Tuesday, November 14, 2006

it's (almost) christmastime

I decided to do Christmas knitting quite differently this year than last. Last year I knit something for a very large number of my friends. I am not quite sure how I did it, to be very honest. One of them only got half of her present by Christmas - just one sock out of the promised pair.

But this year...this year I learned my lesson: don't knit for others! Unless you really, really want to and don't care if they have absolutely no appreciation for the fact that you spent every non-working waking moment hunched over your knitting needles to have a finished product for the gift exchange. I didn't care to experience that this year (although, I didn't actually care very much that people didn't ooh and aah over their gifts. That's not why I made them!), so I went a different route -- knit for myself!

Specifically, I'm knitting up some stockings for decoration around the apartment. And, if time allows, I want to knit some ornaments for a little tree I plan to acquire. I spent hours and hours searching for the perfect patterns, and I finally picked out three from Christmas Stockings put out by Interweave Press. One for me...one for Joelle...and one for Sheamus.

Speaking of Sheamus, he hasn't been very...er...active for the past month or two. Basically that means he doesn't make "FEED ME!" faces and doesn't even really eat. A very keen visitor to my abode pointed out that this was probably because his water is really cold, which is probably because I don't use the heat much and prefer to just wear more sweaters as the air cools. I tried moving him to warmer spots of the apartment, but so far it hasn't done much good. A little bit worried that he won't make it much longer...so I must admit that I'm holding off for making his stocking until last.

I'm working on Joelle's first because she doesn't have one at all, and if I desire/don't get to making my own, I can grab the one my aunt made for me long ago, which I really like and which is at my parents' house, where I'll be for Thanksgiving (isn't that convenient...). Of course I forgot to get a picture of it (and left my camera at home when I left way early this morning), but I'll assure you it has multiple colors, and I have been VERY pleasantly surprised to find how much easier stranded knitting is now that I have conquered English Knitting. It's downright FUN! I'm very inspired to make something Nordic. I suppose I'll settle for generic Scandanavian - as that's what pattern I have picked out for me is!

Joelle's stocking, by the way, is the "Chubby Sock" - it happens to be on the cover of the book. It seemed so "her" when she was all "chubby" with her gobs of hair. But, since the Great Abscess and the subsequent Shaving of the Face and subsequent haircuts, she's not so much chubby as just warm and fuzzy. The sock'll still do.

Pictures as soon as I get my act together!

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