Christmas Knitting

Pam sent us a picture of the sweaters she knit, based on our patterns, for her grandsons for Christmas. They look terrific!

Pam added the "moose" motif which I gather were a great hit. I think she's started something, as they've requested teddy bears next!
-Lynda

Birthday Sox

I just had my birthday and I thought I'd share my Birthday Sox's from Deb.You might notice that they've been worn, natch, and are about to go into the wash.

I pretty much always get socks on my birthday from Deb, but it wasn't always that way. Well, it was for years, but one year Deb decided that I should learn to knit socks (now you need to remember, Deb is my older sister and the one who taught me to knit ... so, you get the picture). So, that birthday ... *gasp* ... no socks!!! I was devastated. So, while I may be stubborn (like my older sister, mmm?), I'm not stupid. I learned to knit socks. And guess what? Yup, socks started showing up again on my birthday. And, it's weird, I can easily knit myself socks and do as well, but somehow, it's those birthday socks I look forward to each year. Thanks Deb!

May you have a safe and happy holiday season,
- Lyn

Time for a holiday

I've finished the last Christmas hat and have one orange pom pom to make and that's all. Done, Over. Time to block a couple scarves and wrap 'em up.

Yesterday we had one last meeting for the Teen booklet before we go our separate ways for the holidays.

It was a little dark in the restaurant but I'm not complaining because they let us sit and knit for 4 hours. We did eat lunch too but that was totally an aside. These are the beginnings of 3 of the sweaters. My brown cardigan which you've seen, Bernice is working on a cabled hoodie and Dana is swatching for a tunic with a chevron pattern.

In January we are going to go hard at it because we will be ticking the days off on our 2 month deadline. Time for a break I think.

Today I'm officially declaring myself on holidays. No knitting for work is to ensue for 2 weeks. I'm having an awful time gearing up for this. I work at home and my knitting work surrounds me. It's beside my chair in the livingroom, it's beside my bed, under my bed and stacked up beside the computer. The temptation to just do one last little thing is very strong. It's not easy to ignore so today I put it all away. The Valentine sweater is away, the Teen project work is away, the beginnings of a sock book is away, the cross-over sweater I would like to reknit is away, my teaching gear is away. Not far away but in one pile under a bookshelf with a Do Not Look At sign on it. Now I need to switch my mind over to any projects I might like to knit just for fun. Hmmm.
-Deb

How's your Christmas knitting coming? I'm on a couple of the last items - the boyfriend list.

On the right is the crown of a brown hat for Lynda's boyfriend. It's chocolate brown, nice guy colour. I'm doing Lynda's pattern from the Need A HAT booklet, thought he might like that. The orange is for my daughter's boyfriend. He bought himself a 'old school' 3 wood (golf club) and would like an 'old school' cover for it. How can I resist such a request.

-Deb

It's a winter wonderland here. Just a couple days of snow and everyone's worries of a green Christmas are over. I walked home on Wednesday on the Lightfoot Trail. It was a bit of a slog as you can see, snow up to my knees. And I was almost properly dressed. I had wool socks on, 2 pairs of wool mittens, a wool neckwarmer and a wool hat. About half way down that stretch I was wishing I had thought to put my long johns on or at least had thought to wear my flannel lined jeans. It was a lovely day and a beautiful walk.

Yesterday was a bit of a family day for me. My dad came over and we put the wood panelling back on this wall. My mom walked over and made us lunch which was really nice. Because of water damage, we had removed the panelling in the spring. My husband and I had reshingled the roof in the summer and Tom came over and sealed up the last 2 places it was dripping. So now I think we're water-tight (my fingers are crossed). It's so nice to have it done. I still have to put up some trim but it's sure nice too look at wood and not plastic and pink insulation.

I got to some knitting in the evening.

Moving right along.

-Deb

I'm moving along with my Teen knit. It's a little hard to knit with my fingers crossed but I'm at the great divide now and had to take a run to the shop to collect a couple more skiens of wool.

There is some more knitting on this sweater on the program tonight.

Last night I made a mitten.

And this morning I started the second mitten. I had put in some short rows across the back of the hand and when I got to that point this morning I couldn't remember how often I had worked them. Last night I thought 'I'll remember how many rows I did'. HA, HA, HA, HA. What is it they say about us being our own worst enemy?! I don't know what I was thinking. I was being delusional. So... I ripped back so they were both at the same point and thought I would knit them both together. Have you ever done this?

Both the backs of the hand are on one circular needle and the palms are on a second. I tried knitting them this way for a bit and finally resorted to using a third circular needle, like knitting with 3 very long double pointed needles, which worked pretty good. They will match now but I must admit it's a bit awkward since I kept dropping the empty needle as it emptied (if that makes any sense).

They are drying now on my mitten dryer over the hot air vent.

-Deb

Step Forward

I'm stepping forward on a couple of projects now. The process of 1 step forward, 2 steps back, is pretty normal for me, not being an abstract visualizer I have to do it to see it. But it usually leads to something good and a giant step forward. I started up my scarf again and after aborting the Feather and Fan pattern after a couple of inches I've settled on the Dewdrop pattern (the blue Treasury of Knitting Pattern book).

Here's a closer look at the pattern. It's fairly easy to memorize and if I can just get the row beginnings worked out I will be able to do this without carrying the pattern around with me.

And now for my new Teen cardigan.

I'm pleased with the collar which runs into the Front Panels which will go down the entire length. Ignore the colour of the button. It was the only one I had at home which is the right size, nice and big.

That's the end of the first skein of wool. It's almost a garment already. A short capelet? A large neck cozy? I can see where it's going now. I'm sure there will be a couple more hurdles to get over but it's coming together.

-Deb