and for once I’m going to post a WIP update on Wednesday.

since L’s mittens are finally finished (and in the mail) and the baby bonnet went way fast, there’s not much to show. I’ve been working on dad’s hat again (after a bit of a break). I’ve decided I’ve made enough ribbing, so the ribbing continues. (it’s a doubled hat - start at the crown, end at the crown, stuff one inside the other. voila, double-thick reversible hat.) I need to work on charting out the design for the second half - though, on the plus side (if you can call it that), this ribbing is still taking forever.

other WIPs: I cast on for some odd CookieA sock pattern. I think I need to go down a needle size, so they just sit here taunting me. I’ve wound up the KP Superwash to start the GAAA. I’m thinking I’ll start with the Julie Levy square (it’s in the Winter 2000 issue of Knitters, which I just got off of someone’s destashing efforts on Ravelry. I have no idea what order it’s in if you have the book.)

in sewing news, I’m working on a quilted table runner from the book Quilt a Colorful Christmas (thank you HCLib). I’ve got the borders done (though I think the sides are off a bit and I need to rip and re-sew a couple spots), and am at the point of needing to make snowflakes to appliqué to the center background panel before I can sew my borders onto it.

dh went out of town to visit a friend for the weekend (he’ll be back at some point on Monday).

my goals: finish the gift knits (for L, my sis, and maybe the BIL. oh, and dad’s hat), finish the gift sewing (4 pillows in brocade. should be pretty straightforward), go see Sweeney Todd, and grab what I don’t already have for the gift baking (cookies for dad & the BIL).

I’ve been working on L’s mittens (meant to be last year’s gift) and am now nearly done with them - just need to get the 2nd one off the needles and sort out the thumbs on both of them.

A’s toy is nearly done - I need to get it felted and stuffed.

I need to go run some errands today, but I don’t really want to leave - my KnitPicks order left the local Sortation center at 12:13AM today, and I REALLY need the needles in it to work on dad’s hat. (of course, if I wait around all day, they won’t show up until the 24th, which is the ‘estimated in home’ date)

Wednesday on the morning bus ride, I managed to time things perfectly - I cast off the back of Twist just in time for me to put things away and get off at my stop. unfortunately, the back of the sweater is not the entire sweater, so I didn’t get too far on the NaKniSweMo goal.

so on Wednesday’s trip home, I didn’t want to start the fronts or sleeves yet, so I pulled out the HP bookscarf and got a few more rows done there.

now, back to the holiday knitting!
I started a hat:

and I have the yarn and patterns ready for the rest of the projects:

I just need to get knitting.
5 projects started, 2 finished, 4 more planned.

apologies for yet another post without photos. I had intentions of doing a quick photo shoot last night before/while packing, but I got a bit distracted. I really need to get a progress photo of Twist.

a quick WIP Wednesday update:
Twist is going well. I probably won’t finish by the end of the month for NaKniSweMo, but I’ve made some good progress, I think. I’m at the armholes on the back.

at some point during the week, I ran out of yarn and forgot to pack a new ball of yarn. (I thought I had packed it, but apparently I was having a delusional moment). of course, that means I have nothing to knit on an hour-long bus ride home. ugh! so I studied the pattern a bit. and then I had the amazing realization that there was knitting in my bag. The Harry Potter book scarf to the rescue! (maybe it’s not so crazy of me to carry extra knitting around with me.)

Holiday Travel (and Holiday knitting)
we’re heading down to Wisconsin for the weekend. spending Turkey day with one of dh’s friends and whoever else shows up. and then I’m heading north from there to Green Bay to get together with some old camp friends for a quilting/crafting weekend.

so, last night was spent packing. priorities of course, I packed the sewing projects (the 2nd curtain, pajama pants for me, the quilt I mentioned back in May-ish, and the never-ending 5-year+ quilt. aka my first quilt project that I only ever seem to think about working on when meeting up with my camp friends.). while gathering the fabric, I realized I had misplaced the foot I’d bought to applique the May quilt. I found it in with the rest of the feet for the machine. and then I realized that the pattern(s) I had for pajama pants won’t fit me (one would have if I’d bought the Misses sizes instead of the Junior sizes. note to self, pay attention), so I may need to make a side-trip to the store for that (not a problem, at some point we usually end up in a fabric store).

alright, sewing being packed, it’s time to move on to the knitting. I’ve got Twist with me, of course. and 4 extra balls so I can start working on the fronts or the sleeves. whichever I choose to do, I’m doing both at the same time so they match.
since the holiday knitting has been suffering, I’ve made sure to bring plenty of that as well. but what to bring? well, I was going to force myself to work on L’s mittens from last year, but that’s at the house, so I guess those will have to wait a while longer (dammit!). so I’m taking yarn for L’s gift, A’s gift, the poinsettia wreath, and I think something else.

knitting on the sweater continues. I finished the second ball on the bus this morning. based on the yardage on the pattern, I’m expecting to need 15.

since I’ve got a good portion of the back done (at least 10″ - getting close to the arm shaping), I decided to check how my gauge is doing. seems I’m off. pattern says 19 sts and I’m measuring about 21 sts over the 4″. hmm. I’m making the largest size, which is a few inches over my bust measurement, so I’m thinking (hoping!) I should be ok. at least I’m not on track to have the sweater fit an elephant or something.

I’d like to get back to the holiday knits, but I think half of them got left at the house (we’re going back to get the rest on Friday), so I’m not sure what I have here and what I don’t. we’ll work on unpacking that tonight