2011 Christmas Present for Mom

I tried very hard to get my mom's socks done in time for Christmas but I didn't quite make it.  So, I wrapped up the finished sock plus the half-finished sock with the needles still in it and promised to finish the second sock before Christmas 2012.  Feb. 2012 is pretty good, I think, and since she lives in Iowa, she'll still get plenty of wear out of these this winter.


Pattern:  Serpentine Socks from Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy Johnson

Yarn:  Plymouth Worsted Merino Superwash Kettle Dyed, color 1007


Notes:  The pattern called for sport weight yarn but I found that it knit up quite well in this worsted weight yarn.  Normally, I use fingering weight yarn for socks but I knew I would not have enough time to finish a pair of socks at that gauge.  They certainly knit up quickly!

A waste of perfectly good panic

After completely freaking out about the Christmas deadline, I went and finished a couple of gifts lickety-split. I feel a little silly now for panicking.

Mom's socks:


Pattern: On-Hold from Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy Johnson with two stitches removed from either side of the central pattern for fit.

Yarn: Socks that Rock lightweight, Jasper colorway

Needles: Addi Turbo size 0

These were not as much fun to knit as my sister's socks. I think because the yarn was so stiff and I was knitting them on smaller needles. They feel great as socks, though, and they're slightly small for me which means they'll be perfect for Mom. I've decided I'm not a huge fan of Socks that Rock, though, which I think might be sacrilege in some circles.

For nephew B:


Pattern: Oh Balls! from Ravelry

Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in Lime, Maize, and Cherry

Needles: US size 5 dpns

These knit up so quick I could see that they could become addictive. It was a really satisfying project and I have decided that I really like working with Cotton-Ease. These balls will be just the right size for a toddler to throw and since they are stuffed with poly fiberfill, they're not going to do any damage. Conceivably, they could knock over something very lightweight but that's about it. These will be going with the braided ball I made and a stuffed Mickey Mouse from Disneyland. So, I'm all finished with my gift for nephew B.

AND, I started a Red Scarf!


The guilt got to me. I really felt I should do a charity project for the holidays and they really need scarves for this charity so I sucked it up and started a scarf. I'm using Cascade 220 and just winged the pattern--seed stitch with an 8 stitch cable in the middle. I'm cabling every 8 rows. It's been going pretty fast, I've got 46 inches so far. With just 14 more inches to go to meet the suggested length, I think I'll be able to send it out on time. I'm really liking the Cascade 220--so much better than the wool-ease!

So, I've got two Christmas gifts completed and a charity project almost done. Not bad for the first of December!

Dusting off the old blog

I'm probably not on anyone's blogroll anymore, so I'm not sure why I'm bothering, but it suddenly seems like a good idea to dust off ye old knitting blog and talk about knitting.

First, a little bit about what I've been doing. I finally finished all of my research and am in the middle of (slowly) writing my thesis. After almost 3 years of living apart from DH, John, (he was in CA and I was in Chicago) I moved to Pasadena because there was no reason for me to stay in Chicago while writing. Then, John started a job at the NASA lab, Ames (coincidentally the name of the town in Iowa next to the town I grew up in), and so we moved to the SF Bay area a couple weeks ago.

So, here I am with time on my hands (because I'm having trouble keeping myself working on my thesis because it is boring as hell) so I figured, "Hey, I could write on the knitting blog again." So, here I am.

I've been keeping track of some of my knitting projects on Ravelry (my rav name is e-beth in case you want to look). My current project is a pair of socks for my sister, M. They're a Christmas present. Last year's Christmas present. I bought Wendy Johnson's Socks from the Toe Up and I'm doing the Diagonal Lace Socks (Ravelry link) pattern using TOFUtsies. According to Ravelry, I started on them in August, but it doesn't seem like it was that long ago. Probably because I got most of the first sock done, decided it was far too loose, and started over with smaller needles (size 1).* I've been working on that sock for about a week and I've already got the foot and part of the leg done. Now, I'm slightly worried that the foot could be too small. M's feet are slightly bigger than mine and these socks fit me pretty nicely, but I think there is room for stretching (if not, I'll get them back from her, take out the toe and extend it, but I think it's going to be okay). I haven't decided how tall to make them, yet. I divided the yarn into two halves before I started so I can keep knitting until I run out of yarn if I want, but I probably won't do that since I don't like very tall socks (and neither does M, I think).

At any rate, here are a couple pix from this weekend:


And the Ravelry project notes are here.

I'm also working on a purse for a little girl, but I don't have any pix for that, so I think I'll save it for later.

So, that's it for now. No guarantees I'm going to be particularly regular about blogging, but I'm feeling the urge to talk about my knitting these days, so I'll probably keep it up for a little while anyway.

*Actually, the first time I started the sock, I started the large size and that was WAY too big so I ripped it out and sized down to the medium. To get gauge, I needed to use size 2 needles, but those turned out to be too big. It was one of those situations where you got gauge but somehow it was coming out the wrong size. That's when I switched to the size 1 needles and started over again.

Holiday Knitting

*Kristen over at Procrastinating in Pittsburgh just had to put to sleep a beloved pet. Go give her some love.

My family is celebrating Christmas early this year. On the 15th, actually. Needless to say, this is not conducive to knitting gifts. It is, in fact, really the opposite of the ideal scenario for a knitter. Ideally, if your family isn’t going to celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25, then a knitter much prefers it to be celebrated later. After New Year’s maybe. Certainly not 10 days early in any case!

Unfortunately, while I knew my family was celebrating Christmas early this year, that fact did not connect to what my knitting deadline was until a couple weeks ago. I knew Christmas was going to be on the 15th, and yet I was still somehow thinking I had until the 25th to finish making my gifts. Once I put 2 and 2 together I realized I was not going to be able to make all of the gifts I had intended to make. The one that got cut was nephew Benjamin’s baby bunting. It’s this really cute little winter weather thing from Dale of Norway and I was very excited about it, but I hadn’t even started it and since it is a large item, there was no way I was going to finish it by the 15th. I still plan on making it, just not for Christmas.