A Present for Me

You may recall a few months ago I was obsessed with the Kureyon Felted Bag over at Booga J's site. I resolutely put it to the back of my mind until the Christmas knitting was done. Guess what? Christmas is over (let's not ask about the DNA scarf, it is still in progress!). Tisha and I took a trip down to Seaport Yarns , which is a great yarn store inside of a Marketing firm's office. Great selection, even better prices I really loved it and I hope to go back very soon. Anyway the point is look what I came home with:



I am going to cast on as soon as I finish the aforementioned DNA scarf (have I mentioned I hate charts?). I can't wait...

Looky Looky what I got...

My best friend Maribel loves me, I mean she really loves me! Check out what she gave me for Christmas:

You can check it out in more detail at the designer's web site here.

It's really cool and beautiful. Very sophisticated looking. It has tons of room. I currently have the back of the hooded sweater made out of Thick and Quick yarn in it and I still have plenty of room. I wish the little slots for accessories were larger and easier to use, but the one for my cellphone is perfect. I am very very happy with it. It also came with the cutest size 6 bamboo needles. I just love short straight needles, not that I use them much but I think they look adorable!

She also put this inside:

It seems very funny, although I've only read the first few pages.

I finished all the presents I needed to just in time. I must work on the DNA scarf to give to my cousin next week when she gets back. I also have to put together the first baby blanket that we all made squares for. I then need to start my squares for the next one. This time the squares are only 3" x 3" and it is made with Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran so they shouldn't be much of a chore. Otherwise January will be devoted to the 3 sweaters I should have made for Christmas but didn't.

Hockey Knitting

I went to the Rangers Islanders game on Thursday. I am very happy to say the Rangers won! I am also happy to say that I finished the hat I was working on. It was something of a watchcap style for one of my co-workers. I did it in LB's Chunky USA which knits up softer than you would expect. I worked on it all through the game and finished the decreases when I got home.

The next day I was violently ill. I thought it was food poisoning but in the end I was running a very high fever, so maybe it was the flu. I was certainly achy enough once the stomach problems subsided. I was too weak to sit up so all I did was lay in bed, read and sleep. I couldn't even hold my needles.

Yesterday I felt much better so I cast on for a London Beanie, for my other co-worker. I wanted the thinner style hat to fit under his motorcycle helmet. He rides in everyday. It was this Sayelle Acrylic in a camouflage color that I had been trying to use for years. It is absolutely perfect for him. I finished it last night. I am about to cast on for the scarf for my boss. I am very torn about how complicated to make it. I was thinking of a Seaman's Scarf but I googled around and frankly I am not crazy about the style of that scarf in any of it's incarnations. I am thinking about this one Cameron's Scarf from this year's Knitlist Gift Exchange but since it must be done by Tuesday morning I am thinking I need something quick and easy. So we'll see which side of the fence I land on.

I got a bit of a reprieve on the DNA scarf which is the only reason I am allowing myself even the possibility of a another semi-challenging scarf. The intended recipient is away for the holidays and I won't see her until after new year. So I can focus on the toddler cap and one more skinny scarf made from Wool Spun this time. Those have to be done by Thursday.

I was devastated last night to discover, as I was 3 /4 s through the second mitten I was making, that I did not have enough yarn. I have never made mittens for men and completely misjudged how much I would need. It is nearly a full ball but I had used some for stripes in the mittens I made for my youngest last year. I was absolutely livid! Thankfully my much more even tempered husband told me to just rip them out and make a hat and so I shall.

Of course I was still too angry and disappointed in the yarn to pick it up again right away so instead I cast on for the Homespun Skinny Scarf was posted to the Knitlist. I am making it for one of the students who work for us here in our office. Tisha is making a scarf for the other student. I am about half way already so I hope to finish tonight and then I will cast on for the hat.

I've Got Pictures

I finally got up off my lazy ass and uploaded some pictures from my camera. I figured out awhile ago how to get pictures onto the blog but sitting down and loading them onto the PC from my camera, resizing them etc., was just beyond my energies recently. But finally, drumroll please, here is the muff...



and showing part of the inside...

"

So what do you think? I must thank my son Avery for being a model!

I finished one more mitten. I'm trying to work on my son's sweater as my weekend rule says I must, but this Cotton Thick and Quick is very hard on the hands so I may switch off to some smaller projects as well. I want to add a kangaroo pocket to the sweater but I think I need to do a little research to figure ou the best way. Next time I will just buy the Wonderful Wallaby pattern and not stress myself, but there was a great sale on this yarn.

11 days until Christmas

This was like the lost weekend. You would think that with the blizzard I would have gotten tons of knitting done. Alas it was not to be. I didn't even finish the second homespun hat until yesterday. How pathetic is that. Let's not even discuss that today is the first time I am even looking at my blog! I cast on again for my son's sweater, you may recall that I decided to work on sweaters exclusively on the weekends, but all I completed was the ribbing on the bottom of the back piece. Today I took the last pair of mittens with me for commuter knitting and hockey knitting. I am going to the Ranger game tonight and hoped to get some good knitting time in. The problem with that is forgot to bring the larger needle points that I must switch to once I finish the cuff. Damn!

Yet another unproductive day....

16 days until Christmas

I finally got it together and finished the muff and wrote out the pattern. I posted it to the Knitlist this morning but for my few faithfuls out there I thought I should post it here as well. I am hoping to have pictures up over the weekend so you can see just how adorable it actually is! Everyone who has seen it loves it and I have had requests to make some for more gifts (I said not until next year!). This one also attracted a lot of attention while I was KIPing. I had quite a few people comment on it on the subway. So I am feeling pretty damn good about my first original design....

Headband

1 ball of bulky yarn (A) (I used LB's Jiffy)
1 ball of Lion Brand Fun Fur (B)
Size 10 1/2 (US) needles
Gauge: 5 stitches = 2 1/2"
If you want to check your gauge bear in mind that your are casting on double the amount of stitches that you want.
For example for the headband I wanted it to be about 5" wide so that would be 10 stitches, therefore I cast on 20.

Cast on 20 stitches with yarn A.
Attach yarn B with slip knot.
Knit the first stitch on the needle with A. Purl the next stitch with B.
Continue until the end of the row.
At the beginning of the next row twist the 2 strands together so you don't have a gap.
Knit with B and purl with A.
Continue until it is the length you want. I did mine to 23" for an 11 year old girl.
I was a bit concerned about the elasticity of the fun fur, so I then added a small tab to sew velcro onto. Bind off all fun fur stitches only. Continue to knit st st for an inch or so more.
Bind off.
Weave in ends. Sew velcro onto the flap and the other side of the band.


Muff


1 ball of bulky yarn (A).
1 ball of Lion Brand Fun Fur(B).
Size 10 1/2 needles.

Cast on 80 stitches with A.
Knit in the same manner as above.
Continue until piece measures 11'' (or desired length)
When binding off I knit A and B together with A and then I bound them off.
Weave in ends. Sew seam.

I got the double knitting technique from here http://knitting.about.com/library/bldoubleknit.htm so if this is at all unclear you may want to look there for clarification.

So let's see where we are at the end of the holiday weekend. I completed 2 more gifts. The Fun Fur headband and a pair of mittens (made with LB Wool Ease Chunky). The Fun Fur handband came out beautifully and I am now working on the matching muff. The double knitting does work very well but I was a bit concerned about the elasticity of the band so I knit a 2" end piece in just the Jiffy yarn to put some velcro on. I think this will be helpful particularly since I was using my son's head for measurement instead of the young lady it is meant for. The only weird thing was the fact that the reverse side is what shows. Typically when I have done double knitting I have 2 sides of stockinette. This time I have a side with reverse stockingette and the fuzzy side which you can't tell at all but is reverse as well. I think it must be something about the Fun Fur, and the way it comes through the piece. It's fine though because the Jiffy side was always meant to be the wrong side anyway.
The mittens worked out ok after all the gauge issues. I had really hoped to finish a second pair before the end of the weekend, but I think I was mittened out. So I moved on to the muff last night during Alias, and that is coming along nicely. I think I will work on the remaining small gifts during the week and start working on the sweaters on the weekends when I have longer uninterrupted periods of knitting.

I have to admit to being a bit proud of myself because a lot of my Christmas stuff this year is being made with stash yarn, even if just in part. The Jiffy has been waiting around for 3 years for a project, as has this green camoflage Sayelle that I am using for a co-workers hat. They both came from an Ebay purchase I made when I first picked up knitting again, and as I went along I got a bit pickier about yarn so they were relagated to the bottom of the pile. The mittens were made with some leftovers from last Christmas as will the second pair. All in all I'm pretty happy, and my husband is quite impressed!

I am sending off my hat to Christina at Knitting Goddess #9, for her Hat-a-thon. I had the first hat I ever made still sitting in my stash as it was really too small, but it should be perfect for a child.

I have also joined Alison at the Blue Blog in the Holiday Gift Along. I am hoping it will help motivate me when my enthusiasm is waning. So far so good!

You'll notice I now have a link for comments, man ain't I moving up in the world. Now about those pictures....