I had my own version of a very productive Sunday. First, I got up a bit before 10:00 a.m. I took my penicillin and sent Travis out for bagels. I ate said bagel. The two or three hours after that were a flurry of inactivity. (For me, that is - Travis did plenty of man-work today.)
Then...I put on my Christmas toes:
(MAC polish - I love my MAC discount!)
And I finished up a project, as promised.
Project Specs:
Pattern: Boyfriend Socks (Christmas gift for my dad)
Yarn: Koigu KPM in my own Kool-Aid handpaint for an Army guy
Needles: Size 1.5 Crystal Palace DPNs
Start Date: November 10th(ish)
Finish Date: December 10th
Changes/Pattern Thoughts: I used bigger needles than called for, and I only did seven rows of ribbbing at the top instead of ten (yep, not enough yarn.) This was my first toe-up sock, and it went well, I think.
I'm pleased with how they turned out, although I think the cuff may be a bit large for him. It's not entirely likely he'll wear them anyway - he hasn't worn the last ones I made for fear that he'll wear them out. I'm determined to make enough socks for him that he'll stop worrying and start wearing them.
These photos were taken in my downstairs tub. I know it would appear I have a strange love for photographing socks in bathrooms...it may seem a bizarre fetish, but I promise it's just that those are the rooms in my house with the brightest lighting.
I found a few things in this month's Knitty that I'll want. Small, clever items like the lunchbag and the coffee sling. (Did anyone else think about how cute your coffee sling will look if you're wearing your Swell, too?) And the obligatory-but-always-fabulous installment of Cookie's Seasonal Sock - although this one doesn't call to me quite as loudly as Pomatomus, Hedera, and Baudelaire did.
The Summer and Fall Knittys provided me with no fewer than 20 intended projects. Frankly, I was kind of praying this issue would fall flat with me, and it only sort of did.
I got a question - well, a statement really - from Knotingale about the idea of taking a Nova Scotia cruise departing from Baltimore when I live in Florida - land of the cruise departures - and it would be infinitely easier to take a cruise from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, or Cape Canaveral into the Caribbean. There's a cruise coming up, actually, that's sailing from Miami. There are several reasons why that doesn't appeal to me as much. One, I don't have enough leave saved up for that cruise. (That's the short & sweet answer.) But also, I hate hate hate Miami and I don't even like the idea of driving into it for a few minutes to catch a boat. I also have been to the Caribbean and am not as jazzed about that, being that I live in the tropics and it's pretty easy to get to the islands cheaply from here. But I LOVE Canada and I don't ever get to see enough of it - and I've never been to the Nova Scotia part.
However - I'll probably take a short Caribbean cruise at some point before the big long Nova Scotia one just in case. I've never been on a cruise and I'd hate to spend nine days with my stomach inside-out in my cabin while Mama-E and Kate Gilbert divvy up my share of the dessert bar. (God, can you imagine a flock of knitters set loose on a boat with an endless dessert bar and great huge sacks of wool? I'm pretty sure there will be booze a-plenty too....I MUST remember the camcorder.)
Finally - how do I put this delicately - there's a certain breed of knitter in the south Florida area, and I don't think it's my crowd, exactly. I'm not a very "Florida" girl, and I'm REALLY not a "Palm Beach" girl. I'm sure there's oodles of non-Floridians on the cruises that depart from here - but I think the northern cruise might be more my speed.
And I really want that Mama-E fiber.
Now I have to prioritize my remaining Christmas gifts and see what's practical for completion and what's not....wish me luck!
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