KNITTING WITHOUT DOG HAIR IS NOT AN OPTION

Came and went... But they were awesome. I didn't blog about the things I was supposed to (the review of Cat Bordhi and Nora Bellows) - yeah, I know I'm a slacker... so what. ;-)

But a lot of knitting happened. YAY for that!!! One of the big projects that needed finishing before Christmas was done at 9:30am last Saturday:

Needles: US 5 / 3.75 mm (Knitpicks Harmony)
Yarn: Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere 2-ply
How much? approx. 2.75 skeins = 1100.0 yards (1005.8m)
Colorway: Plum Crazy

I really enjoyed knitting the DROPS Shawl with Leaf Pattern for Jacquie. Once I got going with it and made it my "only" project - yes, I can be a very good monogamist - it went faster then I expected. I was really shooting for the finish line to be Friday night, but I got so-o-o unbelievably tired around midnight that I stopped 6 rows before the end. I just couldn't bear to screw it up at the very end. So, with a rested and alert brain, it got done on Saturday morning.

All I need to do now is the blocking part and that will take no time.

And since I got the shawl finished Saturday morning, I put my housekeeper clothes on after that and started cleaning the house. The bathrooms really needed a good scrub (I still need to do the floors, but oh well), and I dusted and vacuumed to get ready for the holiday decorations. Oh, and I even went outside to cut a few bushes and clean up the front of our house, so we don't get black-listed by the Nazis of our homeowners association.

After that, Hubby and I got into Christmas mood - well, I guess I made him get into the mood - and he dragged boxes of crystal ornaments up from the basement, as well as our artifical tree. I even made him listen to holiday music. Poor guy... What was really funny tho', was that I asked him to pick the Christmas CDs he likes (We have about 30 and maybe only 5 or so are mine, so there...). Well, he looked around the CD player - we have one of those that holds 5 CDs - to see if I had left some Christmas CDs laying around. Boy, he knows me so well... Not only were the CDs still laying around - they were actually still in the player. Now, what does that tell you???

After putting the tree together, stringing the lights and decorating it with ONLY crystal ornaments (mostly Swarovski, Waterford and Mikasa - yes, he collects a lot of things), we have a very sparkly and quite beautiful Christmas tree this year, I must say:

Sorry for the blurry picture - I tried to hurry before the lights started blinking. Not that you would think we had lights on only one corner of the tree. ;-)

Yes, we do have crystal car ornaments and an American flag. :-)

On Sunday, Jen and I decided to pay Knitch a visit. It was a smaller group than usual because of the holiday weekend, but plenty of fun just the same. Jen decided to steek her husband's beautiful fair isle sweater in public. I used the camcorder function on my little camera and the videos turned out quite nicely. Once they're on YouTube, I'll let you know. But Jen sure had an audience, and we all gasped when she did this:

Such a brave woman - and she makes it look soooooooooooooo easy.

I also finally got my act together for some tiny little knitted Christmas and Hanukkah gifts. Since some of these people - big wave to Yvette and Bob ;-) - read my blog, I won't say here what the gifts are.

And while talking to my mom on Sunday, I found out what I can knit for her for Christmas. She told me she wanted to knit herself a hat with a brim - she's always wanted one and they are very trendy at the moment. I told her to hold her horses because I would knit one for her. And I found the perfect pattern. Here is the Half Pipe Hat from Son of Stitch 'n Bitch: 45 Projects to Knit and Crochet for Men. So I HAD to buy some yarn at Knitch. He-he-he... Love those excuses...

Yup, and it's already finished:

Needle: US 6 / 4.0 mm (INOX 16 inch circular & Knitpicks Harmony to magic loop for the crown)
Yarn: Rowan Wool Cotton
How much? 2 skeins = 246.0 yards (224.9m)
Colorway: Olive Green

It is one of Debbie Stoller's own patterns in the book. And she really isn't kidding when she says that this hat knits up fast - it took me only a few hours. Even the sewing part - sewing a plastic canvas into the brim - was not a very big pain in the rear. I'm very tempted to knit one for myself in another color. Mom wanted a very neutral color but I just couldn't make myself knit with white or beige. I think Mom will be a very cool 70-year old granny walking around with an light olive green Half Pipe Hat in my little hometown, don't you think?

What else? Since the Cat Bordhi class, I've been working on the Bartholomew's Tantalizing Socks from New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One:

It's going slow because I haven't had much time to knit on it. Plus it needs some quite careful pattern reading. I also needed some encouragement from Jen on Sunday because I wasn't sure about the structure, and the sock looks very long... But Jen said to trust Cat Bordhi. And I will, I promise. ;-)

And last but not least, I'm done with the dress for the AKG Trauma Bear:

Needle: US 5 / 3.75 mm (Knitpicks Harmony for magic loop)
Yarn: Noro Kureyon
How much? 1 skein = 110.0 yards (100.6m)
Colorway: Bright rainbow colors

If I have some time between now and the next guild meeting, I'll knit a little shawl and maybe a hat band to match the dress. I still have some yarn left. The bear will be donated to the Atlanta Knitting Guild's Charity Project at the December Guild Meeting. They collect teddy bears dressed in knitted outfits, which the Georgia Center for Children gives to children who are in crisis situations. Such a cool charity project!

That's all for this dreary fall Tuesday morning. Have a great week!