yarn tootin'

Funny

     I know I make a big deal about how I'm not a "dog person," but this is hilarious...

 
From I Has A Hotdog

Holiday Meme

Maryse posted this meme sometime last week.  I'm a little pressed for material these days, so here goes...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Whichever works best.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial.  Our tree is about two and a half feet tall and it came with the lights already on it.  We put it on a bar table next to the menorah to give it added height.  When Christmas is over, the whole thing goes back into a box.  Set-up and clean up are minimal, yet there are still festive, colored lights waiting for me when I get home.

3. When do you put up the tree? I generally start feeling festive during the Nutcracker run we do right after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? The first of January at the very latest. January 2nd if I'm out of town on the first.

5. Do you like eggnog? No.  I think it's disgusting and even nastier when spiked with alcohol.  Bob, however, is a big fan of eggnog, so we have a bottle of it in our fridge.  We also have eggnog ice cream.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I received many, many gifts as a child.  One favorite was Zip, a stuffed monkey with molded plastic shoes and red pants from the J.C. Penney Catalog.  I think I got Zip when I was about 3.  Bob also had a Zip doll when he was a kid and when we discovered that we both had Zips (I'd never met anyone who'd even heard of Zip), Bob included Zip and the female version, Tippy (Bob had both) in our wedding.  Bob made those outfits himself and the monkeys now reside atop the cabinet in our dining room.  I realize that they're slightly creepy.

7. Hardest person to buy for? My dad.  Dads are always hard to buy for, aren't they?

8. Easiest person to buy for?  Bob is usually pretty easy.  He gives me lots of ideas and if I just choose something he says he wants, he's happy.  When I try to buy him something he actually needs, it doesn't go very well.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No, I do not.  It wouldn't go with Bob's menorah.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?  We have mailed them in the past, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen this year.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?  I had a boyfriend in college who used to give me gifts he wanted me to like rather than trying to come up with something I might actually like.  Among other things, he gave me a fancy flashlight for camping (I hate camping) and a huge green scarf that he knit himself.  The scarf was undoubtedly his first project and it looked very homemade (and not in a good way).  My mom and my aunt thought the scarf was the sweetest thing ever, but it was knit with less than fabulous yarn and it seriously clashed with the coat I had at the time.  The boyfriend, who was oblivious to most social cues, didn't pick up on the fact that I didn't really like the scarf and he insisted that I wear it.  I didn't want to tell him that I thought it was ugly so I wore it for most of that winter.  Fortunately, the following winter I moved to L.A. and the scarf may have gotten "lost" in the move.  That scarf may be the reason I don't knit things for people unless I'm almost positive that they will like them.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? It's only a little bit Christmas-y, but I really like Serendipity.  

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Around Thanksgiving.  I've learned that as soon as I think of a good gift idea, it's best to buy whatever it is before I forget the good idea.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I've recycled gift cards, but that's it.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? My mom makes a special Christmas breakfast every year.  Refer to this post for the recipe.

16. Lights on the tree? Yes.  I like multi colored lights better than white lights or lights that are all one color.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Anything but the Nutcracker.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travel.  This year we're going to the Motherland.

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Vixen, Tom, Joe, and Larry.  No, it seems I cannot.

20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning,

21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Air travel.  I hate flying, but I have to fly to get to where the holiday happens.

22. Favorite ornament theme or color? I'm against ornament themes.

23. What do you want for Christmas this year? A Dyson.  I think Bob is getting me one, but he might be getting me a membership to the 2009 Rockin' Sock Club which would also be pretty good.  Bob likes surprises, so there's always some sort of rouse.

24. Angel on the tree top or a star? At my mom's house there is an angel.  At my house, there is nothing.

25. Favorite Christmas dinner? I like it when there's a turkey.

Monogamy is Overrated

     Project monogamy, that is.  I seem to be incapable of working on one (or five) projects at a time and I'm always itching to cast on something new.  Lately, I've been using casting on for a new project as a way to reward myself or to celebrate.  Now that the semester has ended at the college, I have a bit more free time and I'm trying to get back in the habit of going to the gym.  This week, my reward for making it to the gym three times will be to cast on for whatever I want.  I've already got a skein of Malabrigo wound up in anticipation.  I think it will be a neck warmer.

     Sometimes I also finish things.  I finished this Baby Surprise Jacket right before Thanksgiving...

 

     I just love this pattern.  Now that I get how it works, I could knit BSJ after BSJ.  This one is knit in Twisted Fiber Art Duchess which I bought during a recent Twisted Update.  The name of the colorway is Karma and for some reason this skein seems a lot more pastel-y than it looked on my monitor.  I decided to knit a BSJ with it because it just looks like baby yarn to me.  I love Twisted and I'm glad those ladies are doing so well, but I think I'm done buying it for now.  The panic and frenzy of the updates is too much and I wind up making impulsive purchases.

     Speaking of impulsive purchases and yarn that is next to impossible to get your hands on, the second shipment from the Wollmeise Sock Club arrived on Tuesday.  After a very long day of listening to juries at the college (way too many of which were brass juries; in case you were wondering, the tuba just sounds silly when played by itself), this yarn was a welcome surprise.

     In other knitting news,  I finally went for it and knit my first toe-up sock.

  

     This is the Back to Basics pattern from Knitty and the yarn is Lightweight STR in Count Cluckula.  This is one of those patterns with unusual construction which made it fun and interesting to knit.  I see myself knitting through Cat Bordhi's New Pathways Book in the near future.  Unfortunately, this particular sock doesn't fit me at all.  The foot part is a little baggy and it's even a little loose on my sock blocker.  I know someone with feet that are larger than mine who I suspect will love this sock and it's mate if I ever get around to knitting it.  Her birthday is in September, so I've got plenty of time.

     Finally, I've started another Clapotis.  This particular cast on was my airplane knitting/festive Thanksgiving celebratory project.  I know a lot of people find the Clapotis to be mind numbing and annoying to knit, but I love a good Clappy.  It's all about the yarn.

 

     This is Manos Silk Blend.  It's very nice.  Hopefully I'll finish it before the 100 degree weather returns to Big Texas.  It's nice outside today (55 and sunny; you have to love "winter" in San Antonio) so I think I'm going to go for a walk instead of going to the gym.  If I manage to do a few intervals of scampering (like running, but slower) I think I'll cast on with my Malabrigo when I get back.  I think that a neck warmer will the perfect thing to knit between acts of the many, many Nutcrakers I'm playing this weekend.