I’m late. I actually did have another blog post nearly ready before we left on Wednesday….until my 3 year old grabbed the mouse and erased it as I was typing. Fortunately, Word-Press has this feature where your post is automatically saved. Unfortunately, it re-saved about 15 seconds after she had erased it, but before I could figure out how to restore the post. Therefore the new, saved post had nothing in it. It was a great waste of 30 minutes. Lovely.
We had a nice Thanksgiving. This was our year to travel to visit Nick’s parents. We trade off holidays. Thanksgiving last year was at my parents (who live 5 miles away) and so Christmas was spent with Nick’s family. This year we’ll be here for Christmas, and we were there for Thanksgiving. It was a nice visit, despite the fact that it means 20-22 hours in the car with three toddlers by the time we drive there and back. All I can say is thank God for portable DVD players. at 8 hours + our kids get a little cranky!
I knit all the way there and back (when I wasn’t driving). You would think that 10 hours of uninterrupted 
knitting tie would be enough to knit an entire sweater. Or at least something big. Something substantial. Something amazing. As it turns out between hopping over the seat to attend to the kids, rest stops and generally chatting it up with Nick, all that car time did not translate into something amazing, something substantial, or even a sweater. I did finish up a pair of Fetching. They’ve been languishing in a drawer around here for two years. Yes, they were 90% finished, but got put down for something else, and it took me 2 years to get back to finishing up the last set of cables and thumb. I think part of the problem was that they were well hidden. They are Fetching and really nice. It was cold in the Rockies, and these babies were warm and handy. I knit them from either KnitPicks’ Ambrosia or Elegance. I’m pretty sure it’s the Ambrosia, but they no longer carry the very light grey color I knit them up in. That’s what I get for storing a project with no ball band for two years. They’re not nearly as thick as I’m sure the original Aran weight ones are, but they are plenty warm with all that alpaca and cashmere. Yum!
I also finished up the first sock of a pattern I created out of some Gobble yarn from The Painted Tiger. The pattern is my own and very simple. Toe up socks, with yarn held double for the short row toe and heel (I hate that these areas wear out so quickly. Plus, I generally wear loose fitting shoes during the winter like Birkenstock clogs and Croc Mary Janes, so this works pretty well.), with and offset cable running up the outside of the foot and ankle. The pattern was created on the fly, and really is pretty. It’s also very uncomplicated, which means it works up fast, and I think the single, side placed cable creates great impact. The down side is that with the cable placement, you essentially have mis-matched socks, so you’ll have to watch it when you put them on, so you get the right sock on the right foot. Hopefully, I’ll be up for this when I’m choosing my socks early in the morning.
Oh, and I also took along my Hum Drum mittens, but opted not to work on them. I need to cast on for the 
second mitten, and since that involves a lot of necessary attention I’m waiting until this week. They should come together pretty quickly. I love the first one, it’s all complete, except for the thumb. I have to decide whether or not to thrum the thumb. I’m thinking I won’t because that will make it so snug-fitting. But I’m worried because it might not look right. I can always try it without and then change my mind. It’s only a thumb!
More later. I have great photos from the brewery and also from my good friend and photographer (Think Christmas card fodder!) but I don’t want to make this post overly long. I’m already late posting mitten progress, so the knitting photos need to go up now!
Dyeing to Knit 