FOs--But Not Knitty Ones!

I was browsing Etsy the other day and came across these adorable stockings. The only problem is they were too small for my purposes.

So, since I am far, far, far from being an expert sewer, I consulted my friend Sara, who does some quilting and thought she would be able to help figure out these stockings.

Well, it took six hours yesterday, but here they are:



Detail photo of the heels:



And a detail photo of the cuffs with buttons:



Cute, huh?

Well, this last week, as predicted, was extremely hectic. But it was absolutely a good week, and it was great to see everyone and spend time with Paul's visiting relatives. I am looking forward to some peace and quiet at home though!

Because my parents and Paul's parents both live here in town, we have two Thanksgiving meals. We somehow manage not to eat a whole lot at either, so it all works out just fine.

First Thanksgiving:


Second Thanksgiving:

Chaos

Below is a picture of my knitting table in its current state:



The large purple blob is my Christmas present in progress. It's a bottom up shawl-thing, which means lots of increases, and the rows are getting very looong now. The blue is the first sock in a pair of Hederas in Schaefer Anne for Knit Blue. And the multicolored is a simple 3x1 ribbed sock in Austermann Step.

I had wanted to make a pair of the Father and Son socks for someone for Christmas, but so far I haven't been able to figure out the pattern, so that may or may not happen.

Last week was busy. I was in Baltimore for a conference for most of the week, and this week will likely be even busier, with my husband's family coming into town.

My mother-in-law likes to keep everyone well-fed, so last night it was pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, corn, salad, bread, and brownie sundaes.

Tonight is catered BBQ, tomorrow is out to a Mexican restaurant. Then Thanksgiving lunch at my parents' house, Thanksgiving dinner with the in-laws. Friday morning up and shopping early, gift wrapping, Christmas tree assembling, napping. Saturday is a birthday party and departures, then Sunday will indeed be a day of rest. Except I have already made plans with a friend to work on some holiday crafts.

Keep me in your thoughts, ya'll!

And because I have been a bad blogger by not updating in so long, here's a yummy, drool-worthy yarn shop I want to share. You can thank me later!

Knit Blue

I decided to start a KAL for Democrats after seeing so many knitters in blogland expressing their excitement and enthusiasm over the Democrats' sweep of this week's election.

Posts like this, and this, and this and this and this were so inspiring, that I wanted a place where we could all gather and talk about knitting, show off our blue handknits, and share in the jubliation of being back on top after so very long.

So join in the fun and we'll play it by ear. This may be a month-long thing, or we can keep it going for the next two years, or beyond.

Just email me if you want to be included, and I will add you as a member.

Let's have fun with this and get knitting, blue-style!

Ah, Election Day

I apologize to those of you who may not like political talk on a knitting blog. But bear in mind that my degree is in Political science, and I freaking LOVE Election Season.

And yesterday was a great day for the Democrats! At last.

My law partner Eric and I participated yesterday, as we always do in the days leading up to an election, by volunteering for the Democrats.

We started the day bright and early--scratch that, it definitely wasn't bright at 3:00 a.m.--by driving through pea-soup thick fog to a union hall to pick up signs to be distributed at polling places.

After peppering three polling places with a variety of signs, we headed on downtown to pick up more signs to be distributed throughout precincts in North Tulsa.

By 9:00 a.m., we had placed approximately 500 signs around town, and we went back to headquarters and spent an hour putting labels on campaign brochures before getting our next assignment, which was to visit 120 houses in a North Tulsa precinct to enocourage people to get out and vote.



Five hours later, we completed that task and spent the next two hours making phone calls to registered Dems reminding them to vote.

Then, it was time to party! Pizza, wine, MSNBC, and the Daily Show/Colbert Report Midterm Midtacular.

And then a couple of more hours for me, watching the evening's triumphs on MSNBC.

I'll leave you with some wise words from my brother-in-law Eric:

AAaaahhh, what a beautiful day to wake up a democrat.
Sun is shining, projected 80 degrees today, gentle winds, the birds are chirping, flowers are blooming....and what is that smell?? Is that... FREEDOM?

Ah, I love the smell of freedom in the morning.

What's in it for you republicans?

Well, let me tell you...historically speaking the stock market has always done much better when congress and senate gridlocked the Prez. Something about stability.

First on the agenda: Immediate surrender to the terrorists and Iraq. Then we'll look into mandatory gay marriages for all. From there, we'll push on to teaching evolution to all the newly pregnant schoolchildren after doubling the tax they pay on their school lunches.

Break out your rapture pants, the dems are in control!!!

ETA:

Ah, this day just keeps getting better and better. Goodbye, Rummy!

And for some knitting content, a brief glimpse at my Christmas gift project.

Believe it or not, I don't have any socks on the needles, although my second Fleece Artist Unst needs starting. I am enjoying the above project so much that I just haven't done it yet.

Don't Forget to Vote!

Happy Belated Halloween

Just wanted to share some photos from the BooHaHa parade last Saturday. Our house is just off the main street where all the activity happens, so we get a primo spot for watching everything go by, and we usually have people come over for good parking and no-hassle entrance and exit from the scene.

Like our niece (the redhead) and a friend:

And our nephew:

The view from the end of our street:

Dogs on parade!:

Our spooky Jack o' lantern:

As far as knitting, I am finally out in the Sock Wars. I got a pretty pair of Socks of Doom from kraftykat via Emily. So I am yet another casualty of this international war, and looking forward to watching how it all plays out from the sidelines in my cozy new socks.

I am working on a Christmas gift project, which I am enjoying a lot. It's a pretty pattern with pretty yarn, the Rowan Yorkshire Tweed I showed off a few posts ago.

Finally, my sisters-in-law Kim and Cheryl have started blogs, so be sure to drop by and leave them a comment. Those first few comments, especially from strangers, are so thrilling!

Happy Guy Fawkes Day!