Can you HEAR the bagpipes??

So I haven't been chatting on this brand-spanking-new blog because I've been, uh, knitting and eating and working and stuff. However, today I found a new and exciting way to give myself heart palpitations and I just had to share (And no, it's not because I finally took up that annoying hobby called "exercise" and yes, I still do not dare to enter the workout room in my building). No, today I opened up a calendar and actually COUNTED the number of days until Christmas.

Why did I do such an insane thing, you ask? Well, my new year's worth of planner pages came today and I just had to put them in the planner--well, just January because I have the pocket size and the poor thing can only handle 3 months at a time, which is fine because who really needs to plan more than 3 months in advance anyway? So I put in the 31 January pages and wrote in the important "dates to remember." And do you know what happened next? I began thinking how not so far away January is now and how it's actually that month after DECEMBER which is the month where Christmas lives and it's the month AFTER November which is, uh, NOW--and already 9 days old, I might add. And you know what, I found myself flipping to the 2-page monthly calendar for November and suddenly my pointer finger was no longer under my control. It began tracing its way across the page, back and forth, tapping each day as it went along (yes, it does that--makes me tap at things and say counting the numbers out loud--particularly annoying to others when playing board games or cards) speeding through November and before I could stop this monstrous thing it flipped to December and kept breezing from day to day, swishing over the lines too tiny to actually write anything on until it came to an abrupt halt on December 25th. Yep folks, Christmas is only 45 DAYS AWAY!

Now you may be wondering why I am so worried about an "event" that is 45 days away? Afterall, 45 days is a long time, right? It's longer than that flood that sent Moses out to sea and it's longer than most people go between haircuts. And there are lots of other things happening between now and then--like Veterans Day (that's tomorrow, folks) and 2 papers for my classes, and Thanksgiving and my final projects and my birthday (Dec. 16th) so why does that date loom in front of my like a cartoon ogre? You knitters know what I'm talking about. Especially if you are a knitter who feels compelled to make everyone she knows a handmade present (including the mailman who was so nice to bring my mail up to my third floor apartment last week when I was sick so I didn't have to put on shoes and go get it in the basement).

And since this is the second Christmas since the knitter has picked up her sticks she must find more complicated gifts to make--since most people already got a scarf last year. And of course, there is the added pressure of working in a yarn shop, which raises everyone's expectations of your knitting competency level. So Fair Isle sweaters and cabled socks on #2 needles it is. But I panic because even though I have already started a few projects, there are so many that I have to finish and even more that I have to both start AND finish. I'll keep you posted as I go along.

I did start a new project today--I picked up Vogue Knitting's Holiday issue yesterday and fell instantly smitten with Annie Modesitt's Plaid wrap. It is just lovely and I've decided to do it in fall colors of Crystal Palace merino frappe for its recipient (but I'm not going to say who that person is on the off chance said person should actually read this). After several false starts and 3 emails to Annie to clear up what was just a really stupid mind block on my part, I jumped into the project and completed the first 38 rows--only 394 to go! Luckily Magellan was on hand to keep the fabric from curling up on the circular's so his mom could take the picture. Thanks to Laurie for inviting me to a party at her home last month where Annie was staying during her trip to LA. I got to meet Annie and so I felt comfortable emailing her (remember me, the lady with the gold metallic bag at Laurie's party, sitting to your left and inhaling pizza?) and so I got pattern help directly from the source, so great!