1.  I can’t believe it’s Wednesday. I swear I thought today was Tuesday, which is sort of odd, because I knew yesterday was Tuesday, and I know there aren’t typically two in a week, especially back to back. Still, I got up this morning and swear that I’ve misplaced Tuesday and been unjustly dealt a Wednesday.

2. This could be because I am behind on the Christmas knitting and feel like a second Tuesday would help.

3. Yesterday was intensely busy, and all I got done (besides making this SLAMMING veggie Shepherds Pie for company) was that I finished a first sock.

4. This would be better if it was a second sock and four mittens.

5. I had big plans to spin yesterday, and I’m not sure how that went wrong, except for see #5. 

6. That means that I should go spin now, except for that won’t work because I have to sit at this desk until I’m done this work. 

7. Just to clear up one thing from the wildly interesting and thoughtful comments yesterday – Doctors in Canada are not unpaid.  We go to the doctor, the doctor and I decide what care I should have, and then the bill goes to the government who pays it.  It’s called "single payer healthcare" and we pay for it with our taxes. Health care is then "free at the point of service." 

8.  I bet that makes more sense than when some of you thought that I was saying that test knitters should get paid, but not Doctors.

9. I don’t have a tree yet. I’m really falling off the curve here.

10.  I’m working on a pattern for the mittens. I’m just hiring a (you guessed it) test knitter/tech editor.

11. If I could churn out 7 knitted items in the next 24 hours, that would be amazing.

12. That is probably impossible.

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Gifts for knitters, Days 6 and 7.

Dear Non-knitter,  I skipped yesterday, so because I said we’d do one gift idea per day, today I owe you two.

Gift idea #1: Blocking wires.  I know, you have no idea what those are, and therefore have no idea if you should get them.  Here’s some idea of how to tell if your knitter would like blocking wires. 
a) Do you hear the word "lace" a lot?
b) Has your knitter ever tried to explain about shawls to you?  (It doesn’t matter if you didn’t understand why shawls are cool… just that you’ve had the conversation.)
c) Are knitted things frequently pinned to your bed or carpet? (The key here is pins. Are there a lot of them?)
d) Have you heard the word "blocking" in conjunction with a complaint or filthy but expressive language?

If you’ve answered "Yes" to two or more of these questions, then your knitter might like a set of blocking wires.  I’ve got two sets, and they’re ridiculously handy. I can vouch for the awesomeness of the Handworks set, and it looks like the Inspinknity set is amazing too.  There are other sets, so as you hunt around, I think the priority should be that they don’t rust, that the set comes with wires of several lengths (that helps a lot) that some of the wires are flexible, to help your knitter manage curves.

Gift idea #2?

Knitting bags.  I know, I know. Your knitter has a knitting bag, you’ve seen it.  Trust me.  I’m pretty sure they want another one.  Hell, I’ve got about seven, and I STILL want more.  I co-ordinate them to my outfit (sort of. It’s my own system), I choose them according to the kind of project that I’ve got going on, I love knitting bags, and I bet your knitter does too, and good news.  No matter what your knitter’s personal style is? There’s a knitting bag that they’re waiting to get.  There are far, far too many for me to show you them all, so I’m going to hit a couple of my favourites, tell you why I like them, and you can click around on these websites until you see something that screams your knitters name. Most knitters use a knitting bag as their bag, so keep in mind they might want a pretty big one.

1. The Tom Bihn Swift knitting bag.  I’ve got a big one (or two) a little one, and (be still my heart) one in cork.  (The cork one is so beautiful that strangers comment on it all the time.)

2. Jordana Paige. These bags are super classy, and pass as a purse while having knitter friendly features.  I’ve got the L.J.Kaelms, and’s is a fab go-anywhere do anything bag (with two sections, so I can put knitters stuff in one side, and my regular stuff in the other) but they’ve also got a guy friendly Knitters Messenger bag, which is cool. I reach for my Jordana Paige when I need a "dress" knitting purse.

3. Namaste Bags are slightly more casual to my way of thinking, but also deeply beautiful and functional, and while I’m saving up for the Monroe in Lime, there’s several there that are unisex.

4. Della Q.  The only thing I can tell you about these bags is that I used mine (one like the Agnes) so much that it wore out and I had to get another one.  They’re beautiful, functional, and hold a big laptop too.  Perfect for travel.

5. Any bag you think your knitter would like that doesn’t have velcro.  Trust me.  Velcro is a knitter’s natural enemy.