Knit My Dog

Now that I've had a chance to recover from the holiday whirlwind, I can actually sit down and blog about all of those gifts I was working on. All in all, this was a successful "knitting for Christmas" experience. I didn't set very high goals, I finished early, and I even had time for an additional gift or two.

The four pairs of Fetching mitts were a hit with my bookgroup. I never took a photo on the recipients, but that's okay. I also knit a last minute pair for a coworker for a Secret Santa gift. Again, they were well received. I think I'm done knitting Fetching for a while.

The fingerless mitts for my nephew were also a hit. He's going to be styling in the cold computer labs at school.

I finished the Skull Hat (free pattern here) for my youngest nephew and he didn't take if off for the rest of the day. Here he is giving me a hug:

I used some leftover Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (from Fetchings!) for the orange and bought one skein of Sublime (cashmere, merino, silk) aran for the black. Nothing but the best for that kid!

I also knit the Yarn Harlot's Unoriginal Hat for my niece. This is the only photo I got. (Reminder to self: don't ask your 13 year old nephew to take a picture of the hat with your brand new digital SLR that you barely can use; the photo won't come out.)

The final photo in this gift parade is the Noro Kureyon scarf for my sister. Knit in K1, P1 rib alternating two different colors. I have no idea what the colors are anymore. All I know is that it came out beautifully and she loves it.

So that's it - Christmas is over and it was a success!

In all of the madness before the big day, I took an afternoon to be one in a thousand. A thousand knitters, that is. Franklin had a photo shoot in Maine! I went up with Julie, Sheepish Annie, and Patti. A good time was had by all, and we all were willing models for the photo shoot. I was pretty nervous but Franklin has a way of putting a knitter at ease. The place was packed with knitters and I got to meet a few bloggers in the flesh.

Now it will be back to regularly scheduled knitting - my Tangled Yoke Cardigan and a sweater for Howie. Those two projects should keep me busy this winter!

Posted by Brenda at 07:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I've got a blog to feed every now and then. I've been silent for so long that many blog-worthy events have passed by undocumented. Oh well, such is the life of a busy, working every day, stressed out by the holidays kind of gal. I'll just start from today (with knitting mixed in).

We've been in the house all day surrounded by blustery, wintery weather. I only went out to tromp down to my neighbor's house to borrow some yeast. Because I never got the memo that I'm supposed to buy milk and bread the day before a storm like everyone else in Maine, we don't have any bread in the house today and I wanted a sandwich! So breadmaking was in store. After securing the yeast, I made two kinds of bread: Anadama (pictured) and cinnamon swirl.

Norma's post had me craving cinnamon so I had to make it. I don't think I put enough cinnamon in though, because it's kind of weak in that department. Delicious, but not cinnamony enough. I cured that by sprinkling cinnamon on top of the butter I slathered on the warm bread. Yum, warm bread on a cold day

Onto my knitting. I had been working on this:

Tangled Yoke Cardigan from Interveave Fall 07. Then I realized Christmas is fast approaching, so I only knit the cardigan on the go, and had holiday projects while at home. I knit the body to the underarm, and am knitting the two sleeves flat at the same time. Last week I abandoned this project and am carrying a Noro striped scarf (another holiday knit) as my traveling project. It's about four feet long at this point, hopefully done soon.

Here's some of the holiday knitting I've been working on at home:

Four pairs of Fetching mitts for my bookgroup. A fifth pair for a coworker is on the needles.

Another pair of fingerless mitts. These are for my nephew who goes to school in Florida. He's in some computer labs and they keep the temp in the low 60's. He has been complaining that it's been so cold inside that his hands are always cold. I hope these help and they're not too goofy for a 19 year old college kid to wear.

I also have a hat on the needles for my sister, and another planned for a nephew. Do you think I'll finish everything in time?

Posted by Brenda at 04:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)