Sunday, December 28, 2008

December Knitting

It was a busy month. Since funds were in short supply, I decided to do some Christmas knitting.

I made these for three of my nieces....

Sweetheart Bag for Audrey

Sweetheart Bag in Lavendar

I found this pattern and thought this would make a cute bag for two of my nieces. I made a larger one for Audrey, which in the picture looks a little wonky, but came out quite nice. The pattern is by JanKnit Designs and can be found for free on her blog.

Sweetheart Bag for Leah

Sweetheart Bag in Pink

Leah's, knit to pattern spec, came out quite cute as well. Both were knit using Cascade 220.

Fingerless Lace Mitts for Kaitlin

Fingerless Lace Mitts

When I was in Idaho, I went to the local yarn store with my MIL Sharon and SIL Kelli. I asked Kelli what colors the girls liked, and found a skein of Brown Sheep Wildfoote that Kaitlin might like. Searching through Ravelry, I found this pattern by Monica Jines. Luckily, I had purchased this pattern previously, and they came out great. When I have time, I want to do a pair for me!

Stella for Mom

Stella for Mom

The pattern is from Luxury Yarn One Skein Wonders - one of my favorite series so far. I found some Bernat yarn in my stash in a color I knew Mom would like. It only took a couple days to knit up, the pattern repeat was an easy one to remember. She loved it!

Other things I knitted in the last month.....

Chemo Cap in Sky

Knit Picks Shine Chemo Hat - Sky 2/06

This is a picture of one I did a couple of years ago, but they look the same. This pattern is from Knit Picks, and it is another in an ongoing charity project I have been working on. I completed this on our way home from Idaho.

Funky Little Sack

Funky Little Sack

I thought the name fit. It came out much better than I thought. I didn't use a pattern, instead I'm calling this free form knitting. The beads were purchased at Joann's, as was the yarn which is Bernat Felting Natural Wool.

Half of Starry Starry Night

Starry, Starry Night

My MIL mentioned that she liked these socks. I had knit a pair earlier this summer for someone else. Best of intentions and all that, I finished one in time for Christmas with an IOU for the other after the holidays. I wanted to get the gifts for the girls done, so that took priority. Mom's scarf was started on the trip down to LA, and finished while I was there. Hopefully, I will cast on #2 tomorrow.

Well, that's it for my projects for this year. I hope all of your had a happy holiday with your family and friends. Mom was very happy to have us home for the holidays and we were able to spend some time with friends, which happens far too infrequently.

My best wishes to your and yours for the coming New Year. May it bring hope and prosperity to us all.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

A Little Malabrigo

It is amazing what you can do with one skein of Malabrigo. I give you Fetching.....

Fetching in Malabrigo

and Chainlink.....

Chain Link in Malagrigo

Fetching is from knitty.com, but Chainlink is mine. I will post the pattern here soon, so check back.

The colorway is Charrua. I really like it.

When you forget your slippers - knit socks

I was going to bring slippers with me to Idaho, but I forgot. So, I knit a pair of house socks in, like, two days.

Watercolor House Socks

I am not ashamed to admit that I use Red Heart. For things like this, it's wonderful. I can throw them in the wash and not have to think twice. Worn over a pair of knitted wool socks, the feet are toasty warm. And in the long run, they are cheaper than slippers.

Blue & Grey Basic Sock

Regia Basic Sock

What is better for mindless travel knitting than a basic sock? These are made with Regia and I knit them on US 0's - they are the densest socks I have ever knit! They took forever - for me. Now to figure out what I can wear them with.

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Thunderstruck

AC/DC Dec 2, 2008

AC/DC

AC/DC Dec 2, 2008

In Oakland.

AC/DC Dec 2, 2008

And Angus can still bring the f 'in house down.

AC/DC Dec 2, 2008

And Brian isn't so bad either! To borrow a quote from my sister-in-law - Wicked Awesome. Couldn't hear a damn thing for over an hour, but I would do it again in a heart beat.