"We Wish You A Merry Stitchmas"

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Pete and I had a ton of fun decorating our place this weekend. We put on A Muppet Christmas Carol, made hot chocolate, and spent the evening decorating our tree with both of our ornaments, which I'm hoping will become a tradition.

Adding to the holiday cheer is our stockings, which I finally finished. I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out, and even happier to have them done! They're hanging on either side of our fireplace between some of the "unconventional" ginger men we made when my mom was here visiting. I'll add some detailed pictures, once I've taken them, as they are too hilarious not to share. Among others, we have a Rabbi, Lady Gaga, a mad scientist, the Pope, a leprechaun, and Jimmy Buffet.

I'm pretty sure they're not exactly what the creators of the craft kit had in mind, but they're bizarre, hilarious and weird - perfect for a Pete & Millie Christmas.

Luckily, I was spared the need to make a third stocking, as we found one filled with dog toys at Walmart. Since

<--THIS is what Mac does to his toys within minutes of getting them, we're reluctant to drop a lot of money on them. This gem has 8 toys for 9 bucks, and a stocking to boot. No more intarsia with Caron Simply Soft for me, no breaking our bank accounts, and hours of fun and domination for our boy - everybody wins!

Still hammering away at Christmas gifts, but almost everything seems attainable at this point. I've finished Pete's ski hat. The simple pattern of knits and purls were quite cathartic after all the lace, cables and colorwork I've been doing. I also finished my sister's socks, a pattern I'm glad to be done with. Not totally sure what it was about this pattern, but I never seemed to be able to get into it. They turned out nicely, however, and I hope she'll be

happy with them. The tiny sweaters are humming along - I've only got 5 to go, and hope to be mailing those out soon. Now to just write all those Christmas Cards. Le sigh - it seems as though every time I finish something, two or three more projects pop up. I should really stop doing that to myself. And on a totally unrelated note, I just cast on for a sweet little cardigan. Ahem. Where's the nearest Knitters Anonymous?

"Hello, my name is Millie, and I'm a Knitaholic."

(All together now): "Hi, Millie"

Ingredients for a Perfect Saturday

Pete's off jamming with some of his friends today, so I have assembled the necessary ingredients for a perfect Saturday.

It calls for:

1 part lace shawl

2 parts Leonardo DiCaprio (double feature)

1 part mimosa

1 part comfy slippers

Sprinkle doses of cute puppy to taste. Enjoy - I know I will!

Christmas Knitting Panic Time

Welcome, one and all, to Emily's Annual Christmas Knitting Panic Extravaganza! Have we got a show for you!

To your left, you'll see the myriad of works in progress, all with the EXACT SAME DEADLINE. As a recent graduate who is currently unemployed, everyone in my life will be receiving knit items for Christmas this year. While great for the pocketbook, it does up the stress level as this day of joy and celebration rapidly approaches. I realized today that Christmas is a little more than a month away, and that I have yet to complete one single gift. Yep, that's right. Not a SINGLE completed gift. Let me take you on the tour!

On the top left, you will see the Swallowtail Shawl, a Christmas offering for my wonderful mother. Made from some lovely navy mohair with gold stranded throughout, it is my first attempt at lace, and thus very slow going. I just finished the Budding Lace section, making it a solid "Maybe" for completion by Christmas.

Directly below the shawl are socks for my sister. She chose the grey yarn (which translates to uber boring for someone partial to bright colors and self-striping) and the pattern (just complicated enough that I haven't memorized it, even though I'm about to turn the second heel), making these socks ones I have to pay attention to instead of mindlessly knitting whilst watching TV. However, I have at least one whole sock done, making these the most likely contenders for completion in time.

Directly to their left are socks for my father, a rather simple cabled pattern (again) in navy blue. I only have to pay attention one out of every six rows for this one, meaning it's zipping along, and I can (almost) guarantee that he'll get at least ONE by Christmas.

On your far right, you'll see something that may look completed. It is, indeed, as I finished the stocking for The Boyfriend on Monday. However, I cannot rejoice in it's completion, for the casting off of his was immediately following by the casting on of mine, and the casting off of mine will be followed by the casting on for Mac's. It wouldn't be Christmas if every member of our family didn't have a stocking, and I can't leave our newest member out. Alas, my future continues to be filled with colorwork and Caron's Simply Soft, and it seemingly has no end.

Those plastic bags you see? Ahh yes, those contain 28 of the tiny sweater ornaments I am working on, for everyone and their mother. 28!!! Only 10 more to go! I've started to prioritize my list of recipients, and ranking them, seeing who I can leave out if it becomes absolutely necessary. Really brings out the best in me.

Finally, when looking at the top picture, you may ask yourself, But Emily, what about that plain ball of white tweed yarn? In response, I politely plug my ears and begin singing, "La la la, I can't hear you!" That is meant to be a Knotty But Nice Hat, requested by my sister, and the reason I'm so maturely ignoring your question is because I haven't even started this one. I picked out the yarn, that's progress, right? RIGHT???

Anyway, as you might be able to tell, the stress of Christmas knitting may or may not be getting to me. And before you say anything, believe me. I know how ridiculous it is to stress out about self-imposed deadlines. I do. And yet I do it every year. How are all of you doing with your Christmas knitting deadlines? Feel free to gloat, if you are doing better than I, or commiserate if you're on the Panic Express right along with me.

Happy knitting, y'all!

Living and Learning (And of course, a knit penis)

So, looking back on my last post, it became quickly apparent that it was WAAAAAY too long.

It's my own writing and even I didn't want to read through the whole thing. The blog is called A Little Knit of This, not Emily Has Verbal Diarrhea All Over the Internet. So I'm implementing a new policy - no more than 5 projects per post (finished or unfinished).

The good news is I do have a few complete projects to share, which is unheard of for me! The first is the zig-zag Jaywalker socks I was so close to finishing last time. Mama Bear comes tomorrow, so it's a relief to have them be done so I can send them back to Milwaukee with her. It seems as though I started the decreases on toe two rows too early on Sock #2, and so the toes didn't end up lining up. The perfectionist in me twitches a bit, but since I don't have to wear them, I'm trying my best to keep in mind that these socks are charity knitting for a good cause and let it go at that :)

I also finished a project I didn't even mention last time. I test knit this adorable Spring Leaf Cardigan by Shmu. I stumbled on her sweet baby cardigan during my many hours of clicking around Ravelry and fell in love. I offered (aka forced her) to let me test knit, and it turned out so lovely. It's made with Cascade Cherub, which I stumbled upon at my visit at my LYS, Shuttles, Spindles & Skeins. I loved working with this yarn, and feel it's soft texture and vibrant color was perfect for a baby project. I'm stashing it away for a future baby - mine or a friend's, I'm not sure yet. I know it's weird to make baby stuff for no one in particular, but itty bitty knitty projects are just so much fun! I love the leaf detail on the trim. I'm still in need of buttons, but figured that since there's no imminent delivery on the horizon, I've got time to look for some.

Of course, I have to combat the sweetness of a baby cardigan, and so naturally, the next item I made was a Penis-shaped Chapstick holder. Seriously, this is the weirdest, most hilarious thing

I've ever knit. I made it for a friend for her birthday. We always try to out-do each other in terms of weirdness of gifts, and I think I may have finally won the battle for good. I didn't have any flash-colored yarn on hand, so I'm just saying that this is the "Jersey Shore" version. I took it to my Knit Night with the Boulder Knitting Collective last night, and am pleased to say that there may soon be many more knit phalluses in existence. Which can only make the world a better place :) I love the fact that these women thought it was funny instead of creepy, and feel so lucky to have found a great group in a new city.

Other than that, I'm still plugging away on Christmas gifts (2 pairs of socks, a hat, a shawl and all those ornaments), and trying to find moments to finish up my second full-size sweater ever, the Rosamund Cardigan. I love the color, love the fit, love the cable detail on the trim, and just want it to be done so that I can wear it! I've almost finished the body, so there's an end in sight. In fact, I think I'll go work on that now.

Happy knitting, y'all!

Holy Works in Progress, Batman!

What better way to kick off a blog about knitting than to do a little run-through of what I've currently got going on? My thought process here was, "If I tell [Whoever Happens to be Reading This] that I'm making something in particular, then I'll be more likely to actually finish something." And then I started making my list and I realized that I have no fewer than 15 works in progress. Yes. 15. Holy poop.

You see, I have a little something known as Knitting ADD, aka Startitis. I find that if I have

multiple projects going at once, I can just switch from one to another when I get bored. This works well if you have two or three or even four projects going on. However, with 15, everything gets worked on a little, and NOTHING gets finished. EVER. I knew it was bad, but I had no idea it was quite THAT bad. Seriously guys, here's a picture of the end table next to our couch, the area designated for "Active Knitting"

and their corresponding bags/containers underneath.

(This doesn't even begin to address the stash in the basement. Which I'll save for another day)

So, for anyone that cares, here's what we're dealin' with.

Socks:

I currently have four pairs of socks on the needles, all in various stages of completion.

1) A pair of Pomatomus that I've wanted to make forever. I did about one and a half pattern repeats in July before putting it down, and have subsequently lost the pattern designating where I am. They'll be hibernating AT LEAST until Christmas knitting is done and I feel like sitting down and figuring it out.

2) My first pair from the Sock of the Month club I belong to (through TheKnitter.com). These are from last November, and the pattern is "On the Wings of a Dove" by Debbie O'Neill. The funniest thing about this is I started subscribing last November, before I knew I was moving, and it turns out, TheKnitter.com's headquarters is literally three blocks from where I now live!

My sister has requested these for Christmas. I've just turned the heel on the first one - these are likely to be finished in time.

3) Skew socks, which I have also wanted to make forever. These are in some of my favorite yarn (Austermann Step), and these are also for me, and therefore, will also be hibernating until Christmas knitting is over. Plus, I did the bind-off WAAAY too tightly, and have yet to get to the place mentally that I can handle ripping it back out.

4) Finally -a light at the end of the tunnel! A few weeks ago, my mother requested that I knit a pair of socks for her church's silent auction. I had some Cascade Sassy Stripes in my stash from a bidding binge on Ebay, and love the way the stripes work with the Zig-Zags of Jaywalker. My mom is coming to visit next week, and I have no worries that these will be completed by the time she gets here.

So, YAY! I'm actually going to finish a project. The only problem is that once these needles are free of Jaywalkers, they'll immediately be put to use knitting Christmas socks for my dad. The joy he finds in the socks I knit makes him a well-deserving recipient of hand-knit gifts, but alas, he has GIANT feet and an affinity for cables, so no easy peasy socks for this one.

Other Christmas gifts:

5) I've made Knitty's Knotty but Nice Hat twice now, once for my mother and once for myself. (That green one is mine). Now, my sister has

requested one of her own. So I've just cast on in Cascade 220 Tweed for another one for her. I love this pattern, and am pumped to make it again.

6) Swallowtail Shawl for my mother. I'm about halfway done with this, and am loving my first lace/shawl experience. The only problem is, the lace takes a little concentration, so I don't find it

that conducive for TV/Knit Night knitting. It's a project I gotta make quite, podcast-filled time for. Also, I find pictures of lace knitting disappointing until the garment is blocked, so no pictures thus far.

7) Christmas stockings - It's Pete's and my first

Christmas living together, so I wanted to make

Christmas stockings for the two of us and our new Australian Cattle mix, Mac. These stockings have special meaning to me, as my Grandma

Brown (who I clearly got my knitting genes from) made them for my sister and I. They're turning out lovely, but since I want them to be a surprise, they are solely designated for Knit Night, making it slow going.

8) Christmas ornaments. So do you guys have those people in your life who you love and want to give a little something to for Christmas, and yet monetarily, that's kind of not feasible? Well, as a grad school student, I faced that issue in spades. So in 2008, I started knitting Christmas ornaments for everyone I loved, and it's become a tradition. This year, I'm especially excited,

because I'm using up leftover sock yarn to make tiny sweaters, ending up with a gift that is both adorable and COMPLETELY FREE!!! What more can a (broke) girl ask for?

My mom is the Hostess with the Mostess, often hosting "Orphans" on the holidays (people whose families live far away, etc), so between family, friends and "Orphans," I'm making about 38 of these. I've got more than 20 done thus far, leaving me with a time table of two a week to be done by Christmas. So really, if you add those 18 to my pile, I've got about 30 WIPs :)

Alright, this is already a novel and a half, so I'll save the second half of my WIPs for another day. This is rather fitting, however, that there are so many works in progress that they don't even fit in one blog post. BUT - I am hoping that with the start of this blog, and the incentive to share, fewer items will be cast on and more will be cast off! Thanks for slogging through this, y'all, and if you have any feedback, please let me know!

A little late to hop on the blogging train...

Well hello there, vast Internet universe!

Though I've often thought about jumping on the blogging train, I've usually struggled with thoughts of, "Who wants to read what your scattered, rambling, incoherent mind is pooping out?" In fact, I still struggle with this thought.

However, due to the vast, mind-numbing boredom that comes with unemployment (there are only so many hours a day you can look for a job) and the recent creative swing my knitting has taken (I came up with my own pattern! Kind of!), I decided, "Screw it! Perhaps there are people out there who might care about my random thoughts, and even if they don't care, perhaps they'll at least want to look at pictures of my knitting."

So if you're reading this, to you I say Thanks! I'm still learning as we go here, so please be patient these first few posts as I sort out the kinks. I've actually got an interview in an hour or so, so nothing special today, but

will update soon! The name for this blog came to me (seriously) in my dream last night, so I wanted to jump on it and make sure no one stole it. I'm so cool.

Wouldn't it be funny if I finally gave in and start a blog to fight unemployment boredom and that same day get a job? Have no fear, however, imaginary readers, for I will not abandon thee. Alright. I feel this already has turned into a bit of verbal diarrhea, so I'll stop and instead leave you with an adorable picture of my Mac, the recent addition to our home.