When Will It Begin To Look Like Christmas?

   Still no snow...but at least it's now in the forecast for over the weekend.  Maybe it will put me more in the holiday mood.  It was 64 on Monday and people were wearing shorts!

Holy Roller in Big Sur Tweed

   I got tired of waiting for my yarn orders to get here and went to Walmart Monday.  Got 4 balls of Hometown USA, a super bulky acrylic by Lion Brand, in a nice blue, Big Sur Tweed, came home and knitted a hat for Jeff's sister for Christmas.  It called for US 10's and it took me about 20 minutes to find a pair in Mom's old needle box.  They're 'straight' plastic and but have developed a curve in them you wouldn't believe! (I kept waiting for the snap of one of the needle breaking but luckily, it didn't happen.)  The pattern...Holy Roller,  that I found on Craftsy.com...called for circular needles but I couldn't find any circular 10's. I used the straights until it was time to decrease the crown , sewed up the back and then I switch to double-pointed needles.  The hat came out pretty good but boy, did my hands have a hard time holding on to my work!  I had forgotten how difficult bulky yarn can be to work with!! And I don't think I ever used a super bulky before!  I finally settled on a slit scarf that I found at Ravelry.com., too.  I bought too many balls of this yarn...to be sure I had enough... and now I have to return what I didn't use.   And I finished a scarf in a zig-zag rib

The Blues Scarf

using Liberty Wool, a worsted washable wool blend from Classic Elite Yarns, on US 7's for my cousin.

Oh...the skein of yarn I ordered from that new site I found...Skeino...just arrived, too!  It's a superwash merino and nylon blend in browns-logan green-black- and-orange called Cosi fan Tutte (like Mozart's opera). A lot of their yarn is named after operas... Aida, Carmen, etc.). I haven't decided who's going to get the socks from that yarn...my cousin, Jeff or me!  We'll see how it works up.  Anyway, yesterday I ordered Jeff's favorite sock yarn from Craftsy.com and got an email that it was shipped on the 15th from Hebron, Kentucky to Elizabeth, New Jersey.  It left New Jersey on the 17th and would be delivered between the 18th and 22nd. If that gets here by the end of this week he may get a pair of socks for Christmas...otherwise, it will be a day or 2 late.

   Jeff's started to put up the 2nd woodshed yesterday.  I'm waiting to be called to hold things in place as he secures them.  Tomorrow we'll put the plastic over it...definitely a 2 person job and one that isn't done when the wind is blowing like it is today!