What I did on my Christmas Vacation

by Secret Agent Lemur.

I spent a week and a half with my folks for the Christmas holidays (and assorted college friends for New Year's) and all I got was a truckload of presents and really de-stressed. Seriously, it was a lovely time, and I got to have a legitimate week off for the first time in I don't know how long. Wheee! Let's get to the knitting content, shall we?

Finished: Skully: Seamed! Worn several times! Overall, I’m really pleased with it—as a first sweater, it’s quite nice. I learned a lot from it—if I had it to do over again, I’d make the sleeves a wee bit longer (they’re a little shorter than I like them, but they don’t look dumb), and do something different with the sleeve shaping—they’re a little tighter than I'm accustomed to at the armpit, but not a big deal. Also, as my first experience with seaming that “counts”, I thought it went pretty well. Mattress stitch is like magic.

Secret Christmas Project #2: Oh, okay, it was another stripey sleeping cap. Fishtie was so disappointed that I’d given full-size stripey hat #2 to Iole and not to him that I had to make him his own stripey hat for Christmas. He’s quite pleased.

On the Needles:
Party-Time Apron: No change.

Devan: No change.

Sock: No change.

Lite Brite: Sleeves done, after some reworking. I don’t know if my gauge is off or what, but the sleeves were not working for me over break—I completed my sleeve decreases, held it up to my arm to check for length, and realized that the 33 stitches left on the needles would not fit around my arm. And my arms are not that big around. The armscye/raglan shaping was a little tight as well, so I ripped it the whole way out and started over, one size larger, with gentler and fewer decreases. 37 stitches seemed to work. I also didn’t bind off the sleeve hems, (they’re top-down), as I might have to add length later—see Skully above. After I get some stockinette rolling on the body (it’s only a few inches long right now), I’m going to have to see if it’s my gauge or the pattern that’s driving me crazy.

In the Hoop:
Merry Cox Sailor's Huswif: No change.
Joe and Sally Snow: No Change.
Wedding Snowflake Hardanger: For my most excellent friends Dana and Kristi--a nifty Hardanger table runner for Christmas decor. Supplies purchased and organized, ready to start.

Obligatory Cultural References
Reading: Obsession is still at bedside, as I knew it wouldn't last the vacation. Instead, I started and finished A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (not annoying and precious at all, as I feared, but actually really good, and seriously deserving of all the praise, while still being awful and funny and self-conscious), and the Escapist comics, vols 1 and 2, while on vacation.

Listening to: The printer and the copier whine and spit out paper.