More holiday musings…

I slept for 12 hours last night, which is just unheard of for me.  But today is my day off, and I’m allowed to do what I want, right?

Otismurph enabled me towards using the Rowan Felted tweed for Marc’s hat… and I kind of wanted to anyway, so I went to the LYS.  I spent about half an hour walking around trying to decide whether the yarn I’d picked was purple or blue.  I decided it was blue, bought an Addi Turbo 16″ #3 needle and left.  Oh, and I did find a few lonesome balls of Noro’s Cashmere island hiding from me on a low shelf, so I was able to feel up the yarn and get a better look at the colors.  I think Noro must use a ton of sizing in their yarns, as every single one of them feels stiff until washed.  Don’t get me wrong, the Cashmere island was a bajillion times softer than the Silk Garden, but it still feels “starched” to me… but since I think Silk Garden feels nice after washing I’d imagine this stuff will be great!  The #6 colorway was really lovely, as was the #2.  I also find it interesting that all of these yarns have black segments as well as the colors.  I think that’s a good idea, as it will help to anchor the crazy color changes that Noro has.  So I’m pretty certain my Lady Eleanor will be made of this… I’ll order from WEBs soon.

Here’s the ball of yarn I bought.

I think the color will look really nice with Marc’s pale coloring and black/silver hair (poor guy… he’s been greying since he was 20!) I’m going to use this for a Christmas gift (my only knitted one, because I know he will appreciate it.)  I’ll have to do some stealth knitting, because I don’t want him to know about it ahead of time.

I meant to buy a new cable needle but forgot.  The size of your cable needle doesn’t really make a different, right?  Because mine is large (bought it to use with bulky yarn).  I’m thinking it would be ok.  My cable experience is… um… limited.  By limited I mean that I’ve made swatches with cables in them, but no actual cabled things.  I think I’ll practice a bit more before I try for the hat – perhaps I shall be a lemming and make a pair of those lovely “fetching” gloves from the summer Knitty.

I’ve given some more thought to my handmade gifts and decided on bath salts, glycerin soaps, and jars of readymade muffin mixes (I’m going to put these together with my Mom – it was her idea)

So that takes care of the women on my list who aren’t my Mom, and I’ll probably just buy gifts for the men.

Tonight we’re having dinner with my Mom and her boyfriend at my favorite Thai restaurant.  I’m happy because it’s a “low stress” kind of day around here.    I might even get in some knitting.  I require a lot more “down time” than I think most people do.  I’m unhappy being stressed and too busy, and I’m not afraid to bail on things if I feel myself getting too tense.  This makes me none too popular with the people who would like me to do things for them, but I’ve learned from hard experience that I need this time to myself every day.