'Tis the Season

How funny it is that the cold weather brings on the holidays? At least is does for me. Chilly days and cold nights have really gotten me into the festive spirit. I mean, I'm not decorating or anything--don't be silly! But I do have Christmas carols playing and I have even put some in the car already. I don't know, they just help me get in the mood. And the kids love them. They belt out the tunes. Since I first put a holiday CD in the stereo, they ask every night: Can we put on Christmas carols and DANCE? You think that's funny? ...You should see the dancing.

This season is a particularly busy one for us, since it is not only the busy holiday season that everyone has gets to deal with, but we have additional demand as well. It's our "birthday season". Let me break it down for you. Keegan's birthday, Thanksgiving, Spencer's birthday, Christmas, Irene's birthday. And this all takes place in a matter of 7 weeks. Yes, that's right. By January, I am a complete psycho, completely drained of any creative juices, decorating or baking skills, and the general will to live. Ugh. It's a little much. I know, what were we thinking? I don't know. I guess the spring is a romantic time for us or something?

In knitting news, I am all over the place. I gave up on Irene's hat completely for now. A new needle is on its way, and I will work on it more then. I cannot deal with another dropped stitch right now or I will scream. (That sort of implies that I have not screamed already, and well, that is not true. But I will stop from now on. You have my word.)

My monkeys are coming along a bit. I have passed the second lace repetition, and I'm somewhere on the third now, I think. This is the last picture I have of them, but they're kind of hanging out for now.



The Tiffany Mittens are really coming along. This is a picture from last night. I started blogging but was interrupted several times, so I never got to post it up. At the time of the picture, I had finished the top of the second mitt and was due to weave in the ends (oh, so many!) and begin wrestling with the picking up stitches for an afterthought thumb.



Currently, the weaving in is done and I've picked up the thumb stitches and worked most of that chart. I think I have 3 or 4 rows left before I am done with the thumb and need only to hem the cuff...and then do a happy dance. (This one's been in the works for a while.)

Also, I started something new. I suddenly got the urge to make a quick pair of socks (no, I didn't mean that ironically--why do you ask?) for my son's birthday on Monday. I figured it was Thursday, if I did half a sock per day, I should make it.



It's a plain stockinette sock in a DK weight. Yarns are leftovers from the Tiffany Mitts above, Knitpicks Swish DK in Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Dusk. Hey, so what if I've started 4 pairs of socks and three of them are Yarn Harlot's basic sock recipe? Huh? Sheesh. I am just a boring person. And it's the quickest sock I could think of--I only have 4 days! They're coming along nicely. I am in the toe decreases, but I had to stop. Did you notice that the part of the Tiffany Mitts I'm still working on involves the Dusk? You did?! Good for you. Well, I need to make sure I have enough of that darned blue to finish the mitts. After that, I'll do the stripes of the socks as I can, depending how much blue is left. So I am going to finish the mitts, start the second sock, and make sure I can get at least to where I am now on another sock without running out. If I make it, I'll decide how much more I can do. Hopefully, I'll make it to the planned last blue stripe on the toes. Cross your fingers. I need all the luck I can get.