I am happy to report that the snowmen were a hit. I made the four shown in the previous entry to donate to the church’s open house / baked goods and craft show (along with 7 loaves of pumpkin bread and some spice muffins), which was held this morning. Two of them went early on, then at the end of the event, one of the women who’d been taking tickets for the brunch came up to me with the remaining two and asked if I’d make a third one, since she’s got three grandchildren and wants to give them each a snowman. So we worked out timing and colors (blue hat, whatever color I feel like for the scarf, due Monday night), and this afternoon I cast on for the fifth snowman. Then, during a phone conversation with my parents and my little sister I mentioned the snowmen. My mom knows what they look like because I made her this one last year as a surprise gift right before Christmas, and my little sister thought they sounded really cute and then my mom started suggesting that each of her grandkids (my niece and nephews) need a snowman for Christmas, and with my mom and my sister noting the idea several times I got the distinct impression that there were three additional snowmen in my future (heh). And then I figured if I’m going to be making three more snowmen I might as well just keep on going and make two more to also give as gifts for two more people who I know would get a kick out of them because they are big into the snowmen. All of this means that those original four snowmen for this year have now morphed into ten. This’s a lot of snowmen, especially considering that between now and Christmas I also am hoping to make a platypus (you had to be there), a medium sized lace doily (my hands are already dreading working with cotton again) and a project which must remain secret for the time being, but which is rather time intensive by itself.
So in other words, the weeks leading up to Christmas are going to be a little hectic (and this does not even take into account the food fight scarf(s) I’ll be working on each week) in regards to knitting, and I have to admit that it makes me laugh a little because I keep saying that one of these days, once I get through the list of stuff I *have* to knit, I will be able to cast on for something pretty for me – possibly a cute little sweater top – but that list of ‘have to’ knitting seems to have a life of its own. Ah well.
And I suppose it makes me a little bit insane, considering the ten snowmen I’ll have whipped up in two months time this year, but I’m already looking ahead to next Christmas, for which I’ve already determined I need to make six more snowmen (and likely more, the rate this is going). But I am also thinking that perhaps next year I will just set myself a goal of doing one snowman a month and spread it out over the course of the year and maybe by the time Christmas 2006 rolls around I will not be as heartily sick of making snowmen as I suspect I will by that time this year.