My sister – the sister i was talking about in my last post – is an genius!

Seriously.

Despite being in the final year of her phD, and about to jet off to the US for a conference and interview she still found time to *make* (!) her secret santa present.

It’s the Flying Spagetti Monster! She dyed the pipecleaners with tea!  And made the pompoms by hand!  And then some gave her a ‘bunny girl’ tail, bowtie and ears – grrrr.

Yes i am incredibly proud of her. For this and tons of other reasons. She’s basically the coolest person i know.   And i’m really going to miss her while she is away.  Thank god for email!

And, even though she tends to deny it, she’s a damn fine crafter in her own right!

*loves*

This Thursday my sister is flying to San Fransisco for a conference, then over New York for a few days nosey around, during which she’s got a one day trip to Cornell for a post-doc interview.  As per her request i made her a new lime green knitted hat, (from Jo Sharp Silkroad DK tweed in Ambrosia), because lime green is her colour. Unfortunately i didn’t have enough yarn or time to make her a matching scarf, but that was fine because she said she’d buy one.

you know where this is going right?

We both ended up looking and there were no lime green scarves to be found. Anywhere.  OK that’s not totally true. I saw one, in Debenhams. by John Rocha, but it was 100% acrylic and i knew Kx needed something to keep her warm since she gets cold easily and New York is cold in December.

I also knew i was seeing her on Friday (last Friday) which would be the last time until she gets back on the 19th. 

But scarves take a long time.
But i didn’t want her to have to settle.
Especially for an interview.

So before my Wednesday SnB i took a side trip to the only place in my city that sells decent yarn.

And came away with four balls of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk and the determination to get a scarf made by Friday.  And again, my being off work right now became a blessing.

Thursday became ‘knitting day’.  I set up my laptop in the bedroom, borrowed a stack of films of my housemate-R and lined up the balls of yarn.  I had managed to knit about a foot and a half on the Wednesday night, having spent a bit of time sorting out what needle to use (US9) and the pattern.

I had a shower, got dressed, had breakfast, tidied up a bit, then got to work.

After watching:
Calendar Girls (Which i loved)
The Princess Diaries (yeah, i don’t really know why either – except Julie Andrews!)
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (which i hadn’t seen since it came out in the cinema, and i still like)
and new version of The Importance of Being Earnest (which was great.)
i had a scarf.

Of course there was no time to block it, but it’s as tall as Kx is (five foot something) and will be wrapped around and around to keep the chill out, so no one will really notice.  I’ll block it over Christmas or something. 🙂

I’m really in love with single cables right now. i think it started when i saw a Margaret Nicole bag in the latest Vogue knitting. Ever since then they have been turning up in my designs.

I really loved knitting day. Usually I’m too busy to have one, or can’t justify it to myself, and once W and i start adding to our family I’m sure it will be years before i get to have one again.  So I’m doing what my mum told me, and savouring the time while i can. 🙂

it was great to watch girl-films. they definitely affected my mood, which was good because Thursday was also the day i heard I’d got the job I’d gone for, but will have to turn down, because the interview was horrible, and the company is too tiny for me to avoid the person who did nothing but antagonise and upset me from the moment we met… but that’s a whole nother story.  Suffice to say I’m still not working, still have money in the bank, and in the new year I’ll start the process of looking again.

I’m calling it travelling from my own home. i worked so hard and over so many hours over last few years that it nearly broke me, and definitely killed my belief in what i was doing. This time is about working out what to do next. And it’s going pretty well.

But i digress. I met up with Kx, who didn’t have a clue what i had been up to. (I’m evil and love to plan surprises for the people i love). Luckily she loved it, and can now go of to the US feeling all loved and warm. Which is good, because she is. 🙂

Wow. I haven’t posted in a while – mainly because all the craft stuff i’m working on i can’t show! It’s all christmas stuff, and there are too many people who will be spoiled because i know they read my blog. 

However i’m going to try and post more often, regardless – and since Clementine’s Shoes asked, i’m going to post the bag she inspired, because that will probably go to someone who doesn’t even know this blog exists. 🙂  but not today… *adds to ‘to do list’*

Here is my Tie One On apron for Christmas. I really wanted to make one this time around, having missed a couple of months, but i was stuck for what to do, and what fabric to use. My stash isn’t small, but there was very little that was christmas themed. However last week i bought the christmas martha stewart living and was really inspired by the ribbon embroidered poinsettias.  So that, along with *finally* clicking with crochet gave me the idea to make the poinsettia patches for the front. 

Unfortunately it was starting to get dark when i finished up today, so the photos are the greatest. but since i’m not sure if the deadline is this month or next, i’m at least done on time, and happy with the results. 🙂

I have some plans for another apron or two before christmas comes too.

ps. thank you to the people who have commented over the last couple of weeks. I’ve got a little behind myself but i’m intending to email you all back in the next few days. i really appreciate the words of encouragement – and intend to be more prompt in replying from now on, so that the appreciation is obvious. 🙂  (i’m still getting used to how typepad works with regard to commenting, having used livejournal’s conversation-style commenting for so long.)