Yes, you read that correctly. I have been knitting! In an effort to get the Italian presents started, I started knitting the Oink (that’d be the Object in Question….okay, spelled a little incorrectly, but I thought I’d have some fun here.) I can’t actually tell you what it is that I’m knitting since it’s a p-r-e-s-e-n-t for someone, but I can show you some up close and personal photos that will act as proof that I am knitting.

Proof Number One:

Proof Number Two:

And finally, Proof Number Three:

Aren’t those purdy colour choices? All the colours in the rainbow…okay, maybe not, but there’s 5 of the 7 in there. :-)  But don’t ask me what it is yet, cuz I’m not tellin’!

It’s been about 9 months since I picked up a knitting needle and yarn to actually knit something (picking them up to pack them away when I moved doesn’t count.) I must say I have been rather uninspired to knit anything, so I haven’t. But, the clock is ticking for my & my sister on some gift knitting we have to do, I thought I’d better get a move on my end now, since it will apparently take forever for me to finish off anything. Thankfully I’ll be knitting up a relatively simple item, so it shouldn’t take me long.

I’m actually talking about knitting today because my friend Melanie & I decided to hold our own stitch & bitch night in order to get our butts in gear and kick-start our respective projects. So every Tuesday night will be knitting knit chez moi. Should be lots of fun!

Oh yes, and before I forget, I am actually working on some knitting right now. I was going to start up some Everlasting Bagstoppers on the weekend, but due to some technical difficulties (I had to get some clarification emails from my sister), I didn’t get around to actually starting anything. So instead I started sewing together all the squares that I’d knitting up from some scrap leftover yarn.

I had fun first organizing all the squares into shape, as I wasn’t sure how many I had, or even what colour scheme I was going to use. As you can see from the picture, they’re all stripy and colourful, so I had to figure out which ones went where.

Next was figuring out how to sew them together. KnittingHelp.com to the rescue. I discovered there that I should be saying that I’m “seaming” the squares together rather than “sewing” them together, but whatever. The point is, there’s some yarn-ful joining going on chez moi.

The sewing is going relatively well. I sometimes forget the technique, so you can see the sewing yarn, but honestly, I don’t care, as this blanket is going to be used as a throw on my couch or something, so it doesn’t actually matter. This one’s for my practice.

And with today’s shopping dear readers, I have finished my Christmas shopping. Yes, I picked up the last couple of presents this afternoon, and I-am-done. Hell, I even found a couple of presents for my relatives in Italy, whom I normally don’t buy for, however I found a couple of things that I just couldn’t resist. Picked up a birthday present for my friend’s daughter too, as she turns one this week. We’re having a party for her next Sunday, which should be fun.

The mall even had a parade for Santa, as it was his first day on duty at the mall. They had a full marching band and ballerina-fairies, plus Santa’s elves and a giant toy soldier on stilts! He was tall. I was a tad confused at first though, because I was walking around in the mall and heard the music, which I thought was a little loud for being indoors. But then I saw Santa, and thought it made sense. I still think the music was loud, but at least then it made sense.

Now I’m in the middle of doing laundry while I figure out a new knitting pattern to work on. I think I might just have to ring up my seester to get some help, cuz I don’t understand the pattern. haha. I’ll be working on the Everlasting Bagstopper from Knitty.com. My sister’s made a few and says they’re quite nice and easy, plus they’re good for stocking stuffers or whenever you need one type presents.

While perusing my local craft store for some photo boxes on the weekend, I took a stroll through the yarn aisle, to see if they had anything interesting. Since it’sa craft store and not a yarn shop, the selection usually isn’t that interesting, however I did see that they may have a cheaper alternative to the Berroco Suede yarn for any gift scarves I may want to knit up. Lion Brand has a suede yarn as well, called, appropriately enough, Lion Suede. It’s not quite a tape like the Berroco Suede is, but considering it’s about $5 a skein cheaper, I really don’t care. And honestly, I think it might actually knit up slightly better with the Lion Suede, because I’ve found while using the scarf this week, it doesn’t sit as nicely as it could, and that it tends to roll up a bit. Now I know that last part is due to all the knitting and no garter stitch rows (or is it because of the no stockinette? I forget which one doesn’t roll as much.) but still, I think it might go nicer in the Lion Suede. Once I get my stash n’ projects organized, I’ll see what I can do for that.