When Judaism interferes with knitting

Tonight the holiday of Sukkot starts, and so my knitting ends for a week. I'm still not sure I understand why I have to give up my craft Prozac -- sure, in the days when you *had* to knit/weave/spin/sew to clothe your family it was work, but now? [sigh]

And it comes at the worst time, right at the start of my quick-finish-everything-in-sight-before-I-fly panic.

Speaking of which, can anyone explain why accomodations in Toronto, Canada are so flippin' expensive? The Spouse and I may actually stay in a hostel, because everything else seems to be about the same price as the hotel we stayed in in Paris, without the convenience of a kosher breakfast or being walking distance from the Eiffel Tower. (And what, pray tell, is worth doing in Toronto, particularly after 5 pm, aside from Lettuce Knit?)

Here's a state of the WIPs, before religion forces them into hiding.

An FO--another MD baby kimono. Everything old is new again, only this time in stocking stitch. Gifted to a baby to be named later -- her parents were so sure she'd be a boy they hadn't even thought of any girl names, and then, when she was born, oops!


So now I have no girl baby gifts. A serious problem in a town where babies are the local industry. Lack of gifts + lots of oddballs of acrylic + MD knitting book = log cabin baby blanket! Too bad I started the blanket off thinking I'd have a run on boy baby gifts, but I can compensate: when I'm done I'll embroider a flower in the center square using some girly-girl color yarn. Since the picture was taken I've added two strips and four circular needles, because a blanket all bunched up looks like unblocked lace. What this might say about my tolerance for unblocked lace and the number of #6 circular needles I own will go unsaid.


But it's not all acrylics (me, knitting in acrylics--well, it's for a good cause, namely reducing my acrylic stash). Oh, no, of course it's not, because it's

I've even managed a half FO (does that make it an F or an O?)

Trekking XXL, color 66. This may hold the record for sock longest on the needles, since I cast it on at the beginning of June, while waiting for a flight to Las Vegas. (Here's the sock visiting Red Rock Canyon, back when I thought I could actually finish a sock over the summer with the Trek-Along)

and cast off Tuesday. With any luck sock #2 will go faster, because now that The Spouse has doctor-ordered custom insole and needs to wear old man shoes for the rest of his life, he's decided the only worthy compensation is hand-knit socks. (Are there any good cotton sock yarns with a decent amout of lycra content, too? The Spouse will spring for a whole new sock yarn stash if I can find a brand. If not, I'll probably try a pair or two out of Cascade Fixation.)

And if he gets, socks, I get socks. I hope these come out nicely, but who can tell? It's a mystery pattern from the SAM Yahoo group.



And in the Mason-Dixon spirit of "nothing is too crazy if you want it bad enough," a garterlac placemat. I think it may be a little small; I may buy another ball of this Coats & Clark yarn when I visit my parents in November.

Yeah, I know it's garish and tacky, yet for some reason, every time I look at it it makes me feel insanely happy. Go figure.