Christmas in October

I think this might be unprecedented.  It's October 29th.  Not even Halloween.  My washcloth Christmas plan is done.  That's right, DONE.  That's approximately 20 washcloths all worked up and the ends woven in.

While in Rhinebeck, I stopped into a little homemade soap booth along the way.  I knew I needed soaps, and I knew I wanted them homemade, but I really wanted them to come from a local vendor.  Not that Rhinebeck is incredibly far, but it's not exactly local.

I decided that local wasn't the most important part.  That it was better to support any small, local vendor.  Afterall, this vendor was local to somewhere as opposed to being big-box.  I chose a variety of colors and scents and the names were simply charming.

I figured the variety would match the rainbow of washcloths perfectly and the price was just right.  As I  grabbed all the soaps I thought I would need, I happened to actually read the business cards I grabbed to include with the gifts.  As it turns out, this local soap vendor is, in fact, local to ME. 

Simpler Thyme is located in Branchville, NJ.  All of her soaps are handcrafted, cold processed, and made with olive oil, coconut and palm oils, water, and lye.  The scents come from various essential oils, herbs, spices, and grains.  And have I mentioned how lovely they are?

Storage Solutions

I have a lot of yarn.  It's hidden in every room of my tiny little apartment.  There's some in my crock pot because I rarely use it and it's mostly just a covered storage bowl under my sink.  Most of my yarn is in my bedroom.  I have a huge closet and exactly half of it contains almost all of my stash.  

I knew I needed to improve my yarn storage, and the impending trip to Rhinebeck seemed like the best time so I don't have to leave the yarn on the table while Jack tries to do his homework like I did last year.  I decided to take all my yarn out of my closet to really see what I was dealing with.  I wanted to sort, organize, take an inventory, and know exactly what I wanted to purchase next weekend.

This is what all of my yarn in my bedroom looks like.

Admittedly, it was more than I thought.

I anticipated needing a better storage solution and I happen to know someone very skilled in woodwork who offered to make me a shelving unit to combat my ever growing stash.

See that?  That's 56 cozy little cubbies for my yarn.  I was able to donate almost 2 garbage bags to charity causes and this is the yarn that I know I will eventually knit through.  The best of the best, if you will.  Now everything is organized and sorted and neat and it makes my OCD jump with joy.  

And now I have 9 single cubbies and 1 double cubby to fill with Rhinebeck yarn.

For anyone doing the math, I know there are 10 empty single spaces.  See that little guy down there on the left?  Third up from the bottom?  He might already be full...

Pending

I've entered the world of baby blanket making.  I adore making blankets for the tiny humans.  I try to make something that will end up as an heirloom.  Something that they will love at 3 and 33.  Something that will look just as fitting on a crib in a nursery as it will on a couch in their adult living room.  

The thing with blankets is they take a lot of time, which makes for long periods of nothing to post to the blog.  I'm trying to post often so it becomes a habit, and to stick to that I've decided to post the blanket as a work-in-progress.

I have no idea if the pending mommy reads this, but I'm willing to take my chances.  This blanket is quite lovely, and I can't wait to see what it looks like as a finished product.

In other news, Nickel is seen here sporting the hat portion of his football bunting.  His Mommy thinks he looks like a convict.  She's not completely wrong.  But he's a damn cute convict.

Birthday Socks

Birthday socks are my favorite socks to make.  Especially this time of year.  Giving warm birthday socks in the dead of summer seems off, but making them now seems just right.

These little numbers were knit with this yarn.  They are a virgin wool/polyamide blend which means they are superwash.

I tend to try to veer away from colorful variegated yarns because they are almost impossible to match, but I really like this yarn.  It's thick and warm and the perfect amount of soft for surfing on hard wood floors.  Exactly what a now-34-year-old man would look for in a sock.

I Have A Plan

This weekend marks the start of my favorite time of year.  I love autumn.  The leaves, the jeans and sweaters, the way the air smells.  The pumpkin pies and apple crumbs and knowing I won't be donning a bathing suit anytime soon and can fully enjoy those desserts.

This is also when I start to slowly become a one-woman Christmas Present Sweat Shop.  Too many people to knit for, and not enough time to do it.  I suppose that's a wonderful way to be burdened, though.  To have too many people in my life deserving of woollies. 

This year I have a plan... 

...and that plan is washcloths.  They are small, fly off the needles, and can be made with virtually any stitch pattern.  

I used Sugar 'n Cream.  It's cheap, 100% USA grown cotton, and machine washable and dryable.

They'll be boxed with candles and soaps.  And if I'm able to, I'll do some detective work and coordinate them to each bathroom.

For now, I'm riding my delusional high horse thinking I have a good, strong hold on Christmas this year.  You'd think I'd know better.

Ready For Autumn

As I'm sure I've mentioned, Jack loves socks.  I don't think I've mentioned that he also loves orange, but his Christmas Sweater 2010 may have alluded to that.  Whenever I go to my Local Yarn Store, I try to leave with something intend for Jack.  It helps assuage the guilt of spending my yarn budget so freely.

When I saw this, I couldn't resist.

They are my classic sock recipe.  No frills or modifications.

Heritage Paints by Cascade in "Citrus Mix."

Canadian Bacon

I come from a very large family.  The cousins (my generation of them, at least) are all 9 months apart and alternate male/female.  This makes figuring out our ages and knowing our order incredibly simple.  My cousin Nick is exactly 1 week shy of being exactly 9 months older than I am.  He is my favorite male cousin and I love him dearly.  

He is quirky, wildly intelligent, and covered in tattoos.  All things I adore in other humans.  The fact that we're related is just an added bonus.

Nick and his charming wife Teresa will be welcoming a little boy into the world this fall.  He will be a partially Canadian baby, and those winters can be brutal.  I cannot think of a more perfect reason for warm woollies.

When we were kids, I remember watching Mystery Science Theater 3000 on Comedy Central and laughing at how clever the robots were.  I somehow stumbled upon this pattern and couldn't resist.  It's newborn sized, made with 100% Superwash Merino Knit Picks Swish DK in "Coal" and "White", and prompted Nick to ask if it came in "grown up." 

Babies should be swaddled in warmth and love every minute of their lives.  And this Baby Snuggle Wrap is just perfect.  I modified it a bit by removing the icord and pompom.  Made with Misti Alpaca Chunky, it's soft and lightweight and quite personally I'd like this in "grown up" for myself.

I mentioned that Nick has several tattoos, and a generous portion of these are Tim Burton pieces.  There is nothing more perfect in all of Knitshire than a Jack Skellington doll for the baby.  Made with leftover MST3K yarn and polyester stuffing.  I'm mildly concerned that Nick will keep this for himself, as dolls don't have sizes.

I've recently discovered that I have the ability to knit magic.  This crazy little thing is the Star Illusion Blanket.  I used Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in the colors specified in the pattern.  It worked up much easier than the pattern would lead you to believe, but I despise seams and this blanket is ripe with them.  The finished project makes it well worth it in the end.

This is the birds-eye view of the blanket.  It looks like something guaranteed to induce a migraine...

...but this is the eye-level view.  This is what the baby sees during tummy time.  This is the sky brought to his level, and I hope he's as fascinated by it as I am.