Sunday, December 31, 2006

Goodbye 2006

I would love to show you new things I've been knitting for myself, but, um, I'm still working on Christmas presents. D'oh. I still have a mitten and a half to complete for one friend (she was away and I won't see her until after New Year's). And I still have part of another friend's gift to complete. And her birthday is in a couple of days. I predict I might be knitting for myself by March. d'oh.

In the meantime, here are a few presents that I completed that I don't think I've shown you yet:

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Scarf for my mom.
Pattern: My own, using a "Vandyke" lace column found in a stitch dictionary.
Yarn: MY OWN!!! Ingeo I dyed and spun specifically to make something for my mom (she can't/won't wear wool).
(she loved it.)(yay!)

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Remote Control Caddy for my sister & her family. She very subtly hinted that they needed one (her exact wording: "I told Eldon that my sister could make us one of those").
Pattern: Um. None. I just kind of winged it as I went.
Materials: I have some clothing that belonged to my dad that I have been cutting up and using to make things, (like the Christmas Stockings I've made for my nieces and nephews) and this material comes from a pair of his pants.

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Tutu for my friend's daughter.
Pattern: um. none. I knit a tube of 2x2 ribbing for 5 inches. For some reason, I had the foresight to put in a 2 stitch buttonhole halfway up, which is good because it will need a drawstring afterall. After binding off, I used my sewing machine (i heard that gasp) to stitch in the netting. It turned out about like what I was expecting, so I'm pretty happy with it. We'll see how she likes it though... Ballerinas can be prima donnas after all. I mean, she's 4 but, you never know...
(I plan to make matching legwarmers for her and a teeny tutu for Mr. Bunny, the gender confused stuffed rabbit she's been carrying around for 3 1/2 years)(Mr. Bunny is a girl and wears a dress but he (yes he) is named Mr. Bunny).
Yarn: Bernat Satin

And, just because, an "action" shot of a completed project I showed you a while ago. (the action here is: sleeping)

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New Niece Presslee rockin' the hand-knit hoodie. My sister was really happy with the knits I gave her (I just now realized I didn't get pictures of the hat and socks. d'oh).
(mostly I just wanted to show off the new niece. awww.)(although, she could have made an attempt at being alert for the photo shoot.)

If you are named Cobi and you know me, DO NOT LOOK! Skip down the page!

Over Christmas, at home, I knit mittens for my friend. I was amazed at how quickly they knit up, but maybe there's some sort of bending of the space-time continuum or something that makes fair isle/stranded knitting go quicker than plain stocking stitch? I don't know.

My mom was very impressed by them and insisted that I take them along when we went to the games night that we were going to. The Hostess for the evening is Norwegian/Canadian (i.e. she was born here but both of her parents come from Norway). She was very excited to see the mittens I had knit and ran to her coat closet to find mittens that had belonged to her father. She also had a pair that her mother knit years ago.

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can you pick out the ones I made?

The ones on the right hand side were her father's. Evelyn told me that when her father planned to return to Norway for the first time since he had moved to Canada, his sister spun wool for these and knit them for him (knit in 1949!!). Evelyn insisted that I take them and the pair knit by her mother along with me when I said I would like to try to chart them.

(I was going to give you the whole relationship here because it cracked me up when I was thinking it out: The mittens were knit by my dad's cousin's wife's father's sister. hee hee)

I think that'll do for now. I need to get back into the habit of posting. Thank you all for joining me this year, I've enjoyed the comments and reading your blogs as well.

Have a Happy New Year all!

Thursday, December 14, 2006

I'm here! Come back!

I really couldn't say why it's been so long since I've posted. No reason really. I kept thinking "POST!" but didn't.

To make up for the dearth of content, I present to you, COMPLETED CHRISTMAS PROJECTS!*

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Flip Top Mittens Pair #1

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Flip Top Mittens Pair #2

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Flip Top Mittens Pair #3

(Pattern for ALL Flip Top Mittens: adapted Knitty's Cigar and various flip top patterns. Yarn for ALL Flip Top Mittens: Patons Decor)

(3 pairs of Flip Top Mittens in a row=exciting blog reading)

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Felted Socks Pair #1

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Felted Socks Pair #2

(Pattern for both pairs of Felted Socks: adapted Knitty's Fuzzy Feet to be knit with contrasting short-row toes and heels; Yarn for both pairs: stashed Rowan Classic DK from The Yarn Lady!)

And, now that you've been lulled into a state of complete boredom by the repetitive Christmas Projects, I present
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Knitty's Danica knit in Patons SWS "Natural Earth" (now completed)

I've also been spinning, though not as much as I would like to. I attempted a thicker thick & thin single:
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2oz of Fleece Artist Merino Sliver. Yummy. I wasn't completely successful in my attempt at a thicker single, but i'm getting there.

I spun the above as practice for this:
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1/2 pound Blue Face Leicester I dyed and spun for my friend (it will be a gift for her MIL). I love this yarn and want to keep it for myself... sigh.

I have a ways to got to really be able to get a consistent thicker yarn, but I'm loving the practice.

Currently I have this on my bobbin:
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Ingeo I dyed and plan to do a navajo ply with. I love the sheen of this fiber/yarn and I'm trying to think of things to make with it...

Next up (after Christmas Chaos is Completed)(sorry for the alliteration):
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1 1/2 pounds of (FREE) alpaca fleece (FREE) from the owner of the alpaca who gave it to me (FREE) on Monday. (did I mention it was FREE?) It's dirty and full of straw but it was... yes, FREE.

FREE!!

I started my new job on Dec. 4, so I've been busy, (Did I mention that I quit my job to go to a new, much better paying job? No? hmmm. I quit my job and started a new, much better paying job.) but I hope to start posting more regularly. I also hope to GET the CHRISTMAS KNITTING DONE before Christmas!

(Oh, and I switched to Blogger Beta. I hope that doesn't cause problems... )