Things I've done lately that made me feel productive in a knitterly way

1. Sent off a pattern proposal
   
   My fingers are crossed really hard.
   
   
2. Worked on socks for my brother
   
   
   
   They're hat-heels, only this time, I think I have finally perfected the way to do the gussets so that a) they're stretchy; b) there are almost no stitches to pick up for foot and leg; c) the whole starting-the-foot-and-leg process is way less fiddly; and d) the gusset edges look tidy when the sock is all done.
   
   I'll be providing a write-up of the new process at some point.
   
   
3. Worked on test-knitting the Yacht Club Skirt
   
   
   
   
4. Worked on my brother's Christmas gift blanket
   
   
   
   Four blocks completed there, and working on the fifth.
   
   Recently I had the brilliant idea that, since the whole thing was garter stitch, everybody in the family could get in on the action - husband, older daughter, even my younger daughter if I held her hands through a few stitches. And then not only would the whole thing go faster (since it wouldn't just be me working on it), but it could be a gift from the whole family, and then I could give him the socks (mentioned above) which would be just from me. And suddenly we would have most of my brother's gift-giving all taken care of. (He's challenging to buy for.)
   
   Alas, my older daughter shot this idea down completely. When I floated the idea of her doing some of the knitting on the blanket, she was absolutely adamant that she didn't want to. Which, now that I think about it, is odd. She's an extremely enthusiastic and considering sort of person; it's very unusual for me to get a point-blank refusal with an accompanying distasteful expression right off the bat. So she must really not want to do it. Rats.
   
   
5. Thought about the rest of the Christmas knitting
   • I'm thinking a Kilkenny sweater for BIL#2, from the yarn I got last Christmas from BIL#1. (Don't think that's a big dis of BIL#1, though - he told me when I unwrapped it that I wasn't allowed to use it for a sweater for him.)
   • Inside-out socks for BIL#1, using some self-striping sock yarn I've got in a blue/green/white colourway, and maybe a second pair out of a cream/khaki sock yarn I also have kicking around in the stash
   • Socks for DD1, from a turquoise self-striping yarn in the stash
   • Socks for DD2, from the same turquoise self-striping yarn
   • Socks for my dad - maybe some more nice black dress ones; or maybe I'll do a fun extra fair isle pattern on the gussets using dark green. He appreciates artistic details like that. Hm...
   • Something (don't know what) for whomever DD1's teacher will be
   • Finally finish the two pairs of cotton socks I've had going for my mom for ages
   Erg. It's not even September and I'm already feeling the stress just thinking of all of that. Good thing I'm treating myself to a week-long staycation in October.

Laughing in the face of deadlines

Sometimes I can be pretty stupid with the knitting.

First of all, I'm trying to finish up samples for a design proposal. The proposal has to be done in a few weeks, but the samples are going to be a gift for a very pregnant co-worker whose group goodbye-and-present-giving is probably going to be in just a few days, so I really have to hustle. (As I'm submitting it to a magazine, I can't show it to you, obviously. But I love it, think it is super-cute, and have gotten fantastic squeak reactions from my co-workers who are in on the surprise.)

Secondly, we have this:

Why, you may be wondering, is she showing us the same blanket-for-her-brother's-Christmas-present that we saw last week? Aha! It is not the same blanket-for-my-brother's-Christmas-present that I showed you last week, i.e. this:

Yes, I know, they look exactly the same. However, the second picture is the one I started last weekend, and the first picture is of the new one that I started on Friday. It uses smaller needles, I didn't double up the fuzzy cream yarn this time, and as a result of both of these changes, I like it a lot better. I don't know if it's going to end up being big enough, but I can probably add a few more colour blocks at the side and top if needed. But yeah, massive Christmas project and I ditched an entire weekend's worth of knitting to start it all over again. Smart.

But wait! There's more!

I found this pattern by "Anadiomena" (MoreKnits). She does great baby and kid stuff, I'd already had her favourited as a designer on Ravelry long before I found that fantastic little skirt. Anyway, I emailed her to ask if she could put me on her mailing list to be notified once the pattern became available, and next thing I knew, she was asking me if I wanted to test knit it, and she really needed someone to do the 6-8 year size, and my older daughter is 7 years old, and I'd have about 4-6 weeks to finish it, and...and...

Yeah.

Like I said, pretty stupid with the knitting.

Neighbourhood swatch

Friday afternoon my husband came home from his shift and called me up pretty much immediately, as far as I could tell. The conversation went something like this:

Him: Um, honey?
Me: Yeah?
Him: Well...I came home from work just now, and there was this big blue bag...just sitting on the front porch...and it's full of yarn...

Ah. Yes.

You see, some weeks earlier, one of our neighbours who takes the bus with me in the morning (and who has thus been well exposed to the fact that I am A Knitter) had mentioned that she had quite a lot of yarn in her basement that she was never going to use, and she'd really like to declutter and get rid of it, and could I use it?

Well, I think you know what my answer was. :) Even if it was all acrylic, I could find a use for that, even if the use was to donate it somewhere good for charitable projects. She told me that she would drop it off at my place in the coming week. That didn't happen (no big deal, lives get busy), so I figured at some point she would either arrange a specific time to drop it off, or just dump it on the (enclosed) front porch one day when it was convenient for her. And indeed, that is what she did.

But can you imagine what was going through my husband's mind when he came home to find this bag there? Perhaps that my stash is now so out of control that other yarn has heard of it and has made its way from miles around to show up on our doorstep in the hopes of finding a home? :D (WIP Insanity's Shelter for Homeless Yarns?)

Anyhoo, yes, it was all acrylic, but that's not so bad. For one thing, I handed off a huge ball (I'm guessing two pounds?) to my mom for her charitable blanket projects. DD1 then claimed a bunch of it and disappeared into the workroom for awhile to play with the ball winder. :) After these depredations, here's what's left of the bag:

(Although two of DD1's balls have been added back in there. Guess which two they are. No, go on, guess. :)

But the crowning moment came when I realised that most of what was in the bag were dark browns, taupes, and creams. Perfect colours to match my brother's living room. Which, you'll may recall, he wants a blanket for. A blanket, I might add, which he probably couldn't be trusted to launder gently if it were made out of wool.

Oooh.

Yes, the Christmas knitting has begun.

(Although I'm not happy with how the fabric is turning out. I think I'm going to start all over again on 5mms instead of 6mms, and not double up the fuzzy cream yarn this time.)