Just made it to 2009

Those 10 days leading up to Christmas were my busiest of the whole year but I made it. The presents were bought and wrapped. The house was minimally decorated. The cookies were baked, packed, wrapped and distributed. Food was bought, cooked and served many times over. And the dishwasher was run two or three times a day! The time spent with Family and Friends was my favorite part of all. It's taken me a couple days with my feet up and knitting in hand to recover but I'm ready to face the New Year. I hope all you were better prepared and enjoyed your Holidays.

I did very little gift knitting this year, I don't know why. Maybe I didn't see any patterns that seemed perfect for anyone on my list or maybe I just wasn't very imaginative this year. I did knit a hat for Laura. It was Black Forest Hat made from Noro Silk Garden edits/leftovers. (I've admitted before to editing skeins of Noro when there's a color in a skein that I don't care for in a project.)


This was fun knitting; both the pattern and trying to select yarn bits that looked like they could be from a regular skein of Silk Garden. The scalloped edge is what initially caught my eye and I like it as much in my finished hat as I did when I first saw it on Ravelry. (The pattern is only available through a free Ravelry download.)

While I was stalling finishing my green sweater I pulled out and finished a sock UFO. These are a 2/2 rib pattern in Cherry Tree Hill, sorry I don't have the band so I can't tell you the color name.


Ty, kept bothering me while I was wrapping gifts. He kept trying to sit on the paper, to give myself a few minutes break from his attention I gave him his own piece of tissue. Little did I know that was all he wanted. He's been on that corner of the sofa sleeping on his paper for over a week now. I have to give him a new piece every other day as he shreds it kneading on it.


I think we all deserve a NEW Year, 2008 is broken and can't be fixed!
Happy New Year 2009 to all

Holiday Panic

I do know how to operate a calendar but I still can't believe it's only 10 days until Christmas. How could it be time for the Holidays when it was 80 degrees last Wednesday?

It's suppose to go from Summer through Autumn and then when the leaves really start to fall you start getting in the Holiday mood. (This year from the heat of the never ending summer the leaves just turned brown but are still stuck on most trees.) I'm not ready! I have no gift knitting to show you. No cookie baking (how could you even think of turning on the oven when it was so hot?)

I'm forcing myself to listen to Christmas Music hoping that will get me in the mood. We pulled down the decorations Saturday and I worked on it off and on this weekend. I did some shopping on Friday that helped - retail therapy I guess. I mostly bought gift cards as my family is the most uncommunicative gift recipients ever. I was going to go out shopping today but it's pouring outside - I Love It! (Finally some weather other than summer heat.) Since I'm staying home this morning I'm wrapping the few presents I've bought throughout the year. Between the economy, finances and time Christmas will be lighter than usual this year.

Daughter #2 and I discussed what cookies we still had time to bake - there won't be much of a variety this year.

Here's a picture of my ONLY Christmas Knitting


Mini-Mittens from Pink Argyle. I originally had visions of making a couple dozen pairs to hang on a tree but I believe I'll stop at one pair, Thank-you. These are TINY things; they just fit the tip of my little finger.

I haven't made any further progress on my Hey Teach sweater. Out of guilt of leaving this project laying there I've been pulling out UFOs; I've finished two pair of socks and am close to finishing a third pair. Pictures as soon as the sun comes out again. We have rain in the forcast for the next week - that has to improve my Holiday Spirits, right?

The majority of the plants around here also seem confused over what Season are we really in but the Christmas Cactus is right on schedule.

Safe in University City

Since some of you know where I live, I thought I'd let you know I'm not near where the F-18 went down today. I live a mile southwest from the crash site. Seems the pilot couldn't hold it together long enough on his dash to get back to base but he did manage to miss University City High School. The news reports he ejected and was taken to the hospital. No reports yet if anyone was in the houses that burned. I pray no one was home!

I did hear the jet come in low, it's engine sputtered a few times and then blew out. That immediate silence was erie; living near Miramar Air Station I know jets never go silent like that.

Anyway, the dog, cats, stash, The Photographer and I are safe. And, yes, I am counting my blessings!

Welsh Traveling Socks plus Toes

Here are the finished Welsh Traveling Socks

and a close up of the pattern (click on the picture and you can see a close-up on Flickr)


So what do you think of the color of the yarn I used for the toes? I'm still not sure about it but no matter what anyone says I won't be pulling it out. The pattern calls for yarn with 450 yards I used a yarn with 350 yards; I never noticed until the tail end of the yarn hit my hand. Surprised doesn't cover it! This was my blind faith I had enough yarn - No, I didn't compare my yardage to the pattern requirements. For some reason I was confidant that this yarn would work for this sock. I think I was led down the rosey path of dilusion because this yarn was so similar to the look of the yarn pictured in the book. I feel so dumb!

Anyway, the yarn was wonderful to work with, the yardage problem was all me. I bought it from emilyparson.etsy.com more than a year ago. It's called Starry Night in Sophie's Toes Sock Yarn.

I finished and blocked my Noro Striped Scarf and still had half a ball of both colors of Silk Garden (270 & 264) and decided I should make matching fingerless mitts.


I pulled out my favorite pattern for fingerless mitts, Maine Morning Mitts played around with the stitch count to get it to work with a 1x1 rib and I was off knitting in circles. (I added one stitch to get an even number next time I'd subtract a stitch or three. The gloves are a bit large because the 1x1 rib doesn't pull in as much as the original pattern's 3x1 rib.)


Tuesday I spent a foggy morning with my garden club taking a ranger guided tour of Presido Park, the site of the very first California Mission. 1769 Father Sierra claimed the land for the Church and Spain making San Diego one of the older European settled Cities in North America.

This cross was made of brick salvaged from the ruins of Fort Presidio, what was left on the site when the priests moved the Mission 6 miles east to get away from the soliders.

Edit: I was ask where to buy the Grayce's Scarf pattern by someone that didn't leave me a return email address. The pattern only has an email address: pearlyqueentx@prodigy.net There is no other names or address on the pattern. I bought this pattern at the Taos Wool Festival.