Friday, December 30, 2005

Aprés Christmas 2005 . . . . .

Christmas was wonderful!!! My aunt loved her hand knit socks to keep her footsies warm! My dad loves his soft wool/flax scarf . . . See?? He's smiling!! Holding it up and admiring it! It was so tough not being able to post it on here until AFTER the holidays! He even asked if I was putting it out there beforehand . . . HA!

And it was certainly a knitter's Christmas! My niece got me some Koigu at Stitches last summer, and managed to not say a word until after I'd opened the gift!

And now, an update - the sassy striped socks are finished, my needles (yes, ALL of them!) were empty, so I started on last summer's dyed sock yarn. Below is a shot of some new lacy socks in progress:

The pattern will continue on the top of the foot. I remember when I first dyed the yarn and how it positively screamed "GREEN!" But now that it's being knitted, more of the beautiful shades of blue are more obvious. Can hardly wait to see these finished. Just hope they don't turn my feet the same color my hands were when we dyed the wool!!

So - today, 30 Dec 05, was a quiet one at the office. I did what I could and left around 2:15 to head homeward . . . . but somehow the Weaving Department at Meyers House beckoned and I had to swing by there. There's still those two balls of lace weight yarn we dyed last summer, and I'm "dying" to try a lace shawl in that! So I got the Fiber Trends Pacific Northwest shawl pattern below. Then, out of the blue (or, red?). . . . a wonderful "Foxy" brilliant red yarn called to me. It has fringes in red and other strange tags of stuff on it and when knit looks like a bright feather boa. HAD to have that!!! So, my Christmas cash was spread a bit today (see my stained glass blog for more "spreading of the Christmas cash!").
















Hope your Christmas was everything you hoped for and more, that your handmade gifts were opened with glee and the lucky recipients know the time and love that went into each article!

Friday, December 23, 2005

Naughty or Nice Knitter??

It may be a tiny bit contrived, but I received the following notice:

Christmas Naughty or Nice List

I am on the The Nice Knitter List

After checking the North Pole database I had :

1,550 nice entries
83 naughty entries
Check your name on the Christmas Naughty or Nice List at JokesUnlimited.com

I am sure it has something to do with the fact that every knitting needle in my possession is now entirely empty! Yes, I managed to complete EVERYTHING that was started, and get to begin again after Christmas! I finished the gift scarf, the second of the sassy stripes socks, my own mohair scarf, nine of the twinkley, tiny eyelash scarves, and a bunch of other stuff. I know Niece Wendy has a nice, clear, concise list on her blog of completed projects. I am not so organized as all that. Perhaps next year . . . .

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a Happy Knitty New Year!

~Blu

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Yes, There IS Knitting Going on Here!

I finished and blocked my gift scarf (made the house smell like wet dog somehow - or perhaps wet sheep?) and finished the blue lacy pain in the a*@! scarf I've been agonizing over for the last few weeks. It came out beautiful!! Now I'm working to finish the last half of the last sassy striped sock and then will have to move on to something entirely new. Figured I'd try and start the new year with clean needles!

Hope all your projects are done on time for the holidays, that they finish up easily, look magnificent, and bring warmth, happiness, and awe from your friends and families! Merry Christmas all you knitters!

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Bad Knitting Blogger!



Ok - I know you're thinking I haven't done a single thing new in ages! Well - you'd be WRONG! Been so busy knitting, haven't had much time to blog. So, here's what I can say - I've knitted a few more sparkley scarves, one not so sparkley one for a Christmas present (so, obviously, can't be shown here), and have been fighting (yes, fighting) with a lace patterned scarf in a beautiful mohair yarn. I swear, I started this thing about eight times and the subsequently ripped it out again before it finally started going right (as if my nimble fingers had ANYTHING to do with mistakes!). Then I'd knit a while, count stitches, and find one had been lost along the way. So, rip out again, correct it, back to knitting. Seems I've worked on this thing forever - but has honestly only been about a week and a half.

Neice Wendy suggested "life lines" be put in where I know the pattern's right so I don't have to rip out to a spot before that. AND - she thinks I have finally found a pattern that is up to my difficulty level. Comforting. Right!