Well, it's less than 36 hours before the presents get opened, and...I'm pretty much screwed. Grandma's Feather and Fan socks are finished at least, but not even the first sock of my Dad's pair are done yet. About a week ago I was going to blog about how I was nearly done the second of my grandmother's socks, so at least I'd have another pair of needles to start my Dad's second sock and wasn't too worried.

At least that's what I was planning before I went to hold the second Grandma sock up against the first to see how much longer the cuff needed to be and saw that the foot wasn't the same length.

By about half an inch.

Arrrrgh.

Needless to say I spent the fifteen minutes remaining before my shift started ripping back to just before I started the heel. So yup, it's pretty much confirmed now that dad's getting...well, hopefully one completed sock and the toe of the other in his stocking. At least that's not the main gift for him.

At the moment, Christmas knitting is all I'm working on, and all I've been for the last few weeks. For Grandma's socks, I'm using some Regia Canadian Colours that I had in my stash. Can't remember the number and the ball band is long gone, but it's a light blue/light yellow-green/dark blue/dark teal-ish colourway. They knit up pretty fast, considering the amount of time I've been able to devote to them, and the feather and fan pattern is a good one to stave off boredom.

For Dad's socks, I'm doing a plain worksock: off-white toes, heels and cuff, tweedy charcoal grey for the foot and leg, in a 4x2 rib. No need for really fancy work as I'm not sure he'd wear it if I did. Serviceable socks seemed a better idea, particularly as he'll ask for worksocks on his Christmas list, something my brother and I always tease him about.

Other than those, I'm trying to out together the afghan created by the girls in my knitting group at the library. Of course I had to take the complicated way of doing it (creating black sashing inbetween the squares, like a quilt), so it's going slowly.

Somehow over the last couple years I've always ended up doing Christmas knitting, though every year I've thought that I wouldn't. I'm not one of those people that has to make a knitted gift for everyone--particularly not one for everyone for the same holiday. I don't get the whole "I have to make something for everyone!" mentality, as I know that not everyone will want or appreciate a knitted item for Christmas; but then I think I can understand it if your family is the sort to compare gifts and keep score in the "they-got-something-handmade-so-why-didn't-I?" kind of way, in which case the pressure on the knitter is coming more from without than within.

My family isn't like that, and I usually try to focus more on what's the perfect thing for each person, rather than money value or handmade-versus-bought (though I try and spend approximately the same on my main family members).

Anyway, as I said I've decided I wasn't going to knit anything for anyone in the last couple years, but then Mom asks or grandma keeps hinting that she wants socks, or I decide "hey, it might be nice to amke this small thing for ____" and there you have it: Christmas knitting.

And speaking of giving, for those that don't listen to the podcast, Miss Violet of Lime and Violet is having some medical problems, which she can't even get diagnosed until she's found $1000 to pay for the testing. To help, Lisa Souza has created a special colourway called "Violet's Pink Ribbon", with part of the proceeds going to Miss Vi's medical fund. Any money raised over the amount needed will be donated to a related charity of Miss Vi's choosing.

Or to spread some more Christmas cheer, the Knitters Without Borders campaign, hosted by the Yarn Harlot, is back in full swing as well. I'm hoping to contribute this time, once the next credit card billing period comes along.

So if you have any disposable cash left, make one more gift, either to the ones I've mentioned or a charity of your choosing. After all, knitters know the joy of giving, with only warm fuzzies as the reward.

In Which I'm Very, Very Lazy

Okay, so I'm tired and lazy today, so you get a voice post. It's about 10 MB, will take a couple minutes to download, and you don't actually have to save it to your hard drive to listen. Enjoy!

Bonus Links:

Peacock Feathers Shawl, Fiddlesticks Knitting
Swallowtail Shawl, Interweave Knits magazine, Fall 2006 Issue
Knit One, Kill Two (#1 in the Knitting Mystery Series), by Maggie Sefton
Died in the Wool, by Mary Kruger
Chicks with Sticks (It's a Purl Thing), by Elizabeth Lenhard

Knitting Makes Everything Better

Eheheheheh, yeah. We can all see how well I'm doing at the posting-with-regularity thing.

Anyway. Today got off to a bad start (I was awake when my alarm went off, I swear! Why my body decided to go back to sleep until one hour after I was supposed to be at work, I don't know) so I decided I needed yarn therapy so I should head to the yarn store after work and hey, when was the last time I updated that knitting blog of mine?

So yes, here I am, and I bring pictures of a current project. ...Er, sort of.

Behold, yon Jaywalker socks in Regia Canadian Colours, colourway #...oh hell, I forget:



Or at least, yon Jaywalkers before I got as far as you see in the picture before I decided they were too tight and I'd never be able to get them on if I kept going, so both socks (I have 2 sets of DPNs in my sock-knitting sizes so I can do both socks at the same time) had to get frogged. The good news is that after starting over using the number of stitches for the larger size Jaywalkers, I've already got one sock about that length again, and the other... Well, okay, I'm about half done the ribbing, but the pattern section goes so quickly that it'll be that length again in no time. Particularly as that one is my carry-along sock: the one that gets stuck in my purse and tote bag and travels all over the city with me.

I am a shameless knitter-in-public. I take public transit everywhere, which, particularly in this town (where routes run every 30 minutes), means I spend quite a bit of time waiting at bus stops. Personally, I value not being bored more than I do not looking weird, so knitting at the bus stop it is then. Unfortunately I don't get to do it as much as I'd like around this time of year, as if I did, I wouldn't have fingers left to knit with thanks to frostbite. I also knit while on the bus (pointy sticks and a bigass tote bag are, of course, the best way to keep the weirdos from taking the seat next to you), sitting and waiting for movies to start...basically anything where you need to fill up a small amount of time.

I've pretty much been doing this since I started knitting, back in university (which is a story for another day), as I quickly learned it was a great way to have some quiet time to relax before lectures started, or during the 10-minute break most profs let us have during 2- or 3-hour lectures. As going to and from my residence in downtown Peterborough to the Trent University main campus meant at least a 15-minute bus ride, it was also a nice way to spend time on the Trent Express (provided I actually managed to get a seat).

I know some knitters have said that when they KIP they get weird looks, odd comments, that kind of thing. I have to wonder where these people live, as when I do it, if anyone's staring they usually look fascinated--or at least interested--and any comments I get are the usual, friendly, "oh, what are you making?" type. 99% of the time, as far as I know, no one really gives me a second glance.

I fail to see why knitting in public would be seen as weird, though. People read on the bus, listen to their iPods on the bus, stare out the windows and daydream... Knitting, really, it's just something to take up time in public, like anything else. Maybe it's because the people who make odd comments about it have some mental block about knitting being something you do at home, sitting in a rocking chair in front of a fireplace. Not something you do while sipping a peppermint hot chocolate in one of the comfy chairs at Starbucks, which is of course, one of my favourite ways to spend an hour on my day off.

And now that I'm finished ranting, it's off to medicate myself with some Irish Breakfast tea, cashmere/merino/microfibre yarn and Kiefer Sutherland kicking ass on DVDs of 24.