Friday (even though it feels like some other day!)

I have no motivation to work today.

All I want to do is search for (knitting) patterns, buy all of the patterns I like and then search for the perfect yarn for those patterns and buy it.  All the patterns, all the yarn, all at once. Oh, and then I want to knit all of those patterns (all at once)!

You may have guessed the problem with this wonderful idea...my budget.  It's just after Christmas (although, really, it's the third day of Christmas...), so that means that I'm broke.  There is no large amount of money in my budget for patterns and yarn.  Sigh.

Maybe I should stick to finishing one of the projects I'm currently working on?

Here's a picture of me & my co-worker/friend.  We are both unmotivated today.  :-)

The second Monday

So, today feels like Monday.  Again.  And next week there will also be two days that feel like Monday.  Sigh.

I dislike holidays in the middle of the week.  I am not a teacher.  I don't work in a factory where the majority of the people celebrate deer season as a holiday.  So, a holiday in the middle of the week means that I work a few days, have off one, work a few more, have off two...and so on.  And with Christmas & New Year's, I get to do that twice. 

I may have mentioned that I don't have a good concept of time?  For instance, I don't know if I've been typing this post for 5 minutes or 20.  So all of these middle of the week holidays really mess with my head and I have NO idea what day it is.  Add to it that I'm currently doing work in November, December, and January (a whole different year!), and I'm really screwed up.  Sigh.

Christmas was good.  Thankfully, we didn't have to go anywhere.  There are, however, a ton of dirty dishes waiting for me (I just couldn't face them yesterday) and that thrills me to no end.

I am pleased that I got this bag.  I've been wanting one for a while now.  I managed to fit all of my purse items and my knitting in the bag.  I love the color!  It's called Poppy, but looks like a burnt orange (which is a color I'm really into right now).

What about you?  How was your Christmas?  Hopefully, you're not without power...

Breaking the Silence...

I had every intention of doing Ten on Tuesday this week.  But then it snowed.  And school was cancelled.  And I stayed home from work.  And I forgot what day it was.  And all day today, I've thought it's Monday.

I have, however, been knitting.  I now have a pile of hand-knit Christmas presents.  Here are the finished items:

This is a scarf that I knit for one of my co-workers last year.  Her birthday is December 30th, so this was a birthday gift.  This year, she has asked for a matching hat.  I decided to make one for her 2013 birthday gift.

 

When I called the yarn shop, to order more of the green yarn (I wasn't worried about dye lots because the hat and the scarf won't really be together), I found out that they no longer have that particular shade of green.  So I ordered the cream color and used up the two little (leftover) balls of green yarn that I had.  So, now the green is the same dye lot as the scarf.  The stitch pattern of the hat matches....

 

 

...these fingerless mitts.  Last year, I had the brilliant idea to knit a pair of these for each of my (then, three) co-workers.  I figured these mitts would go with the scarf I already knit for this particular co-worker.  Well, they didn't get finished.  I had two pairs finished (except for the thumbs), and one mitt from this pair started.  Christmas came & went.  I never finished all of the mitts...until this year, when I decided to finish them so that the co-worker can have a nice hand-knit set (the hat, scarf and mitts).  Here are the other mitts:

 

 

Here's one pair. I'm showing you the mitts turned this way because each side has a different patter.  So, you're not looking at two right hand mitts, you're looking at one right hand mitt and the palm of the left hand mitt.

 

 

And the second pair.  Each person is getting a pair of mitts in their favorite color.  However, since last Christmas, we have added another co-worker.  So now I have an additional pair of fingerless mitts to make.  I have one mitt finished (except for the thumb).  I have yet to cast on for the second mitt.  I plan to give these to everyone at our work Holiday Party next week.  I don't have a picture of the one mitt.

 

This knitting adventure reminded me of the book, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie".  Only, my story is called, "If You Knit a Gift for a Co-Worker".  It started as just a hat.  Then three pairs of fingerless mitts were added.  And then another pair of fingerless mitts was added to the list.

 

 

I also made a hat for another friend, who got a little huffy when he found out I was knitting a hat for a co-worker & not for him because he "likes that stuff too".  This hat, I cast on last Thursday.  My Mom was having surgery & I needed something mindless to knit while I waited at the hospital.  I finished this hat yesterday.

 

So, there's my Christmas knitting pile.  I'm pretty pleased with having finished these items and I can't wait to give them to their new owners!

 

Now, I just need to make the time to soak and block all of these items...