just had to mention...

I kitchenered the toe and wove in the ends at lunch. The Diagonal Rib socks are truly done.

And I made The Revised Grand Schedule... All the way through to packing up and traveling. And, yes, it can be done.

Tonight we have a chance of getting a dump of ice and/or snow. A snow day would go be a really good thing for me right now!!

It's Monday and it's raining

Yes. Monday. After what I knew would be the weekend from Helsinki (as far as time for me to knit was concerned...). And, yes, I did have fun. But I was also pretty grumpy. Sigh... I think part of my brain was continuously registering the fact that I needed to be knitting or sanding or staining or sewing or...

But, I did get something done! WoOt! Diagonal Ribs are down to kitchener stitch and end weaving. Yippee!! And, perhaps even better, I finally picked up the Earl Blue and looked very closely to see if the stitches I picked up after dropping (why did I drop stitches on a cable??) were done okay. And they were! And I'm on the gussets!

Now, for other bad news. Friday I drilled the dowel holes in the table, and... yeah... I put one leg on wrong. 3 correctly orient pointing downwards and 1 goes up. Straight up in the air. But, I think I can just drill new holes and go from there. Also, I made a wee error in that I drilled the dowel holes at the same location for each piece of the apron (front, back, two sides) and into the legs. And didn't notice that that caused me to drill the holes in the legs into each other. But, again, I think I can fix this. Cutting some dowels shorter should do the trick!

The box went very well, though. Sand, finish (stain & poly) and hardware (hinges, clasp). That's all that's left... I can get that done!!

The rest... well, we'll see. It's not looking very good, but I'll keep plugging away. Just think of me as the Little Engine That Could in training.

I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

Look - lists!

Yip. Now, I'm also going to be moving stuff from the "Not Yet Done" to the "Completed" list. It should be such fun. Unless nothing moves... Hmmm....

omgomgomgomgomg

Okay, kids, we've revamped The Grand Schedule. That which was to control my life until Christmas. That which was scrambled by a touch of stomach flu. Doesn't my body know that it's not allowed to decide it needs 16 hours of sleep instead of a mere 7? And how about the boyfriend planning a full day of activities on Saturday? Albeit everything will be tons of fun, and I'm going to have a great time, but you just can't knit a lace cardigan at a roller derby. Okay... maybe you can. I can't.

And there's all that traveling to take into consideration. I didn't win a dime on the lottery, so I don't have plane tickets. Of course, there are still several drawings between now and the drop-dead get-in-the-car-and-go day. So, maybe there's still a chance on that. 2 hours on a plane knitting beats 7.5 hours in a car driving. It's really hard to knit and drive, especially if you're the only one in the car...

But, I still have high hopes that I will be done with all but one project. Very high hopes. Stoned hopes? I'm not sure how in touch with reality I am right now. Everything has taken more time than it should, every knit object has had a point where dropped stitches had to be picked up (or even better - I had to frog out entirely and change needle size...).

So, I've decided that I'm going to post once a day, giving myself pep talks and/or pats on the back, depending on how the day before has gone.

Today: pep and pat. Wood working went pretty well. A dear friend, Cindy, came over and did sanding on project A (table) while I worked on project B (box). We worked until my recently-healthy body felt like it really needed to sit down and not move for a bit. And we accomplished quite a lot. Cindy sands so very much better than I do - all I have left is one leg (partly done) and the table top. Huzzah! The box gave me a lot of problems, or rather the frame that gets a mirror mounted in it. The equivalent of wrong needle size and dropped stitches. And they all were cutting the 45 degree angle to miter the corners. First, cut parallelograms instead of an isosceles trapezoid. Next, successfully created trapezoids, but the rabbet for the mirror was on the outside edge of the frame, not the inside edge. Third, successfully created a frame. That was one quarter of an inch too small. The fourth time was the charm! And, I'll have a bunch of cute little frames from all the mistakes... And, oo-ee!, did I learn a lot about how not to make a frame!!

Tonight, assembly of the wooden objects. And finishing a pair of socks. I'm 2.5" from starting the toe on a really quick-working pattern. I will finish these socks!!

Optimism? Or Insanity?

I swear on all that I hold holy that I really did start the Christmas project production in a timely fashion. Heck, I worked on something in September! And then October just sort of whizzed right on by (I did travel all but one of the weekends, which probably added to the general whizziness). November was a blur. And now, it is December.... And I still have a ton to do!

And, although part of my brain is insisting that I still have enough time, another part of my brain is registering the fact that Christmas is coming... And the goose appears to be anorexic...

I've already ear-marked one project as something that can be done while I'm staying at my parents' house for a few days before Christmas. Really. I can do a pair of socks in three days. That's a non-issue. And I've earmarked another project for wrapping on the needles, just in case. So, really, I only have 3 pairs of socks and a cardigan to knit. In 12 days. Oh, yeah, no problem! And there's these woodworking projects as well. Yeah. No stress here!!

There are some bright spots - the most complicated woodworking project is currently a pile of appropriately cut parts. The less complicated one is, well, really easy. The 3 pairs of socks are in progress - heels done on one pair, heels started on another, and the third... well, it's started. Let's leave it at that! Oh, and the cardi is started, and it took very little to get an inch done (2 or 4 rows). So, that should zoom. Yip.

I think if I wake up at 6am on Saturday and Sunday, and I work my arse off and collapse at 11pm each day, I should be okay...

I can do this.

And if you happen to have stumble across this blog and are the praying kind, you might want to say a little pray for my sanity....

Some day, I'll get the hang of this blog thing...

Perhaps when tons of people begin to read it, yes? So, I'm very safe right now... Sorta just tossing out thoughts to the ether...

One week later, 26 knitting days left until Christmas travel. And what do I have to show for it? Well, I dropped a bunch of stitches. Not all at once. One here, one there. Followed by a little agony of reworking. Stopped working on that sock, because I'm not entirely sure I've got everything right, and I just don't have the focus to sit down and double-check all the picking up I've done. So, I cast on another pair! And... I laddered. I never ladder. And, oo-ee, there were big honking ladders forming. In my defense, I also don't purl a lot at the end/beginning of the needles on socks, so I just wasn't snugging those dang purl stitches like I needed to. And, on the bright side, I only messed that up on two rows. Unworked, reworked, and now 16 more rows along. The ladders are gone, gone, gone!!

Good things did happen, though. A present I want to make for my father required me to design a graphic. Yeah, right. I had the brain wattage to do that. But! Enter eBay. Dontcha just love all the weird stuff you can find on eBay? Including the lovely Christmas appliqué I had bought for myself years and years ago. The one I am so in love with. The one I used for myself when I bought it. Yip. Found it. Bought it. Now, all I have to do is apply it!

And I taught another person how to nalbind! A very nice one-on-one session! Ah, the best way to teach. I could watch her like a hawk, and not feel like I was ignoring someone.

Perhaps this weekend will be full of finishes. At least, that's what on the schedule! ;)

Perhaps next week a blog post will appear that will be full of enthusiasm and joy for all that I've created!

I seem to be darned fond of "perhaps" today...

OMG!!! Where did November go??

So, here I am. Looking at the calendar. The day is November 18. Do you know what that means? Only 33 knitting days left until Christmas travel begins. Yikes!!!

So, how am I doing? There are 6 pairs of socks that will be given out at Yuletide. One of which is done. Oh, bother!!

And then there's the "sit quietly listening to classical music" lace scarf. At least one whole week of solid knitting. And I cannot watch TV and do that one. I've got some lovely CD's lined up for that flurry of knitting.

Next, the "OMG, you want me to knit what?!?!" cardigan. On the bright side, it knits pretty fast. 2 rows and it's around an inch. So, knitting 14 inches to the armholes? Shouldn't take too long. Right? Should go pretty quick, right? Note to self: do not ask Carol what she wants to have knitted for Christmas.

Oh, and two wood working projects of a non-trivial nature, and precisely one weekend where I can work on them. So, if anyone reads this and has some weather control abilities, I could use a little sunshine on the weekend of December 6. Got that? December 5 through December 7. Sunshine. Please? Finishes will be applied inside where it's warm, but I hate sawing on a gloomy day...

Yes, I have mapped out a schedule. A relatively precise schedule that has where I have to be on every single project for each and every one of those 33 days. And, yes, it is doable. Really. Honest.

Oh, crap.