All the deadlines

I am starting to feel buried under my knitting deadlines.  It started with the usual Christmas teacher mitts.  My kids started a new school, so I told them the usual thing when they started: find out your teachers' favorite color.  For my youngest, that was fine.  But my oldest is in 6th grade now, and has six teachers.  I told him to pick one of two of his favorite teachers.  He gave me three, then updated it with a list for all six teachers, in order or priority for mitts.  At first, I was only willing to do three pairs of mitts maximum.  But having the list of their favorite colors makes me feel bad for the others.
Then, my good friend is pregnant, and a new baby deserves a new baby blanket.  With her first child, she did monthly photos of her son, and in each baby photo, he was laying on the blanket that I knit.  A kind compliment for a knitter.  So now for her second child, of course, I am knitting another blanket.

Then, there was a hat request.  I have been court appointed to represent a troubled teenager.  A very troubled teenager.  The fact that the Judge was concerned enough to appoint her an attorney when she had no constitutional right to one is a huge indicator.  When I visited her in residential placement last week, she requested that I knit her something.  A hat.  She has gone a month without self-harm behavior, so how could I say no?  But she thinks of events on a short term basis.  I can't give her the hat in six months.

And last but not least, the Saint Baldericks event is coming up.  Last year, my knitting group knit a whole pile of hats for the kind souls that were getting their heads shaved in solidarity and to raise money for cancer research.  I donated three hats, and a shawl last year.  I have a baby blanket already prepared, but I don't have any hats yet.

So the final tally for the next four months:  three to seven pairs of mitts, one hat, one baby blanket, and however many hats I can finish.

Today, it is all about the pile of knitting, with deadlines.