Tuesday, December 22, 2015

A final holiday knitting update, & book club plans!

Well, it's officially three days before Christmas. I have been knitting and crocheting myself ragged, and yet I realized weeks ago that there was no way in tarnation I was going to finish all of the holiday crafting I had originally planned. Such is the way of things in the life of overambitious knitters. I DID finish 2 pairs of socks, plus a boatload of dishcloths for various aunts. I also finished a commissioned colorwork hat for Allison:

Free pattern is Sanpo
In these final days, I currently have various and sundry cat body parts stuffed into my knitting bag as I frantically crochet them in preparation for assembly tomorrow (hopefully). I *think* I'll have her finished for Anne on Christmas morning. I also have a sock for Henry that I'm about to start the gusset for for. Yes, you noticed correctly that I used a singular there :0, so there is no way I'll have the pair finished for him by Christmas, but I'm aiming to complete them well before the new year.

After that, I have another of socks and two infinity cowls to knit for gifts. And poor long suffering Mike's cable tweed sweater. Oh, oh! And in January comes the Downton Abbey Mystery Knit-along! And Crochet-along! I am doing both, because I am stupid and always like to take on more than I can handle, you know this about me by now. So my goal is to finish as many of these gifts as I can by early January, and then allow myself a reprieve to work on mystery shawls. Are any of you crafters out there going to be participating in any of the Downton Abbey mystery alongs? Do let me know!

In book club news, I have come up with a plan. I don't want to assign dates in advance for books anymore, because I sometimes just cannot make my own deadlines. Big surprise, right? ;-) So, what I'm going to do is keep up on the sidebar the Catholic Book Club Reading List. They will be in some semblance of order in terms of when I'll review them. When I've started reading one, and thus can schedule a date for review, I will add it up there so that you'll know specifics if you'd like to be sure and finish with a certain title prior to my review, so that you can participate in the comments. A few readers mentioned that they use my book club list as a way of forming their own To Read list, and I think this system will still aid them. And it has the added benefit of not stressing me out if I have a slow month of reading.

I'm also going to have secular titles on there sometimes. Rest assured that these will be wholesome secular titles, most likely non-Catholic inspirational fiction, or non-fiction having to do with dancing, crafting, family life or another topic that I enjoy and frequently write about on this blog. We're Catholic, but we read all sorts of books, right? I'm a huge fan of biographies, so those may pop up from time to time. Sound good? I would love to hear your thoughts on this now that I'm fleshed it out a bit more.

I'll be back with a short video message tomorrow. Until then, enjoy these final days of Advent!
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6 comments:

  1. MelanieDecember 22, 2015 at 3:17 PM

    I'm always impressed by the number of knit/crochet gifts you are able to make. You either dedicate more time than I do, are a faster knitter or both. :)

    I've never done a knit-along but I thought it sounded like fun and I like Downton Abbey so I signed up. I still need to wind my yarn (a blue green inspired by Mrs. Hughes) into a ball and swatch. Looking forward to it and to making my first shawl.

    I think the route you have chosen for the book club is a good one.

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  2. TiffanyDecember 23, 2015 at 8:39 AM

    Melanie, YAY!!!! I'm so glad that you're doing the knit-along! This gives me even more impetus to finish most of my gifts so that I can focus solely on that come January 3rd. :0 I bought the special Lorna's Laces colorway for the knit-along version, using stash yarn for the crochet-along. *halo* My sister is doing the crochet-along too. I'm just bursting with excitement!!

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  3. AmyDecember 23, 2015 at 10:48 AM

    So, I'm thick about such things, and have never done a crochet or knit along. I assume that when the schedule says that a "hint" is announced each week, that the answer to the hint may be buried somewhere in the show? If this is the case, the only way I could participate is to buy into the CAL, collect the hints, and get the show on DVD later. I have not (yet) been able to prove that my children and husband have hatched a plot to ensure that I can never watch an entire TV show or movie, but I have my suspicions.

    I am distracting myself because I have arrived at that point at which I arrive each year before Christmas where I justwantitalltobeover. Christmas lists provided 5 days before Christmas. Family members who can't arrive at a decision about what they want to do until 3 days before. *grumble* My introvert slip is showing, I guess ;)

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  4. TiffanyDecember 23, 2015 at 11:03 AM

    Hi Amy! The way that the clues work is that each Sunday, the designer will release additional information/rows of knitting. Nothing is hidden in the show, so no worries there! When you purchase the pattern, the new clue will automatically load into your Ravelry library each Sunday. Fun, right?!

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  5. AmyDecember 23, 2015 at 11:20 AM

    Aha! Well, I might try that and see how it goes, as its been a while since I've had the crochet hook out.

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  6. TiffanyDecember 23, 2015 at 11:57 AM

    Hi Amy! Oh yay, great, I'm so happy you'll be joining in! Maybe I'll post my progress each week and blog about it. :)

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