12/06 - Because I tend to be a tight knitter, I’m casting on the largest size. I’m knitting this for a co-worker as part of my work’s Secret Santa exchange. I’m a little worried I’m too late starting this project to be able to send it in time (I’m working remotely in another state.) I’ll knit as much as I reasonably can to try to get it done!

As per usual, I am not into using a more difficult cast on that doesn’t seem completely necessary. So I am using just a basic long tail cast on and joining in the round - then knitting a couple rounds in Color A to mimic the set up rows before starting the color C / color A / color A pattern.

12/8 - I was making excellent progress with this, knitting during meetings in which I didn’t need to be super participatory, etc. Got the ribbing done. And THEN… Izzy got into my yarn balls which I had accidentally left unprotected from her whims while I was dealing with another mess she had made elsewhere in the house! AUGGH! This dog will be the death of me. I actually caught her with the yarn balls and my knitting and calmly told her, “No!” as I took the project away from her. The last picture is her look of defiance at being caught in the act. Sigh. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to trust her around my knitting (and as my husband reminds me, it is my own fault for not putting it away securely).

12/10 - Making good progress with the color-work. I think I should be able to finish this relatively quickly. After taking a day to salvage all the yarn (miraculously, I didn’t have to get rid of any tangled yarn blobs despite Izzy’s best efforts!), I am on round 12 of the charted pattern!

12/12 - Finished all knitting and blocking. I was fretting about not having my pom pom maker with me on vacation, but figured I could figure out a DIY pom pom and HOLY CATS. How did I never know how easy it was to use just your hand (no cardboard circles/donuts necessary!!!). All these years of struggling with the stupid pom pom maker when I could have just done this ridiculously easy method! One tip: I used stitch holders to keep the ends of the loops neatly separated for easy cutting.