We are creatures of habit. Although we enjoy the occasional moment of spontaneity, we tend to find comfort and security in our routines. My morning routine is the one to which I cling the most earnestly. If I can complete my simple morning routine, I know that I can handle the rest of the day. This morning, however, my morning routine was broken.

I ordinarily clean out the dishwasher when I first go to the kitchen each morning, while my coffee is brewing. This is a simple task that can be accomplished by someone who hasn’t yet been caffeinated. I normally challenge myself to finish putting away the dishes before the coffee is brewed. It’s my little morning game – a lame one, true, but remember this is pre-caffeination.

This morning while I was putting away the dishes I discovered a hidden property of Pyrex® bakeware. We all know about its oven proof characteristics and how well it doubles as serving ware. But this morning I discovered that it is absolutely unequaled in shatter-ability. I have never seen a single piece of glass break into so many pieces. Admittedly, dropping a piece of glassware from an approximate height of six feet does allow it to build significant momentum before hitting the floor. But Pyrex® has the unexcelled ability to cover every horizontal surface within a 50 foot radius with glass dust. It is positively remarkable how many minuscule shards can be created by one small baking dish.

On the up side, the sound of breaking glass has five times the stimulant effect of a double shot of espresso so I am W-I-D-E awake now. My scheduled kitchen cleaning was completed much earlier than expected. My floors have been swept many, many times and I have even cleaned the inside of my cabinets and dishwasher. And only one Band-Aid was required(a Finding Nemo® tattoo bandage featuring Bruce if anyone is interested). Said bandage is on my right index finger in exactly the right place to protect my finger from the stiletto points of my beloved KnitPicks knitting needles. So all’s well that ends well.

I don’t have a lot of knitting that I can share with you because nosy family members read my blog. The nerve.

But I can show you the latest of my minis.

I made up the hat pattern (as if you couldn’t tell). I realized while doing it that I don’t actually know how to do the decreases on a pointy hat. Think I might need to stick to rounded ones next time.

Here is another shot with a quarter added for perspective.

You mean that you are supposed to use a real quarter, and not just any coin combination that adds up to a quarter? dopey me

So five days into December, I have 5 mini-objects knitted. See?

I am shocked that I am reasonably on schedule. I have a mini-sweater on the needles. I fell asleep before I got it cast off last night but I got two minis completed on Dec 1 so it balances out. I will have photos of the mini-sweater along with today’s mini in the next post. I think today I will try mini-mittens.

Only 20 days to Christmas so I better shut up and knit.

*For those who didn’t catch the title reference, here is a link to explain.

It’s official. Christmas is less than a month away. Time to get serious about that holiday knitting.

Unfortunately, I am suffering a case of seasonal silliness.
The tree is in my front yard. It is a Deodar cedar that I planted it when we bought our house a few years ago. My kids have called it the Charlie Brown Christmas tree since it was planted. Today I embraced that image for my little tree.

To continue the streak of silliness, I have tons of holiday knitting that I should be finishing but instead I am knitting miniature things.

The sock is about 3 inches long from cuff to heel and about the same length from heel to toe. The scarf is 5 inches long excluding the fringe, which was a pain to attach. The grand plan is to knit one mini for every day of December. We’ll see how I do.

I have a lot of stuff in progress or completed but I can’t show it because the recipients might see my blog and it would spoil the surprise. So between now and Christmas, expect a lot of talking but not so many photos.

I will share this one.

It is an Invisibility Cloak for SmallFry’s birthday. The pattern is a one that I made up. I mean, how many designers write knitting patterns for invisibility cloaks these days. And if you do find a pattern, it is practically impossible to find invisible yarn. But I think I have done a pretty good job with it, don’t you? What’s the matter, can’t you see it? Well, of course not, it’s invisible.

Seriously, my little one really did ask for an invisibility cloak for his birthday. Since you can’t just go out and buy one, I had to use a little ingenuity. I am a knitter, after all, I can make my own invisibility cloak, right. Obviously, I couldn’t secure demiguise fur for construction so I had to substitute yarn. My idea was to make something light and sheer and lacy. Rather reminiscent of the camouflage netting that the military uses to hide large objects. Here is the design that I came up with.

What do you think?

To my horror, I discovered today that it is 32 days until Christmas and less than that ’til Small Fry’s birthday. I have some serious knitting to do. I do have several things completed. More, I think, than last year at this time, but I still have a LOT of knitting to do. Bad thing about holiday knitting is that I can’t share a lot of the photos with you because I don’t want to ruin the surprises.

This year I am doing a lot of felted items – slippers and purses, mostly. Throw in one sweater, few scarves, hats and mittens, you have my gift list.

I am having to rip the slippers I was working on for my mother-in-law because I forgot to turn the heel BEFORE I picked up the gusset stitches. Doesn’t that sort of thing make you want to scream. So rip and reknit is the order of the day, for that project at least.

The one big project is the February Lady Sweater for my mom. It will serve as a combination Christmas/Birthday present since her birthday is in February. The body is about half-way complete and coming along nicely.

But I am only getting a little knitting here and there done on it because I am working on birthday presents for SmallFry.

Top Secret Birthday Project #1 (aka TSP#1 is nearly complete – a few finishing details and one little i-cord embellishment and it will be ready to wrap. Photos will have to wait because they give away the secret.
TSP#2 (affectionately known as The Blob) is maybe a quarter of the way complete.

I can share a photo of it because it really doesn’t give away anything. Unless I was planning on knitting a shapeless blob. I can’t go into details on this project since SmallFry is notorious for reading over my shoulder when I am trying to blog. But I promise that the gift will not look like this when completed and the finished photo will explain everything.

That is about all I can show you for now. I will end with on more shot of my mini-sock.

It is about 3.5 inches long and about an inch wide. The pattern is my own, the yarn is Lion Fun Fur and Red Heart Lustre Sheen. Knitted on size 3 needles. It is my first entry into Knit Together’s Mini-ornament contest.