, two of my students. They assure me the place we went is the best dim sum restaurant in Los Angeles County. Judging from the crowd I'd say they're probably right. I can't describe all we had because I don't know what everything was but it was all delicious and I have enough left overs for the next couple of days. I never knew it was possible to do so many things with rice, or taro or daikon.

So now it's back to the mundane. Laundry and working on the poncho. I have managed a few more rows as well as some progress on the socks. I'm also swatching some Georges Picaud yarn that I got last year when Carol and I went yarn shop stalking.

Georges Picaud has been out of business for at least ten years, maybe more. I can't find anything specific about the company but there are some sites, mostly in French, that mention their yarns. I'm working with one called Scarlett. It's 75% viscose and 25% cotton, variegated red, pink, salmon and plum. I tried it on a US6 and am now trying a US4. It's pretty but I don't want to spend that much time making a shell. I think it will be a good carry along for some other stuff from my stash.

It's been a dark and gloomy day. And it's been drizzling rain most of the afternoon. But that didn't keep people away from Skein. I had five people for various levels of help this afternoon including one brand new knitter. And there was a pretty steady stream of customers, mostly scarves. Between helps I worked on the crocheted fringe for the shop sample shawl. That's been about it for my knitting lately.

I have spent a couple of hours on a pair of socks and the holiday gifts. I have a shawl to rip for one of the students. She got too frustrated to deal with the Furz as she tried to rip it. So she's donated it to whomever wants it. I tried several times to show her how to handle the yarn so it wouldn't get gnarled but I guess she just wasn't patient enough and kept getting it knotted. So I'll undo the thing and have enough for a lap robe.


There's a homeless person trying to take up residence in the laundry room of my building. Most of the people who live here are not owners and don't really pay much attention to the rules and regulations, one of which is to lock the laundry room when it's not in use. So this person comes every night and if the room is locked goes to sleep in front of one of the cars in the carport area. We don't have a security gate so there's no way to keep people out. I'm not sure what to do about this, if anything.

I'm almost excited. The shop sample shawl only needs eight more garter stitch rows and it will be off the needle. Then I get to do the finishing, tedious but easier than working with all those mixed breed fibers that wind around each other and refuse to budge unless they're carefully and gently unwound one strand at a time while trying to keep the stitches from sliding off the unmonitored ends of the needle. Today for sure.

Knit together last night was fun per usual. Mendy had a couple of house guests so our head count was temporaily elevated. I put some stitches back on the needle for Mendy's cousin, 56 stitches on size US2 in a dark multi-color yarn. I'm still not sure how the stitches got off the needle but it was pretty easy to pick them up. We had lots of things chocolate and were all sent home with bags of fresh cherries. Plus I got some bagel dogs. Not sure what those are but I've been assured they are addictive. Just what I need.

What does it mean when a pattern says "increase purlways"? I haven't found an explanation in any of the standard knitting books. The increase was done in the ribbing so I just purled and then knit into the front of the stitch. I have no idea if this is correct but it looked okay. I don't much care for Sirdar patterns and this just reconfirms my distaste.

Christmas Tree

I think this will be my Christmas tree this year.



My sister, who is always ahead of the game when it comes to sending gifts, sent me this Christmas cactus. It's loaded with blossoms and buds. I don't know why I'm so lousy at picture taking. Four new batteries and sixteen frames and this is the best one.

There's no knitting content here. Maybe tomorrow.

Well, that was the plan

I had to be two places at one time today and it was really difficult. I had students coming at eleven and a dentist appointment at ten. I thought I could make it work but the dentist won. So I called Skein and left a message. The student arrived on time, bought some yarn and came back later. So it all worked out. But I hate it when I mix up my schedule like that. I should carry a day planner but then I'd have to remember to use it.

It was a strange, slow day today. Hardly any customers but I did have a few drop in students this afternoon. Mostly chit chat. I'm very close to finishing the shop sample shawl and will be able to get a pic maybe by the weekend. It's too scrunched up on the needle right now to make any sense of it. After it's off the needle I'll still have to do a crochet fringe on two sides. And weave in all those loose ends. Generally I don't mind intarsia but when the yarn is several different sizes and one of them has lumps like popcorn it's tedious.

After receiving several good suggestions about giving IOUs for Christmas I'm thinking that's a great way to go. I wonder what the cut off date would be before a gift was in default. Just kidding. Surely I'll be done by the end of Janurary. Or February at the latest.

Thwarted

Yesterday, in an effort to jump-start my holiday spirit, I took Lisa to lunch and then set out to do some browsing at various boutiques. They were all closed. Why do shops close on Monday? Lots of restaurants used to do this but now they all seem to be open everyday.

So we went to the local antiques mall to look around. I used to love going there and all the other shops in the area. Don't know what has happened over the years that I haven't been going there but the whole area just seemed drab and dreary. Must be me though. They still had piles of the same old old-stuff that I used to lust after. Maybe I'm just over stuffed!

But on the upside. I got to see some of the socks I've knitted being worn. They looked good and didn't fall down. Lisa bought some special sandal shoes to show them off. So now I'm feeling excited about making some more.

I did manage a couple of rounds on the poncho and a little work on the holiday gifts. Today should be better since I don't have all those pesky chores to do. I'm expecting a couple of students at Skein today. This should put my cash flow back into a more positive direction.

Rabbit! Rabbit!

It's beginning to look...

like I'll make my holiday gift knitting quota. But that's a flexible number. I won't be spending much time on them today. Lisa is coming over for lunch and then we're going browsing in some of the clever little boutiques that have opened since last year. But first I have to do a little more house keeping.

I received a lot of interesting suggestions for things to do with pumpkin. Thanks for all the help. Pumpkin ravioli is definitely on the list. Thanks, John. I didn't get to try any of the spiced pumpkin bread that I made but I hear it's good so I'll have to try that one again.

I've been having this curious winding-down feeling lately. I don't feel much like trying anything new in my knitting. I seem to be satisfied with making socks and hats. Even those are pretty simple. At the same time I'm fantasizing about things to start using yarn from my stash. I'm not enjoying my current shawl project for Skein and will avoid working on it as much as I can. I'm going to try to finish it this week and then not take on any more shop projects for a while.

The poncho is progressing, but very slowly. It takes an hour to knit two and a half rounds. I'm almost 70% done. The nights have been very cold so I'm sure it will get lots of use. Even though it's not a Christmas present I hope to have it done by then.

How would you feel if you got and IOU for Christmas?

Too much of a good thing

I've had enough pumpkin for a while. I still have some cream of pumpkin soup, which is delicious, and that will just about finish the Thanksgiving leftovers. Except for a cheesecake that hasn't been touched. How many ways are there to use pumpkin? I've had soup, pie and bread. Am I missing anything?

The past couple of mornings at Skein have been very quiet but the afternoons have been insane. I guess not everyone was at Wal-Mart. And it's all about scarves, still. A few hats for good measure. Sometimes I feel like a recording when I'm giving the construction details of a garter stitch scarf.

I have been doing some teaching as well. It's good to see so many students who started knitting less than a year ago begin to move on to sweaters and socks and even making alterations to patterns.

So, I've finished the second holiday project and am started on the third. I'm going to go work on that now.