The Knitting Parade
I was able to finish all of my “I’m going to see your face so you get a finished object” holiday gifts. There are a few that I am still working on, these fall into the “I’m not going to see your face so you have to wait” category.
Dad’s Scarf was finished in the car on the way to Rochester. I love this scarf. It was B-O-R-I-N-G to knit after awhile. However, the pattern (its free) is great and I would recommend it. The cables are fun to do and they look beautiful. Reynolds Turnberry Tweed yarn was stiff as I was knitting it but it bloomed nicely after a good soaking in hand soap and then Aveda conditioner (smelled good too!) It is the perfect yarn for cables. I blocked it out and it grew quite a bit. Dad loved it and christened it with a trip out to use the slow blower.
Mom’s caplet is just about done. I wanted to wait until I saw her to seam up the sides. This is a very simple pattern. I choose to do garter stitch to show off the texture of the yarn. I dropped two stitches to add a bit of interest. Mom has lots of pain in her shoulders and neck (I swear, I had nothing to do with this!); this should help keep her insulated! I really liked the yarn (Interlacements Periwinkle Petite) and will use it again in the future! Those colors…yum.
My brother’s wrist warmers. I used Noro Big Kureyon for these. It was my first time knitting with Noro. Wow. How fun is the color change?! The pattern is Voodoo Wrist Warmers from Knitty. I modified it to fit my gauge with the chunky yarn. Despite the look on his face my brother seemed mildly impressed. I’m hoping he’ll use it while “gaming” on the computer in the basement. I found them later under the Christmas Tree. Maybe I’ll have to super glue them to his wrists?
Gma…isn’t she cute? She is my soul mate. She will be 80 years young in less than 3 weeks.
I’m a bit upset with her at this moment. She is a wonderful caring human being and she really disappointed me this past week when her righteous right wing religious conservative bigot side came out. She usually can be all of these things without righteousness bigotry – but for some reason she let it all fly over the holidays.
Anyway… I knit this for her in about a weekend. I love it. The pattern is from Knitty’s fall surprise. I used the called for yarn (Reynolds Blizzard) and whew! it is a bit fluffy. I kept hacking up pink fur balls. It IS super soft and knitting Gma was quite impressed with my handy work. The one pitfall of this pattern. K4tog with bulky yarn is never fun.
And last but not least…my lovely sister in Banff. I know I never continued the Banff saga. I just couldn’t bring myself to it. This sweater. Argh. The pattern was not the problem…I was the problem. It is a fun easy knit. I was able to find more yarn IN THE RIGHT DYE LOT, a minor miracle that should be celebrated.
Yarn in hand we thought for sure The Bookish Girl would finish with flying colors, ahhh hubris.
Long story shorter? She finished…she had to bind off the neck FIVE times. But she finished. Can anyone please explain to me, I mean The Bookish Girl, the proper way to bind off 2×2 ribbing on a turtleneck without strangling the intended wearer?
The sweater is finished and I don’t really like it. In fact, I really really don’t like it. I’m going to block it out again and hope for the best. Basically, it’s the fit. Everything was done to specification. This is the second adult sweater that I’ve knit and I think I’ve learned how to get things to fit. Making the fit suit the model? That’s another story. The pieces came out to size.
In spite of the last bit of frustration I was happy to clothe my family in knitted gifts. I must admit, it is a bit of a let down. All that work and the unwrapping was over in minutes.