Christmas knitting
I got into Christmas knitting at the last minute. Actually, that's not really true, since I haven't finished last year's Christmas knitting.... Anyway. I bought 2 skeins of Misti Alpaca Chunky in hunter green at the Point on the 23rd (and finally met Joy!), tried different stitch patterns that evening, then knit the entire scarf on the 24th, blocked it overnight and gifted it to my grandfather on Christmas day! I even took the extra minute to sew on mone of my "tres chic Veronique" tags. See? The stitch pattern is from the 365 knitting stitches a year perpetual calendar, March 11. It is called the mock cable rib. Baby alpaca is sooo soft! 
I also packed 2 skeins of Noro Kureyon (color 124, purchased on sale at Little Knits) for the train ride up to the Berkshires along with a photocopy of the Lady Eleanor Stole pattern from Scarf Styles. I made the first "base triangle" then turned the page and the directions didn't make sense anymore. That would be because I forgot to make a copy of the second page of the pattern. Duh. I tried to figure it out on my own, and I got the general shape right, but didn't know how many stitches/rows each square should be. Once I got to my grand-parents', I hijacked my mother's computer and looked up the Danica pattern on Knitty. Wouldn't you know it's extremely similar? I guess entrelac is entrelac! My trials and tribulations weren't over yet though: I guessed that 6 squares per tier would make a nice, wide stole. Wide is right: after knitting up the 2 balls, I realized I was making a blanket. My mother was kind enough to rip for me (you mean I just pull on the yarn?). I started over with 5 squares per tier. Ah, much nicer. 
But that's not all! I am dying to start working on Knit and Tonic's Somewhat Cowl. I created a HintBug list (found out about it from Fig and Plum) and I know my aunt bought me something from my list. I hope it's 8 skeins of Alpaca/Silk... I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
(Oh, and no, I haven't forgotten about the 2nd fair isle mitten or the 2nd XO glove. They were just too fiddly. I needed something I could work on and talk at the same time. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it).
