Getting Ahead

I've been attempting to make the most of my class-free summer by getting ahead with birthday and Christmas gifts for people, and so far I haven't done a bad job of it. We've tipped into August and I already have a few things made and stashed away. I've also discovered Pinterest which, if you haven't found out for yourself yet, is probably an even bigger time-suck than facebook. Seriously. I'm addicted and I've spent way too much time browsing other people's boards and the internet in general just looking for fun stuff to pin. Of course, I've also found dozens and dozens of things that I now want to make or do and thus am in a state of constant self-beration (is that even a word?) because I don't have the time.

Anyway, this week I managed to finish a scarf for Susan's birthday. I've been knitting it somewhat surreptitiously at work so that she doesn't see it beforehand. One of the good things about summer in the Writing Center is the quiet, which means plenty of knitting time. I love these scarves--they're made in KnitPicks Chroma Worsted, which I adore. It's beautifully soft which, in my opinion, makes it infinitely more wearable than Noro. I do love Noro but it's so scratchy and that's a huge disincentive for scarves. I chose the New England and Fossil colourways for her scarf which are a little more muted than I expected, but still really pretty.


My cunning plan was for it to match her "Dodgy Yellow Jacket" yet still be versatile enough for other outfits. I think it works. Next plan for her birthday is to overhaul and repair the aforementioned "Dodgy Yellow Jacket" which, after about ten years of abuse, is falling apart at the seams. Literally. The cuffs are frayed (don't know that I can do a lot about that on a corduroy jacket), the lining is falling out and frayed, the collar is half fallen off, and it's missing several buttons. I'm going to do what I can to at least repair the lining and the collar, and make the frayed edges not quite so tattered. Oh, and new buttons. If I can at least make it look 30% better than it does now, she'll be very happy. She adores that jacket and I adore seeing her in it.

The final part of the birthday plan is a new ring to replace the one she lost earlier in the summer. It was the ring that matches mine, that she first bought almost five years ago when we'd only met once and were busy denying the fact that we were falling for each other. Because nothing says "I'm not going to fall for you" like a ring engraved with the Hebrew for " I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine". Right. Anyway, one Sunday morning during her traditional Sunday-morning-biscuit-making, the ring went missing. Luckily, I know where she bought it from originally and I know her ring size. I should easily be able to get a replacement.

When the ring is acquired, I'm going to procure (not quite sure where from yet) a large dress box and line it with LOTS of tissue paper. Then, the jacket and scarf will be properly displayed together in the box. The ring, however, will be tied to a ribbon and put in one of the jacket pockets. I'll put a gift tag on the other end of the ribbon with directions to "pull" so that when she pulls the ribbon out, the ring will appear. Sweet, huh? Are your teeth hurting yet?

Enough of that nonsense.

I've also been busy making bracelets for Steph and Heather for Christmas. Michaels had a great 50% off deal on some specific beads (I can't remember the name of the brand now) so I bought a couple of 7" strands, added a few simple crystal beads to pad out, and made a couple of really simple bracelets. Each one cost about $5.50, which I'm really happy with. I wish now that I'd bought more beads, although they're still relatively affordable at full price.

Steph's bracelet will go with the blue and tan flower scarf I made for her:





...whilst Heather's will match the scarf I made for her:






I'm pretty happy with the results.

In other news, the test cardigan that I'm knitting is coming along, albeit not as quickly as I'd like. I've been distracted, as you can see, by shiny, pretty things. And I made myself some crazy socks.


Yes, they're ridiculous, but I love them.

Right now, I have *counts* six items that I'm actively working on dotted around the house and car.

1. Test cardigan
2. Scrap sock yarn blanket
3. Scrap cotton yarn dispenser for plastic bags
4. Crazy Felici rainbow lace socks
5. Scrap scarf in purple for Lexie's Christmas present
6. Gift stash dishcloths

I justify this by telling myself that all these projects serve different purposes in my life. The test cardigan is a commitment I made to Stephanie. The sock yarn blanket is an ongoing project to use up yarn that would otherwise be wasted. Same with the plastic bag dispenser. The rainbow socks are to stop me getting bored with the endless rows of stocking stitch in the test cardigan. The scarf is so that I stay on top of Christmas gifts. And the dishcloths are my in-car knitting to replenish the stash of gift dishcloths. See, all perfectly justified. I'm not sure that Susan agrees.

There's more to say, about sunflowers and people visiting from England, but I'll leave that for another day.