Christmas Eve Plans

My Grandmother always said that whatever a person does on Christmas Eve, they will be doing that all the following year.  So she always planned it so that she would not have to do any laundry or cleaning on Christmas Eve.  In the spirit of my Grandmother, I have some fun things planned for tomorrow.  Cards with the kids, movie night, grilling burgers (less cooking for me), that sort of thing.

The knitting related activity is that I am going to go through all of my knitting projects in progress.  it has been so many months focusing on the baby blanket and teacher mitts, I don't even remember what it in the knitting bag anymore.  Some of it has been in storage for a couple months, since the move.

For this week, I have just been working on a random charity sock.  The first was nearly done, and I was able to decrease my toe and cast off last night.  As I live in perpetual fear of the Second Sock Syndrome, I dutifully cast on for the second sock.   Toddler socks are charmingly small, so I am already to the heel.  Then I realize, I didn't remember how to short row a heel anymore.  I admit that I have been rather lace-obsessed in recent years, but I have made nearly a dozen socks in my lifetime.  That is two dozen heels, all but the first four would have been short row.  How have I forgotten something so basic?  I guess I will be looking that up tomorrow too.

Today, it is all about the forgetfulness.

So, now what?

As usual, I significantly overestimated the time I would have to knit while on my trip.  While I did knit on the plane, and intermittently throughout the day, the mitts were the only thing that I knit.  All of the other things stayed in my suitcase the entire time.

Mitt update:  Three pairs of mitts completed, wrapped, and sent with my child this morning.  Well, only two were delivered today.  The mitts for my 4th grader are waiting on the table.  He had a fever yesterday and today, so no school.  if I had known, that, I would have waited on those and worked on other mitts.  I know my oldest was a little disappointed that I was only able to complete mitts for two of his teachers (out of six), but it is a small school, so I can catch those teachers next year, or the year after.  I DID forget to get a picture of the mitts before they left my hands.  (Face slap!  What am I, a rookie?)

This morning, I was packing my bag for work, and I didn't know what knitting to bring.  I have been so focused on the baby blanket and mitts for months, I need to decide what knitting slides up to the front of the queue next.  I grabbed a couple things, but I didn't really have time to put some thought into it.  This weekend, I will really go through the stack of WIP's.  I need to evaluate.  Am I stuck?  What is the barrier?  Can I get past the barrier? Do I still love the project?  Do I just need more knitting time in my life?  Well, I can't do anything about the last one, but the new year is a good time to reassess.  Life is too short and my time too precious to continue knitting on something that I hate just because I started it.

Today, it is all about the WIP diving.

TSA: DPN's are not weapons

 I have an unexpected plane trip coming up this week.  The details are not important, but I am looking forward to a few days of warmer weather, and all of those knitting opportunities that air travel provides.

Some people fuss over what shoes to pack, or clothes.  I fuss over knitting.  And books.  And yes, I always overpack.  I have knitting stashed in my suitcase, in my carryon, and in my purse.  I have mindless knitting.  I have complex lace knitting.  I have dark yarn.  I have light yarn.  I have a couple balls of yarn with extra needles.

But there are so many things that can go wrong, and I don't want to be caught with nothing to knit, right?  A bag could be stolen.  TSA could decide that metal DPN's are dangerous weapons.  Yarn could break.  I could have pattern issues.  I could get bored with one project and want to work on something different.  

Naturally, the teacher mitts are at the top of the list.  Progress so far:  one pair finished;  one pair 5/6 finished, one pair barely started, three balls of yarn in the queue.  Then I am bringing a light pink lace shawl, a black lace shawl, and my placemats (with a couple spare balls for more placemats).  Seven projects in all.  That isn't excessive for five days, is it?

This actually isn't as crazy as it sounds.   There is not a local yarn store within a thirty mile radius.  Apparently, people don't generally travel to Nevada to knit or buy yarn.

Today, it is all about the fiber overpacking.    

New school, new teachers, more mitts

Christmas time brings the new batch of Christmas teacher mitts to knit.  In addition to the baby blanket for Mandy.  (I really need to speak to my friends about having a baby around Christmas, it really puts a crunch for holiday knitting.)

Mandy is due next week.  My goal was to finish her blanket before Thanksgiving.  I did.  Though late Wednesday night hardly counts, since I wasn't able to give it to her before close of business that day.  I had court with her Wednesday, and the baby had not yet arrived.  She made no similar promises for Monday, though I am optimistic, because I haven't given her the blanket yet.  A baby can't be born before the blanket is delivered, right?

With the blanket done, I can focus on Christmas Teacher Mitts.  With the move over the summer, my kids started a new school.  And for my oldest, sixth grade meant he started in the junior/senior high school, with six different teachers.  I told him to select one or two of his favorite teachers, and to find out their favorite colors.  He gave me three, then a day later, gave me all six, with favorite colors and in order of preference.  That is my annoyingly thorough child for you.

So, as of today, the mitt progress stands so far:  one pair finished, one pair half finished, yarn selected for five more, and the goal to finish as many as possible.  Each pair takes 8 to 12 hours of knitting, 18 days to go. . . I am doomed.

Today, it is all about the holiday deadlines.  

Your Chauffer Has a Hobby

I have realized that I now have an unpaid second job:  I am a chauffer for my children.  I drive my children places, I wait 60 to 90 minutes, then I drive them home.  I have been doing this for a while, but the number of days seems to have increased, especially right now.  Monday is football practice.  Tuesday is Boy Scouts.  Wednesday is football practice.  Thursday is Cub Scouts.  Friday, I lay exhausted on the sofa.

That means that four days a week, I rush home, prepare and feed my family, then dash back into town for my chauffeuring duty, then come home around 8 or 9pm.  Those are some long days.  The only good part is that for the 60 to 90 minute wait, I usually get to knit.  Sometimes, I go to my office or run errands, but sometimes I knit during Scouts,  and I always watch the football practice and knit.

That is a lot of scheduled knitting time a week, and that is a lot of the progress that I have been able to make on my deadlines.  The hat is pretty much done, I just need to weave in the ends.  The Court hearing is next week, so that is a reasonable deadline.  I want to baby blanket to be a little bigger, maybe two more rounds, but really I can end it at any time.  Mandy is due at the end of the month, so that one is still a bit of a worry.

I only have one and a half mitts in progress/completed, but that deadline isn't until mid-December, the latest deadline of the bunch.  So I am just postponing the worrying.

Today, it is all about the Mom's second job.  

Stash Diving

With all of the mitts and hats to be done, I realized one nice thing:  I didn't have to buy very much yarn for any of it.  When a hat was requested, purple, no black, no purple, maybe purple and black, didn't have to buy any yarn. I just went to the stash.  I bought them when River Knits was closing.  I didn't know what I would make with it, but the yarn was pretty and significantly discounted.  But now, i am delighted that I found the perfect project for the yarn.  As I have been knitting at the courthouse, I have gotten so many compliments on the yarn.  It warms the heart.

For the mitts, I pulled skein after skein from the stash, to match the favorite colors for the teachers.  I had to buy one skein, because I didn't have any yarn that was "jewel-toned green" but I was able to find the other favored colors in my yarn cabinet.

I have so much yarn right now, it delights me to put it all to good use.

Today it is all about stockpiling, and finding a use for it.

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.