done with you

it seems a bit anti climatic now.   i am not sure what i was working on the last couple of weeks that prevented sharing of the FO's.  but it did.

the ridge cowl, purl soho

the cowl that never ends is DONE!  though i would have liked to have put it in a tub of soak to "bloom", my sweet friend was extremely anxious to have it keep her neck warm in the mornings.  so i let her.  and she loves it. she keeps it in her bag so she can whip it out at any given moment in order to wear it.  and i have to say, it looks great on her...

she wears it with a little more sass then in this picture, makes it a little more of her own.  however it is worn, it looks great and i am really pleased with how it came out.  the yarn is very light but warm and gives the cowl a lot of movement.  whenever she wears it i am  amazed at how great it looks.  but i will never make another one.

maybe i should qualify that by saying i love the pattern and i love the yarn, but i will never put them together again.  ever.

berroco foilo yarn, pearl and mount desert

the pattern called for a bulky yarn.  and though i like the movement this thinner yarn gives the cowl, i had my challenges with the yarn and the pattern as a unit.  i think if the yarn had been bulky the stitch pattern would have been easier to read and i would have been able to keep track better.  yet this yarn is so lovely!  lovely to work with and even lovelier to wear.  i still have a ball of each color way left over and i can't wait to figure out what i should use them for.

still, the cowl is done, my sweet friend loves it and i can move on to other knitting.

which i did.

neck and neck with finishing the cowl, i finished the first sock in the pair i am knitting for myself.  it is wonderful and i love it!

zig zag lace sock
colorway, nemo

the last couple of pairs of socks have been for the big guy and the best sister ever.  both pairs were short, sport type socks which means they were basically a few rows of cuff, an immediate heel flap and turn and then the foot of the sock.  just basic knitting.  i had forgotten how i love to knit socks with a lacy pattern.  something with a little interest and design.  especially when knit with a soft, squishy yarn, which makes it even more fun.

the pattern was one size fits all and i was concerned it would be a bit small, but it is really the perfect size.  i have already turned the heel and finished the gusset on the second sock.  which is very exciting since it means it is almost done.  which means i would then have a pair;  which means i can wear them!

the last thing i made was a baby hat.  i don't knit for babies but a friend of ours is having a baby in march and i thought it could use a hat or two.  so this is the first...

baby hat with top knot
sidar snuggly

this was a very quick knit.  it is easy to forget how small people are when they are born which makes their articles of clothing small.  as well as being easy and quick to knit.  hopefully she and the baby will like it.

my gauge was off a smidge on this one so it came out a little bigger than i planned.  i am thinking of knitting another hat that will be smaller.  different pattern, different gauge.

but it won't happen until next week, after the valentine knitting is done!

may i introduce to you...

the last couple of christmas' i have made hats for everyone in the girl house.  even the big guy, though he is a guy and technically doesn't live here.  last years hat was the vermonter, which was a very quick knit, considering i am the slowest knitter on the planet.

as i was wondering if i should continue with the hats for christmas tradition, the best sister ever made it quite clear she was expecting a hat for christmas.

that being said, i decided  it was going to be a slouchy hat.  i had been wanting a slouchy hat for awhile.  i had already started searching ravelry, favorite-ing quite a few slouchy hat patterns.  in the end, the pattern i chose for us came to me through a classic elite yarn email.  it was the fresco simple slouchy hat.   i saw it and knew it was the one.

hat for the best sister ever.  colorway, sea green

fresco refers to the classic elite yarn used.  i am not one for using the suggested yarn on a pattern, but i had also received an email from Webs which listed discontinued fresco yarn colors at 50% off.  the least i could do was take a peek.  plus, the yarn was a blend of wool, baby alpaca and angora.  so yummy.   there were three color ways listed i was willing to gamble on, a different color for each of us.  so i made the purchase, hoped the yarn would would be wonderful and arrive before christmas.

which it did, just barely.  and it was all shades of wonderful. soft and warm.  the colors were much richer than the online color swatches.  i loved it and i knew the girls would.  now i just needed to knit it up perfectly.  no pressure.

while knitting,  i was concerned others would not be as enamoured with a slouchy hat as i was.  or maybe they wouldn't like the yarn, or the color i had chosen for them.  so i just continued knitting.

hat for my sweet friend.  colorway, fern

though i missed the christmas deadline, i knitted all through christmas weekend.  my sweet friend kept asking what i was knitting.  i kept giving her vague answers.  and then the first hat was done.  this one was for the best sister ever.  and she loved it.  she thought it was the perfect hat.  she wears it all the time.  it is warm and she loved the color.  and she loves bragging to all that her sister knit it for her.  relief.

on to hat number two.  this one was for my sweet friend.  it happened to be the same colorway pictured on the pattern.  which is an ideal color for her.   it is beautiful.  though she is not prone to hats, she does wear this one.  she loves the color and rocks the style.  it looks great on her.  relief again.

my hat.  colorway, mallard blue

now on to the third hat, mine.  other than a technical challenge mentioned in an earlier blog, this hat is a dream.  i love the color.  it is a mixture of both blue and green, like the duck it is named after.  it is rich and jewel like.  and it slouches just the way i wanted it to.  i love it.

for the moment i am glad to be done with the hats. but even more, i am thankful for our silly little tradition.  i get to knit a bit of love for those i love while keeping heads warm during the cold winters. as well as bringing much joy and delight.  and that, after all, is the most important thing.