skittermagoo!

Quandry!

Hello, I am AubN and I am a friend of Skitter-she is letting me hijack her blog today because I wanted a little help from the knit world at large. I am in the midst of yarn/project paralysis. It is an embarrassment of riches really that I discovered while trying to figure out what I might need from the LYS year-end sale. Nothing is the answer to that question-now I know that is never really a proper answer because I always need yarn, but searching through the stash and laying it out on my floor I discovered that I have 26 pairs of socks, 10 sweaters, 3 scarves and 2 bags just waiting to be made. It is a rather happy array of options and now it has become overwhelming as to where I should start. I just keep looking at my pile (pictured below) trying to figure out where I should start. I started by calling Skitter and explaining my dilemma and she very kindly offered her blog for me to poll her readers to pull me out of my eyes in yarnlight problem.

So the possible sweaters are (drum roll please):
Vogue big cable with mohair carry through (don’t have all of the yarn for that one yet)
Mondial black cashmere cotton sweater short sleeve sweater
Blaze from Knitty fall ’04 in a red cotton
Tank sweater from the beautiful raspberry soy silk
Tubey (waiting on the yarn order)
Tempting 2 from Knitty winter ‘05
Mud flap Tank Sweater from Stitch N Bitch Nation
Ultra Femme from Stitch N Bitch Nation
Jesse’s Flames from Stitch N Bitch Nation
Mary Jane Cardigan from Knit Picks (waiting on pattern)

So I guess I have some items out of the running due to not having everything I need but I would still like some help – I look forward to hearing your thoughts

Under some sort of control

Okay, I'm feeling much better about this holiday thing today than I was at this time yesterday . . . I think I was just feeling a bit frazzled.

I got a good amount of stuff accomplished yesterday afternoon! I got a coat of primer on the walls of the downstairs bathroom, and got a good coat of the stuff on myself as well. Anyway, I thought it might need a second coat, but Hub says it's fine as it is. Good. Done. All I have to do is un-tape and clean up the dropcloths, etc.

Went grocery shopping (for those of you who know me well, you know that this is my #1 least favorite chore of all time), and managed to remember the cookie ingredients . . . butter and cream cheese are softening in my kitchenaid bowl as I type this.

Made an executive decision to not do any more decorating -- the tree is up, and that's what matters, so if any of my family members think the house is too sparsely decorated, they can bite me.

Also made an executive decision not to worry too much about the mountains of raked-up leaves in the backyard. they are at least tidy-ish, and if anyone asks, I will say it is mulch. That's right, and if they don't believe me, they can bite me.

Ummmm, what else . . . OH! I think my shopping is just about finished. My mom's gift may not arrive on time; if it doesn't, I will simply print a picture of it and wrap that.

I will still need to go to the grocery store (UGH!) again on Friday, but I'm already preparing myself for that trauma, so hopefully I will survive.

My other survival tactic is to not look at my "to do" list while I'm at work . . . there's nothing I can do from here except stress about it, so instead I'm going to play ostrich and worry about it on the commute home.

Xmas tension

Before I get to the holiday crap, I want give a big Thank You to everyone who commented/emailed/thought about me after I posted about Cloey. I am still completely overwhelmed by all the love and well-wishes we received! I tried to email everyone who left me a comment, but if I missed you, please know that it means so much to me that so many people had us in their thoughts.

Abby and Hub and I are coping; it's still incredibly hard, but we take it day by day and are getting through it . . . Abby seems to be adjusting okay, which was my main concern.

Now for the other stuff . . .

I've decided yet again that the holidays, despite all the joy to the world and fa-la-la, really kind of suck. This year is especially hard, but I can't help but notice that every year as the week before Xmas arrives I start to get really cranky. Can it be because I'm not done with my shopping, not done with the decorations, and haven't even started thinking about the cookies? And with my family coming to our house for xmas eve . . . AGK!

Between now and Saturday, here is my "TO DO" list: (not in any particular order, this is totally stream-of-consciousness here)

prime bathroom walls (painting is going to wait until after xmas!)
make cookies (4-8 dozen)
buy food for family gatherings (multiple)
prepare food for family gatherings (multiple)
finish decorating house
clean house (not just clean but mom-clean)
bag leaves in backyard before it rains and they get mushy/stinky
finish xmas cards
finish xmas shopping
go to gym
laundry
wrap gifts
and more . . .

Oh, yeah. And I have to work this week, too, and finish all the last-of-the-year stuff.

Thinking about it makes me just want to hide in a corner and knit.

Cloey

Yesterday morning our beloved Cloey passed away . . . we never suspected that she was sick with something as horrible as cancer, and despite having an inoperable tumor, she never stopped purring and seemed happy until the very end.

Cloey came to live with us when she was eight weeks old (along with her littermate Abby), and would have been nine years old in March. Those years were filled with love, and she was truly pampered and adored. Cloey was a funny cat, and made us laugh every day.

I miss her so much my heart hurts. I think Abby misses her too, in her own way. She keeps wandering around the house meowing and looking at me inquisitively.

I can't even find the words to describe how much Cloey meant to us; she really was one of the best cats ever, for so many reasons.

Goodbye, Ice-cream Face . . . we love you.

Cold hands, warm . . . ?

Wow. After a high of almost 90F on Saturday, the weather here has turned very much colder -- this morning it was 30F! So, I have these rockin' Voodoo Wrist Warmers that I knit out of Noro Silk Garden last year, and usually these are plenty warm for winters here in Texas. But this morning, they weren't enough -- my fingers were freezing!!

So, on Wed and Thurs this week the high is supposed to be in the 30s (eep!).

Should I even entertain the thought of trying to make a pair of mittens before Wednesday? Anyone actually think I could do it? Shall we start taking bets?

Just kidding. I'm not that delirious.