Yay, Christmas yarn! More specifically, yarn I've bought to make Christmas presents for others. It seems like many bloggers and Ravelry users are starting their Christmas projects - hopefully I'm not too far behind. This will be my first knits Christmas, so I don't really know how long a few scarves and gloves will take me. I'm also planning to make a pair of thick wooly socks for a certain someone, despite my earlier complaints against them. Hopefully, thick wooly socks will be much more forgiving of gauge and sizing problems!
Lately, my biggest difficulty has been deciding whether I should work on current projects (to be discussed later), do finishing on projects that have been set aside (wristbands for Andy, another project to be discussed later), or swatch all these yarn goodies I've got in my stash. So far "current projects" have been winning out, because they're so much fun!
For example, the Brea Bag. I admit, this bag is NOT for Andy (although he's joked about wanting a "murse"); nor is it a Christmas gift. It's all for me, baby! I couldn't resist the yarn or the cute shape, and I want to learn how to line knit projects. This is also my very first attempt at cables, and I'm learning a lot about their construction. I'm knitting with two strands of Cascade 220 held together, so it's gone super-quick. I've probably spent about 4 hours on it so far, not counting an hour or so for the swatch.
I also started knitting a little robot for my friend, 2nd Lieutenant Smart Guy. He's currently stationed in Iraq, and I want to make him something that will remind him of brighter and more hopeful times. Smart Guy is a big fan of the Autobots (but sometimes he roots for the Decepticons), so I'm trying to make the robot look like Optimus Prime. Hopefully, I finish it by the beginning of December, so we can send it off in time for Christmas.Catherine has released the pattern for the sweater I test-knit - it's called Samantha and I love it. Except, I blocked it way too big and I'm too ashamed to post pictures for the internet to ridicule. Someday, I'll fix it. Someday.
