What’s nerdier than a knitted Cthulu dice bag?
A knitted Star Trek dice bag!
The floats were a lot longer so I had to line it.
Some of my best, most even knitting is on the inside of thisbag. It’s a shame really.
I knit these for my former DM and a fellow player. My husband is jealous, so I suppose I’ll have to knit him one next.
I finished my mom’s scarf last night. I used the Loopy and Luscious pattern from Knitty. It doesn’t take long to knit one at 2.5 rows an inch.
Try as might, even in noon sun, I can’t capture how this looks lit up. The gold shimmers in the sun and the purples and burgundies play off each other beautifully.
I even resorted to flat, ugly flash photography to try and capture the colors. It’s not a pretty picture of the stitches, but the closest I can get to the colors.
Just posting about my new yarn was all I needed to actually wind it up and get knitting.
Brainless knitting, perfect for during the school semester. It’s all in the yarn.
When I was in Connecticut I had the pleasure of going to Mystic River Yarns. What a cute shop! I bought a few mugs, one for myself an some for friends. I also bought some Jojoland and Regia. But the real find was Ellyn Cooper’s Yarn Sonnets. It’s a local yarn to CT.
This is a mohair blends with a matching ribbon yarn. The ribbon has flecks of gold in it. My mom picked this out, they’re not really my colors. I’m going to use them to make a scarf similar to the Scribble Scarf. Maybe this one!
These are for me! I love this yarn! I’m trying to decide if I want to hold them together or alternate. The store had similar yarn worked up with just a simple garter stitch stole, four rows in mohair and four rows in the wool. Lovely!
My favorite! It’s called Touch of Silver. It’s 95% Llama and 5% Spun Silver. I wish you could see in the picture how sparkly it is in real life. And it’s llama! The softest llama I’ve ever felt. I have no idea what to do with it. Maybe a cowl? I have about 450 yards and it’s worsted. Or maybe I will just leave it in a bowl on my coffee table!
I seem to have hit a knitting rut, if that’s the right word for it. I haven’t knit a stitch in over 5 weeks (and I left that on a plane) and I’m not particularly bothered by it. I don’t know if knitting was more therapeutic than I thought and I don’t need it right now or if I’m actually depressed and don’t realize it. Then there’s option 3, which is most likely, after over 2 years working in a yarn shop I’m a little burnt out. I’m still looking at magazines and patterns, still lusting over hand dyed yarns, so I know I’ll find my way back to it. Maybe I’ll start by casting off the sweater sleeve that’s been languishing for over a month on the needles.
My books finally came! One of my two favorite designers, Ysolda Teague, has two pattern books available (Jared Flood is my other favorite, if you care), they are Whimsical Little Knits 1 & 2. I have been lusting after them for some time, but was contenting myself with various digital downloads. Well, when she pledged 50% to MSF it was the final push I needed to splurge. The instructions are so clear and well written and the patterns are too cute. I’ve already started the Peak Island Hood. I saw this pattern and knew I had to knit it. I must be in love because it took about 14 inches before I realized the bulk of knitting is basically a seed stitch scarf.
I’m just about to start the hooded section, I’m hoping to finish the entire thing in time to wear to the Snowfest. I like to view my ice sculptures in style. As soon as this is finished (probably a bit before that, honestly) I will cast on for Ripley. Those slouches on the side are knit into the hat! So creative!
On a sadder note, my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer a few months ago and I went into a knitting frenzy and knit her almost a dozen hats. Well, she cut her hair off a couple days ago and is now wearing a hat constantly.
I designed this especially for her: 
I used a stitch dictionary for the leafy edge, then seamed it and picked up for the hat. Easy, shneazy. I just looked at Ravelry and found a similar one, so I don’t think I’m going to write up a pattern like I originally intended. Bummer.
All of my gifts fit! What a relief. I forgot my camera, so I had to wait for my mom to e-mail me her pictures before I could post these.
What a happy family! We didn’t group together very well, but I still like this picture of all of us.
My nephews enjoyed their stockings. After they were empty, Ben thought he was supposed to wear them as actual stockings.
Beth loved that her scarf was so long (oops), my brother nodded when he tried his sweater on (which is about the best approval I could have hoped for), and my mom’s sweater fit along with her hat. My brother is happy he finally has a sweater with long enough sleeves.
You may notice that my Beth’s slippers aren’t on here. To say they didn’t felt very well is quite an understatement. They needed so much felting to get to the right length, they ended shrinking to about an inch in thickness. Bah. Also, Torrential Teal Lamb’s Pride is VERY runny. After an hour and a half in the washer they were still turning the water blue. I’m going to make her another pair out of something that holds it’s dye a bit better.
I am so proud of these stockings I could cry. They blocked out so nicely and they’re a great size. They’re filled with toys now, which makes them all lumpy and misshapen. Also, you may have noticed that there aren’t any names on them. I’m going to try to embroider them with my mother’s help on Christmas. The dupe stitch did not work with the letters very well, it was lumpy and hard to move vertically with a nice neat back.
I worked on my Destroyed Cowl when my fingers needed a break from the Fair Isle. Ravelry Link to Pattern is Here. I made it with the beautiful silver Lustra from Berroco. I was nervous about dropping the stitches through the Kitchener, but everything works out flawlessly and when I tried to show my husband where the seam was, I couldn’t find it. Success!
I don’t remember how, but I stumbled upon a technique called the Bickford Seam here. I can’t wait to try it on something. I’m not sure what project I have coming up that will be a good match for it, though.
I’m working on my cousin’s Christmas present, the Vixen Camisole from Sensual Knits (one of my favorite knitting books). When I googled the pattern I stumbled across this preview. It doesn’t have the whole book, but it has the pattern for the Vixen, so there you go. I’m done with the lace, just have the ribbed top left, plus sewing in the ribbon straps.
Now I just have my dad’s hat left.
It is finished! I am relieved, I had to force myself to hunker down and just knit the crap out of it. Those pockets are really a knitting time suck. I love i now that it’s done and wish somebody would knit one for me. It’s the perfect length for sticking your hands in when your fingers get chilly. The yarn is Misti Alpaca Tonos Worsted and it truly is a beautiful yarn. Pattern Here.
This slipper marks one gift from the end of my Christmas knitting. It’s the toe from the French Press Slipper and I love them. They knit up in a couple of hours and that was the largest. I made this pair for my sister-in-law and will felt them on Christmas so I can make sure they fit her well. When I am done with a couple more projects I will make myself a pair. My last Christmas project is a hat for my dad, he wants it to match his scarf from last Christmas. It was a LotR scarf with Elvish script, he wants the hat to spell out his name. I’ll have to dig out my graph paper soon and get charting.
I skipped out on some of my other WIPs so I could whip a stocking out for my nephew. I made another one in green back in September and gave myself a break before I started the second one. Since I’ve taken this picture I finished the whole thing. After I dupe stitch their names into them I will post a picture of both of them finished up. It’s a Maggie’s Rags pattern, there are three fair isle patterns.
If it’s true that you can tell your skill at fair isle by how well your insides look, I must admit I’m pretty happy with my innards. I knit with the stocking inside out to keep the floats looser. I carry in one hand, not both, with one color over my forefinger and one over my thumb. I know there are quicker ways to get there, but my hands get better results this way.
I was knitting the stocking on Pretty Darn Needles and the jury is still out on them. I think they need a better trial than fair isle worsted on a US 4, maybe try something I would normally knit on a US 4. I love the feel of them and the points are sharper than I’m used to on wood. Plus, they’re pretty and made in Vermont.
The scarf is sitting just about where it was the last time I posted, I’m trying to get my heart into it because it’s a shop sample and NEEDS to get done. I just can’t stay motivated. My Annetrelac sock has a turned heel and the gusset decreases are finished, now I’m just going around and around 72 stitches on US 0 needles. Yawn. I also started a Koolhaus hat from Jared Flood, but I’ve only completed the ribbing so it’s hardly worth a photograph yet. I don’t know how I’ve made it so long in my life as a knitter without a proper US 7 16″, but I have.
