Pattern: Fresco Herringbone Hat by Pam Allen, published in Interweave Knits Winter 2008
Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns Fresco, 60% wool, 30% baby alpaca, 10% angora 1 ball color 5328 (maroonish) and 1 ball color 5350 (goldish)
Needles: US 2 and 3
Notes: OMG. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this yarn. It’s soft and warm and luscious. The hat is a bit small for me so I’ll probably pull it apart and try again. This definitely won’t be my last project with this yarn.
Pattern: Satchel by Stephanie Shiman from the Summer 2005 Knitty
Yarn: Paton’s Classic Merino in Grey and Red
Notes: This is basically the pattern from Knitty except I had to increase the number of stitches in the body of the bag to accommodate the houndstooth pattern I chose to use. In the picture above the flap of the messenger bag looks weird but it doesn’t in real life. I only included that picture to show that I chose to have the flap plain instead of in the stitch pattern.
I finished this quite some time ago but I just got around to sewing it all together tonight. It’s amazing what “heavy duty” hand needles will do for you. I purchased some specifically for this pattern and it was the best $1.99 I’ve ever spent. The heavy duty needle made easy work of the sewing up and relatively painless (It was only relatively painless because several times I ended up sticking myself with the needle.).
Pattern: Ribby Slipper Socks by Cathy Carron, Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2008
Yarn: Blue Sky Bulky, 50% alpaca, 50% wool for the foot, 2 hanks; Valley Yarns Berkshire, 85% wool, 15% alpaca for the ribbing, 1 ball.
Needles: US 11 & 8
Notes: Wow, this is one of the few times I used the suggested yarn for a project and boy are they heavenly. Warm and squooshy. I love this pattern — it’s quick and a great gift idea — not that this pair is going to become a gift.
In other news, I’m still working on the vest for Jody. Hannukah starts Sunday night and there’s no way it will be done by then but hopefully by the end of Hannukah. A few people at his office had a holiday cookie swap and I tried my hand at strawberry jam filled shortbread cookies. They were a definite hit with Jody.
Other than that, life has been thankfully boring. We’re in the process of getting our first big storm of the season and the girls and I are curled up knitting (me) and sleeping (them).
Have a happy holiday.
Pattern: Plain stockinette sock for the Hubster
Needles: US 1
Yarn: Regia of some sort or other. heheheh (I lost the label and that’s all I can remember)
Notes: I got halfway through the first of these socks and I started worrying about whether or not the colorway was too bright for Jody to wear. So I showed him the sock (these were supposed to be a Hannukah gift) and asked. He said he would wear it. Then later as I finished the second sock, I noticed the socks were two different lengths. OOPS! So I made him try them on to figure out which one fit and which one needed to be redone at the toe. (Thankfully they were cuff down socks) When I got them re-finished Sunday night I had him try them on one more time. They fit. YAY! But now that he’s tried them on a couple times and he’s seen me knitting them, I went ahead and gave them to him instead of making him wait for Hannukah.
BTW, this is the same picture from a few days ago — but I promise both socks are completed.
Pattern: Paw Cozy by Michelle Malach
Yarn: Valley Yarns Berkshire, Copper
Needles: US Size 7 & 8
Notes: I got a different gauge (16 st/in instead of 15 st/in) but gauge isn’t really crucial on this project and as you can tell from the photo, the retractable leash (a large one) fits in there, just fine.
Now if I can only get off my lazy butt and actually take Hannah for a walk once in a while.
Since November arrived, we’ve barely seen the sun at all here in gloomy Massachusetts. I can’t wait until summer. heheh
I’ve been working on a pair of socks for Jody for Hannukah. They are just plain old stockinette socks. Here’s the first completed one.
I was almost through the cuff and ready to do the foot when I began to really question whether or not Jody would be seen in public in such stripey socks so I had to bite the bullet and show it to him and ask his opinion. He said he would wear them.
I’m still working on my St. Brigid but it’s slow going. I finished the back and now I’m working on a sleeve. Then I’ll do the front then the other sleeve — assuming I live through this first sleeve.
I started on the Daily Sweater (That’s a Ravelry link because I can’t find a non-Ravelry link) from Mason-Dixon Knitting: Outside the Lines. I admit that I bought the first Mason-Dixon book but I was underwhelmed by it. I saw in this book the new sweater/coat by Bonne Marie Burns, Yank, so I had to buy it. Turns out I don’t really care for that pattern when I had a chance to really look at it, but there are a gazillion other patterns in the book that I do love.
Happy knitting and Happy Veteran’s Day tomorrow.
Pattern: Toto the Extremely Useful and Cute Potholder (Ravelry Link) by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne from Mason-Dixon Knitting: Outside the Lines
Yarn: Sugar n Cream
Needles: US 8, Addi Turbo
Notes: This was a quick and easy project. Started it this afternoon and finished it up this evening. It was a bit hard on my hands having to knit with 100% cotton with double strands and then some fair isle knitting (in double strands) but it really is a cute result. I can’t wait to try it out while cooking tomorrow.
Pattern: Ribby Slipper Socks by Cathy Carron, Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2008
Needles: US size 11 for the foot and US size 8 for ribbing
Yarn: Bergere de France Irland for the foot and Wool-ease for the cuff (wanted to make sure they were machine washable)
Notes: These were really fast — one day per foot and very mindless knitting. The pattern called for a bulky yarn for the foot so I used two strands of the Irland held together throughout. The ribbing was simply worsted weight so I used one strand of the Wool-ease.
I still haven’t done the felting I’m supposed to do, but I had to make sure I could at least get another FO done instead. (Edited to add: Oopsie, I may have confused things. The felting I have to do is for my laptop messenger bag and my Fiber Trends slippers, not this project.)
PS. For those of you who didn’t find the humor in the voting schedule — sorry but I thought it was a whole lot less damaging than the fact it was done IN REAL LIFE by distributing official looking flyers in Virginia in highly democratic areas with the Democrats having the Nov 5th voting date and the Republicans voting on Nov. 4th. Personally, if you’re reading my blog, you know me and my sense of humor and what *wink* means. If you don’t know me and you’ll take a complete stranger’s word on a KNITTING BLOG that the Republicans and Democrats vote on different days then all I can say is you really need to get some perspective.
