I’ve gotten a lot of work done on  the child-size rollneck sweater I started last week. I’ve been watching the TV series The West Wing over again, start to finish, and the hours just fly by. I’ve finished the front, the back, and one sleeve, and the second sleeve is almost done. As always, I’m approaching Christmas with  a ridiculously ambitious list of homemade gifts I want to give. There will be some painful decisions to make in the next few weeks. One can only do so much.

In the photo above, you can see the two colors I’m using: dark mallard green and a medium blue. The back and one sleeve will be green; the front and the other sleeve will be blue. I’ve knit this basic rollneck pattern at least 20-30 times, and I love inventing new ways to vary the color and texture each time.

I’m also helping a teenage friend of mine learn to knit. She picked up the knit and purl stitches and has a nice little stockinette swatch made, but whenever she tries to practice on her own, she thinks she’s making mistakes and stops. I wish I could summon Tilda, the woman who taught me to knit. She was so good at deflecting my attention away from mistakes and on to what I could do with the skills I already had (which, once one knows the knit and purl stitches, is almost anything, really). Tilda taught me to cast on over the phone. That’s how much of a knitting badass she was. 

I’m still not enjoying This Side of Paradise one bit, and no one is more surprised about this turn of events than I am. I’m close to finishing it, and I’ve thought of some amusing ways to mock it, so I should have a review posted by the end of this week.

Also on my mind this week: The advantages and drawbacks of a non-traditional Thanksgiving meal. A wild life change I’m considering. My deep affection for the term “myoclonic jerk.” The fact that I wish I spoke at least a dozen languages.

As always, Yarn Along is hosted by Ginny on her blog, Small Things.