Time Crunch

I checked on my yarn order today; the homespun thick and quick in blue lagoon colorway for Sis's next birthday blanket.  It's scheduled to arrive on the 14th and I have no doubt it will.  Joann Fabrics is good like that and when I place an order with them, I never worry about when it will arrive.  However, that gives me exactly two weeks until Sis's birthday.  I'm bound and determined that I will have it done for her actual birthday this year instead of...well, 11 months later.  

But the thing is, I wanted to knit it.  Now, I'm a pretty fast knitter these days, ever since I learned the Portuguese style.  But I'm still nowhere near as fast as when I crochet.  Now, if I were crocheting the blanket then a two week deadline would be nothing.  I'd meet that easy with a bit of a push.  But knitting?  I'm not sure I can do it.  It's not going to be anything fancy.  Just garter or stockinette because the yarn is kind of bumpy and does not lend itself to anything more intricate.  It's perfect for the simple stitches because the mottled color and texture don't need anything more.  But I still don't know if I can get it done.

Why knit it, then, you ask.  That's a very good question.  The answer is simple.  Last year's (very) belated gift was crocheted.  And I want her to have something different.  And it's not a yarn that I have knitted before.  I've always crocheted when I've used it.  So, a bit something for me and a bit something for her.  On top of that, I've managed to keep it a resounding secret thus far.  This is a big deal for me, because she tends to weasel things out of me pretty easily.  Or, she makes guesses and my open book face gives it away that she's right.  So, I really want to get it done in time for her birthday and I want to knit it.  

The good thing is, that even if I don't finish it completely, I can wrap it up and present it to her still on the needles and she will be thrilled.  But I really don't want to do that to her.  Last year, all I told her was that her present was coming.  She ended up being with me when I was yarn shopping and she helped me pick out the yarn, acting like she had no idea what was going on.  Until we got in the car and were driving home and she casually says that the yarn we picked looks like the sea and it would be perfect to have turtles swimming in it.  I told her that it would but that wasn't what it was for.  But she called my bluff and waited patiently for another ten months before I actually finished it.  So this year it's very important to me that I have it done for her birthday.  

I take comfort in the fact that it is a very chunky yarn and that I can use really big needles and hopefully, hopefully, it will work up quickly.  Two weeks shouldn't be too much of time crunch, right?