For the Record

Christmas comes on December 25 this year. Today is October 17.

It's time for me to tell the harsh truth: I need to stop adding projects to my queue and pretending I can knit them before Christmas.

This is my list. This is all I'm going to get done by Christmas. No. More. Adding. Projects.

1. Heavy Wool Socks for Kyle: These socks do not mess around. I imagine they'll be worn when he's out doing wintry things like shoveling a sidewalk. I have one done and I've started the second. Since these are knit out of worsted weight yarn, they'll go quickly.

Foot Furnace knit in Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller's Full o' Sheep, Thyme colorway

I'm enamored enough by these that I may make a pair for myself and a pair for Andrew... but not before Christmas.

2. Toe Socks for Jake:  When a fourteen-year-old boy writes on his Amazon wishlist, "Bonnie, PLZ knit me some striped maroon and yellow toe socks" I am powerless to do anything but comply. Clearly, he needs maroon and yellow toe socks. The pattern I'm going to use is here: http://www.unicornbooks.com/pattern_MWtoesocks.asp, and I've ordered the yarn. His feet are growing as we speak*, and it will take awhile to knit toe socks for someone with size 10 1/2 (11?) feet.

3. Socks for Dan's sister in Chicago Bears colors: A good friend asked if I'd knit socks for him to give his sister for Christmas. Absolutely. I'm going to use the Groovy pattern again, and I ordered the yarn at the same time I ordered Jake's yarn. There's a seller on etsy who will custom dye striped yarn. I'm waiting for them to arrive.

4. Earflap hat: This one is for a good friend's niece's stolen baby. I mean, she didn't really steal a baby, but she borrows him from time to time when she needs some baby time. I'm sure the parents know.

Anyway, she saw the pictures of the hat and Scottie Dog sweater on the blog and asked how much I'd charge to make a similar hat for a one-year-old. There's no reasonable way for me to charge someone for knitting. If I charged an hourly rate, nobody could afford it. I told her I'd do it if she'd make a donation to Heifer; that seems like a good solution. This will just take a couple evenings to knock out.

That's the end of the Christmas knitting list.

It doesn't seem like much as I write it out, but I have to remember that there is stuff that will take up a lot of time during the next couple of months. There is shopping and wrapping and Christmas cards and tons of family obligations and cooking and baking and I'm still expected to work my full-time job (unbelievable that I haven't convinced work to give me two months off around the holidays).  So, three pairs of socks and a baby hat.

There. I've said it. It's on the Internet for a couple billions of people to read.  That's all I'm doing. I will not let myself get stressed out about knitting Christmas gifts, and I will not say yes when someone asks me if I have time to make something for them. If they're not on the list on October 17, the answer has to be no.

Okay, maybe I'll make a Christmas ornament out of this, too, but that's it.

My cousin Kathy would really love one of these...

*I was proofreading this, and I saw I had written "foot" instead of "feet." He definitely has two feet. Freudian slip?