Rain, rain GO AWAY!

It's two days before Christmas and it's pouring. And I mean POURING! As in buckets of rain coming down. And rivers flowing down the street. How depressing.

This is Vermont - we are supposed to have snow! Well, it hasn't dampened people's spirits too much. We've seen people today from all over the country - here visiting relatives and friends and coming in to see us and get some last minute presents for others and for themselves.

Hope you all have a great holiday!

goodies for COTS

This year we had a great response to our charity knitting drive for COTS (Committee on Temporary Shelter) in Burlington, VT. Yesterday we sorted everything, and packed it into 5 huge boxes that we'll take to COTS later this week. Look at this loot!
We had the following handknits donated: 7 sweaters, 13 blankets!!, 3 pair of slippers, 26 scarves, 161 hats, and 54 pair of mittens. WELL DONE everyone! A mountain of hats!
A huge pile of blankets!
And a ton of mittens! Michele and I sorted everything and we just couldn't believe how nice everything was. People really put a lot of thought into this, and that's what it's all about. Thanks so much for donating your time, efforts and materials to help out. We are sure these items will all find a good home.

We've had a busy week here at the shop. People are coming in for last minute things and I think we've sold a record number of gift cards, both in the shop and online. Maybe you're one of the lucky ones who will be receiving a gift card? It's always fun to go out after the holidays and cash those in. How great to be able to choose your own gifts!

Michele just finished a pair of slippers for her neice. Aren't they cute? She needle felted stars on them - they're really adorable.

And last week I did finish my handpaint hat. I was able to get it to my sister-in-law in time for her birthday and she loves it. She's all about pink.

Need some ideas?

It's definitely crunch time. While many of you have started and completed most of your handknit holiday gifts, some of you have procrastinated and are starting to freak out as we approach the 11th hour. It's pretty obvious that most of us can't start and complete a large project at this point that will be ready in time for gift opening. So may I suggest some of the following smaller projects?

Hats are a great idea! You can make a quick ribbed hat in Blue Sky Worsted:

Another quick hat (cabled) in Blue Sky Wosted:A soft and washable ribbed hat in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted: Scarves are also quick. How about this gorgeous (and totally do-able in a week) lace cashmere scarf in Jade Sapphire:
And this pattern just arrived - an adorable kid's teddy bear and matching jacket in Oh My! (I made the bear body in one evening and the jacket will be done tonight.)

A lot of sitting and a little knitting

So surgery is over. It went well, and the recovery has been good so far. The day after surgery I felt wonderful, but then reality set in, and I've been swollen and slow to get around since. I am good friends with my couch, my ice bag and my flannel pajamas.

I thought I'd get some knitting done in pre-op. Call me a wimp, but the IV gave me enough discomfort in my left hand that I had no desire to knit. Even holding the People magazine was painful. Being drugged is a funny thing. That feeling of sort of, but not really remembering things? Like how Marc was taking pictures of me with his phone (ha ha to send back to everyone at the shop) and how he would take a picture of me (in the recovery room) and show it to me... and I would be SO horrified at how awful it looked (come on - who looks good in the recovery room?) that I would make him take another one. See? Death warmed over...Apparently he took three pictures, and by the third I must have told him not to bother taking anymore because clearly they weren't getting any better. Then that night at home he showed me the pictures and I had absolutely no recollection of him taking them? I do remember that one of the recovery room nurses is one of our customers, and then I saw another nurse (and customer) as I was being wheeled out to the car. This one is my "Deer in the Headlights" look.So on the knitting front, I have done okay. I finished the Jade Sapphire scarf and it is now blocking.I finished the handpaint hat and Barb stopped by this morning with yarn for a second one. (My sister-in-law has been staying with me this week and I am going to make one for her in pinks.)

I finished Sophie's hat in Velvet Touch, and am just about finished Marc's second hat. I made a really cute hat out of the Blue Sky Bulky last night, and I just need to make 3 cool pom-poms to go on the I-cord tassels.

Unfortunately our pom-pom makers did not come in the shipment this week, so I have to either make my own using cardboard (somewhat okay option, although they NEVER come out as perfect as they do with the pom-pom makers) or wait to borrow Kalen's when I go back to work on Tuesday. I will most likely wait. I may start the Blue Sky Worsted hat today, since that should be quick.

Today I have nothing but time. The girls are at a tennis lesson, and they have a birthday party this afternoon. Then they're going out to dinner and on a Christmas light tour with Marc's parents, sister and their 3 year old cousin, Ainsley. And Marc has his company Christmas party which he will attend solo, since I can't go. So that's a lot of quiet time for me. I think my only outing today (and first since Tuesday) is to go rent some DVDs to watch while knitting.

A vacation... of sorts

Today should be a good day. My second hernia (the first one got fixed two years ago) gets repaired this afternoon. Right now I'm a little hungry with the lack of food and water, and bummed that they pushed my surgery back several hours, but what can I do? It's given me time to write this, so that's a good thing! (It's a big day for the Bujolds in terms of surgeries... my hernia surgery, Marc's aunt's shoulder surgery, and the two kitties are getting spayed.)

During the next week, I will have a bit of down time at home to recuperate. What a perfect time to finish up all of those projects that are staring back at me with evil eyes! Of course, with the holidays approaching, I have added a few gifts to the queue... Here's where it stands.

Top left: a neckdown cardigan out of Velvet Touch for my daughter Helen, who (along with her sister) still wears her last year's sweater about 3-4 times a week. It's getting a little on the short side, and she won't wear any of the store bought sweaters she has because she says they itch. SO, in her new favorite color... blue, I started another sweater for her in the summer. I haven't gotten to the armholes yet, so I can increase more to accommodate for her growth since summertime. It may or may not be finished by Christmas. The other day I whipped up a cute little hat for her - out of the same Velvet Touch and a strand of blue Baby Ull. VERY cute, with some I-cord fringies at the top. The pink/purple one will be for Sophie, and the multi colored/pink one MAY be for my niece. If I get that far.

Last year I made Marc a striped ribbed hat out of Cool Wool, which we have discontinued. It was red, gray and black, and he wears it every day. It's been washed numerous times and is still in pretty good shape. I saved a few balls of the yarn, and I'm making him two more hats to add into the "rotation." I've finished one, so I have one more to go. Last night when I was leaving the store, I grabbed 2 skeins of Blue Sky Worsted in Cranberry to make a set of wristers and matching hat (a Blue Sky pattern). Gift? Maybe. More likely... shop sample. I also pulled 2 skeins of Blue Sky Bulky in Lilac to make a bulky hat. Again, not sure if this is for someone or for the shop, I just felt the need to knit with this yarn in this color.

I started (and did not finish) two scarves when I went to Florida with my sister a few weeks ago. One is a dragon scale slace scarf out of Jade Sapphie 2-ply Mongolian Cashmere in Caribbean Mist. Talk about soft! I am almost finished this - I'm just having a hard time knowing when to stop. It is going to change pretty dramatically when blocked, both in width and length. I think I only have a few more repeats and the border, and then the blocking. I have a SIMPLE Koigu scarf that only takes one skein. That shouldn't take too long to finish. And then I am going to make my friend a Handpaint Hat. She saw mine the other day and commented on it, so I thought it would be fun to make her one, since it is SO quick.

If I finish all of these things, I can always go back to my crocheted pillowcases for my family room. I really would like to get those done in the near future. Or I may call the shop and ask for some yarn delivery!