Christmas is Approaching Fast

It is hard to believe that Christmas is just 8 days away!

I have friends that I have to mail items to. For some of them I have gifts and some others I have yet to pick something up for. *sigh* I also don't have boxes that I can use to mail presents in either. As for Christmas cards I haven't even started those! I am a mess...

Besides the store-bought presents a couple of friends have jokingly yanked my chain about expecting knit items for Christmas since I started knitting again during my Christmas holiday from work last year. Of course, I had toyed with the idea but did not get my brain and needles in gear early enough to actually be sure to finish something nice for them. But they succeeded in yanking my chain and I am trying to get a simple scarf done for each of them. Here is my in-progress efforts:

I was pretty far into the brown scarf when I realized that I should not have made it that wide. This is Lionbrand Homespun yarn which the label recommends 10 or 10.5 knitting needles. The brown scarf is being done using size 8 needles so it it really tighter and thicker. The gray scarf is being done with size 9 needles so it is a bit looser and more flexible. The idea is to make them fairly short, to be used under the coat. I might try to make them long enough to be wrapped once around the neck but I will have to see. These have to be ready for sometime the week of Christmas so I still have some time. I am going to try to finish the gray one and then judge on whether I will finish the brownish one or redo it in a less wide version perhaps using the size 9 needles.

This coming Monday is when the St Vincent NICU hats have to be turned in. I did not quite finish the 9th hat I am at the decreasing part so I should be able to finish it tomorrow nite. I don't think I will stay long at the gathering since I also have to do an errand that evening.

I still have to finish the red scarf for the Orphan project so I can send it in during January. I have not touched it in awhile and I am not quite sure how long it is. I believe the required length is 60 inches but I have to check.

Today I am taking my mom to her regular doctor for an end of the year check, get new prescriptions and a referral for a bone density and mammogram. The weather in NY is unseasonably warm with it supposed to get to about 80F today. The doctor's office is in a townhouse with steep stairs in front that we have trouble with in the best of weather so I generally try to get her there for a check before the worse weather really sets in. Since this is the only non-holiday eve weekend it has to be today.
Of course, everyone else had the same idea so we are supposed to be there for 3:30pm. Car Service picking us up at 2:45pm since we are close. But no guess as to how long we will be waiting once we get there to be called into one of the exam rooms, and then how much longer for the doctor to see Mom. Needless to say it is very hard to keep her occupied at the office AND she is always fretting when people in the waiting room are coughing or sneezing. Not alot of fun.

This is the last week at work before the holiday break and we are short staffed. I have meetings, still need to cover my area and deal with emergencies. We are having a lunch in house at my office area and usually we all cook something and bring it in. I just do not have the time or energy this year so it will be contributing to a fund to buy some restaurant food.

A few days later and it will be Christmas. My after Christmas present for my cat is bringing her to the Vet for a midyear (late by 2 months) check. Which probably means a later dental Vet appointment. She will be very unhappy and so will my pocket.

How did this year go so fast?

Knitting Project CatchUp

I am a member of a Charity Knitting/Crochet Group at my company. We meet the second Friday of each month to exchange tips, catch up on how we are all doing, exchange patterns, pick up more yarn and drop off completed items. Our organizer drops off the completed items to our main charity periodically.
Our last meeting for the year is tomorrow and we need to drop off all completed items so our organizer can deliver them in time for the holiday distribution at the charity. Eek!



I had turned in everything I had made so far with the exception of one adult/adolescent hat and a T shaped sweater (my first sweater) sized for a 2 year old. I don't know about you but seaming pieces together drives me crazy and I don't do a great job so I would avoid seaming the two pieces of the sweater together. As you can see, the sweater is in red and white so I also wanted to seam the sections with the right colors. And then of course was the final weaving in of the tails for each section as well! URGH!
Well I finally finished all the seaming and weaving in of the ends this morning so I will be turning it in tomorrow. Whew!

I actually had finished this hat ages ago and forgot about it when I turned in some other hats. It is from a pattern by Janelle Schlossman called the Blanche hat that she has posted on her AOL site and is linked to by a few free pattern sites.
It is a cute pattern using one size smaller circular needles for the rib area. I believe that the main stitch is called a double Moss stitch and I had forgotten all about it. Oddly I found it in a stitch dictionary recently and have started a scarf using that stitch pattern.

NICU hats - I finally finished the ninth hat and I think that will be it for those hats. We have not set a date to meet and turn in everything yet. If I have time closer to that date I will try to make it to 10 hats.

No real progress on my simple Red ribbed scarf for the Red Hat Scarf Project due to be sent to the Project address in January. I should get that done in time. (I hope)

Needless to say I have alot of other In-Progress items that I have not had a chance to work on, including the Irish Hiking Scarf.

I missed getting to the big Manhattan hotel sale that Smileys Yarns had recently. A once-a-year event for them. Too much going on at home and at work so I just couldn't get up there. It did not help that a fabric/yarn store that has been in business for years P& S Yarns, just below Canal Street in Manhattan is closing due to the building being sold and no luck in finding a location that was financially feasible at this time. I had recently gotten on their mailing list and my first mailing was the announcement and invitation to the Pre-Public closing sale. This was the same week as the hotel sale. I made it to the closing sale the second day and picked up some yarn and notions. I spent an hour on line to pay and counted myself lucky since while I was on the line they had temporarily closed the store to more customers. This was to make sure that they could service everyone on that line before they had to close for the day. I had heard from people on the line with me that the line to get into the store the previous day (first day of sale) had snaked down the street all day.
Yikes!

Never enough yarn and never enough storage space for your yarn stash!