Stealth

I’m finding it super  tricky to blog about my knitting right now, since most of it is super-sneaky stealth knitting for people who peruse the blog. I’ve asked some of the recipients not to look, and they said they wouldn’t, but they’re lying, so pardon me while we go a little light on the pictures for a bit.  I missed blogging yesterday because I forgot who I was for a minute, and went to the mall thinking that I could wrap up the rest of the Christmas shopping.  I was there for two hours and bought only seven pairs of underpants and a bar of soap, and would have left sooner except that I couldn’t find the door that I came in so I could go back out.  The mall always does it to me.  There’s so much choice that after 15 minutes of exposure I can’t think of anything I want, suffer some sort of breakdown, enter a vague fugue state where I can’t think of anything in the world I need, eat something strange and leave.   It was catastrophic, and just left me sitting in the parking lot when it was all over clutching the bag of panties and wanting those hours of my life back.  I’m recovering today.  The only saving grace is that Joe has the fortitude for mall shopping, but not panty buying – so at least I nailed that part of our daughters stockings, and can turn the rest over to someone with the strength for it.  I have no idea how people stand it. I’m going back to the things I can manage today.

Gifts for Knitters: Day 13

Yesterday’s gift for knitters is a scale.  I know, my gentle non-knitters, that you’re wondering what use a knitter has for a scale, but let me tell you – they’re fabulous.  Beyond the obvious (being able to accurately divide a ball of yarn in half for a pair of socks) they’re also fabulous for estimating how many metres of yarn is left in a ball (if the skein was 100g and 210 metres, and now you have 50g, you have 105 metres left) you can also use it to weigh something you’ve made and see if you have enough yarn to make a second one. (This can bring a someone who has a second sleeve to knit and isn’t sure if he’s going to make it a great deal of personal peace.)  Just about any scale can work, but it should be small enough to store decently, measure in both grams and ounces, and be able to weigh very small amounts accurately.  The ones they sell in corner stores for purveyors of illicit substances  work very well for knitter purposes – and can be snagged at the last minute if you’re desperate. I had a little one like this but now I’ve got one a bit bigger, and I use it pretty constantly.

Gifts For Knitters: Day 14

How about knitter related Christmas ornaments?  There’s some great ones here from Kyle Designs, but this glass sheep would do fine, and I’ve seen some amazing ones in the local knit shops.  If however, you’re a kid, or you know a kid who loves a knitter, you can make some pretty cool stuff without too much trouble.  Craftster has instructions here, and when Megan was little, she made me some wonderful ornaments by just balling up a little bit of yarn, sticking round toothpicks through them to be the needles, and gluing beads onto the ends of the toothpicks. They were charming, and I loved that she made them for me. (If there’s a grownup willing to source a few ingredients, these pom-pom sheep would be perfect too.)    If you think your knitter is the right type, there’s also a bunch of ornament kits that you could buy for them.  Knit Purl has cute tiny mitten kits, Mary Maxim has Angels, Blackberry Ridge does hats and mitts, and Noble Knits does a beaded ball. If you knit yourself, then 55 Christmas Balls to Knit looks fun, and a whole lot more festive than the mall.  Just saying.