Durrr... and Yay!

Pretending it won't happen isn't going to change it. There is a certain holiday, about, by my calculations, twenty-nine days away and it's time to look at that number and panic.

NO- wait- do something about it. Anyone else voting for a January fifteen Christmas? Anyone? A-anyone?

I like Christmas. Actually, I love Christmas. Even with Christmas Eve gift buying, I'm a huge fan. It's just- well- there was this thing last year. This knitting-for-everyone thing. This no-handmade-gift-left-behind thing.

And last year, I had a plan. I even started a few gifts in August and September. I was, at first, ahead of the curve. Ahead of the curve and I still finished around 12:01 Christmas morning. And I was ahead at this time last year.

Not as much this year. Not at all actually. I'm having a pretty tricky time of it, in fact.

Here are my dilemmas: One- there's not that much time to knit that many things. B- I haven't really sorted out who would really like a handmade gift and who would be fine with a $25 giftcard to Best Buy. Tricky.

Even if one wanted a handmade gift, there's the question of: what kind of gift? Because we all know my preference. Hand me my size 0 DPNs and I'll whip out a half dozen pairs of socks between now and then (mind you, I might not like it by the end, but I'll start with gusto). However. Not everyone has the same fixation with handknit socks as moi.

So then what? What can feasibly get done between now and then? Hats sure. Quick, easy-to-knit, I could churn out plenty of those. But no one I know really needs a hat. This is the Southeast baby- we wear hats as fashion accessories, not life-saving devices. Ditto on gloves. Double ditto on scarves.

A plan, then, began for some small gifts for the many lovely people I know. A plan for- what's my second favorite knitted item? Survey says... dishcloths!

This plan- this crafty, brilliant, genius plan- has one teeny-tiny-meenie-moe hitch: it requires me to write the pattern. I know, right?

At the moment, that means, I've got graph paper (regular), graph paper (knitter style- thanks for the hint Miz Knotty!), one finished dishcloth, some waste yarn, a sewing needle, instructions on duplicate stitch and the makings of a headache.

But I'll persevere. I believe- deep, deep, deep down- that though I never learned even the rudiments of sewing (or if I did, it's all leaked out of my brain since then), I can get this duplicate stitch thing down. As far as the pattern goes, let's just pray I start channeling the spirit of my still-living father, in all his mathematical-geometrical-algebraic glory because St. Claus knows I need it.

On the yay front, though- one nearly finished pair of Jaywalkers!



The last on my plan for one pair of handknit socks per everyday of the week. Next step? World Domination.