Post Turkey-Weekend randomness

First and most important, unless it costs forty-five dollars a skein, buy more yarn than you think you are going to need. I’ve been working on a baby blanket since August. The pattern is blocks of moss stitch*, and blocks of seed stitch** fleur-de-lis on a stockinette*** background. I love the way it feels, but I’m afraid you can’t tell the fleur-de-lis are fleur-de-lis.
So, I decided that I'd do a fleur-de-lis in reverse stockinette stitch in a corner. This means I'm going to have to make one more row of blocks than the pattern calls for. I bought just enough yarn for the pattern. Just enough. I fretted about running out of yarn and had set the project aside. Yesterday, I explained my issue to DH and he suggested calling HCW and asking if they have any of the dyelot left. I did, they did, I now have it in my hot little hands and I’m going to try to have it done by the end of next week. I may be a bit delusional.

Another reason for having leftover yarn from a project is repair work. Here is my favorite sweater:

It's the Central Park Hoodie.

Here is the hole in my favorite sweater:

Aw, darn!

Here is the extra skein of yarn I bought just in case I needed it when knitting the sweater:

Huzzah!

I’m so glad I hung on to it; it will make fixing the sweater much easier. Notice I didn’t say easy, I’ve never darned anything and I’m kind of afraid to. But, I’ve read a bit on fixing socks, and Yarn Harlot has posted about cutting a hole to fix a cable, I should be okay. I’ll let you know once I’ve gotten up the courage to try it.
 

Another thing I've discovered is that when deciding to knit for charity, do not volunteer right before the holidays and the holiday knitting. I’ve got three skeins of yarn that need to be turned into three Jayne hats**** for the Austin Browncoats. I’ve got a little time because they aren’t due until the end of January, but I’d rather be knitting them in May.
 

Finally, for the love of all that is holy, do not try to drive from Austin to Dallas the day before Thanksgiving! It took us six hours; I think it is supposed to take three. The rest of the way to Memphis was easy, although getting in at three thirty in the morning was a bit rough. Also, if you are driving from Memphis to Austin the Sunday after Thanksgiving, it is worth it to get up at five in the morning. It is so much better arriving at home while there is still some daylight, even if you started the journey driving in the dark. 

I hope your Thanksgiving was full of family, fun and good food. And now it is time to get a few more rows on this blanket before partner yoga.

Next time: The other two classes I took at Kid 'N Ewe. Both classes will probably be combined into one post because 1) it was a while ago, and 2) I didn’t take as many pictures because 3) they were both spinning classes. 

*Moss stitch is where you knit two, purl two across a row. The second row you knit your knits and purl your purls. On the third row you knit your purls and purl your knits. That counts as your first row, repeat.
**Seed stitch is where you knit one, purl one across a row. And then you knit your purls and purl your knits on the second row.
*** Stockinette is knit across a row, purl across the back. Reverse stockinette is where you consider the back the front, useful for making stitches pop, cables are usually done with a reverse stockinette background.
**** Watch Firefly. It’s a great show. It was canceled. The fans are called browncoats.