Poor leisure-time-to-knitting-time ratio = cranky knitter

So it's been an interesting past four days - no blogging, very little knitting. But much socializing, and a fair bit of not-feeling-very-well.

Saturday night we went to the birthday party for a one-year-old of our acquaintance. At the party was Mel, one of the ladies I'd previously met at the Lettuce Knit SnB. Herein lies a vaguely interesting 'it's a small world' kind of story. A few weeks ago, my husband came home from a meeting of our local SCA group to tell me that our friend Tanya (mother of the birthday boy) knew someone who went to the Lettuce Knit SnBs. At which point I slapped my forehead and said, "Of course! That's why she seemed so familiar!" (I guess I'd seen her before at an event or a party at Tanya's.) I was therefore prepared to run into Mel at the party. She, however, was not so prepared, and apparently had one of those 'hey, my worlds are colliding' moments when she saw me. :) Anyway, much fun was had by all and the birthday boy is such a cutie. (DH says that I say that about every baby I know...but I always mean it. Each baby is lovable in a unique and wonderful way.) Oh, and Mel, if you're reading this...I apologize if my husband talked your ear off beyond the point where you might have been interested in the conversation. :) He is the master of obscure facts and details. One day he is going to go on Jeopardy! and make a fortune for us.

Sunday was spent mostly at my parents' place, at my dad's seventieth birthday party. Not a whole lot of knitting got done.

Monday woke me up way too early with a nasty headache that didn't respond very well to drugs. I did finally manage to go back to sleep, but my body was extremely unwilling to wake up when the alarm rang, and I was pretty woozy (and still headachy). I stayed home from work. It is a measure of how crappy I felt that I spent the day sleeping instead of knitting.

And after all that time, Yarn Harlot's new book is still not in stores around here. I could just spit.

Finally, today I discovered this. Please, gentle reader, if I ever start blogging about knitting up something like this, give me a virtual whack upside the head, will ya? Thanks.

Hillhead slipover for Grandpa

I mentioned previously that my grandmother seems to have a hankering to own something I knitted for her. But I think also she may be wondering why the only things I ever seem to knit around her are gifts for DH's family. The reason, of course, is that I want to surprise people with their knitted things and therefore do not knit gifts around the recipients. What no one in my family sees, of course, is that the only stuff DH's family sees me knitting are items for my family. :) However, if someone doesn't figure this out, they may have the impression that I never knit for their own. So, in an effort to subtly demonstrate that I do not love DH's family more than I love mine, I thought it would be a good idea to bring this project to my dad's birthday party to work on. I only managed to get about one row done the whole time, but hey, progress is progress.

Unfortunately, the reaction of one of my aunts upon hearing that my uncle (who wasn't there) is the likely recipient of the slipover was "My brother won't wear wool." Well, fine. If that turns out to be the case, I'm sure I could find someone who will appreciate the love and work and skill I'm putting into this thing. My dad, for instance. Nyah.

(Ah, family. I love them all dearly but lately there's been a rash of pettiness among us which is starting to cheese me off.)

Persian Tiles shawl for Grandma

One downside to my dad's seventieth birthday party was that my grandmother never ended up coming. This sucked on a number levels, not the least of which was that I was really looking forward to seeing her. Also, the reason she couldn't come is that she has some kind of cold, which includes a sore throat. This really concerned me, because she is almost ninety, is underweight thanks to the stresses of the last year, and is (of course) still grieving for my grandpa. It's possible that even a simple cold could do a serious number on her health. However, I called her last night to give her get-well wishes, and she sounded really strong and upbeat, so I'm feeling much more confident about her ability to lick this thing fairly quickly.

That makes the following news all the sweeter: the alpaca vendor got back to me today and said that they will soon be having more auctions for the 100% alpaca wool. This is great. I will be snapping that stuff up at the first available opportunity so I can get started on the shawl. Heaven only knows where this will fit into The Schedule...

Stornaway sweater for BIL (blue)

My hopes of finishing sleeve #1 by the end of the weekend were dashed by all the socialising we did. (Not to mention the pre-socialising preparations...remember, I have a toddler, and with a small child, you can't leave the house without mucho supplies and A Strategy worthy of a military operation.) However, on the plus side, I have finished the decreasing and am only about two inches away from starting the cuff ribbing. So I think I'm catching up to The Schedule. Sadly, no pictures today, because I stupidly left the camcorder running after watching videos of my beautiful child, and the battery is dead, dead, dead. (Yes, I have a backup battery. It too is dead, for the exact same reason. Yes, I am a moron.)

NEW - Poncho for Chewie

This is going to sound weird. Bear with me.

My department at work is a really, really cool group. We're about 35 people, we do stellar work, and we all get along really well. We do a healthy amount of fun and silly stuff - like monthly 'Focaccia Friday' lunches out at St. Lawrence Market, or inter-cubicle wars with Nerf-esque missiles. :) Another thing that got started - I'm not sure how - is the passing of the 'Chewie Award'. This is a trophy which gets passed along whenever someone is noticed being particularly fashionable and coordinated. Specifically, the trophy is a Chewbacca The Wookie action figurine wearing various kicky accessories made out of paper and tape. On Friday, I happened to be wearing a very coordinated outfit, which included a gorgeous lapis lazuli necklace (which matched my shirt) and matching lapis lazuli earrings. The Chewie Award, therefore, is now mine.

Where am I going with this? Well, the tradition is that a person who receives the Chewie Award must create a new accessory for Chewie before passing him on. I will, of course, be knitting something. And what is more fashionable for today's modern Wookie than a poncho?

I'm not sure whether to make it really blingy and use up some of my fun fur yarn, or go for a more classic look with mohair, or what. I would love to make him something sparkly, but I refuse to actually shell out money for this cause, so I am confined to my own stash. Stay tuned.

Striped socks for moi

Patient slogging does eventually pay off - I'm now working on the top ribbing of sock #1.