Best Quote I Heard All Day
I've been trying for some time to develop a lifestyle that doesn't require my presence.--Gary Trudeau

My imaginary lifestyle: Get up at 7 a.m., knit until 9, write until 12, eat lunch, do errands, shop, clean until 3, come home, knit until 6, have dinner and spend the evening with John, watching movie and knitting.

My real lifestyle: Get up at 5 a.m., get to work by 7:30 or so after sitting in traffic for 1-1.5 hours, write P&P, put out technofires, eat lunch at desk, go to boring meeting, get home around 5:30-6, eat some soup, stare at news, knit a few rows, doze off. See John for an hour or two, go to sleep at 10.



Christmas Knitting
Well, I don't. At least, I don't think about it unless specifically asked to make something. It's a cruel thing to award some knitted objet to a friend or relative in lieu of a real gift. Yeah, yeah. I know. Knitted gifts come from the heart. Horseshit.

If I were my friends or relatives, I wouldn't want a swell pair of knitted mittens, beautifully giftwrapped. Gimme a book, a CD, a DVD, some perfume, nice earrings, etc.

Last year, Elly asked me to make her a pair of Cashmerino socks for Christmas. And so I did and she loved them. (Elly refuses to make socks, by the way. Has no interest in them, lets me do it for her.) This year, my friend (and boss), AnnMarie, admired two balls of absolutely gawdawful rayon eyelash that I bought for some bizarre reason at Stitches. So...I am making her a scarf. Here it is. Now you may all laugh.


The scarf is now about 5 feet long and ready for hideous fringing. AnnMarie will love it. She really wanted the Lavold vest, though. I don't think that's gonna happen in her lifetime.

The point is, spare yourself the agony of Christmas knitting horror deadlines and the potential rejection of your precious knitted gift ("Oh, um, how nice") by only knitting when asked.

I can't wait to read all the post-Christmas Knit List messages about how SuzyKnittrForJesus's Aunt Sally opened the gift of the handknitted Dazzleaire tea cosy and said, "Did you get this at Target?"

Blocking Piece by Piece
Since I had to go back and add a few rows to the armhole of one of the Lavold vest fronts, I've been blocking the pieces one at a time, while working on the scarf and the Queen Anne's Lace (yes, I'm back to that). I must say, though, that although I wished I had been able to get Silky Wool when I started the vest, the Debbie Bliss merino is quite nice and blocks out beautifully. For any cabled garment, I like to use blocking wires and cold water spray. Here's the back. Now I just have to block the fixed piece and I can start assembling it and doing the bands.


I really do like finishing. I get enormous satisfaction from assembling something I've knitted and have it look great. So many people knit well and finish poorly. Even so-called designers. Notice some of the lousy finishing in the magazines?

Writing Time, Knitting Time, John Time
It's been a long month and I've been busy but I'm sure looking forward to cooking next Thursday for the family and then having four days off to spend with John, do some knitting, etc. Today I'm working from home. Tomorrow is Friday. Projects continue to build up at work but I miss my writing time very much. The time I spend writing the blog is, along with knitting, one of the most fun things I do. Often it's hard to wedge everything in but I'm grateful that my time is so richly filled and that I am happier than I have been in a long time. There's no doubt that I have been very fortunate to have met John. Finally, a relationship that's working, and working well.

And then there's been all the friends I've made this year through this blog. Other than the two jerks I bounced out, my readers are a rare and handy lot.

Missing in Action
By the way, where the fuck is Knitter's? I went over to the website last week and they're still showing the last issue. Of course, that web site is such a mess, who could find fuck-all? Not that I'm panting to see it, but there is supposed to be another Lavold design therein.

And I've noticed that I've not gotten any mail from any of my Yahoo groups for the past two days. Shall I send dozens of e-mails to each of the lists asking why I haven't gotten any mail?

Time to get rare and handy. There's an Admissions Policy and Procedure Manual, Rev. B that's calling me.