Pre-Christmas frenzy.

I am still without my car, so am driving around a big behemoth of a rental vehicle. I got tired of stopping for gas every couple of days and dropping $20 into the gas tank, so filled it this morning. $37 dollars...can you believe it? How do people afford these gas guzzling monsters? The rental company has been trying to find a smaller vehicle, but no luck. How hard can they be trying? It's been almost 2 weeks since my car accident. Oh well. My problem is that I need 4WD. Why? I don't know. Do I think it will snow? No. When it does snow, do I drive in it? No. Not if my father is able to take me to work. Why is my father still driving his 40-something daughter to work when it snows? He taught me to drive in the snow, and it was such a traumatic experience that I am paralyzed with fear at the first flake in the air. But that's a story for another day.

Well, I have been a very bad knitter this week. I hope the knitting Santa wasn't peeking in my window to see how much progress I have made on my current WIPs. Knitting has taken a back seat to Christmas preparations.


Here is my first Jaywalker sock. Complete except for the kitchener stitch at the toe, but that doesn't really count. I like to have several socks done to that point and finish all of the toes at once. I think that is a throw-back to when I first learned to knit socks, and had to have a book open with diagrams of the steps of kitchener stitch before attempting it. I would put off finishing the toes until I ran out of DP needles. I think my record is 9 socks at one time worked up to the final two needles and waiting for me to finish them. This is Opal yarn--a real pleasure to knit.






This is the pitiful progress I have made on the baby set. The thing in the center is the bonnet. I'm almost all done with the body of it, and will then just do the two seams at the back of the head, and them pick up & knit a couple of rows at the bottom. On the big circular needle is a blanket that I am making to go with the sweater set. I am just using the same pattern as the sweater, but cast on 363 stitches to make it big enough. I'm using size 3 needles, so from the gauge swatch, this should be approx. 36 inches wide. I used a provisional cast-on and will worry about what to do on the border another time. It's the old "I can't think about that today..." thing, you know?





And for your viewing pleasure, my little Christmas babes. Emma is up on the ottoman, and Mellie and Tara are sharing (!!!) a dog bed on the floor. Mellie (front) does not usually care to share her space, but I guess she is just chock full of the holiday spirit. Yes, that is the Christmas tree in the background. You would think that it would have been decorated by now, but noooo. Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow, for sure by Christmas Eve!