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Holiday driving is for thinking (not knitting)

So for the holidays, we spent Thanksgiving day with Morgan’s parents and then I turned around and hopped in the car at 5am Friday morning to drive to my parents’ home. Yay! A three hour drive by myself through some of the most boring landscapes in America. It’s a girls dream.

So since I couldn’t knit, I divided up my time between flipping between radio stations and thinking about stories.

When I get really bored I start making up my own stories. I’ve got a couple dorks called Jules and Ty stuck in my head. The only problem with making up stories is that I never finish them. There is never an ending. One day maybe I’ll be able to have enough patience to finish their story even if it’s just in my head.

Finally I hit my 1 hour til home landmark and I started thinking about breakfast…. Chilaquiles were on my mind. One quick trip to the County Market and 30 minutes of assembly later I had a plateful of greasy chorizo, cheese and egg covered corn chips. That drive was already forgotten.

Finally onto knitting. We are drawing to the close of National Knit a Sweater Month (NaKniSweMo) and I finally finished binding off those sleeves Thanksgiving during the 3pm football game. I pulled the sweater on and… it’s too big. Not just a little baggy but far too big for me. It was supposed to have 2-4 inches of ease. I’m pretty sure it came in at around 5-6 inches of ease. I really don’t wear loose sweaters let alone baggy sweaters. So I packed it up to take it home with me. Hopefully mom would have a suggestion other than rip the whole thing out.

My best friend came to visit soon after I got home and the thought struck me. “Here Mary, try this on” and it fit like a dream. She is 3 inches taller than me, has much broader shoulders than me and is also 5 months pregnant although she is not showing much currently. Looks like she won herself a sweater.

I am very disappointed that my sweater did not fit me. I think it was a combination of me picking the wrong style for my body, knitting a half size up instead of a half size down, and my gauge being about a half stitch off.
She’s lucky I love her so much, since I also have a baby blanket and a baby hat in the works and I’m only a little grumpy.
I guess that’s what best friends are for: not letting you rip out a beautiful sweater.

I also finished working on the jumbo scarf for my friend who helped with the wedding. I am so glad I’m done with it. The entire last skein was a test of my patience. I just wanted to be done with it and start working on something else.

Well it’s done and beautiful and it sheds like a cat. I’m ready to get it into the hands of it’s new owner so I can stop picking lint off my coat and pants and couch and you get the idea.

The “something else” I wanted to get to was a pair of colorwork worsted socks. I drew up a little pattern on excel and balled up the yarn and was ready to roll when I got to my parents’ house. I am halfway through the gusset and hope to be done with them this week. These are for me because my toesies have been a wee bit chilly in the past few weeks. My sunroom has a lot of light and it’s where I put my yarn but it’s hard to heat with all of those windows.

My mom has dubbed these socks “Green Lighting.” Hopefully I’ll have the
pattern (more like a chart with some suggestions) up in the next week when I’m finished with them.

My drive back to the city was still 3 hours long, boring, and knit-less. I’m glad to be back. I love seeing my family and I love remembering why I love living in the city so much. A little distance is a great reminder to be grateful for all I have.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is ready for the last push of the year.

-S