Braided ball

Specs:

Pattern: Braided ball from Ravelry

Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-ease in maize, lime, and cherry; probably about 1/4 to 1/3 of each skein, maybe less.

Needles: US size 3 bamboo

I made this braided ball for my nephew, B, for Christmas. He is 2 years old. I have feeling he will have the ball for about 2 minutes before he pulls it all out of shape, but I hope he will have fun with it, regardless. Also, if you pull the braids apart a little, you can put something inside it which I think might be a fun thing for a toddler. I think I might make several little regular balls to go with it and those, plus the Mickey Mouse stuffed animal I got him from Disneyland will make up his Christmas present.

I'm making a lot of Christmas presents this year and it makes me a little bit nervous that I might not get them all done. I've got the socks for Mom, these balls for B, and several little stuffed animals that I am sewing for my three other nephews, L, G, and H. And, if I get all of those done, I might knit little purses for my step-nieces. I started one purse and then never finished it and now I'm not sure I'm going to get those done. I have other stuff for them for Christmas so they might not get something handmade this year. Also, I'm crocheting a bath puff for my MIL and a washcloth for SIL both of which will be paired with some fancy bath soap/shower gel.

The deadline for Christmas is looming. I know it's not even Dec. yet, but my family celebrates Christmas the weekend before and since I'm not going there, I need to ship it all in time to get there by Dec. 19. We're not going to the in-law's either, so those gifts also need to be shipped, although they can be shipped a little later.

With all of the handmade stuff I'm doing for my family, I don't have much time for other handknits. I wanted to make something for charity, specifically, the red scarf project since they are in such need of scarves, but the deadline for it is Dec. 15, and when I started a scarf for that, I completely freaked out about not meeting any of my deadlines and I had an actual panic attack and spent half the night in bed feeling like I was going to puke which was terribly unproductive. I even bought some wool-ease for the project and now I'm going to have to return it. Even if I somehow get everything done superquick and still have time to knit a scarf, I have decided I hate wool-ease. I have knit with it in the past and not had a problem with it but this time it seemed really cheap and, I don't know, acrylicky (new word). I don't know if they have changed it recently or if I have become more of a yarn snob. Anyway, I feel bad about not making anything for charity, but I don't want to risk another panic attack, so I'm going to let it go.