Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Gift Knits

Happy Holidays to you all!



My Christmas knitting for 2007. I made dishrags/washcloths from the Sugar N' Cream cotton yarn on size 7 (4.5mm) needles. Lots of fun to make, especially with all of the color combinations. Some of the colors are so loud that they might induce headaches, but from afar, they're very cheery.


With the same cotton yarn, I made mitered square coasters. The idea came from a Ravelry search which lead me to Drip. Differing from the original pattern, I used much thicker yarn (not sock yarn) and didn't add any fringe. Ok, this is why my attention span became so short over the past few weeks. It only took me about an hour or two to cast-on and then bind-off for one 4 inch by 4 inch coaster. Practically instant gratification. For a while, just the thought of tackling my frogged sweater was daunting.


The total count: 10 dishrags/washcloths (my aunt has turned them into trivets, so that's another use for them) and two sets of coasters

I've gotten positive responses so far from the recipients. I hope they do enjoy them! Time for me to sit back, relax, and enjoy a cuppa!





Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Unfocused

Although I haven't posted any knitting pictures lately, I've been churning out some neat things. Well, my little project started off fun, but it's getting old. Knitting is supposed to nurture patience and put you into a zen-like mode. Throw Christmas knitting into the mix and all that just goes out the door! Right now, I have the attention span of a gnat. The deadline (Christmas day) is looming and the pressure is on to finish! I'm not making anything difficult, it's just becoming repetitive and tough to stay focused on one thing.

I'd like to work on my Boatneck sweater from Fitted Knits. A few weeks ago, I cast on for the smallest size and worked a few inches from the top. Tried it on and it's too boatnecky for me. It's practically off the shoulder. So, I've frogged it and need to rejigger the math the take a few inches off at the neckline. I'm wondering if I should use smaller sized needles to work the neckline, like size 5s or 6s. I'm using 8s to get gauge, but I'm thinking it might help to use 5s for the garter stitch border to "shrink" it inwards and make it lay flat, then switch to 8s for the rest of the sweater. Any opinions? Deduct a few inches from the neckline and use smaller needles? Or just use smaller needles with the original printed number of stitches for the border?

Anyway, I don't have much time to work on the sweater now. Actually, I should say I don't have time to re-think the pattern now. If I could just follow the pattern without custom fitting it, I could probably work on it and my gift knitting simultaneously.

It's a busy time of year, but I am having a good time with friends and family. I don't mean to sound like I'm totally stressed out about prezzie knitting. Although I've integrated knitting into my lifestyle, my time isn't solely for knitting (and work). Especially now, Simon and I are making time for holiday parties, seeing A Christmas Carol and The Hard Nut, having dinner with friends, etc. Koobideh kabobs! Yum!

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Candy Colors

I stopped by the big craft store to buy one ball of Sugar and Cream cotton yarn. Just wanted to try out a simple pattern for the kitchen. Well, my eyes were dazzled by all of the candy colors and the $2 price tag. See, I haven't come across cheap yarn like this in a while, so...



I bought one of each solid color in the bins. $12 for days of fun. My sock yarn costs more than that. When the time is right, I will post pictures of what I'm madly churning out with this cotton. Slipped stitch patterns, mitered square things...