The Problem with July Is That It Is Too Hot for Wool

This is a problem because here we are at the end of October and in Central PA it is starting to get very cold. We have flurries forecast for Sunday and right now it's 41, only if you're outside in the drizzle and the rain it feels like 33. (I didn't make that up--that's what accuweather.com says. I believe accuweather.com instead of weather.com because accuweather's home office is here in State College and weather.com is not. Weather.com says it's 40 degress but feels like 35. I was outside and I agree with accuweather.)

So this time of year I inevitably pull out the boxes and buckets of winter gear and find that some of the mittens never made it. I don't know where they went--Florida, maybe--but they're not here.

And then I think, no problem, I'll just knit up a pair this weekend.

But it *is* a problem because with all this work, there's no TIME to "just knit up a pair." That doesn't keep me from trying. I had a few minutes to kill waiting in the car this evening for Max to finish his football practice, so I cast on and did, oh, 5 rounds on a mitten cuff before Max climbed in the car. I'd had this silly idea I could whip up half a mitten (the missing mitten is Milo's--so we're knitting for a hand the size of a 5-yr-old, not an adult mitten. There's only 32 stitches in a round. I'm not using sock yarn. This is left-over single ply wool from one of the fall baby sweaters--orange.) during Max's practice. AFTER I ran a check by the preschool, picked up a bag of dog food at Petco, bought the Halloween candy and some color ink cartridges for the printer at Target, and hit Wegman's quickly because we were completely and entirely out of toilet paper, milk, peanut butter, and trashbags--any one of which we might have worked around individually, but combined meant that we were feeling pretty unprepared in the event of an emergency.

So I did all those things and then surprise, surprise, there was only fifteen minute of practice left. So I got five rounds done and that was it.

If I could start knitting mittens in July, I'd have enough for the whole family plus spares by the end of October!

But I can't. I know because I worked away on those Finnish mittens until it got really warm and then--the last thing I wanted to touch was a pair of mittens. Now knitting away on the Finnish mittens in front of the fire place sounds like a great way to spend the day--I just don't have the time.

So I put the orange Milo mittens next to the computer and I'm going to reward myself. I'll set little writing goals for tonight and tomorrow morning (Yes, I flaked on the emergency preparedness presentation because I am in danger of becoming hopelessly behind only 1 week into this four-week work marathon. Right now I am *not* hopelessly behind, but if I lose most of tomorrow to church and Max and most of Sunday to church and Max--I will be.) and every time I meet those goals I'll get to stop and go two rounds on the needles.

Oh--something new I learned today. Don't go to Petco on the Friday night of Halloween weekend in a college town. It's right between "Party Town" and "Michael's" and there's no parking. I often take Emily with me if I'm going to Petco (but not Thor, because Thor thinks it's perfectly acceptible to "mark" his territory on the end caps of every isle) but she would have been completely freaked out by all the college kids with masks and I'd have driven home with a 45-lb poodle in my lap.

++++++++++++

Target already has their lawn-ornaments and lighting displays out for Christmas. It's temporarily hidden behind all the Halloween stuff, but I saw it. I saw the deer and the lighted trees and the sleds and the massive selection of exterior lights. Ooooh, it was a good thing finances are still tight right now. I stood awhile and surveyed the choices, rubbing my hands together gleefully (I didn't have any kids with me, so I could savor the moment.) I want new outside lights for the house this year. I want animated deer and even more little Christmas trees for the lawn. I am never, ever, ever, ever moving again and I have a maniacal obsession with conquering the neighborhood through light-up deer and epileptic-seizure inducing blinking, colored lightbulbs.

heh. heh. heh. <---maniacal laugh