My latest indulgence

I bought this Yarn on Thursday at my LYS. It is so yummy, it's hard to describe. I had no intentions of buying yarn but bought this anyway and cast on with it the very next day! The pattern is 198 yds of heaven (Ravelry link) and I am smitten. It's more than halfway finished.

Knitting at Ewenique Yarns on Thursday was good, and Friday went pretty smoothly, but I was tired, so I took it easy and knit Friday night.

On Saturday we had SNOW! They were predicting 1-3 inches after rain fall, so we thought there would be no measurable snow. We were, happily, wrong. We had a good 3 inches on the ground and deck, less on the streets. It was so pretty - one of those huge snowflake snowfalls, where you could swear that there are puffy cotton balls falling from the sky. They are so magical and beautiful.

On Sunday we went to buy a Christmas tree. We get a live tree every year - I love the scent of it in my house. I tried to love an artificial tree for a few years but it didn't work. ; (

This is one time of year that I just tamp down that guilt over not being environmentally responsible (at least in that area).

I have reached the sleeve gussets on the He Gansey (again) and hope to progress on that during Monday night football (after ironing the clothes). I will try to resist the siren song of my newest love (listed above) for the night.

On Sunday I wore the completed Spiraling Coriolis socks in Claudia's Chocolate Cherry sock yarn!

The Sunshine socks are growing.

I hope you are enjoying the holiday season.

Thursday is almost as good as Friday

Why? Because Thursday is almost Friday and it's knit nite at my LYS. ; )

He Gansey is about 2 inches longer (I will measure tonight), the Sunshine sock is a little further along (I actually have to make myself stop knitting on it to do other things. I like this pattern.), and I need only about 1/2 inch more of ribbing and I will have a completed pair of Spiraling Coriolis socks in Claudia's Chocolate Cherry! Maybe I can complete that tonight. I'd be further along on everything if it weren't for work and life getting in the way. Darn that need to earn money and take care of the house and family. LOL.

I saw the doctor yesterday about my headaches. I have a sinusitis and am being treated for that. If that doesn't help, we will move on to some testing and possibly an adjustment of my meds. Fingers crossed that the antibiotic does the trick.

DH and eldest son are building a new shed in the yard. I wanted to photo document it but at this time of year I am not home in daylight except on the weekend. It has walls but no roof yet and keeping the wood dry with all of the rain we've had lately has been just about impossible. Rainy days slow down construction, and the day after rain is usually too wet (muddy ground) to work. DH is very frustrated.

I am looking forward to chatting with Nancy tonight about her spinning wheel, which arrived earlier this week, and the progress she's made on her Great American Afghan.

I am trying to be faithful to the 3 main projects that I mentioned above so that I can get some things done. Once the ribbing is finished on the Spiraling Coriolis sock I plan to pick up the earflap hat for younger son. I did one swatch but didn't like the fabric. I will swatch again on a smaller needle. I also want to rip out eldest son's hat and re-knit it. Both of these hats should go pretty fast, though younger son's will take longer as I am using finer yarn for it. I love my color work, though, so once started, I will fly through those hats. I have quite a bit of work to go on the He Gansey but hope to finish it before Christmas. We'll see. I still have a bit of holiday shopping to do, not to mention wrapping, decorating the tree (which I love) and all of the normal life stuff.

One stitch at a time......

Perseverance

I am not sure, actually, whether I have perseverance or I am stubborn, but I will not give up on the He Gansey. I didn't get much knit last night, but hope to get at least 2 inches knit tonight. There is no point in taking photos - you've seen it before and it's smaller now than the last time you saw it. ; (



I was able to knit a few rounds on the sunshine socks during my meeting yesterday and once I got home I decided to knit for a while on the second Spiraling Coriolis. I had forgotten that I had about 2 inches of stockinette to knit on that one before the ribbing and changing needle sizes. It was just the thing to knit on last night since I was tired and feeling sort of fuzzy from the sinus stuff.

ETA since I started this post I have managed to complete the stockinette section and am ready to change needles and knit ribbing!



I love football but couldn't really get into the game last night. It was a good game (at least the first half) but I like to have a team to cheer for while watching football and I couldn't bring my self to cheer for either one of those teams. LOL.



Spinning - I did some spinning over the weekend. I am not sure if it was thoughts of Nancy's soon to arrive wheel of just that I haven't spun in so long but I was excited to spin and did. Speaking of Nancy's wheel, she has it in hand, so to speak and is trying her hand at spinning. I can't wait to see her at it!

Is there such a thing as a sinus-ectomy?

Most of my migraines are triggered by sinus headaches these days, and my sinuses are going crazy. I had migraines on Monday, Wednesday (enough to keep me in bed most of the day), Thursday night, Friday evening and Saturday night. I am tired of saying and feeling "I have a headache" and DH is tired of hearing it. I would love to get the darn things removed.

Thanksgiving day is my day to bring out the Christmas dishes. I have a complete set of Christmas dishes that I use every year. I made the decision several years ago that I wanted them, and if I was going to spend money on a full set, I would make it worth while. My dishes come out on Thanksgiving day (yes, the exchange does add to the meal prep chaos. Why do you ask?) and stay out until mid-January or so. I love using these pretty dishes. I have the Winterberry pattern from Pfalzgraff. Each year I add an item or two. This year it was two flatware caddies so that the flatware (which does not fit into the appropriate drawer due to wide handles) have a sensible place to live.

We had a great time on Thanksgiving, visiting with Steve and Cheryl and youngest son. Even though he lives here, we so rarely sit and talk about things - he is usually seen only on his way in or out of the house - that I do consider it a visit. We chatted for hours about all kinds of things. It was a relaxed and relaxing day for all of us. Due to my headache I was glad to see them go when it was time, but was a great day otherwise.

I braved the crowds on Black Friday for a few hours, though not at dark o'clock. I got to the stores at about 9:30, list in hand. I had specific things I wanted to get at each store and got those items. I went to Kohls last, knowing that I would browse there, and browse I did. I went home with several holiday gifts in hand and a sore arm from carrying those times around the store until check out time. (they never have enough carts for the holiday shoppers). I got home about 3:30 I think. I was pleased with the crowd level and the courtesy of those I encountered.

On Saturday I washed and dried the clothes and did some cleaning up in the house. I did a little holiday decorating, too. Sunday was a boating day. Yes, we were on the boat on the Chesapeake Bay on the last Sunday of November. We have a radio on board and played Christmas music (and danced to it) on the way out of the marina. Very weird. But fun. We even caught dinner for tonight - a striped bass of just the right size for two for dinner. It was a beautiful day and I was very happy that I decided to go. It will most likely be the last time for me this year, though DH will almost certainly go again.

The Ravens played in the Sunday night game and won! Not by much, but it was a good game and they did win.

Today is back to work after a very nice long weekend. If I hadn't been plagued with headaches off and on all weekend, I would say that it was perfect. I am going to see the doctor on Wednesday to see what's up with these headaches.

On the knitting front:

Good - a lot of knitting was done over the weekend.

Bad - not as much knitting as I had hoped due to headaches.

Good - the He Gansey is about 10 inches along.

Bad - the He Gansey is only 10 inches along. I had to frog the entire body due to stupidity. I counted the gauge correcty but went the wrong way when figuring which size to make. I ripped thw entire thing and cast on again with the correct number of stitches. I hope.

Good - the Sunshine sock has a heel.

Bad - the spiraling corialis (the second sock) has not been touched.

I hope to be doing less re-knitting this week. I have faith that I can still complete the He Gansey before Christmas, and I'd like to finish the first sunshine sock by then, also. I am getting a new coat for Christmas (I don't get to wear it until the day) and I'd love to have a the Honka scarf done by then but that's not going to happen. Maybe the end of January is a reasonable goal. Double knitting is slow going. I also plan to have my swatches for the Mondo Cable Cardi done by Christmas. They might be done before then, depends on my mood and what I feel like knitting. Right now the He Gansey is calling me. And the sunshine sock.

Meeting time. 'Bye.

not a lot to report

I was home bound with a migraine yesterday. It interfered a lot with my knitting. Grrrr

The He Gansey was tried on and seems a bit snug. I have to check my gauge and calculations again. I hope I am not going to have to frog the whole bleeping thing. Why can I not knit a sweater for my husband without major re-do's?

It was Monday (thanks to the migraine yesterday) and Friday today. I am off until Monday. That is good. It is supposed to rain and/or be cloudy for most of the long weekend. That is not good. I will have lots of time for spinning and knitting this weekend. That is good. We will be having good friends over for the holiday meal. That is very good. There are 3 football games on Thursday. That is good. One of the teams is Detroit. That is not good. Eldest son is still not working. Very not good. I have a job and younger son has a job. Those are good things.

I guess the good outweighs the bad.

Good weekend

Saturday: Nancy and I had a great time at The Mannings trying out wheels and browsing at yarn and tools and fibers, etc.

Nancy will be getting a Kromski Sonata! She bought some fiber to play with so that as soon as the wheel arrives, she can begin.

I was so good! I needed some size 1 circs for my winter sock knitting and bought those. I finally took the plunge and bought Addi lace turbos. I didn't buy anything else. I have plans for a sweater for after the new year but will buy at my LYS and didn't allow myself to get sidetracked into buying anything else - sock, lace or other yarn or books.

We made a day of it and once I got home, I was not motivated to do anything. We ate a wonderful dinner, I did the dishes and then sat and knitted.

Sunday was a morning of chores and then football watching. The Ravens almost beat Indy. Almost. Sigh.

The He Gansey front was almost completed. Then I discovered that, as I had feared, I missed some shaping instructions and I have to rip 15 or so rows. Bummer. It looks good, though. Bob's warm fishing hat is complete except for pompom making. One Spiraling Corialis sock is ready to be bound off. The purple Sunshine is longer - I think I have about 6 more rows and then it's time for some hell work. Swatches for a new year KAL (Mondo Cable sweaters by Chic Knits) are in the works.

The bag that my MIL had started for me (that I finished knitting) now has straps and can be used.

I enjoyed the sunshine yesterday and it's a good thing. I think we won't see any more sun this week. Ugh.

Nancy is getting a spinning wheel!

We had a good day at the Mannings. It's a good thing we brought lunch. I browsed, Nancy tested wheels and made her decision. Yippee! another convert.

I was very proud of myself - I left the store having purchased only the size 1 circs that I had planned to shop for. I am now happily knitting my socks on Addi lace turbos (even if I didn't want to spend that much money for needles).

I am off to knit on the He Gansey for a while. Tomorrow is laundry, cleaning and football accompanied by knitting. It will be a good day.