Christmas! (Day 173 KEDfaY)

This is a pre-written post. It's Christmas, or will be when you're reading this or actually when it goes up. I'm doing this because I know I'm going to be busy with my family and since I'll be back home in Indiana by then, I want to make sure that I actually do have a post to go live. If it doesn't go up in time, well, you'll live

"But Leigh! Isn't it cheating, presuming that you'll be knitting on Christmas day?" Trust me, I will be. If not, I'll edit this and come clean and tell the truth.

Here is a fun tag from The Pointless Blog that I thought would be fun to do!

1). Use one noise to describe how excited you are for christmas.

EEEEEEEEEEEEE!

2). Whats the best present you've ever been given and why?

This one is always a tie between my portable CD player that my grandma got me when I was about 9 that I used for YEARS until I dropped it on the floor of her basement and it died OR the interchangeable knitting needles that she got me when I was 17. I use those still pretty much daily and I love them. 

3). What;s the worst present you've ever been given and why?

My stepmom got me a pair of mom jeans one year that didn't fit at all. In her defense, I am INCREDIBLY picky about jeans and how they fit so she didn't really have a chance but these were high waisted and unflattering on anyone.

4). Sing a line from your favourite christmas song. 

Favorite Christmas song and favorite version! Mostly because it's decidedly not a very Christmassy Christmas song.

5). Whats your favourite Christmas film?

Every year on Christmas Eve, my mom, brother and I watch White Christmas all day on repeat. We turn it on when we get up in the morning and turn it off only for dinner. It's a great time because we all sing and dance to the various songs. It's a great time. 

6). Show how good you are at wrapping a present.

I'm so good, I can wrap a cat. 

7). If you could rename one of Father Christmas' reindeer, what would you name it?

Probably something awesome but updated so Simon or Steve or Banksy or something. 

8). Whats your favourite thing about christmas?

I love spending time with my family, especially now that I live 1000 miles away, it's just nice to sit around and hang out with them in person instead of via Skype or some sort of instant messenger. 

Done! (Day 172 KEDfaY)

It might've been while I was half awake. It might've been done the day I needed to give it. It might've taken an unreasonably long time to wrap but dammit, I finished Supa Sekrit Project 2 and my brother seems to enjoy it. I'd say all in all a good Christmas Eve.

Also, tomorrow's post has the wrong day for now but that's only because I wrote it a week ago and I'm fantastically bad at counting. It will be fixed eventually but I can't figure out how to change it on the app on my phone so it'll have to wait.

Racing towards the finish (Day 171 KEDfaY)

I'll be knitting on Supa Sekrit Project #2 hours before I give it to my brother but dammit, it'll be done!

Home, sweet home (Days 169 and 170 KEDfaY)

I knit yesterday. I swear. Through all of the stress that I went through, getting to an airport at 4:45 am, being on two different planes and crying in no less than three airports and on two planes, all on top of only getting 3.5 hours of sleep. And I knit.

I worked on Supa Sekrit Project #2. I should've worked on one of the other project that I need to knit on the plane but I was too anxious to even attempt it. Have I mentioned that I hate flying because I really really do.

Today was a great day of just sitting and hanging out with my mom, making cookies and generally getting ready for Christmas. Dinner was with the Boyfriend's mom and step-dad and now we're just watching a movie.

Sometimes the simple things are the best things to remind us why we love our family and why we miss them. And boy did I miss my family.

Sleep is good but knitting is better (Day 166 KEDfaY)

Feeling better today so there was actual knitting done! I knit a lot on the Supa Sekrit Project #2 and I am mere rows away from finishing this one section and then I WILL ONLY HAVE ONE SECTION LEFT AND THAT'S AWESOME BECAUSE IT MEANS THAT IT IS TOTALLY FEASIBLE FOR ME TO FINISH THIS BEFORE I LEAVE SATURDAY! WHOO!

Tomorrow I've decided I'm going start packing so that Friday can be a day of packing stuff I forgot and repacking to make more things fit. I'm not checking a bag because it would be my luck that my checked bag would get lost or something. So I have to pack 9 days worth of clothes, any necessities and all of the gifts I've knit and knitting into my carry on. SHOULD BE FUN!

But right now I'm going to try to finish this section before midnight so I can get some sleep. Mmm, sleep.

Gettin' there (Day 164 KEDfaY)

Another present done! WHOO!

If I still lived in Indiana or lived somewhere colder, I would definitely keep that hat. I'm very happy with it and I think the person getting it will like it too.

I refelted my mom's slippers again today. They are MUCH better than they were. Now they just need assembled! I might get that done tomorrow. I haven't decided. 

I also worked on Supa Sekrit Project #2 more. I really just need to get the damn thing done but I'm sick of it at this point and don't want to work on it which is not something I need to do since it needs to be done by the time I get on the plane on Saturday. 

I also started another present today. I guess it will be Supa Sekrit Project #3 since I don't know if the person getting the present follows this blog or not. It's a simple knit project because I started it late but I'm sure it will still be appreciated. I have to resist working on that because I REALLY need to work on my brother's project first. I'm JUST SO DONE WITH IT even though I'm really not. Ugh. 

I guess I better go knit on it though...bah. 

So much to knit, so little time! (Day 163 KEDfaY)

The Boyfriend is on his work trip before going home for Christmas. He was lucky enough to be sent to Hamilton, ON for a few days. He sent me that beautiful picture above. I think he just likes to rub it in my face that I'm in Florida where it's still warm enough to have the air conditioning on. 

I don't feel like I did a lot of knitting today. I thought I did more but I guess I didn't. I finished a section on Supa Sekrit Project #2 which only leaves two more sections to go. The next two sections I think will be more fun than the last one so I'm hoping they go quickly. 

I also need to felt my mom's slippers again. I went with the washer. I kinda wish I hadn't now because there are some spots that don't look felted at all and others that are felted beautifully. I'm hoping another trip through the super heavy cycle will get them to look right. Then I can assemble. 

Speaking of assembling, I think I'm almost done with the uterus chestburster. I am thinking about reshaping it's head but that shouldn't take too much time. Then a mouth of some sort and then it'll be ready to go. 

I just finished packing the knitting I'm going to take with me when I go back to Indiana. I'm taking socks to knit since I'm not checking a bag and space is precious and limited. While going through yarn and possible projects, I might've come up with three more projects I want to knit before Christmas. Two of them are hats, one of which is in super bulky yarn so it should go really quick. I'm actually thinking about starting it tonight and seeing how far I get before passing out. I'd like to get the two hats done before I get on the plane and then leave the last possible Christmas present for plane knitting. 

I'm one of those people who likes to have everything packed a week before they leave so it is very difficult not to go pack everything right now even though my plane doesn't leave until Saturday morning. Hence why my knitting plane projects are already packed even though I had the yarn picked out for a few days. 

But now, more knitting! 

Slippers! (Day 161 KEDfaY)

I've never felted anything before. On purpose at least.

I have a lot of knitting skills under my belt that would make me a "qualified" knitter but one thing I haven't tried is felting.

That is until tomorrow. 

My mom's Christmas present is going to be a pair of felted slippers. They're going to be pink bunnies and they're going to be awesome. I just have to figure out how I'm going to felt them. I know that I have options the problem is that I just don't know which one I want to use. Do I want to hand felt them so I know they won't felt too much or do I want to chuck them in the wash and hope for the best? This is where I'm at because I honestly don't know. All of the bits are knit for the slippers, I just need to felt it so I can then put them together and mark one more thing off of my to-do list before I leave Florida for Indiana in about a week and a few hours. I am very excited about this trip. Excited and anxious because it will be the first time ever that I'm flying alone and I hate flying when I know someone so flying by myself will truly be a terrifying experience, I'm sure. 

Things I need to knit before my trip though:
- Finish Supa Sekrit Project #2

- A chestburster bursting out of a uterus. 

      So my friend Onyx asked for a chestburster bursting out of uterus. Because of the awesomeness of it, I had to say yes so I need to do that before the trip too. 

I definitely think I can make my deadlines. I hope so at least. 

Check check! (Day 160 KEDfaY)

I finished the stocking commission today! There was very little actual knitting involved and was more sewing buttons on but I'm pretty happy with it! Tomorrow I start the slippers!

Gettin' shit done (Day 158 KEDfaY)

Finished the actually knitting for the stocking that I was commissioned to make. Now it's just finishing details. Next up: Work on my brother's Supa Sekrit Project. Right after I pick at my face some...

Check! (Day 157 KEDfaY)

Things I did today:
- A fuck ton of laundry
- Finished test knit
- Ripped back to my mistake on the commission stocking.

It doesn't sound like a lot but I am exhausted. I did spend a good portion of the day picking at my face, which still seems to be getting better (yay) but could be so slow to heal because of the water and the fact that the chlorine levels in our water match the local pool. SO THAT'S GREAT.

Right now, I'm going to go finish my beer and then go to bed.

Weekend Freakend (Day 156 KEDfaY)

Yesterday was full of knitting fails. I was working on the stocking for commission and I have to rip back about 15 rows because I messed up the gingerbread man and it looks anorexic. This is what I get for trying to count.

And then I started working on a test knit for someone and my numbers weren't coming out right and my gauge was way off so I decided to scrap it and then spent a good portion of the night picking at my face. My picture from yesterday is such low quality that you can't see the atrocious state that my lips are in or the rest of my face. My gross face rash is slowly healing, I think. I think I've finally cut out any possible allergen that might be causing it and it's finally getting back on track. 

Today everything just seemed to go much smoother. Knitting went smoother after I did some math. I wrote two emails that I've needed to write for a while and I even worked on Supa Sekrit Project #2 which is still about halfway done but WHOO! 

Goals for this week: 

- Finish stocking

- Work on mom's present

- Finish test knit

- Work more on Supa Sekrit Project #2. 

All reasonable goals as long as I don't get distracted by my flakey itchy face, which is entirely possible.

Hot (Day 154 KEDfaY)

Today it was 82*. It was 26* in my hometown and it was snowing. Makes knitting a gingerbreadman really difficult, or at least trying to find the will to. I wonder if a Christmas Palm tree would be okay...

Christmas in the Tropics (Day 153 KEDfaY)

Indiana is currently getting another big snowstorm tonight. It was over 80* today in Florida. I know some people would be jealous but I cried when I saw a picture of the snow falling in downtown Indy. It's hard to be in the Christmas spirit when I'm wearing shorts and a tank top and the air conditioning is still on.

A real post, I promise! (Day 151 KEDfaY)

See! A real post today! Look at me go!

I've honestly been knitting on my brother's Christmas present, Supa Sekrit Project #2, so I can't show pictures because I know he's a nosy little shit who would go looking for hints and clues and has at least once. His is a big project that I don't know if I'll get done before Christmas or before I leave for Christmas so he might get a very fantastically wrapped IOU.

Every year for Christmas, we wrap each other's present in the most ridiculous way possible. Last year his present was wrapped in tamper resistant tape. That's the level we get to with that. I already have a plan for this year, I just need a present to wrap. It's going to be awesome.

In other news, I'm waiting to hear back from someone I'm doing a commission for. I'm knitting a stocking for her daughter which should go quickly, I just need to get her preferences before I start. The last thing I want is to knit something for someone that they hate, you know? I'm also going to be doing a stocking for her boyfriend but she said it could wait until after the new year.

What else?

The Boyfriend and I have met our future cat. A friend of mine in the local knit group helps run a cat rescue and she found our future cat and heard that we were wanting a second one and figured the new cat would be a perfect match. We did a house visit where he came and chilled at our place for about an hour and he is going to be a perfect companion to Pebble, our current cat, and us. He was friendly and cuddly and ready to move in that day. The only reason why we didn't is because we don't want to get a new cat and then go away for a week, which we're getting ready to do.

I'm very excited about Christmas. I've been wanting to go back to Indiana to visit for months now and I am so looking forward to this trip. Not the whole flying alone thing, but the trip home is going to be good. I'm very much looking forward to it!

Now to just finish all these darn presents! (In all actuality, I only have 3 that I need to finish they're just all time consuming really.)

Flying (Day 142 KEDfaY)

I got to a good milestone today with the Supa Sekrit Project and so I decided to reward myself by starting another project. This is going to be a hat for my step mom I think. It's going quickly so hopefully I'll have it done before Christmas. 

Our plans for Christmas are currently up in the air. Hopefully we'll figure it out soon. I like to know when I have to be forced to fly in a plane. I hate flying and it definitely takes a lot of psyching myself up to get on one. Flying is scary. I do not like it. 

Hat (Day 139 KEDfaY)

I finished the last hat that I need to make! Whoo! I would've finished it yesterday but I forgot to bring my dpns when I went out. I also knit more on the Supa Sekrit Project. It's at a part that I feel shouldn't take long but is going to take longer than I'd like because it's boring and sucks. But it's easy. So yeah. 

That's all I've got for today. Nothing exciting really. Whoo. 

I'm a creep (Day 131 KEDfaY)

I accidentally finished this last night. I was going to try to make it a two day project but that didn't happen. I also got A LOT done on Supa Sekrit Project. I am very happy to say that one big portion is *thiiiiiss* close to being done which makes me happy. I feel confident that I might actually get it done on time so WHOO! 

But now bed. Had a night out with the gals which was something that was greatly appreciated after being cooped up all weekend. 

Today I learned... (Day 130 KEDfaY)

Before I go to bed every night, I have a routine, like many people. I brush my teeth, wash my face, then cosy into bed and play Words with Friends or solitaire until the light goes out. The light goes out when the Boyfriend finally falls asleep or asks me to turn it off. It's on my side of the bed so I get to deal with it, an argument that we've had many times because we are both inherently lazy people and it's just so far away...

But then I read Wikipedia. I usually also listen to TV shows on my iPod because the only way I've found to fall asleep is to be overstimulated which sounds backwards for most people but it really does help me. Don't judge.

Generally my Wikipedia routine is to go to the main website and just hit the random button, read the article, sometimes it will be a foreign minister in a very small town in a country smaller than the city I currently live in, sometimes it's a random world event, more often it's an athlete for a sport that I don't pay attention to. I skim it if it isn't interesting or read it if it is and then either hit "Random" again or I find a link and fall down the Wikipedia hole. My favorites articles are the ones about nature. Simple things that you would take for granted are fascinating. Have you read the Wikipedia article for apples? How about the sea? What about kiwi birds? For example, the other night I started reading about rattlesnakes. I will say that I didn't random myself to this article, I had watched an episode of Mythbusters with a rattlesnake in it and I wanted to know why and how they made their rattly noise. And then I fell down a Wikipedia hole. Did you know that pit vipers are called so because they have pits in their face that allow them to sense heat? I thought they were called pit vipers because they enjoyed living in pits, a simple but easy to follow train of thought. These are things that we don't learn in school and I think that we totally should because what's more badass than a rattle snake that has extra holes in its face to smell its prey? I would've paid attention in class that day.

Another example: Today, I was curious about the bar exam that lawyers have to take and after reading all about that, I somehow ended up reading about the Talmud. Fascinating and stuff that I never would've learned if it weren't for Wikipedia. I know Wikipedia gets a lot of flack for the fact that anyone can edit it (with restrictions but no one cares about those) but I honestly love it. It's my second favorite website (seconded only to Ravelry.com because Ravelry is amazing) and I feel bad whenever I visit Wikipedia's page and they ask for money. I love Wikipedia and I use it pretty much daily. There's a long list of things I plan to do once I have a steady income and possibly extra money and donating to Wikipedia is definitely one of them. Even if Wikipedia gave me a job (something I don't know how to go about getting but I'm damn sure I would love working for Wikipedia because who wouldn't love to do research and fact check various things all day?) I would donate a part of my paycheck.

So, Jimmy Wales, if you find this in your random google search of your name, I would love to work for Wikipedia because pit vipers are badass.

----

In knitting today, I just worked on another hat for Christmas, my 2nd to last one, I *think*. I might do one more just in case I've miscounted or forgotten someone. This one is going to be a Creeper hat for my youngest brother. He likes Minecraft (or at least did the last time I saw him) so I'm hoping he likes it. If not, tough. I'll just take it back! Harumph. After I finish this hat, I will only have 3 more presents to knit which I'm pretty excited about since it's not even December yet. Look at me, all ahead and everything!

Procrastin....I'll get to it later (Day 128 KEDfaY)

I am about 2/3 of the way done on another Christmas present. I figure I have 2 more hats to knit and then other assorted presents to work on. I'm pretty happy with how many Christmas presents I have done at this point. It isn't even December and I feel like I can go to my family Christmas gathering and not use the excuse of broke ass college student as the reason why no one got gifts. Since I'm not actually in college, I don't know if I can use that excuse any more.

I also have gotten some spinning done. I got a lot of the same color and content fiber from someone's destash and my hope is to get a 2 ply fingering weight out of it so I can make a huge shawl. That's the hope and so far it's going well. There is A LOT of this fiber so I'm going to be spinning it for ages. It is definitely in the "long term project" column. 

But really I'm just using these two projects to procrastinate. I REALLY need to be working on Supa Sekrit Project #1 but I'm still stuck on one part and I don't want to. I have 20 days to finish it. I know I can do it, I just need to figure out a problem first. Ugh.