Merry Christmas Knitting!

Merry Christmas to all my knitting friends and other friends who happen by my little sporadic blog. It seems that ravelry and facebook occupy too much of my time already, so my little blog gets neglected.

I have finished my Christmas knitting - knitting I have been working on since around October. I have been saving up the photos, so, are ya ready?

First up, Carey. She got a set of fingerless mitts and a neck warmer in Malabrigo. This is a unique colorway (fancy term for end of the bucket) that I fell in love with at Imagiknit a few months ago. The pattern is Vancouver Fog Mitts.

The neckwarmer pattern is Celtic Cable Neckwarmer and this is the second one I have made. Great pattern.

Next up is Jean. Jean is getting(or will be soon if the USPS is late) the Laurel hat I made and entered into the fair. To go with, I made some simple mitts in the same yarn. Yarn: Vintage Wool by Berocco.



Then we have Mom - she got the Damson shawl in Cascade Heritage sock yarn. As you may recall, Tracy got the same shawl for her birthday, and I ran out of yarn at the exact same place (even though I went down a needle size). Fortunately, Janice had a skein of the same yarn and I twisted her arm, and now Mom has enough left over to make herself some little socks. She likes 'em short anyway.

My mother-in-law requested bed socks, so I made dk weight socks from Sublime Merino with Angora cuffs. They are so soft, and she has been warned not to slip. She swears she will only wear them while actually IN bed.

My sister-in-law received the Raspberry Silk scarf I made earlier this year,
and Maurice's relative Nelly (WAY too complicated to explain how they are related) is visiting from New York, so she didn't escape the yarny gifting. I started her a little keyhole neckwarmer scarf made from stash yarn that was just waiting for the right moment to be used. It took around 24 hours to make, and was done on Christmas Eve, and given to her on Christmas Day. I liked it and may make another one sometime.

Happy New Year to all!!

Filling in the Blanks

I got the idea for the sweater I knit Mom for Christmas way back when I saw the Spring/Summer issue of Vogue Knitting. A Kaffe Fassett floral cardigan, fitted with 3/4 length sleeves. It was made from Rowan Pure Wool DK.

I started to look around for the yarn. Not available in Fresno at the time, so I looked around on the internet, and found some of the 8 colors at one place, some at another. I ordered what I could, but I couldn't find the background color, shamrock, and two of the others. Article Pract in Oakland would order it for me, but then I'd have to ship it here. I didn't want to switch yarns, because part of the appeal was the interplay of the colors, and I didn't want to mess that up.

Then Swatches opened, and Fran carried Rowan! I quickly made my way there and she had black in stock that I could use as the blackground (better than Shamrock's goofy green anyway) and she could order the other colors. She initially forgot to place the order, but after two weeks it was placed, and took another week or so to arrive.

That took me to October. Still plenty of time, right? Meanwhile, I was looking at the pattern, and decided that a wool cardigan that clearly was outerwear should not have 3/4 length sleeves. Oh, I can do that, no sweat. And didn't really want it fitted, looser fit better. Okay, no problem. The rest would be easy. Just follow the pattern.

Then the yarn came and I started to swatch. I've done color work before, mittens, socks, no problem. Flat colorwork, with color changes every row, sometimes with more than two colors a row? Purling with two colors was complicated, and you couldn't see if you were going according to the pattern. Hmm, what if I knit it in the round, and steeked the front? Never done that before, but it might be easier....

So I did all the math and wrapped my brain around connecting the pieces and knit it as a single tube. I looked up and read all the steek info I could find on ravelry and the internet, and plunged ahead. It went fine, until the armholes, when I had to once again think it through, and the same with the neckline. Meg from Ancient Pathways gave her advice, and I was cheered on by Janice, Tracy, Diane, and several in-progress comments from Ravelry people, some I knew, and some I didn't.

I sewed and cut the steeks on December 15. That part was fun, kind of like daredevil knitting. I trust my sewing machine, so I really wasn't scared, and it was fun to see it start to resemble a sweater. I knit the bands on the fronts and neck, sewed up the hems, and meanwhile, had to figure out the sleeves.

Time was running out, and Janice suggested doing the sleeves solid black. Splendid idea, except I knew I didn't have enough black yarn for that. Quickly ordered more, priority mail (love priority mail-- 4 days from New Hampshire!) and decided to do a band of pattern at the cuffs, which I had to do more math to lengthen. A little marathon knitting, and on December 23, the sleeves were sewn in and it was done!!

A date with the steam iron, and we have a sweater folks!

Here's what I learned--
*steeks-front, armhole, neckline
*converting from flat to round (both body of sweater and sleeves)
*how to lengthen sleeves based on arm measurements (mine), row gauge, and a bunch of math
*pick up stitches and knit front bands
*Jingle Bell stitch markers are festive, but noisy in some emergency knitting places
*A pattern is only a suggestion
*Kaffe Fassett probably did not knit this sweater or he would have done it my way
*Start Christmas knitting earlier

Would I do it again? Maybe. It turned out nicely when all was said and done. It was dicey at times, but isn't all Christmas deadline knitting?

Merry Christmas!

Quick note before the craziness of Christmas Morning starts (9 minutes from now):

Mom loved her gift-
Carey loved hers - a scarf but no photo yet

Hopefully Jean got hers too - I'll keep that quiet for a little longer.

I'll do a major post about the cardigan, I've been silent and it's been driving me crazy. It was my most wild "adventure in yarn" up to this point, so stay tuned.

Until then, Merry Christmas! May the peace of Christ be with you all!

The Invisible Knitter

Hello blogland,

Yes, I have been absent from the blog. And not because I don't WANT to tell you what I'm doing, I just can't. Yet. As you may have noticed, it is high season for Christmas knitting, and I wouldn't want to spoil any surprises.

So here are a few teasers-

That's it. Sorry. More will be revealed in good time. (Note to self - knit faster).

In other news, I am mourning the loss of a nice yarn store (LYS to us yarn types). Knitter's Haven was not my personal Local Yarn Store, but was a store I liked to visit when I made it to Visalia, which was every few months or so. Ellen had a nice selection, and she was friendly to us Northerners.

She had been thinking of closing for awhile now, and I think the dismal economy just made her decision easier. She will close next week, and she has been having her final sale for a month now. Janice, Tracy, Diane, and I went a few weeks ago and I got some Baby Ull to make some mini-mittens for an Advent calendar idea I have. While the mittens are cute, I don't think I have time to finish the Advent idea, at least not this year. Stay tuned.

I like the yarn so much, however, that Carey, Mom, and I made our way there yesterday to get some more before it was gone forever. Thanks Ellen!

Baring it all, plus a dishrag

I finished Carey's alpaca socks. They turned out very nice, if I do say so myself. They would have been done even sooner, had I not been trying to prove to Alex I am smarter than he is on Brain Age. It is addicting. And yes, he is smarter than me, for now.





Anyhow, the socks are the diagonal cross-rib socks from Favorite Socks. Great book. The pattern was fine, looks good, but it got a little boring at the end. The yarn is an alpaca blend sock yarn I purchased at Imagiknit in SF. I lost the tag to further identify it.





Look what I got in the mail! More Christmas goodies!





I am having trouble deciding what to do next. I think I am going to finish my Twisted Flower Socks to get that UFO off my Ravelry page. It is nagging me, can you hear it too?














I am also in a year in review kind of mode. I thought I should get my act together during the Christmas break and organize my yarn. It is in various places throughout the house, including many, many knitting bags which are like little snapshots in time. You don't want to know how many knitting bags I keep. Won't tell ya.





However, in the interest of full disclosure, I took this photo. Brace yourself.





This is the extent of it, except for maybe one knitting tote which may have a skein or two.






















Now I do not plan on declaring a "knit from stash" kind of New Year's Resolution. I could not stick to that because I am going to Stitches in February and I like buying yarn. Sorry. I do. But I do plan being VERY choosy when contemplating a yarn purchase, meaning no more silly yarn or ordinary yarn unless there is a concrete project it is for. And I will try very hard to use yarn I already have when starting a new project. That should be easy because I have lots of good stuff.





I need to knit faster.





I ran across a lot of cotton from my crochet phase (lasted a month or two). I have never made a dishcloth that seems to be very popular, so I thought I would give my new rosewood needles a spin and I cranked out one today. Fun. Didn't use up much of the cotton stash. But I have a new dishcloth! I may also check out the market bag pattern I think is in the No Sheep for You book, or somewhere like that. Maybe it is destined to be a whole supply of market bags to help this family go green. Maybe.





Next post: Year in Review

Nolamom got the Hemlock Ring Blanket

Which is not really blanket-like, full of holes and kind of smallish. More like table topper thing. But it is beautiful!


































Gary liked his fingerless mitts and they fit fine.

Carey got a sock. Yes, one sock. And then she had to give it back so I could make the second one look like the first. True sister love when she didn't even bat an eye. Photos when they are done, which should be in a day or two. I have to quit the after Christmas shopping and dishes marathon for much knitting to happen.

Cindy got lots of knitting books, some fine sock yarn, and some beautiful rosewood needles. And a hint that something is backordered. Hmmm, what could Knitpicks have that is on back order? I'm hoping it is a harmonious little shipment....

What to knit next?

Actual Knitting Content

Yes, it is true. I have been knitting, and therefore neglecting the computer, and most definitely neglecting the photographing of the knitting.

But, it is a rainy day and things are starting to come together for these few things I am doing for Christmas. I don't have time these days to knit everything I want to for gifts, so I chose a few select smaller items.

First, for Gary, some Dashing fingerless mittens. Don't know if he will really want them, but he can always give them to Carey. Or just pretend. I'll never know. They were fun to knit. And they fit me really better than the ones I made myself last year.

Then, for Lisa, the black hat for her trip to England. She has promised to photograph it in a very cool location for blog purposes, but for now we will see it displayed on Alex's head. Sorry Lisa, but he did wash his hair this morning! As you can see, it is another Koolhaas Jared hat. Go Jared! Create more hats! Love them! I am a little tired of the crisscrossing thing though, since I did it about 3 billion times with black yarn, but that feeling will be a distant memory soon.

Now, there are a few more things on the horizon that I have not posted here yet, but will post some of them to ravelry. Sneaky that ravelry thing, being in beta and therefore easy to hide photos of presents from those not on ravelry. Anyway, if you want to see them, I'm yarnpaperscissor.

Recipe for Lisa

Here is the recipe for my cookies I made for the Good Things Cookie Exchange.

Cranberry Crackle Bars
By Cindy

6 cups tiny pretzel twists
2 T. packed brown sugar
½ c. butter, melted
2 c. dried cranberries
2 c. salted mixed nuts, coarsely chopped
1 c. white chocolate chips
1 c. granulated sugar
2/3 c. butter
2/3 c. light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a jelly roll pan with Pam. Combine pretzels, brown sugar and melted butter in food processor, pulse until mixture resembles crumbs. Press into pan and bake for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle cranberries, nuts, and chips over crust.

Combine granulated sugar, butter, and corn syrup in saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring constantly (this will take 5-10 minutes). Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and baking soda. Pour syrup evenly over cranberry nut layer.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until syrup is bubbly over entire surface. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes 60.

Store in airtight container. Can be frozen.

This is a modified recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Cookie Magazine from this year. I doubled the amount of syrup, chopped up the nuts, and made it in a bigger pan to make a thinner crust layer.

Yummy!

New Year Knitting

We celebrated the New Year here -


City of Alcatraz and

Lombard Street

It was very nice. Dined at Mooses and Joe DiMaggio's in North Beach (very good) and had ice cream with Maurice's Aunt Vera at Ghirardelli Square (soon to be a time share).

Yes, of course I went to Imagiknit. Could I pass that up? Here's the goodies I walked out with.

Some koigu for some socks, some hand dyed alpaca for something lucious (I thought the color combination was unusual and nice), some Debbie Bliss for Grace some mittens, some Noro Daria for a purse from Grumperina, and the cutest knitting needles with funky knobs on the ends. And some size 0 DPN's for good measure. And a little something I found for Tracy. Hmmm....

I had fun there.

I also knitted in the car, but still having trouble seeing the black giant sock. So I worked on my Lucy sock, and hooray, finished it! I will buckle down during good daylight and get the black sock done soon. Promise.

Then I have to do Lucy sock #2 and go back to the Trekking sock that needs a friend from before Xmas. THEN I can start something new. Next in line immediately are the mittens for Grace. She requested them, how could I say no? I should have done them for Christmas if I would have had an extra month that would have not have been a problem.

Speaking of Christmas, I forgot to tell about what Santa brought me--

Some Socks that Rock (I did mention that but here is the photo of the Rocktober colorway) and some new books. I LOVE knitting books. The cable book is by Melissa Leapman. I am taking her cable class at Stitches West. The Victorian Lace book author is going to be the opening speaker. I am counting the minutes until I am there.

What did you knit this weekend?