The craziness has died down for a bit...
After driving in the car for 3 hours yesterday (I knit nearly the entire drive!) we visited with my family, had our holiday meal, exchanged gifts, hung out & partook in some yummy beverages .
Back in the car for the 3 hour return trip today (more knitting!) ... the weather was slightly less than pleasant, but we made it safe & sound. (Followed a plow truck for a bit, had limited visibility, and carefully drove over the mountain!) With just enough time for me to gather the gifts & for Keith to shower, we were off again to his parents' house for the holiday meal & gift exchange. (Fortunately they are local. Their driveway however was a sheet of ice -- one car slid while we were eating!) My homemade gifts were a hit. The adults thought the beach towels were great & the boys liked their hats. 
Tomorrow we'll be hitting the road again! Another 3 1/2 hours of driving in our future. (Which means I'll have more knitting time! WooHoo.) This time we'll be heading west to visit my mom for the holidays. Our stay will be a bit longer & less rushed -- thank goodness! 
But when I went to stitch the ends together, it didn't work out so well.
Then folded & stitched the seams together.
Only to discover as I slipped stitches for the hat that the lining was too bulky. 
Saturday after practicing a cable knit stitch I had to move on to more yarn. I decided to use a ball of Fisherman's Wool... It took so long to wind it, my arm & shoulder were aching. I found a broken spot (tied in a knot) & used that as my excuse to stop.
After that, we returned to Jo-ann's, returned the damaged item, and then found more to buy. (My spirits were better, so I was in a shopping mood!) But back to the loot above... This is where the "Where's Chief Wahoo?" was inspired. Not only is it a game for you but it's also a game for an unsuspecting person. Namely Mike. Chief Wahoo has been installed in the house -- as of Saturday 2:30pm -- the challenge is to see how long it takes until it is discovered & mentioned. (Hopefully he won't read this & find out about the game!) 
One of her other finds completes her sewing area. It's a "Happy Sh**" holder! Some people call them "nick-knacks", some "dust collectors" & for even others, "happy sh**." (That last one was a new discovery for me this weekend.) The originator of the phrase (actually the mother of the originator) commented that the worthless magnifying glass on the sewing light could be used to hold "happy sh**." Well the "oh my what a 'shove it into the bag' cup" that was discovered was magnetic & actually stuck to the useless magnifying glass. So now the cup is "happy sh**" and is functional since it can hold sewing items!
After we returned from shopping we started to work on Thee Unnamed Gift Project. We had to work out the kinks on the first one. It took a while, trying to figure out the logistics of it all. We thought we had a pretty good idea, when the sewing machine broke! The project material was stuck in the machine! It was making grinding noises & beeping at us. The computer display said there was an 'electronic error'! The needle broke & it wasn't cooperating with the attempts to remove it. It was jammed, beeping at all efforts being made. I was a wreck. All I could think of was that my project broke her really expensive sewing machine. With tears in my eyes I continued to muddle on sewing by hand. I wasn't ready to do anything else or be social. Then I said something about turning it by hand without power. Bingo, it worked. The needle was able to be removed & replaced. It turned on without an error screen. Whew! Sweet relief! I don't recall if it was fixed before or after dinner. I remember still being worked up when a countdown was given for leaving for dinner, but I feel like our problem was resolved. Regardless... it was fixed. After dinner at the Winking Lizard, my mom & I went to The Screw Factory Artist's studios to see what there was to see. While it wasn't what we were expecting, it was an experience. Perhaps one that doesn't need to be had again, but it was what it was. The rest of the evening was spent diligently working on the UGP (Unnamed Gift Project). Until another needle broke. Not caught up in the material this time. An "I need to go to bed, I'm really tired" mistake. 
Stella Hat
It just didn't seem to pop enough. I was picturing a way of using two colors of yarn, one for the design, one for the background. I looked online to brainstorm, since I'm new to this knitting thing. Saw intarsia, but kept looking. I settled on double knitting. Practiced, tore apart, practiced & tore apart. Then I found how to properly cast on with 2 colors. Or so I thought. I used an alternating 2 color long tail cast on. After that I used the basic pattern from above to make the design pop. 
I tried looking online all morning. I've looked up binding off for double knitting... but the references that show using the strands individually confuse me. And the ones that treat two strands (1 red & 1 white loop) as one look sloppy for a bind off. The appearance is more like the sides, while I want it to be neat like the cast on bottom. Only one site referenced the Russian Bind Off as possible bind off for the long tail cast on. But I don't know if that is appropriate.
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