In a finishing mood...

I've been in a finishing mood lately. I think with these two things I've only got three things on the needles right now: Bristow, Eris, and Scheherezade.

J's Hat, finished December 19, 2006, unknown wool I bought from one of our two LYS's here in town.

When I finished my brother's Christmas scarf, I wasn't really interested in working on any of the projects I had going, so I decided to make another Christmas gift, a scarf for my sister K. C's scarf went pretty fast, and I had ten days, so I decided to give it a go. The pattern is Clapotis, modified to be not so wide. It's kind of a fun pattern, but I'm not ga-ga over it, like everyone else seemed to be. Maybe it's because the yarn isn't the best, a cotton/nylon blend. The pattern stands out, but it rolls in on itself worse than stockinette would. I steam blocked it, and hopefully it will hold its shape. Maybe I'd have fallen in love if I had some wool/silk to knit it up in...guess I'll have to try it someday.

The scarf was NOT finished by Christmas, but I decided not to stress about it. In fact, since my sister did not know that it was for her, I actually didn't even wrap it up, but continued to work on it while I was at my parents' house this weekend. On Christmas morning, when she opened her box, there was a small game and a ball of this yarn, and I explained that the scarf I'd been working on was for her and I'd mail it up when I finished it.

Speaking of Christmas, it was really good, but much too fast. I drove up to Indiana where my parents live after I got off work on Saturday. Normally the trip takes about four and a half to five hours, but I left at 3:30 and didn't arrive until 9:30 because there was a big accident on the highway. I got stuck in the traffic right after I passed an exit and TWO HOURS LATER, I reached the next exit, five miles down the road. TWO. HOURS. UGH! I think what was most exasperating was not knowing what was going on and why we were all parked on the highway. But since this is the middle of nowhere, Indiana, there's not exactly a need for local radio stations to have traffic reports every ten minutes. It was frustrating not being able to find one. I guess I'm turning into a big-city girl. Needless to say, I had a new "first" this weekend--knitting while sitting behind the wheel--on the interstate...(shh, don't tell the cops!)

My parents gave me a book called "Knit 2 Together" but that was the only knitting-related gift I received. My brother and my sister gave me some DVD's, and that was about it. I'm not usually a big movie watcher, but I didn't ask for anything or drop any hints, and they didn't know what else to get for me.