We departed for family gatherings in Iowa on Sunday. Unbeknown to us, there was some "weather issues" going on. We checked the forecast in the morning but it did not prepare us for what we encountered when we finally embarked on the annual southern migration.
As soon as we got on US Highway 35W, traffic slowed to a crawl. And for good reason. There was a sheet of ice on the highway. Add high winds and some light snow beginning to fall, causing near white-out conditions, and you had the worst winter driving conditions imaginable. As we inched our way south, we counted the spin-outs and ditch-divers. In the 3 hours it took us to reach the southern border of Minnesota, we counted 22 vehicles in distress.
Of course, this wouldn't be my blog if there weren't a silver lining to report. Although the normally 4.5 hour trip took us over 6 hours, it gave me more time to finish the last of the Christmas washcloths and scrubbies. When we finally pulled into my parents' home, everything was finished and wrapped up for gift giving.
The total tally for hand-knit gifts this year is:
- 20 washcloths
- 16 scrubbies
- One pair of leg warmers for Dancing Diva
- Cigar gloves for Hockeyman
- Sleeveless hoodie vest with matching doll hoodie for Bubba
- Sleeveless hoodie vest with matching doll hoodie for Peeps
- Socks for Dancing Diva's BFF
The large stealth project originally planned for my mom was frogged and postponed until her birthday. The "no dye lot" yarn I purchased for the project should have had dye lots because the shades differed enough that it was working up looking like it had dirty stripes in it. It wasn't until I was 4 skeins into the body of it that I noticed the dingy looking color changes. I need to replace the yarn I selected with ONE SHADE of yarn before I pick it up again.
With the end of the holiday season approaching, I'm sincerely looking forward to some selfish knitting. There are two sweaters in my UFO pile just begging for some attention and I've bought some more yarn for yet another sweater for myself that is just calling out for me to go ahead and cast on. Then there is the 3 skeins of Dream in Color Sock yarn that I recently bought clamoring for petting and dreaming and sock pattern hunting. Then there is the ballet shrug that Dancing Diva has asked for that's been flitting around in my head.
My New Year's Resolution every year has been to finish 3 UFO's before starting something new. I think this year will be different. Perhaps I should switch it around to casting on 3 new projects before finishing any UFO's. What do you think?
(Harley: "Man, you gotta look out for Daddy. You try and take a nap and he turns you into a mouse pad. What a twisted sense of humor that man has!")
2 comments:
I think your New Year's resolution should be to do whatever makes you happy and not to feel guilty about UFOs. :-)
I Love your CATS! And you are such an ambitious knitter. Wow... you did a lot. I think your smoking needles made Harley tired! Can't wait to see all the socks you are going to knit.
~ Robyn
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