Christmas Knitting

I always say I'm not going to do any, but then December comes and I feel the urge. So, what does a silly girl like me do? She waits until the 11th of December to place a Knitpicks order for three and a half projects that will need to be finished by December 25th...and she doesn't use the fastest delivery option, being cheap, so now has to wait about a week before even starting those projects.

Why, oh, why do I do this?

I also ordered another size 4 needle tip and a 24'' cable. I gave them a note with my order because, while I love my interchangeable needles, I have had an issue with every single cable popping out of the metal casing. They aren't coming unscrewed, they are DETACHING. I have had to do them up with super glue, and when I do that, the glue always dries before I can get them in as deep as they will go, leaving a little ledge for finer yarns to get stuck on. I asked them to please make sure my needle and cable go through some sort of quality control before they are sent to me. All I'm asking for is a little tug before dropping the sucker in the box. Is that so much to ask? I've been hearing a lot of people complaining about this lately on blogs and podcasts and such. So, while it's horrible in some ways to say it, I'm glad I'm not the only one.

But as for the planned Christmas knitting and why I think I can do it, the answer is that I became unrealistically optimistic having just finished my first term of library school. The final grades are not in yet, and I'm sure I didn't do as well I had hoped I would...but all the same, I feel accomplished. Next term will be better, I hope. I'm taking an online course, which is kind of scary because I've never done one before. I will need to activate my self-motivating gene, which oh so very difficult to do. I've never been diagnosed with anything, but let's just say I come from a line with an interesting mix of psychological barriers to success (ADD, ADHD, bipolar disorder) and I am in no way a "go-getter" without an enormous amount of outside pressure and motivation. See why I might be nervous about an online class? Yeah. It was the only one that did not conflict with my busy, sit-at-home, knitting, housewifely schedule. In other words, I didn't want to take a class on the weekend and the only other class was with the dude who's course I dropped previously...which ruled that one out. Still, I'm excited about a new term. I think I might like change. As in the Fiona Apple song, "I'm good at being uncomfortable so I can't stop changing all the time."

So, until my Christmas yarn arrives, I will work on other projects. I should be able to finish my mittens and at least finish the sleeve for my Snowdrop Jacket by the time it arrives. Max's Cobblestone Pullover needs about 4" before the body is finished. Then, that gets put on scrap yarn while I knit the sleeves. I haven't decided if I'm going to do the sleeves one at a time or simultaneously. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

If anyone loves spaghetti westerns, Tarantino cameos, and awkward English from the mouths of Japanese people...Sukiyaki Western Django might be the way to go. It's on Netflix as an instant watch (which is pretty much the best thing ever).

Ok, that's enough rambling...and that truly is what I have done here. I'm going to make my sick husband kasha and eggs, finish a mitten cuff, and spin a million yards of pink laceweight.