Monday, January 07, 2008

maybe next year

a funny thing happened this past holiday season. the moment christmas was over, everyone told me what they would like me to knit for them. my cute husband wanted a hat; the big guy wanted a scarf and my sweet friend wanted leg warmers. i smiled, nodded my head and thought, where were these suggestions in november?

and instead of telling them better luck next year, i dove into my stash. and then i looked for patterns.

i found my cute husband's hat pattern on ravelry by cheryl niamath of fetching's fame. in honor of the movie, the life aquatic with steven zassou, and jacques cousteau, she designed the zassou hat. this was to be knitted from a worsted weight yarn. but since i was knitting from my stash and had GOBS of misti alpaca suri silk in hematite, colorway 404, i used two strands of this along with a strand of frog tree sportweight alpaca in teal, color 64. the hat is a snap and came out pretty well. the only challenge was in a moment of confusion i cast on 122 stitches instead of the 112 the pattern called for so the decreases were a little wonky. since the hat it a 1x1 rib, i did not notice the mistake until i realized my decreases were a little off. but it all worked out and he loves it, brags about it and wears it.


for the big guy's scarf i thought i would knit him the purl scarf from last minute knitted gifts. it is a mixture of three weights of yarn, knitter's choice in a 1x1 rib. so once again working with the misti alpaca and leftover frog tree, i added cascade yarns baby alpaca chunky, in turquoise colorway #560, to match the feather in his fedora, and off i went. except the 1x1 rib did not do justice to the yarns, so i adapted the pattern from the misti alpaca ruffle scarf. i added a repeat and fringed the end instead of ruffled the end. and it came out well and he likes it much more than i thought he would and actually wears it.

my sweet friend's legwarmers on the other hand are going to take some time. since she is a dancer, she wants them up to the knee or above and with a band that goes around the foot, a la mac and me's yoga socks. berroco just released a sock book featuring their new sock yarns which had a pattern much like this, but i am not sure i feel like spending $17 for a book of 9 sock patterns. so i will keep searching. she knitted a pair of legwarmers as a christmas present for her best friend out of ggh aspen. it was a quick and dirty knit so i may try and adapt that somehow.

in the meantime, here is a picture of my second jo sharp urban beanie out of her silkroad ultra. this past fall i decided i really did want a hat that matched the surgery shawl/poncho i knit last winter. what a geek. i do love it though. it keeps my head nice and toasty, cozy warm.

maybe next year they will actually answer when i ask them if they would like anything knitted for christmas. there is always hope!

and by the by, i made my sweet friend crepes as a thank you for being the semi-willing hat model.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

may your days be merry and bright

yes, i know it is a line from a christmas song but i saw my hand writing it when signing a card and heard my voice saying it when wishing someone well. what was i to do?

and so on this first day of this new year, i wish the very best for you and yours. may all your days be merry and bright.