Knitting away

I don't have any pictures of my knitting progress this week as I have been knitting madly on gifts. I have almost finished 1/2 of one gift for my sister, and only need to do finishing work on the other gift. So I'm feeling pretty good about what I have accomplished in the past week.

We (my husband and 2 of the boys) braved the mall this past weekend. We went on Sat. and it wasn't nearly as crwded as I had expected. I'm sure it was much more crowded on the day after Thanksgiving. I feel pretty good about how much shopping we got accomplished. I think I am almost done with the gift buying. I only have stocking stuffers and a few small gifts to buy. While we were at the mall, we visited some jewelry stores to look for my 20th anniversary gift. Our anniversary isn't until June, but my husband likes to start early. Let's just say that what we found is big, beautiful and VERY sparkly!!!

Even though I love making Christmas gifts, I always find myself looking forward to the things that I will have time to knit in January when the Holiday hustle and bustle is over with. About a week ago I got a notice in my e-mail that they were taking sign-ups for the Rockin'Sock Club. I jumped right on that band wagon. I didn't act quick enough last year, and missed the whole show. It's always fun to get surprises in the mail, and I am very excited about this club. I love the colors and the feel of the STR yarn.

I have also been debating about joing another KAL. It's always fun and inspiring to see what other people in the KAL are using for fibers, and how their finished product looks. One of the KALs that I was thinking of joining is Cardigan for Arwen Along.

I love the cables down the front and around the hood. The only thing that I would like to change about this sweater is the lack of a buttons/zipper - it needs something to close it on a cold day. Although, when I think about it, I often leave my sweaters unbuttoned, so mabe it doesn't matter.

There are several projects from the Interweave Knits Winter2006 issue that I have been drooling over. I hope to be able to do at least one of them after Christmas - probably the Nanatucket Jacket. I really like the shaping at the waist of the sweater, and the shawl collar. I think I would probably knit it in a teal blue.

I really like the Provincial Waistcoat also, probably for the same reasons. It has alot of shaping at the waist, hem and neckline, and an interesting design.

These Cowgirl Socks would be fun to knit, and a nice small (and semi-affordable) project to do and experiment with Buffalo fiber at the same time.

Okay, enough daydreaming. I need to get back to my Christmas knitting.

Time for Christmas Knitting

I was raised to be the kind of person to make gifts. I can remember making pot scrubbers and aprons for my grandmothers for Christmas. One year I even made some kitchen curtains for my mother. To me it isn't really Christmas unless I make at least some of the gifts that I give to family and friends. And again, I have probably planned more gifts to make than I can realistically have time to finish. But what is Christmas unless you overplan? At least I am trying to keep the projects quick and simple for the most part.

The next issue to deal with, is how to post anything about a gift for someone who might just read your blog? My solution...........................

Yes, this is part of a mystery gift. The color is a good representation, the finished project will be shown after 12-25-06. I'm hoping that it will turn out really cute. I haven't seen a picture of it anywhere else in blogland.

My middle son modeled the next gift. It is a helmet liner to be sent to a nephew that is stationed in Iraq. My plan is to send it in a care package for him by Dec. 1. If anyone is interested in making these for the troops that are stationed overseas, you can find the pattern for knitting or crocheting them here, as well as instructions on where to mail them.

Isn't he cute? No, that is not blush on his cheeks. He just has Campbell Soup kid cheeks that are always pink.

My next post should have a picture of a finished tree hat for babies!

A very productive weekend...

I spent more time at my LYS on my last days off and managed to get some projects done. It seems like there is always someone that is having a baby, and hand made gifts are much more personal. So I worked on perfecting the baby hat and socks. I think I did better with the size of the socks this time, but the hat still seems a little big, especially on my model.


I think I would like to try some kind of hand-dyed/self-patterning yarn. I am ready for some variety. I am also thinking of making several sets of caps and socks in different colors, so that when someone is having a baby I can just pull it out of my stsh of gifts. Doesn't that sound like somthing a well-organized person would do? Or someone with some time on their hands?? Maybe this would be a better job to tackle after I get Christmas gifts made, do ya think?
I also managed to squeeze in some time to knit a few rows here and there on my Ivy sweater. I was almost done with the ribbing for the back when I stopped to take a look at my progress, and found that some of my cables were going the wrong way. My friend at the LYS rescued me and did surgery on the cables and fixed them for me. I think she felt pity for me when she saw the look of complete desperation on my face. Anyhoo, I am almost up to the armhole bind offs!! I think I will keep this as my background project to use for taking a break from knitting on Christmas projects. It sure is relaxing once you get past the ribbing.
I hope to have more progress to show on my next posting.