And they are so quick and easy to make that I couldn’t stop at one.

With a bunch of family and friends having babies this year, I think these are the perfect little gift. I’m planning on making a few more to put in my gifts cupboard. The green one has been gifted, along with the felted box and bib o’love, to a very appreciative friend who also knits, but with baby #2 almost due and baby #1 still quite young, plus with work and you know, life, doesn’t find much time to knit at the moment.

Pattern: Little Cables Hat by Claudine from Knitting Box – the little cables add a bit of interest to the hat but are still very easy to do. It’s her first written up pattern and it is great – very easy to follow, nice crown shaping – thanks Claudine for sharing!
Yarn: cream hat is Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino col 34005 – about 30-40g; green one is Rowan Cotton Glace col 812 Ivy. Both from stash (yay!) but not really stashbusters because they use so little yarn – unless I make about 20 of them!

Time: 2 days each – although if you had a whole day to yourself you could easily do one in a day.
What I learnt: You can never have too many little baby hats to give as gifts, or to charity – quick and easy!

I mean all of this for $35 including shipping. What we have here is 2 skeins of Koigu (green, orange, yellow), 1 skein of Lorna’s Laces (Girly Stripe – the purple/pink one), 5 skeins of KnitPicks Merino Style (Fog), KnitPicks Memories (Yukon – the blue varigated), KnitPicks Simple Stripes (Orange, pink blue), 2 skeins of Cascade 220 (one of red, one of black, on top) 6 balls of Cotton Patine (blue/grey), 1 ball of KnitPicks Essential (black), and one ball of Mission Falls 1824 Wool (purpley). The only thing I didn’t photograph was the 2 huge balls of Lions Super Bulky Wool Ease in Navy – that went into the box of stuff I don’t really like & will probably give away. Some of the yarn is not enough to make full projects (such as a lot of the sock yarn) but since I have so much other stuff, I can mix it in. I know I’m going to probably do something like a picovoli with the Patine, and maybe socks for my Sockapalooza pal with the Koigu, but the rest I’m not sure.

So since my Flash Your Stash, I think I actually doubled my stash. Ah well, I hide it pretty well here & CoffeeBoy can’t complain anyways since I put up with all of his not quite finished projects all over the house – the espresso machine he is convinced he can get working, the motorcycle he can’t seem to get running, and a bunch of other things. At least mine is hidden under coffeetables. Heh.

Now I just need time to knit – I haven’t had a lot of time or energy this week. I’ve been very moody, I’m not sure why. But I do have a FO of sorts. I actually did it to swatch for Tomato.

Herringbone Headband

Started: April 30, about 7pm

Finished: April 30, about 11:30pm

Pattern: my own, using the herringbone stitch for Tomato in No Sheep For You

Yarn: Cascade Luna (light blue), Manos del Uruguay Peruvian Cotton (brown), way less than a hank of each.

Needles: Size 6US 16 inch circular

Notes: Well, since I found an odd dyelot in my stash of Cascade Luna and I wanted to swatch the stitch pattern for Tomato, I decided to just cast on a lot extra & make a headband in the round (cast on 90 st, knit 1×1 rib for two rounds, only knit 1 repeat of the stitch pattern, finished with 1×1 rib). The headband is a little floppy but thas more my skill than the yarn – but I did get my gauge for the yarn & I like how it looks. I wore it yesterday to work, then took my guage measurements – so now I have some idea how a sweater would wear. It’s my first time using either of these yarns & I really enjoy them – I actually wanted to use Mission Falls 1824 for the brown, but the shop I stopped at after work on Monday (Knit-Purl, not a favourite but it’s close to work & open on Mondays) didn’t have it & I liked the look of the Manos Cotton. It’s a bit thinner than the Luna or the 1824 cotton, but seem to work out okay.

So of course I cast on for Tomato last night. Because I need another project to not complete. But it’s going to be icky this week (sad) so I won’t be working in the yard as much which means more knitting time!

It actually shrank this time too, you can see the difference when you look back at last week’s photos – this is the same tupperware container I used last week, but I had to stuff the box as well.

Since I didn’t do a proper details post last week, here goes:

Pattern: Felted Box from Mason-Dixon Knitting (largest size). Pattern calls for bulky yarn, I wanted to use this 8ply, so modified the pattern to cast on more stitches etc. I love the simple but clever construction – particularly the fold lines – how neat! The box ended up being 20cmx15cmx8cm – about the size of a boxed set of Buffy DVDs!

Here it is with gifts for a friend who is having her second baby soon – a Mason-Dixon bib o’love, a beanie (which I’ll blog about soon) and a little Lynley Dodd book for her first child, so he feels a bit special too!

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Don’t forget to check out Mouthfuls of Heaven!

Because they don’t look quite as good off the foot, like Bells, I took about 100 photos of them, trying to get an interesting but detailed shot. But of course, I still can’t decide which photo is the best – I love them all! So please bear with me, and keep scrolling down for the FO details!

Details:
Pattern: Embossed Leaves Socks by Mona Schmidt from Interweave Knits, Winter 2005. I love this pattern – it’s a 16 stitch repeat and is much simpler than it looks (and so clever!). Except of course, I didn’t trust myself not to refer to the pattern every line until halfway down the foot of the 2nd sock – I really didn’t want to have to rip it back if I stuffed up.
Yarn: Koigu (mmmm Koigu) KPM, colour 2340 – a lovely olive green semi-solid. I am so happy with this colour and this yarn for this pattern, with enough colour variation for interest but not too much so that it obscures the pattern (as I’ve made more socks, I’ve decided I prefer semi-solid sock yarn for lace or fancy patterns, and variegated for simple patterns). And one skein is just enough for one sock – I had only a walnut sized ball left from each skein.
Sticks: 3mm dpns (upsized from 2.75mm suggested by pattern). Lucky for me, as I started these when visiting my mum – my home town fabric and yarn shop stocked dpns – I was so surprised, as I’m sure there aren’t too many sock knitters or knitters generally in my town of about 3000 people.
Time: 9 February 2007 – 14 April 2007 (in between lots of other projects!)
What I learnt: These are my first lace socks. I loved also the toe shaping – very unusual but fits perfectly with the pattern.
Ok, no more pictures of these (well, maybe one more…)
All ready to be sent off to Helen!

(there’s a stash shot for ya)

I did manage to get a lot of cuffs knit. I could do about a pair and a half done while watching the sheep.
All this cuff knitting was brought about by a pending swap with Soule, which I completed yesterday. I traded these cuffs made to order for a few pieces of art which I need to photgraph yet.

Not the greatest photos, but as I said, I was under diress!

I look forward to having a bit more time to read all y’all’s blogs. Then I will be able to talk about other folk’s cool happenings.
I did get turned on to the event that is going to be the apex of my summer perhaps. Pickathon! It’s been awhile since I went to a three day camping music event.

Opal has been in horse heaven what with the new alliance I have formed with a local lady. A friend, I think I can say! Yes, my new friend, Sharin, takes care of other people’s horses when needed, and has been facilitating Opal’s passion for the equine. Opal even got to ride a horse yesterday, but honestly, I think at this point the child would be happy mucking out stalls.

Oh, and yesterday I got home from work to find I had sold two cd pockets (here and here) via my etsy shop! I was more than surprised. I forgot I even had a shop. hah hah.

so, that’s all for now. I need to go generate more experience so I can write about it.

Anyway, I finished the Cascade Fixation socks for my friend

Sigh…the colour washed out of the picture – they are bright pink & lime green. This picture is a little better.

Cascade Sockies

Started: March 28th

Completed February 15th

Pattern: Turtlegirl’s Cascade Fixation Ankle Socks

Yarn: Cascade Fixation Margarita, nearly 1 ball (I actually didn’t think I would make it…but I should always trust Turtlegirl )

Needles: 2.5US dpts – I didn’t have any 3US’s. Plus these particular needles are my favourites – little 5 inchers.

Notes: I would have finished these a lot quicker but decided to make the Lil’ Red Purse in between. I’m still giving them to my friend – I really hope she likes them, I’m always nervous giving people gifts, especially knitted ones because I want them to love them & it crushes me when they don’t. I’m also worried they won’t fit – asking someone what size their feet are doesn’t really come up in conversation. Anyway, I still have another ball of the Fixation & will be making my moms very soon. I didn’t make any adjustments to the pattern. Why should I?

This week also brought another lovely package from my L&V SP – the blogless Scrappin’Duck! Yah! Thank you, Diane!

So we have a lovely bookmark to go with my blank book with a quote from Einstein (I swear, this girl reads minds, I have been talking about reading the new Einstein biography – I read the Ben Franklin one by the same author & I enjoyed it.), a lovely handmade card, a little packet of Soak which I’ve wanted to try, a magnet with coffee cups on it that I love, and 3 more bars of Trader Joe’s dark chocolate. I am well aware there are only 2 in the picture, one was immediatly broken into by both me & CoffeeBoy. I love everything – thanks again!

I just realize I need to let my downstream pal know who I am…Hi ‘Manda! It’s funny because I’ve been listening to her podcast for awhile now & even won a contest on her blog so I sorta knew her already. But I hope you enjoyed everything, Manda!

Now I’m trying to decide what to knit on next…the Dollar & Half Cardigan, obviously, and I’m thinking about making some yoga socks (no heel or toes) – I just picked up More Sensational Knitted Socks (yah!) so maybe I’ll play with a new pattern & use my Boltneck yarn for some.

Have a good week!

Lil’ Red Purse

Started: March 3

Finished: March 11

Pattern: Textured-Squares Bag from Knit It! spring/summer 2007

Yarn: Lion Cotton color Poppy Red, nearly one ball

Needles: Size 7US

Notes: This was a fun knit, I really like the way it came out. I’m actually not a big purse or bag kind of girl – I almost always just use my big black Kate Spade purse everywhere, but this will be nice when I don’t want to haul around everything. Yet another good reason for FYS 07, I forgot I had this yarn and had planned on buying more when I saw this pattern when visiting mom. Yah for FYS 07! Anyway, I do wish it was a little bit bigger, I’m afraid things will fall out. I also have yet to put a button on it, like in the pattern because I don’t have a button in my stash that will work. I do love the textured squares:

They were pretty simple but interesting enough to keep me invested. I do worry that the yarn will stretch too much if I put my usual junk in the bag – wallet, phone, knitting, keys, ipod – but I hope it will hold, I think I did pretty well with the sewing up, something I detest. I detest it so much that the only modification I did was on the straps – you are supose to fold them in half & sew the long edges together – I simply picked up the 2 edges & knit them together & then bound off. I think it will make a stronger strap anyway and does look really nice. As for the yarn, yeah it’s pure cotton (so it did hurt my hands if I knit on it too long in one sitting) and Lion’s Brand (not a usually a favourite) but it came together pretty well. So all & all I’m pleased with my bag and would do this bag again. Of course in a week, I’ll probably come back & tell you that it all fell apart & I hate it. Heh.

It’s been a busy week in the little green household, but I can’t think of what I’ve done – I think it’s been more of working outside the house. Last week was so beautiful on my weekend, I got lots of yard work done – planted some roses, dug up some overgrown areas, I even planted a raspberry “bush” (it’s really just a stick in the ground at the moment). It was so nice do stuff in the yard & enjoy the springtime weather. But sadly, it all went down hill this week – rainy cold weather which really depressed me. I hope my new plants will be okay – I usually kill any indoor plants I’ve tried to grow – actually I should say Mina kills them – but I really want my outdoor plants to live. Please let them live!

To bring this back to knitting , when I went out shopping for some yard stuff (I bought a ho(e)! It ‘s funny what you don’t realize you need when you go from 15 years of apartment living to living in a house with a yard) I made a quck stop at Michaels because they seem to be the only place that has been stocking Cotton-Ease, something I’ve been anxious to check out. Didn’t disapoint either – but I was very good & didn’t pick up any (thoughts of my beloved Dollar & Half Cardigan loomed in front of my eyes – I still love it but haven’t worked on it recently, sigh) but I think I might get some in Charcoal and make myself a Sitcom Chic. After I finish my other WIPs of course – currently I’m working on the second sock for my friend – she’s back so I really want to get it done this week.

To finish up, we don’t really celebrate Easter in this household (since we both had to work anyway – yes, our shops were two of like 3 that were open in downtown on Easter – which was not fun for me) but I did go pick some of the flowers that were in the back yard and put them in a vase to look festive. Aren’t they pretty?

I can take no credit for them, they were planted by the previous owners.

And seeing that picture makes me sad, beacuse it was so beautiful that morning and really crappy out today. Sigh.

Here’s a pic of Opal to divert you…

So, now, I have been working on working on items for a Glitter version of the Beautiful Use swap, and I wrapped all the last bits up and sent it yesterday.

In these little packages are the following:

made from thrifted and gifted fabrics entirely. I am not happy with the way the bottom sags, I boxed those corners but still. It’s a nice bag.

after reading this post on soph’s blog, I decided to improve the way I go about lining bags.

and because I like taking those macro shots like the big girls:

fabric from Suomi.

also in there was the finished product, the results of the first of my french knot studies, on knit and fulled fabric (yarn from Grand View Farm).

I decided to go with the natural shape of the fulled piece rather than cut it. It’s a cozy, I guess. (It’s really a vehicle for the knotting practice…)
and:

notecards with fashion illustrations by Opal.
Pluis some buttons for good measure.

It was a good swap for me; very instructive, and I am getting better about working through projects, trying to train myself out of procrastination. I was still late on the send-out, though.

so there’s some craft content for ya.

‘kay, that’s all for one night. I promise you some non-kid content the next time.

Anleitung: “Midwest moonlight” aus ScarfStyle (Änderung: 33 Maschen)
Wolle: 6-fädige Merino von der HWF – Nadel 5

Gleichzeitig ist das auch das letzte Teil der Monate Februar/März für das
Die Farben für April/Mai sind grün, gelb und pink.

Anleitung: “Midwest moonlight” aus ScarfStyle (Änderung: 33 Maschen)
Wolle: 6-fädige Merino von der HWF – Nadel 5

Gleichzeitig ist das auch das letzte Teil der Monate Februar/März für das
Die Farben für April/Mai sind grün, gelb und pink.

The inside of the hat, in which I attempt to get over my aversion to stranding:

The words refer to the Mingulay Boat Song, only it turns out ‘Isle A Ho’ isn’t in the lyrics. A mediocre example of a mondegreen, “a mis-hearing of a word or phrase in such a way that it aquires a new meaning.” (Except what would the new meaning be for the above? I shudder to think…)

Here is my latest fo, a pair of knit cuffs for a swap. They turned out well! Although they a bit dull to knit (well, the trimmings are fun, of course.)

Yesterday I drove into Portland for a Glitter meetup. How I love the internet! (Sometimes.) I really love seeing the connections made manifest in real life.

We met at Mabel’s Knit Cafe which is a delight to spend several hours in. Yarn was purchased, patterns were perused, fos were ogled over. I saw examples of two of the projects I have considered over the years: eyelet from knitty, and the Sunrise Circle jacket from interweave press. I am particularly inspired to make this now that I have seen it in the flesh. The proprietress of Neither Hip nor Funky has made one and it is everything it ought to be. Very striking! More on that later.

Of course, a trip to Portland meant seeing the lovely Kate (represented here by her flickr page), with all the yarn giggling and BPAL chatter that we have become accustomed to. I got to see Kate’s shetland lace shawl which is so floaty, and besides, the yarn has quite a history between us. The skeins have been passed back and forth between us several times now. In fact, I took some of the extra home with me yesterday.

Since I am speaking of things passed between Kate and I. Here are a couple as-of-yet-unblogged examples. It’s about time I show them off!

I made a log cabin pillow for Kate’s hubby.

This project I have been meaning to do since Yule…

I am loving the different stories these fabrics have been a part of. Several of them are recurring, as a study of my log cabins will show.

And Kate made for me a thing that is small in size and HUMUNGOUS in spirit.

This pocket holds the music of Alela Diane, who is a wonderful song weaver. You can listen to some her music at her myspace page. (Sigh, myspace.)

One more photo to send you out.

coal fire. It’s a good life.

Looked pretty good this time when I first tried it on – it does have great waist shaping and the v-neck starts in just the right place. Then I washed it. Hmmmm. Bit sack-y again. (But thank goodness I frogged the first one, as it would have been even huger once washed). I’m wondering whether to try putting it in the dryer for a little while…might knit a square with the leftovers and see how that goes! But I will wear it nonetheless. Looks alright as a vest but I can also wear it as a singlet top.

(do I look like the model on the cover??!! heh!)

Details:
Pattern: V-neck singlet from Jo Sharp Knit vol 2 – size C even though it should in theory be too small for me. The pattern is knit flat in two pieces with i-cord shoulder ties. I converted it to knit in the round (yay, no purling, much) and knit wider straps as the i-cord ties just don’t work with bra-straps. I kitchenered the straps to the back.
Yarn: Jo Sharp Desert Garden Aran (the recommended yarn) – a cotton/microfibre blend, colour 239 (Garnet) lot 17. Originally used 10 balls, second time around I think about 8.5 (hard to tell as had a few small balls left from the frogging, some due to knots in the yarn – which I HATE WITH A PASSION!). But the yarn frogs nicely, doesn’t kink too much and knits up well. the microfibre makes it much softer to knit with than 100% cotton.
Sticks: 5.5mm (upsized from recommended 5mm, as usual) 80cm Addi Turbos
Time: 2-19 March 2007
What I learnt: Not to always trust swatching! (I know, heresy!!). And I think Jo Sharp patterns are sized a little big – this is my second Jo Sharp pattern and both have been on the larger side of large. But my biggest lesson – it is ok to frog something and put in the extra effort to re-knit if you want to make something that you will actually wear!

(click for bigger)

Pattern: Shedir hat, from a special edition PDF knitty

Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Superwash, black

Needles: Knit Picks 32″ size 2 (3.0 mm) circulars

Started: Sunday, March 11

Finished: Saturday, March 16

Not really much to say about the pattern – I love it. Aside from the yarn substitution (because it’s what I had on hand), I made no changes at all. It’s beautiful, and it worked perfectly as is – and it even fits!

(And yes, that’s the Seamless Hybrid you can see under the hat in these pictures. I’ve been wearing it rather a lot.)

I’m not, however, a huge fan of worsted-weight superwash wool on size 2 needles, cabling without a cable needle. I’ve never really encountered the problem that some people have with superwash wool – they say it feels squeaky like acrylic, and they won’t work with anything but normal, untreated wool. Now I know what they mean. I still love superwash for its washability (duh) and I still refuse to knit socks in anything but superwash (because if I made one non-machine-washable sock, I’d definitely get it mixed up and ruin it!)… but in this pattern, this yarn, and on these needles, I did feel some squeak. I think in the future, I’ll just avoid working with superwash worsted on size 2 needles with eight million tiny cables.

But wow, do I love those eight million tiny cables.

I find the cotton a little harder on my hands than wool, but these are quick and satisfying knits. I like the idea of making simple household things that give you pleasure to use and remind you of the craft you love (sorry about the flash photos).

Details

(click for bigger)

Sorry I couldn’t get a shot of the whole thing at once… I could only get my roommate to try once, and the shot she took came out so blurry it was useless.

Specs:

Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmerman’s “Percentage Sweater” recipe from Knitting Without Tears.

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes (100% wool), 11 balls Sapphire Heather and 1/2 ball Lake Ice Heather

Needles: Knit Picks Options, size 8

Started: January 24 (around 3 a.m.)

Finished: February 27

Pattern Modifications:

Really, none – it’s more a recipe than a pattern anyway, so I just followed the directions. I even had, coincidentally, the perfect gauge such that for my measurements I used the 200 stitch body that she used as an example.

The only slight things I changed were:

- Provisional cast on for the turned hems, and then a joining row of K2togs around, rather than sewing the hem up later.

- Ribbed collar rather than hemmed.

Comments:

This was the perfect first sweater project. I really like how it came out, and it was really easy! I did, of course, make it a little more difficult for myself by using provisional cast ons, tubular bind-off, and knitting backwards on the saddles. The knitting backwards does seem to have messed up my gauge a little bit – the shirt-yoke back was definitely baggy right off the needles, but a thorough blocking did help even it out a lot, and it looks fine when it’s on (though you can still see some of the bagginess when it’s laid out flat).

And is that a cleverly-designed construction or what? You can barely see where I grafted together the two sides, and only if you know what you’re looking for. You can also see where I messed up one of the corners… but I’m going to pretend that I don’t know that, because if I knew you could see it then I’d have to rip it out and fix it, even though I’ve already declared it done.

And the raglan\saddle shaping is great, although I think it works better for a man’s sweater. My shoulders aren’t quite broad enough to pull it off. Also, I’m not exactly a DD, but my bust does stretch the shaping out a little bit. Next time, short rows! Just a couple should give me enough room to avoid the bat wings. If you want to see this shoulder treatment knit perfectly and modeled on on a proper manly frame, check out brooklyntweed‘s sweater here.

Oh yes… and the sleeves are extra-long, and the hem hits at exactly the right place on my hips (which even my fashion-oblivious roommate noticed and complimented me on), and I love it. A whole lot. And it’s warm and cozy and perfect for the tail-end of winter.

So overall… three cheers for Elizabeth Zimmerman! I’m very pleased to declare my first-ever sweater officially finished.

Details:

The obligatory spirit fingers photo! My nephew T (who is 11) was fascinated with them – he kept putting them on – except for “that funny patterny bit there [the cabled cuff] and there [the cast off end]“. Heh!

Details

Yarn: Rowan Wool Cotton, about half of one 50g ball, shade 948 (poster blue) (woo hoo, 25g down on Knit from your Stash!!)
Sticks: 3.75mm handmade blackwood sticks, purchased at a country market
Time: 2 nights and a bit (just the sewing up).
What I learnt: On this pattern, not really any new skills or experiences – except for a feeling of mild annoyance when the new father thanked us for the “funny little bootees”. I know he didn’t mean anything by it but “funny” is not the adjective I would have chosen!! But I guess I’m biased, since I made them. Maybe they are funny looking??!!

Wicked

Started: January 24th

Completed: February 24th

Pattern: Wicked by Zepher Girls

Yarn: Swish superwash wool by Knit Picks – 5 complete balls of Jade, 1.5 balls of Black

Needles: Size 7US 16 & 29 inch circs

Notes: Well, this is my first sweater since last summer (I think the Apple Cardi is the last one I did) and I actually finished it pretty quickly. It is a great pattern, simple enough to do, but interesting enough to hold my attention. I’m not thrilled about the finished product – I mean I love wearing (and have a couple of times), but, like I heard Swish does, it stretches out width-wise & shrinks up length-wise. The neckline stretched way out, but I kinda of liked it. But I don’t think it’s the most flattering on me. And while I love the pocket, I think I sewed the top part on funky so it’s all wonky. Ah well, I will say I do love this sweater & think I’ll get some wearings out of it before winter is over. I think next time I make this, I might use a cotton/wool blend like Lamb Pride Cotton Fleece..

But hey, I’m not through yet!

Skinny Panta

Started: February 24th

Completed: February 25th

Pattern: Panta

Yarn: Sensations Bellezza Collection Dolcetto, dyedwith Kool Aid (blackcherry)

Needles: Size 6US

Notes: I wanted something quick since I was expecting my KnitPicks package this week. Plus I wanted to play with the yarn I dyed quite awhile back so I made another Panta – minus one repeat of the stitch pattern so it would be nice & skinny. And it is! I love the way the koolaid turned out on the yarn – it’s a wool/cotton/nylon mix that won’t absorb the dye, so it’s got a nice variegated look to it. I will be dying more (and probably making more pantas, they are such a quick knit)

So I mentioned above that I was expecting my KnitPicks order…and I got it!

Squee! New yarn always makes the day better! And I’m so pleased it came a day early so I was here to play with it – I wanted to kiss the mailman. So what I got here – 2 hanks of Bare in the superwash sock yarn & a bottle of the Jacguard acid dye in Emerald to play with more dyeing. (One hank will probably dyed with Kool Aid, the other with the acid dye) These hanks are HUGE – 462 yards! Yah for more sock yarn! 1 package of the KnitPicks circs in size 1 so I can try out socks on 2 circular needles and more than enough of the Cotlin in KeyLime to make my Dollar & Half Cardigan. There was also 2 more hanks of yarn but that is going to my Secret Pal – and oh boy, I wish I ordered some for myself because it is purty and so so soft – but I don’t want to ruin the surprise if she happens across my blog. (Since there’s only like 16 of us in the Mellow Pal swap, she probably has figured out who I am) But I hope she likes it, I’m going to send it out on Monday.

I, of course, immediatly started playing with the Cotlin because I’m so excited for the Dollar & Half Cardigan. I think I’m going to enjoy this yarn – it reminds me of Shine without the shine – the colour is very similar. I swatched the lace pattern and realized that I needed to go up a size in the needles – I was swatching at about 21stitches/3inches on size 5. The highest I wanted to go on needle size was 6 so I’m going to have to do some maths while working this pattern. I am being very smart with this pattern – sleeves are my down fall when it comes to long sleeved items. So I’m starting with the sleeves!

I’ve finished the cuff so far – it’s going very quickly. The yarn is easy to use and really just looks & feels lovely – I think I’m going to enjoy this pattern. The lace pattern is pretty simple (good thing since I haven’t done too much lace) and I like how it looks with the reverse stockinette. Wish me luck!

Still working on the Fleece Artist Spiral socks…almost done with the foot. But today is my day with CoffeeBoy – our one day off together – so I don’t know how much more knitting I’ll get done today. But that’s okay…

Details:
Patterns: Right foot: Gentleman’s Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush; Left foot: Garter Stitch Rib sock from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. Both very easy patterns to remember and good “boy” patterns.
Yarn: Regia Royal, colour Nottingham (I think), 1 x 100g ball – I love this yarn – it has great colour variations and subtle stripes.
Sticks: 2.5mm dpns
Time: It’s been so long, I actually can’t remember when I started these – around October I think. Finished on 7 February 2007.
What I learnt: I did a star toe on the Ringwood socks, which I love – both the way it looks and because it is so easy. It is a longer toe than the normal wedge toe (which is on the Garter Rib socks) but makes a nice shape.

My mom and the scarf I made her out of my own handspun.

More details soon.

OH! And you can’t tell, but I took that picture. I went to Florida this weekend and surprised my mom for her birthday! It was very exciting, she even cried she was so happy. The whole thing about finishing the project in time for mailing was a red herring, just in case she was following along on the blog.

I also finished my mom’s birthday present, early in fact, as I won’t be able to mail it until Saturday. It is lovely, I washed and blocked it all pretty. I wish I could post it here because it is super special and I am so proud of it. However, my mom stops by here every once in a while and I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise. Once she gets it I am going to make her take tons of photos of it and send them to me.

I miss my camera.

CoffeeBoy still went in today which worried me a lot. I realize he can drive just fine (born in CO, lived in AK) but PDXers do not know what to do with the snow (myself included). It’s supose to be really bad tonight – not more snow, but frozen roads. He apparently got there okay, now I get to worry about the drive back.

I’ll leave you with a couple of cute hats I made for the nephews with some Paton’s wool. I’m knitting myself a new hat so I want to get back to that!
Stay safe everyone

• it basically looks like a tube when you lay it out. (as in very boring)
• my mannequin head is black (as in Black Betty) so you can’t see it.
• I need to pose with it, and it’s difficult to see.
• I have a large zit on my face & don’t want to be photographed with it.
• I look like a dork to all my neighbors outside.

Yet I prevail, so here is the long waited (for him, anyway) BiL neckwarmer:

Stats:
BiL Neckwarmer
Started: January 5
Completed: January 10th
Pattern: my own – just 2×2 rib round & round & round until I wanted to stab my eyes out.
Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 Wool in black – about 1 1/2 balls
Needles: size 7 16inch circs
Finished dimensions: (laying flat) 7 inches across, 10 inches long
Notes: My BiL asked for one of these a year ago to keep him warm when he’s doing road construction or hunting or whatever he does since a scarf would get in the way. After looking around for a pattern & with advice from the Knittyboard, I just decided to a ribbed tube. Man, was it really boring to knit but at least the yarn is one my favorites. Not to mention superwash so we won’t have the same problem as a hat I made him going into the wash (“it’s a lot tighter now”…no kidding!). Anyway, I should be giving it to him or my sister next week. At least he’ll get some use out of it.

Started a hat for my nephew:I’m not sure why it’s green…but it works since I started calling this the Spidey hat since the nephew is a big Spiderman fan and that’s what the colors remind me of. I had my sister measure his head to be sure it would fit (I think it will) and now he thinks she’s nuts. I can just imagine my sister grabbing hold of him & measuring his head & not telling him why. It makes me laugh. Anyway hopefully this will protect him from the Green Goblin now.

And after all that is done, all the holiday gifts are gone to their happy owners & I don’t have to look at them anymore, you know what I’m going to do?

Oh Green Gable, you could not hide at the bottom of my knitting basket for long. You will be mine. Oh yes, you will be mine.

And just something amusing. This is what the “Winter! Storm! 2007!” (imagine that in overexcited newscaster’s voice) brought to my front yard:

And this is from my sister’s place about 2 hours east of here:She is not amused by our “snow.”