My big steaming pile of holiday failures.

A little math problem for you all:

1 baby sweater + 3 adult sweaters + about a billion hats = ??

Then divide the answer above by 4 months.

The total?  FAILURE.  Yup.  Guess who didn't have anything done as of Christmas Eve.  MEEE!  It took me most of Christmas day to finish that cute little Danish baby sweater for Misha - the only person who actually got the promised hand-made gift.  Want to see?

Yup, that's all I have to show for all of the procrastination over the last semester.  Maybe my problem is that I didn't procrastinate enough??  I'll try harder for you all next semester.  Pinky swear. (:

A little inside information on moi:  My family (parents, sister, etc) celebrate Christmas because, duh, they are Christian.  I am a Hanukkah celebrant because, duh, I'm Jewish.  Weird, I know, but go with it.  So I went home for Christmas and got some goooooood stuff.  Here, look and drool a little. (:

  

  These were a bit of an impulse, I have to admit.  But they were 50% off!  How can you say no to 90 yards for $3.75!?  Plus it's bulky, so it will knit up quickly.  I'm thinking of doing a little fair isle sweater for baby Jayden - all my other nieces are too big (you did see Misha, right?).  While not the softest yarn, I think the tweed-ish qualities in the yarn will help it redeam itself.  But really, how can I stay mad at sale yarn? I can't.

  THIS is Cascade Eco Alpaca.  WTF!?  EVERYONE has been holding out on me.  How did I not know that Cascade made soft yarn!?  I felt this in the store and had to have it.  Luckily I had already found a new Sirdar book that I had to have and that called for this DK-ish weight yarn.  It was mine.  A sweater in 5 skeins?  Yes please!

Oh, and how about some new literature?  

These are both from my sister and ooooh I was so excited to get them.  If the colors of "Seams to Me" excite you, check out the author's blog here.  She designs some DELISH fabric and there are some great free projects if you are interested! (I know you're interested, let's not kid ourselves.)  I definitely asked for the itty bitty hats book... but I think my sister chose this with a little self interest involved.  I mean... she's the only one with an itty bitty baby with an itty bitty head.... well, not that itty bitty, but ya know...

 

  Maybe you can see the knitted pieces on which these books are sitting?  Those knitted pieces, my friends, are the pieces of knitting that never made it into complete sweaters for Christmas and which function as evidence of my complete crafty failure.  Bah.

  Anyway, so after Christmas in the frigid north, I came back to Chicago to celebrate Boyfriend's 31st birthday, our 3.5 year anniversary and, of course, to celebrate the last 3 nights of Hanukkah!  Hurray for gelt, candles, presents and a huuuuuuge sushi dinner at Coast.... probably the best place for Niguri in Chicago, if you're interested. (:  So what was my Hanukkah present?  $100 gift certificate to my favorite LYS!!!!  He's gotten me Tiffany silver jewelry for the past few years, which I love and wear every day, but he really hit a home run on this one.  I am so excited and I will certainly post pictures of my loot.  

I'm thinking of the Addi snap set?  Or does anyone have any suggestions for yarn that are wonderful that I wouldn't otherwise be able to afford?  I'm all ears! (:  

As we say in my family - Merry Christmahanukkah!!!!  Hope you all had as lovely a time as I did!

Evidence and my habitat.

I'm still waiting to get the energy to make another sleeve for Victoria.  I have so many projects up in the air right now - working on Christmahanukkah gifts for 5 people - that I was feeling like I couldn't finish anything.   And, if you're a knitter, you know what it's like to weave in the last end and put on your garment.  So much content. (:  So I started a new project, of course.  Logic.  We learn this in law school... pff.  But here I am, on a Saturday morning in the Louis L. Biro Law Library (my habitat) with my new project (Habitat).

I am one of those people who gets angry when I can't find an opportunity to be creative and explore.  Really.  I get dark and scarey and no one likes me.  So today I decided to bring my camera with me on my walk to school.  Here is what I liked:

I want to make this.  It was in the window at Macy's which is celebrating Mr. Calvin Klein.  If anyone can tell what that stitch is, let me know.  It's not garter, that's all I can tell.  If it's still light out when I go home (doubtful), I'll try to get a closer shot.

Both of Chicago's teams are in the playoffs.  This is the first time in 80-some years that the city has been able to fly BOTH flags in front of the Merchandise Mart.

But I love my Sox more than that other team. (:

One of the many differences between Chicago and New York is that Chicago has alleys.  I wish all the alleys were this attractive and pee-free.  The orange blobs on the other side is the Goodman Theatre sign.

I love the juxtuposition of the old and new in this photo.  One thing I love about Chicago is the architecture... this is an example of some of that.

Another architecture shot.  I love that I see this every day on my walk to school.  Thank  you, Chicago, for keeping me sane.

More later.  Happy Saturday