Christmas Knitting Round-up

Whee Christmas is over!! I got most of my knitting done, the only things left on the needles is one half sock for my Grandpa, and about three quarters of a scarf for my FIL.

All told, I think that makes this Christmas a successful one.

On the finished side, we have:

Specs:

Pattern: Generic sock pattern, see Yarn Harlot’s Knitting Rules, random stripes added

Yarn: Paton’s Kroy in Black and orange varigated (colour 54567)

Needles: DPN 2.25 mm

Started: December 10, 2007

Finished: December 18, 2007

Thoughts: This was the last minute socks that were requested of me from my Step-mom (she of the amazing knitting bag which apparently came from Regal online). In an email I was hinted at that a black pair of socks with stripes that weren’t too bright in a size 5 would be perfect.

So I broke out my sock stash and whipped these up. She really loved them and wore them for the next 3 days that I saw her. She lives in British Columbia so while she might not have the extreme cold of Ontario, she does have the extreme dampness.

These were top priority for me because she is the main family member who encourages my knitting habit (even more so than my Gramma). I knew she would absolutely love them and would wear and take care of them. She is definitely going to get more of these in the future.

Next up:

Specs:

Pattern: Arrrrgh-yles from Moth Heaven

Yarn: Paton’s Kroy in White and Black, Lily Chin Chelsea in Green, and Dalegarn Baby Ull in Orange

Needles: DPNs 2.25 mm

Started: August 25, 2007

Finished: December 6, 2007

Thoughts: These were made for a friend of C’s in Singapore. They play the online game Puzzle Pirates and when I found these socks I showed it to C who showed it to his friend who asked for a pair. She’s going to be heading out to BC next fall to go to school so again, see damp wet winter which wool socks are perfect for.

I really enjoyed this pattern, it was another attempt at intarsia and fairisle, this was better than some of my previous attempts. I had fewer holes to sew up, and I was really happy with my back seam on the socks, you can see it in the sock on the right in the picture. I’m really bad at finishing so I was proud that I buckled down and did it right. I also conquered Kitchener Stitch in these socks and then re-conquered it in the stripey socks… I might not have such a war with it from now on.

Can you tell this was a year of socks? :

Specs:

Pattern: Generic kid sock with short row heel and normal toe

Yarn: Lang Yarns Jawoll Cotton Jacquard

Needles: 2.25 DPNs

Started: December 5, 2007

Finished: December 10, 2007

Thoughts:This is one of two pairs of identical socks for the granddaughters of family friends. This was a bit of a struggle because I was just given the age of the girls and the approximate size of their feet. So I went and grabbed a chart of foot sizes and the corresponding stitch amounts, and away I went.

Luckily both pairs of socks fit, and I was quite proud that I managed to match up both pairs.

Hopefully the girls won’t fight over who’s socks are who’s.

Last but not least, a baby blanket that wasn’t actually a Christmas Present:

Specs:

Pattern: Snowdrop Shawl by Yarn Harlot

Yarn: Some mystery yarn that I inherited.

Needles: 5.5 mm Straights

Started: November 28, 2007

Finished: December 22, 2007

Thoughts: This was a really fun lace project. It was my first time adding an actual edging to a shawl. I was really pleased by how it ended up.

Due to the different yarn and the fact that I had absolutely no info on what this yarn is, I did fewer repeats for the bulk of the shawl because I was worried I wouldn’t have enough for the edging. In the end I had over half a ball left so I can make baby hats or whatever from it.

This poor baby girl is the first girl in the family for 13 years, she’s got way too much pink already, I need to make her something yellow or such.

So that’s my Christmas knitting. Now to get back to the unfinished boring socks for my Granpa. I got a really cool present as well that I will talk about next time.. It ties in with the end of my BC trip.

Till next time.

Off Topic

Ok, so here’s the scoop. I have the post about seeing the show and the FO pretty well written… except that when I got the pictures I realized that I forgot to take the picture of the FO!

So while I wait for my friend who now owns the FO to take pics, I figured I would tell you about one of the best knitting birthday gifts that I got.

On October 12 it was my birthday, and while most of my family gives me boring normal items, my step mother gets me knitting stuff. (my gramma is pretty good at getting knitting stuff too, but most of my family don’t).

I usually get a bunch of knitting books from my Step mom (and my Dad by rote), and maybe some yarn, or something like that.

This birthday, they totally scored.

This is a wicked cool knitting bag! This thing is huge, and can either be used for a number of projects, or for very detailed fairisle. See the plastic stuff at the front? Those are 6 sections that will hold 1 ball of yarn each, then the little dots at the top are holes to allow the yarn to go through without tangling!

See those rectangles by the holes? That’s velcro to hold onto the yarn when you’re not using it. There’s also a section up at the top, seen here, for needles, pins, small notions and do-hickies.

On either side is a good sized, zippered pocket. Perfect for small patterns, or folded print outs. Bigger notions, or even a quick grab extra ball of yarn.

The best part tho is the fact that, this bag looks mostly empty… it’s sagging, it’s unhappy… and yet…

There are 12 balls of Phentex Mohair Mist filling the bag up. This bag can hold a TON of yarn! When I got it, it had 2 jumbo balls of acrylic baby yarn, these 12 balls of mohair, a bunch of crochet cotton, and another 10 balls or so of yarn that they found at a garage sale.

This bag is huge! And it’s wonderful for holding travel projects and the like.

I’ll have to ask her where she got it because it totally rocks.

Till next time.. hopefully with that FO