Lots to catch up on!

Greetings and Dear Laura:

Your 'Must Have Cardigan' looks great. I certainly can't see any loose stitches! I have GOT to get that sweater cast on!

I've been pretty busy lately - somehow November snuck up on me! Now that I'm over my cold, I've looked around and noticed that I've taken on several new roles at church, and it's getting close to year end, so I need to balance and audit the bookkeeping I do for my parents. My apartment looks like it threw up all over itself and we will NOT discuss my closets. And then there is the constant cast-on-itis and Christmas-knitting-insanity epidemic that is so common this year. I have the usual case, so nothing new there.

On top of all of that, I'm trying to cope with a flare-up of my carpal tunnel/repetitive injury issue. I put down the red lace shawl because I couldn't knit a full row without my fingers going numb. I also have problems holding the telephone for very long, driving, and sometimes sleeping, even with the braces. This is my warning to reduce what I'm doing. (I'm never very fond of that warning!)

The current "I want to knit and wouldn't that be nice by Christmas" list includes:
The blue toddler cardigan for Logan's 1st birthday on Dec 26.
The 'Must Have Cardigan' for mom
Crochet slippers for mom. (She wants slippers, and crochet would be quicker, a 'different' motion, and help stash bust!)
Scarf for my new niece-in-law.
Knee socks for my sil.
A sweater for my new niece/nephew due in January, and a blanket for that baby, and a quilt kit for that baby.
Oh! And we bought yarn to do a blanket for my dad. (HA! Like that's even possible.)
Remember that cool sock yarn that you unravel as you knit? It's calling my name.
Oh! There's a baby shower at church before Thanksgiving - wait, I think it's Sunday - and so I should have a baby thing knitted, right?
And we're adopting 2 families for Christmas, and so there are two mom's who would probably love a scarf.
I promised Lane a soap sweater.

Did I mention that I need more wool socks for this winter? And that it's snowing even as we speak?

Thursday I got a call from the owner of the LYS in Avilla. She asked if I would be interested in knitting 2 Christmas Stocking Kits for a commission. Of course, I mentally laughed myself silly, but I did listen to her. Someone had purchased these kits by Judy's Colors, and wanted to pay someone to knit them. (This entire concept is foreign to me. Buying a knitting kit and not knitting it? I do not understand! Although I have to say those kits are gorgeous.) However, the commission was enough to get my attention, so I agreed to look at the kits.

I stopped by on Friday and talked to her. She had thought of knitting them herself, and in the end, we decided to each do one of the kits. (And while obviously the person would like to have them for this year, it isn't required. While we're shooting for it, I wouldn't promise.) It worked out that I was intrigued by the "Red Velvet" kit, and she wanted to knit the "Fairy Tree" kit. They are Fair-Isle, and it's been a while since I did much of that.

So, I cast that on Saturday evening. It calls for a 16" circular for the leg, which I appreciate. It starts out with a knitted braid, which took two tries and plenty of head scratching to work out. Then I started the red portion - I always think that I would like to carry both yarns in my left hand, but that really only works if you use both colors at approximately the same rate. If you use one more than the other, or you cover long stretches, using the two hand method is much easier - and I remembered tips that you gave me for catching the color that is being carried, so that helped me get back in the rhythm. And as I hoped, carrying the yarn in both hands is a real change of motion - I was able to knit quite a bit, and my hands did not bother me at all.

Yesterday, I was at the point in all of my current projects that I didn't have anything completely mindless. The sock I'm working on is ready for a heel turn,

the blue cardigan is ready to decrease for the neck,

and the stocking is Fair Isle.........SO, I cast on this scarf! (I know, I have no self control!) My 'current' knitting basket now has 4 projects!

Since I am clearly insane, it would help me greatly if all you wonderful knitting bloggers could refrain from posting cool pictures of your knitting where I can see it because I can obviously not deal with this level of distraction. "Oh, my pretties..."
(I can usually resist tan colors. Just sayin')

;)

Keep Knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)