Post-Christmas Sigh of Relief

I am SUCH a bad blogger ... I actually completed 20 of 23 SSCPs, but didn't take pictures! What the heck is wrong with me?!?!

I'll tell you what was wrong ...

I was up until almost 3am for the three nights leading up to Christmas morning, trying to finish the knitting.

All I can say is Whew! I'm glad that's over for another year.

Will I knit SSCPs for next year? I don't know yet. I'm sure I will for the family, but I'm not so sure about the folks at work. That was a lot of work. I did 7 scarves and 2 hats for my co-workers.

The kids and I have spent this morning and early afternoon putting away all the goodies we got for Christmas. So, I'm kind of worn out now. Think I'll take a nap.

Later!

Deliveries *

Well, the first of the SSCPs will be gifted tomorrow. My group at work is exchanging pressies since it's the last day before Christmas that we'll all be in the office.

I just wrapped everything ... well, everything but Darth Tater. Not sure how to wrap him. In the a.m. I'll check the gift wrap center (box of bags, bows and stuff) in the closet in the kids room ... they're sleeping now ... and see if I have a large enough gift bag to put this baby in.

I've got Darth, 3 scarves (for the ladies) and 2 hats (for the guys) for tomorrow. Now that they're all wrapped and ready to go, I'm drinking a little homemade-extra-special-yummy-fully-loaded egg nog. Mmmmm mmmmm good! Love it!!!!

Tomorrow evening I've got another batch of gifties to wrap that will be delivered on Wednesday. I also have a few more things to knit before the big day ... I know, only 6 days, 0 hours, 37 minutes and 43 seconds to go.

* Oh - I received a couple of excellent deliveries in the last few days myself. I'll tell you about them later.

Later!

1 down ... more to go

Just finished SSCP #17 ... I've got to wrap several gifts tomorrow ... have to knit more tonight.

I leave you with this ...

So little time

I've got 3 SSCPs on the needles right now and a couple more to start. I'm not stressing, but I'm a little concerned and maybe even a little bit in denial that Christmas is really only 10 days, 1 hours, 5 minutes and 43 seconds away.

I'm off work tomorrow and Monday, so hopefully there will be some decent blocks of knitting time in there. Let's see ... what's on the ToDo list (besides knitting) this weekend:

Friday -

• dentist
• GS troop holiday party
• make meatballs for above party
• buy 2 Secret Santa gifts for above party
• go to the bank

Saturday -

• Kids Craft at Michael's
• buy more yarn for SSCPs while at Michael's
• DD#3's birthday party* at Build-A-Bear Workshop
• lunch at McDonald's with Birthday Girl and PartyGoers
• adult holiday party at knitting friend's place (Hi Amanda!)

Sunday -

• family birthday dinner* for DD#3 at the parentals'

Monday -

• off from work, but kids also out of school and home with me

And somewhere in there I also need to do laundry, grocery shopping, clean the turtle tank, wrap presents, bake cookies and make toffee. Oh yeah, and eat, sleep and feed the kids regularly.

I'm sure I can carve out some knitting time. If I need to cut out things, I'll start with cleaning the turtle tank and go from there ::grins::

Let's see how much time is left until Christmas now: 10 days, 0 hours, 57 minutes and 51 seconds. Okay - back to the needles.

Want to know how much time is left now? Click here for actual time remaining until Christmas.

* DD#3's birthday is actually next Thursday, but to keep it completely separate from Christmas, we're celebrating this weekend.

To post or to knit ...

No time to post ...

must knit ...

looming deadline ...

only 13 days until Christmas ...

Later!

SSCPs and BDPs*

I've completed more SSCPs. Here are a few photos for your viewing pleasure.


The first scarf is for a co-worker (and very good friend) who is allergic to wool. We questioned her vigorously when she made this claim because we (like the Yarn Harlot) figured she just hadn't had any GOOD wool yet. But alas, she is allergic. The hives and redness in the area that touches wool confirmed it for us.

The other scarf is for DD#2. I found the popcorn yarn at the Fall Fiber Fesitval in Montpelier back in October. I paired it with Lion Brand Suede. DD#2 (who is 10yo) will love it. I may do a 2nd scarf for Niece#1 who is 9yo.

I also made a couple of these necklaces last weekend - this one is for my boss' recent birthday. I cheated ... the beads were already strung. I just added the pendant and attached all three strands to a nice closure. I think it turned out nicely. I've made a few others for SSCPs.



And these earrings, I also made for my boss.


That's all for now. The knitting continues. Later!

*If you've been around here for more than 5 minutes, I'm sure you already know what SSCPs are ... SuperSecretChrissiePressies. But now we have BDPs to add to the list of acronyms ... BirthDayPressies.

Resistance is Futile

Add another to the ranks ... another co-worker has asked me to teach her to knit ... heh heh heh! She's already on her second scarf!

Friend is also cruising right along on her journey to the other side - the Knitting side, that is. In addition to the plethora of scarves she's currently got on the needles (at last count, I think she had 5 scarves going), she has cast on for her 2nd pair of socks! To say that she's hooked is a gross understatement! Friend has done an awesome job and when she sees something she likes, she just jumps right in, er, casts right on!

I've been plugging away on a few projects. I'm working on 2 pairs of socks (1 is for me, the other an SSCP) and 3 shrugs (again, 1 for me, the others are SSCPs). I'm STILL knitting away on Soleil, albeit vvvveeeerrrryyyy slowly.

I also signed up for Lolly's Socktoberfest again this year. It was a lot of fun last year and who doesn't love knitting a good sock?!?

As much as I love the knitting, I've just not felt like it by the time I get home and get the kids settled every evening. Hopefully this funk will pass soon!

Don't forget ... season premiere of Grey's Anatomy tomorrow night! I don't know about you, but I can't wait!!!

FOs, WIPs, SSCPs, ISO, WTF *

You want acronyms? We got your acronyms!

I did it ... I finished my Clapotis!!! I'm so excited and pleased with how this turned out. Even though it's eleventy-billion degrees outside and the humidity is 864%, I wore it to work Wednesday as a kind of poncho thingie. I did a few extra repeats of the straight section because I wanted it long. Well, it's definitely long ... when I hold it up, it's "taller" than me! I got lots of compliments on it. This was one of the most satisfying things I've ever knit. I know I've said it before, but the fabric has the most incredible drape - it's like liquid. The color is beautiful. And The Clap is just so versatile!



And here it is with a close-up of my beautiful shawl closure. It's hand-made and clear glass with little white "flecks" on one side. I bought the closure at MdS&W.



And no, your eyes aren't deceiving you ... Soleil is once again listed as "In the Rough" on the sidebar. I don't know if you recall, but I started that in April 2005 and frogged it this past February (I had misplaced the pattern so had no idea where I was or what my progress/size notes were). So, Tuesday night I sat down and cast on again. I'm almost done with the lace pattern. This is such a pleasant item to knit. I'm totally enjoying it.



I'm also working on the SSCP list. I have already done 4 of I don't yet know how many items and have a 5th on the needles.

If anyone has a great pattern for kids socks, let me know. I'd like to do a pair for each DD (ages: 15, 10, 6) and Nieces (9, 3yo) again this year.

And on a final note ... have you seen this? All I can say is WTF?!?!

* Do you know what they all stand for? Just for fun, leave a quick comment with your answers.