TessKnits.com

Here is what it looks like from my office window and my backyard these days:

And here is the yoke to my top-down raglan sweater so far.

With all this snow, and everything being cancelled, you might think I’d have gotten a bit more knitting done, wouldn’t you?

However, there have been extenuating circumstances.  A couple of colds (DH’s first, and now mine); several physical therapy sessions for my back before we go on this 3-week (kayaking and hiking) trip to New Zealand; arguing about discussing and finalizing the trip itinerary with DH; talking him out of doing a bungee jump; setting up the pet sitter and the cleaning lady; getting a haircut at the proper time so the vacation pics will look fabulous; making sure DH gets a haircut some time before we get on the plane; and trying to put together the notebook of "important info" for the house-sitting in-laws, like "where is the extra toilet paper" and "where do the cats like to hide".

Oh, and thanks to the snow, getting chains for my car so the in-laws can drive it while we’re gone, plus a new set of chains for DH’s SUV, since the old ones finally broke.  Like I needed some more chores to do.  (And just try to find chains the week before Christmas in a city where it hasn’t snowed like this since 2003.)

I did start setting out some clothing selections for the trip, and I now have the fear of packing firmly entrenched in my soul.  I really don’t like leaving home — I like my home, thankyouverymuch — and I don’t like to pack, because it means I’m going to be leaving home soon.

Although, I did cheer myself up a bit by deciding that my traveling color scheme is going to be sort of "leopard" — you know, black and brown and beige — and so I bought a cute little leopard print camisole to take along.  Just to tie it all together, you know.

Oh, and then I got this crazy idea to knit a fabulous wrap for myself before the trip.

Well, it’s not quite as crazy as it sounds.  I recently checked out a dozen or so travel books from the library, and I read in one of them something to the effect that "a lightweight shawl or wrap can be a woman traveler’s best friend."

So, I thought:  I can easily machine-knit a wrap out of the three balls of black laceweight MOHAIR I have in the stash.  Just cast on the width of the needle bed, knit stockinette until the yarn runs out, and then put an edging on it if I have to — in my spare time, of course…

Hey, great idea!  And it would be, too, if the knitting machine wasn’t skipping stitches every time I’ve tried to do it so far.

It looks a teensy bit more like a piece from Rodarte than anything else:

However, I am on the verge of deciding that it looks kinda funky and cool and I like it anyway, and to go ahead with the plan.

Oh, and it turns out that I have five balls of black laceweight MOHAIR, not just three — so I have enough yarn to knit about 10 feet of this.  Which would be quite a fashion statement:  specifically, stating that I think wrapping 10 feet or so of poorly-machine-knitted black laceweight MOHAIR around myself would be kind of hip and edgy and funky and cool.

What exactly does that say about me?  Not sure I want to know, really…