What I Did for My Christmas Vacation

This. Mostly. On Christmas Eve, I finally gave up and wrapped the unfinished project, needles and all. I think most people would be perplexed if they opened a gift with knitting needles still in it. But when Tiny opened it up, she totally got it. Her eyes lit up: she was excited! Now that kid is soooo knitworthy!
After Christmas, I went nuts getting ready for our annual New Year's Eve Game Night, cooking and cleaning. Mostly cleaning. Here's how I made it work: I made these lists based on each room and taped 'em down on my desk. Lists tend to get lost... especially if it's stuff I don't really enjoy. Tape keeps it findable.

It worked! The house was tidy by the time 2011 came roaring--and honking and shouting--in.

And New Year's Day saw that shrug finished:

A Shrug for Her Shoulders

I have been monogamous to one knitting project--virtually one project alone for about two weeks. It's making me nuts! Not that I don't like it: I think it's lovely. But one project?

Of course, I couldn't stand it. I finally broke last night. I've had this package of charms sitting on my desk staring at me, daring me to do something. When I blinked first, I was forced to make them into stitch markers, using the first tool to hand, namely fingernails. Yup, I just slid my nail into the jump ring, slipped in the charm, nail out, worked the charm around, and voila! It's not my fault. And on to the monotonous--er, monogamous--knitting.

Sidhe (pronounced "she") Lace Shrug from Vampire Knits

It's for Tiny's Christmas gift. Foolishly, I imagined that I could make this little beauty from stashed yarn: a size large shrug from a single skein of sock yarn. 400 measly yards. Enough to make a pair of women's socks. One pair. A shrug is like two long socks (sleeves, actually) connected by a long flat bit to go across the back. So it's more like three long socks. That's a lot of yarn!

So, easy solution, right? Just go back to where I got that gorgeous yarn in the first place. sigh

No, this yarn was part of the Jane Austen Yarn Club from last year. It's the Northanger Abbey colorway. Even the dyer didn't have any left... and doesn't remember how she made it. I asked. I asked other members, but no luck. They'd either used it, lost it, or had plans for it.
So I did the next best thing: I went into Knitting in La Jolla with my project in hand and asked to see the sock yarn. I told her I knew she couldn't match it, but maybe we could find something that would look nice. I mean, I may be a doofus, but I'm not an idiot. Wait. That didn't sound good. But we had success: a nice plain purple sock yarn from Cascade. It's working in well, I think.

First I knit it every other row with the new yarn, then two rows on and two rows off. Then four-two, then six-two... then I ran out. So just Cascade for the rest.

This is how it currently stands. Ooh, I hope I can get it done by Christmas morning. The Yarn Harlot knit a whole sock in a day. Maybe I can borrow her helper monkeys...