Little Wit Knits – Unplugged

Tonight the boy ran off to watch our Bobcats play for the MAC championship. Alas, we are not champions this year. I took the opportunity to spend the evening in with my lovely Bearfoot mittens. Of which, I am now around the point of dividing for the thumb and hand. How did I get so much knitting done you ask? I certainly wasn’t assisted by that whole bit where I didn’t read the pattern clearly and increased at double the rate from the thumb gusset causing me to have to rip out round about 8 rows. No, it was the wonder of Netflix and their Instant queue. I may have spent the evening with The Princess Diaries and Bridget Jones’ Diary. ~As an aside, did you know that Moaning Myrtle is one of Bridget’s single friends? I think I shall always recognize that voice instantly. Too ironic that she was crying in the ladies bathroom.~ There was a third movie that I had started to watch tonight but round about  1 min 30 sec into the movie I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to make it. Just wasn’t my style. Now I am off to split the thumb from the hand before I go to sleep. Finishing Party tom’w!

I swatched and cast on for the Bearfoot mitts tonight. One cuff down. The rest to go. I watched “How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer” while working on the cuff. The movie surprised me with some of its subject matter but I really liked it because of it. It’s on the long side and moves a bit slow, especially since the first 5 min or so is all subtitled, which is not helpful when you are trying to cast on and count stitches. In the end though I rather liked the story.

In other news, (I say that a lot don’t I?) I felt really productive at work today. I was able to, for the first time in ages, actually get something accomplished in less time than I estimated. It appears I may have finally gotten better at estimating my time. The boy and I spent some time this evening straightening up for our guests on Saturday as well as decorating the tree upstairs. I can’t wait for the weekend!

Checklists are very helpful to me this time of year. They help me to keep track of where I am going and what still needs to be done. So here’s my current checklist of knits and their approximate due dates.

• Cashmere Mitts – Dec 15th
• Bearfoot Mitts – Dec 20th
• Grumpasaurus – Dec 25th
• Ninjas – Dec 25th
• Elijah – Dec 25th
• Cable Twist Socks – Dec 27th

That list actually looks moderately do-able. There are a few other items that I would love to get finished by the New Year so that I won’t have any WIPs to carry into the New Year.

• Eyelet Front Vest
• Serenity
• Punctuated Rib Socks

These items I am a little less confident in my ability to finish on time. Although, I plan to block the current pieces of the vest this weekend so that I can seam it and get the blasted sleeves knit. It’s the blanket that has been languishing and the second sock that I can’t seem to even get on the needles that concern me.

I have knit to the end of the yarn for my Red Scarf Project scarf. (Hmm I need a more original name…) At any rate I now have umm not enough yarn or just barely enough yarn for a purl bind off. Any ideas out there for bind offs that take little to no yarn? If I start at the end of my row where there is no working yarn and just loop the stitches over one another (kind of like a slipped crochet stitch) until I get to the end with the yarn and then just pull the working yarn through the last loop will that work?

In other news – it’s December! I am now about to embark upon a crazy knitting frenzy (and some secret crochet)~! There’s test knitting, 2 ninjas, a pair of socks and a Grumpasaurus that all need to be completed by Christmas. Not to forget my cozy cashmere hand warmers. I want those ready for Christmas eve mass!

I woke up at oh-dark-hundred this morning and managed to roll myself into the boy’s truck. From there he drove me to the airport where I had the pleasure of being randomly frisked. Good morning, you’re half awake, let me pat you down. I was in a foul mood for the next 15 min or so until I got over myself. I did however have the pleasure of a direct flight that lasted somewhere around 2.5 hrs. Which meant I also had the pleasure of an in flight movie. Today’s movie was Julie + Julia. I rather liked it and can I say that I love Meryl Streep? She does an excellent interpretation of Julia Child. I have also seen her exhibit at the Smithsonian, it’s very cool. If you have the chance, get over there and check it out. Watching the movie really makes me want to get into the kitchen and cook up something fun. The boy and I will have to discuss this in more depth once I return home.

The jet travel also lent some great knitting time. I am on row 6 of Chart D of my Ishbel shawl. 3 more rows and then the bind off. Maybe if I got off this silly computer I could get it finished during this trip. Once I landed in Denver I hung out for a bit waiting on my colleagues to arrive then we were off to work. I am looking forward to working on this project again and it’s always nice to get out of the house periodically and see my colleagues in person. Alright off to work on Ishbel a bit before I fall asleep. G’night.