Gratuitous alpaca picture

Just because he/she is pretty and I haven't much else to say. This fella/gal lives at Chudleigh's apple farm in Milton, Ontario.

Posting gratuitous alpaca pictures distracts me from the gruesome fact that I am only halfway through sewing up the second crocheted baby jacket. It could be said that I am not having fun. But when this is done, I will be finished my charity donation for this month, except for washing, measuring, doing a bit of paperwork, maybe posting a picture...oh crap. Just allow me to think I'm almost there.

Oh dear, I think I'm waffling.

My dear departed mother would have accused me of being up and down like a toilet seat.

Now I think I'm going to give the crocheted bear blankie to the charity group and knit a sweater for the coach. Possibly the one I'm knitting right now, maybe another. If you can keep track of my waffling, I salute you. I can't.

Should I decide to donate the bear blankie, my tally will be as follows: two baby blankets, one adult scarf, one child scarf, one crocheted baby sweater. I haven't posted pictures of the last two items yet (scribbles note to self). In progress: another crocheted baby sweater and a knit baby sweater. If I get these two items done by March 4, and I probably will, I will consider myself a Worthy Charity Knitter/Crocheter/Person.

Also on the go: baby socks in fingering acrylic, two down, six to go. Suitable for quadrulplets or an eight-legged baby.

In memory of the stupid hoodie

Why do I knit? Because I enjoy knitting. So one must ask, why do I persist with projects that I hate and about which I constantly whine and complain?

[deathly silence]

There is no justification, is there? If it were a challenging project, a learning experience, then there might be reason to continue. I would eventually be able to take pride in having conquered the monster. But THIS! THIS! is nothing but an asinine acrylic pain in the you-know-what.

I speak of the Bernat baby hoodie. I speak of a bunch of stockinette rectangles with minimal shaping, done in icky plastic yarn on nasty needles that are too long for the purpose. I speak of edges that persist in flipping up, and I speak of far, far too much yellow.

I declare it dead.

I am not even going to frog the thing. I am going to, with a quiet, deliberate joy, place the completed pieces in the trash can. Joining them will be the completed portion of the very tedious bunting. Both were done in cheap-ass yarn that is not even worth salvaging, and to frog them would be to accord them too much respect.

I would liken it to a hasty burial in a shallow grave. No funeral, no regrets.

In cheerier news, I am crocheting the second and presumably final sleeve of a baby jacket and knitting the second of a pair of baby socks, and I am delighted to say that I am enjoying both projects.

And that is a relief.

Every now and then, I do finish something.

I have finished some things. They are not exciting things. They are merely...some things. First, the baby gift for the gymnastics coach.



It is very square, is it not? Far too square for a crib. And large. Far too large for...well, for anything, really. Perhaps it could some day be used as a coverlet for a toddler bed. I would suggest washing the windows with it but it would be sort of bulky to hold in ones hand, and also it's acrylic. It would just smear the Windex around.

And some blurry pictures of the Irish Hiking Scarf, which was a nice mindless-but-not-completely-brainless knit. I will not speak of the brainpower expended on taking these pictures. As always, I blame the camera.



The cables do not show up very well in the above, but isn't it cool the way the stripes came out? The yarn is Patons Decor in Autumn Varg, and I have decided that I enjoy the word "varg" and might try to come up with another use for it. Then I took a second picture without a flash to show the cables, and glory be! It's even blurrier!



Do I sound groggy? I feel groggy. I am going to finish the stinking baby hoodie (yes, back to that again) and then I am going to knit something fun. Something lacy. Or some complicated socks. Something sanity-saving. I only hope it isn't too late.

just sayin'

The older gymnast/daughter had a competition yesterday and I furiously plugged away at the Gold Medal Sock (previously known as the Positive Energy Sock) on the drive up. Three gold medals resulted, my friends, including all-around, thanks to my diligent knitting. And people scoff at my superstitions! I wonder if I can make this pair of socks last for the duration of her gymnastics career...

I finished crocheting the coach's baby blankie on Friday and will post a picture very soon. Now it's full-steam ahead with the charity knitting.

One day a year I wish I were a football fan.

I suspect there will be a lot of Superbowl knitting going on today and I have to admit to a slight twinge of jealousy. I am in the mood for a Superbowl party. I want to sit around and watch TV and eat junk food, not to say that that isn't what I do most nights. Unfortunately I have less than zero interest in NFL football. I have to say "less than zero" because my interest in the CFL far exceeds my interest in the NFL, and yet I have absolutely no interest in the CFL. So when we get to the NFL we're definitely down in negative interest territory. We were invited to a Superbowl party but declined due to the negative interest factor and the strong tendency of Monday morning to follow quite soon after Sunday night. In lieu of football I have challenged my family to a Playstation party tonight. I bought chips.

The question that makes this all relevant is, will I be able to get any knitting done during the festivities? I hope so. I have made the intensely evil decision to skip the charity group meeting today and blame it on the weather (it's cold). I have not made significant progress on the donation front and am now mired in the middle of too many projects to count. I'm about half finished the Irish hiking scarf, and maybe a quarter of the way through the gym coach's baby gift, which will be yet another blanket for her extensive collection, done in filet crochet with wee bears. It's very cute and I do believe I'm somewhat pleased with it. I'm also maybe a third of the way through the filet table runner thingie for next Christmas. The baby hoodie is still lurking somewhere. And then there are all the odds and ends of projects for me and mine that I abandoned when I began Project Knit For Other People.

Priorities for the next month will be as follows: finish the crochet blanket for coach and fill up a bag for the charity folks. And today when I should be at the meeting I am going to work on the scarf.