Little People, Peanut Butter Cookies & Christmas Knitting, oh my!
I spent a hilarious amount of time this morning playing with Little People. That sounds wrong now that I type it, it’s a line of wee plastic toys by Fisher Price. Anyhee, Helena is over the moon about this one. Maybe because it’s a mommy and her baby? Maybe because it looks like there’s a misshapen Siamese twin growing from the front of this poor kangaroo? No idea, but it’s a really big deal around here.
Then the plan was to make heaps of yummy things for tomorrow’s Ladies Who Lunch gathering, but my sister and BFF are ill thanks to my germy kids, and two of the other three have other plans tomorrow. So it would have been just Talea and myself (which I’m sure would be a blast anyway), but with the snow headed this way I thought it might be easier/more efficient if we just stay home and knit on Christmas projects. So the only baking that was done today was peanut butter cookies, of which there are *none* left as I type this just a few hours later. I sometimes use the potato masher or other random kitchen objects to make a different pattern on the top, but I was feeling nostalgic for baking with my Grandma (next weekend, perhaps?), and did the cross hatch like she always does.
And what would a less-than-a-month-to-Christmas post be without a Christmas knitting update?! I’ve finished yet another scarf for the heap o scarves that will be wrapped in the near future, this one is as blue as it is fuzzy – stand back. Skinny scarves are perfect this year because for some reason a bunch of gals I know LOVE them, and they knit up in just a few hours, so I’m happy to knit these things up all day.
Now, the final and most important update…Hedera. I really thought this was going to be it, a sock that I just could not knit. Thankfully, that turned out not to be the case and I’m moving along at warp speed. At this rate I’ll actually be able to finish at least the ‘must knit’ part of my list! Here she is, in all her yellow glory!
I’m just about ready to turn the heel on this baby and then we’re pretty much home free! 
Next weekend is my Stitch n Bitch Cookie Exchange! I care not how dorky it sounds, I love Christmas, I love Christmas cookies and I love my SnB group, so I’m really looking forward to this. I’m curious to see what everyone will bake.
Christmas Scarves, Hedera & Trofast
Today was a much better knitting day than yesterday. Today, I started and finished a quick fuzzy scarf to add to the pile of Christmas scarves. I’d like to make a shawl or something from this yarn, it’s fuzzy but not too irritating to knit with. I often feel guilty for giving people scarves or pot holders or slippers as gifts because I’ve reached this point with knitting that allows me to knit a whole lot more than that and everyone knows it. So when I’m knitting socks and snowmen, it almost feels like I’m cheating whoever gets a scarf! I will say now what I say every year, I will start my Christmas knitting in the summer next year. Yeah, right.
In progress, this afternoon.
In far more important news, I have a handle on Hedera, or at least my slightly edited version of them. These socks are so pretty I wanted to make a pair for my mother for Christmas, but as I mentioned the yarn over before the purl was killing me. I’m glad I have found a way to knit up this lovely pattern, but I’m bummed that I can’t do it exactly as written. Hundreds, if not thousands, of knitters have made these socks in the last 18 months, so what’s wrong with me?! Since I made my edits, my sock no longer looks like it was pulled from the bottom of the salvage bin – it’s pretty. Essentially, pretty is what I’m going for so I’m happy with it. See?
Progress from watching an embarrassing number of Green Day videos shut up and watching a toddler fall asleep aww.
I’d like to say it was the progress on the Christmas knitting and finally getting a handle on the sock dilemma that spurred me to finish putting this sucker together, but honestly I had just stubbed my toe really hard on the half put together version I had abandoned in the hallway on Tuesday.
It had been in it’s flat box since it was dropped off on Nov 3.
I’ve coveted Trofast storage for the kids for years and when I get one it takes me nearly a month to put it together!
Tomorrow will be filled with baking, some as testers for Christmas recipes and something yummy for this week’s Ladies Who Lunch!
Knitting Hedera
Hedera (from Knitty last spring), but no matter how hard I try, I can’t get the yarn over before the purl right. I tried and tried, for a while there I thought I had it! There are two sets of holes running through the pattern, one set is made with a yo, k2 the other with a yo, p2. One side looks so pretty (!) and the other looks like it was attacked by moths. I wish I had remembered to take a photo of the mess before I ripped it out. I did get a quick pic of the twisted rib though, I really like it.
Since I love this sock so much I’m not willing to give up on it completely, I’m going to switch the p2 at the end of each row to a k1, p1 so I can bypass the yo that comes before the p2. I know it’ll look a little different, but hopefully it’ll at least look uniform!
I wont even go into detail about my Christmas knitting list, because I’d rather just knit away at Hedera and think about it on Saturday, when I officially only have 24 days to go. I will say that if Talea’s project slips off the needles one more time, or if I get one more bead stuck on the yarn, I’m casting on something else for her, this is insane. I will mention that I’m looking forward to knitting at least one pair of socks each for the kids. Wee feet make for fun to knit socks! I’m also going to be knitting some Christmas trees to hang in the front window.
This afternoon my dear friend Lindsay came over for some much needed hang out time and knitting help. She’s taken on a large project to give as a Christmas gift and I am nervous for her. I have more than once wrapped unfinished projects (still on their needles) and when unwrapped, I just took it back and kept knitting.
Yay Christmas! I love the bells in the background.
Ok, so back to Hedera…
