in high gear

The first Railwayish sock is finally done and it's actually quite a nice sock. I started this sock way back on November 19th, but it was interrupted for a few other projects and a vacation. Hopefully the second sock won't take more than a couple of days!

Things are really kicking into high gear on the Christmas front. I thought that my Christmas shopping was mostly done, until I found out that some of the presents needed to be exchanged.

The Nascar diecast model was a good idea for my nephew, but I picked the wrong driver. Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon - all good. But Danica Patrick - bad. Who knew?

Buying the sequel of a favourite book for my other nephew was also a good idea. Too bad he's already read it. Read the whole series in fact. Hmmm, maybe a gift card instead.

Wish me luck; I'm off to attempt returns and exchanges.

Must Knit Faster

The thumbs should only take a few minutes this evening, which means one more present will be finished up today. Yippee! It's all starting to seem do-able. Maybe I can knit a few afghan squares tonight as well? Must Knit Faster.

Work on the Railwayish socks continues. I'm still a bit behind schedule on those, but it looks like work is starting to slow down, leaving me more time to knit.

This year Christmas falls on Saturday and Boxing Day on Sunday - how great is that!?! We're working a half day Friday and taking Monday and Tuesday off in lieu of the two stat holidays on the weekend.That's four and half days off! Enough time to knit a pair of socks for someone I won't see until the 29th?

brrrrrr

We've been under an extreme cold weather alert here in the Toronto area - temperatures in the minus teens, windchills in the minus 20s and 30s. Aside from warming up the car a bit longer, it doesn't impact me much, but, by calling the alert, city officials can implement extra programs to get the homeless into shelters. Brrrr. I can't imagine living on the streets in this kind of weather! Cold enough, just posing my sock in the snow on the porch!

Yesterday I found the time to laboriously tink back the heel of my first Railwayish sock. Turns out I screwed up the short rows - it wasn't dropped stitches at all! That made fixing it a lot easier; I just had to tink back to where I made the error and fix it up. Phew! It's a relief to have it fixed and back on track. Maybe I can finish the first sock today?

Christmas reds

The first red mitt still needs a thumb, but as usual, I'll finish the main part of both mitts before going back to do the thumbs. This pair of mitts is identical to a pair I made last year. Intentionally identical - these are to replace those mitts which were lost by my sister when visiting Ottawa last winter. Cailyn Meyer's pattern, "Cruiser" features a v-shaped cable up the back of the hand - a nice detail on an otherwise simple mitten pattern.

As a bonus, knitting red mittens is doing a good job of putting me in the Christmas spirit. Most of our Christmas shopping is done and wrapped. The tree is up but it's still bare; maybe I'll have a chance to decorate later today. The stockings are hung as well, so I'll have to keep an eye out for likely little items to stuff them with. Stocking stuffers - my favourite part of Christmas!

And in keeping with the Christmas theme - here's a picture of a Pointsettia from my recent trip to Cuba. Hard to believe that they grow to 12ft tall shrubs in tropical climes, when I have such trouble keeping a 4" potted plant alive for two weeks over the holidays!

settling down

Things are starting to settle down. My workplace moved this week and it was a complete uproar, but by early next week things should be sorted out. At least the hard part of packing things up and moving them is over with. And I've caught up on things on the homefront as well - at least the house is tidy and all the laundry is done.

Gavin and I dashed out for a few hours earlier today to complete most of our Christmas shopping. Presents for kids and the grandson are wrapped with labels and bows in the front hall. Now we just need to pick up a few little things to even things out.

Things are starting to fall into place on the knitting front as well. The overseas socks are wrapped and ready to post. The orange mitts are done, ready to be wrapped. The red mitts have been cast on and should be finished this weekend. The knitted gifts for out-of-towners are almost complete - just the Railwayish socks to sort out. And then, just two pairs to make from start to finish. What's that? One pair a week? This might all work out after all!

sign me up

Yesterday after screwing up the heel of my first Railway-ish sock I was feeling quite discouraged about my Christmas knitting. There are at least four pairs of socks still to be done, some afghan squares I must get done and a handful of other projects I'd like to get done. Hopeless, right?

And so the sock sits on my kitchen counter in a heap, waiting for the right time - with good light and lots of patience - to rip back to restart the heel. Occasionally I walk past and glare at it. There are a couple of other projects I can work on tonight - the orange mitts need thumbs, there's a pair of red mitts to knit and the second shelf liner is about 1/3rd of the way along. Any of those is good for knitting in the evening on the sofa in front of the TV.

Today's Tangled Up in Sticks and Strings blog mentions a Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long. Totally useless? That's something that has a strong appeal for me today! So I've signed up - after all, there's not too much involved, all I needed was a jar. I knew that old flea market canning jar would come in handy some day! And I already have my first two bits of yarn to start things off - a few inches of green trimmed after weaving in the ends on my Julia socks. See, now I feel like I've accomplished something!

home from Cuba

In 1492, when Christopher Columbus discovered Cuba he declared it "the most beautiful country human eyes have ever seen". And I'd have to agree, it's pretty spectacular. A short walk along the shore there was a nice statue of Chris overlooking a small secluded beach.

The resort, Brisas Guardalavaca, is lovely. No wonder so many of the guests were returning for a second, third, or in some cases eighth, visit! Our room was oceanview on the second floor; nice, we could just walk up and down without bothering about elevators. Have a look; is that not the largest bed you've ever seen? The air conditioning worked, there was plenty of hot water for showering and fresh towels daily. Throughout the resort, lots of wide open vistas, wooden walkways and screens, and patterned tiles thanks to the Spanish influences on the architectural styles preferred in Cuba. Outside, magnificently gardened grounds showcasing every variety of palm and tropical flower imaginable. Watch for flower pictures over the next few days!

The food was very good for a Cuban resort - no complaints there. We swam, we snorkeled, we went on a Hobie Cat ride, we toured around, we read, we ate and we slept. And the beer was cold and running freely. It was a great vacation, but it's always nice to be home!