L'elephant sans eyes.

Description: L’éléphant
Pattern: Lovable Toys by Marion Edmonds from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn used: 1.75 skeins of Rowan Pure Wool DK Colorway 002 (100% Superwash Wool ) 50 g / 136 yds and .14 skeins of Rowan Pure Wool DK Colorway 024 (100% Superwash Wool ) 50 g / 136 yds
Care Instructions: Machine wash gentle
Needle Size: US 6 (4.0 mm)
Modifications: No mods
Finished Size: One size
Date Started: 11/12/2008
Date Completed: 11/21/2008
Notes: These guys are super cute and I highly recommend making them. There are no eyes in the pictures but there were eyes when it appeared under the tree.

Elephant and Bunny hanging out by the fireplace.

Me modeling Grandma's shawl before it was wrapped up.

Description: Kathryn’s Shawl
Pattern: Lace Poncho by Susan Sternlieb from Interweave Knits Fall 2005
Yarn used: 3.58 skeins of Crystal Palace Merino 5 Colorway 2302 (100% superwash Merino) 50 g / 110 yds
Care Instructions: Machine or hand wash cold, lay flat to dry
Needle Size: US 8 (5.0 mm)
Modifications: I only cast on 49 sts and I didn’t join this together to create a poncho as the pattern calls for.
Finished Size: You know I forgot to measure it. It’s probably about 12″ wide or so and about 60″ long
Date Started: 12/01/2008
Date Completed: 12/07/2008
Notes: None.

Shawl blocking on another chair from TDS. Love them!

2nd photo of me modeling Grandma's shawl

Pete modeling Sophia’s hat. It doesn’t quite fit him right. Hopefully it fits her better

Description: Pumpkin Headgear for Sophia
Pattern: Pumpkin Hat by Susan Esser
Yarn used: .43 skeins of Bernat Softee Chunky Colorway Burnt Orange (100% acrylic ) 100g / 164 yds
Care Instructions: Machine washable
Needle Size: US 10 (6mm)
Modifications: I knit on a US 10 just because the fabric looked better than on a US 9
Finished Size: about 17″
Date Started: 9/30/2008
Date Completed: 10/1/2008
Notes: If I were to make it again I think I would plan out the leaf layout better from the beginning but I swear once she puts it on she’ll be too damned cute for it to matter.

Sophia’s Hat – leaf detail

Sophia’s Hat – side view

Description: Celtic Cable Scarf
Pattern: Celtic Cable Scarf by Vanessa Lewis
Yarn used: 2.52 skeins of Dark Horse Yarns Rhapsody 516.6 yds total. Colorway 54 Royal Blue (100% merino ) 100g / 205yds.
Care Instructions: Hand wash
Needle Size: US 8 (5.0mm) – I originally started this on a US 6 (4.0mm) as the pattern recommended but the cables were very much flattened out.
Modifications: No mods. Just knit it forever until it was long enough.
Finished Size: It is somewhere in the range of 73+ inches. I know that when I held it next to the boy last night it dropped down to the floor and folded a little. Still can’t find my tape measure…it’s neon green, have you seen it?
Date Started: 8/8/2008 cast on at 8am EST in accordance with the start of the Olympics
Date Completed: 8/19/2008 finished weaving in ends at approximately 23:45 EST
Notes: The cables worked out really well. I am hoping the recipient is a big fan!

Description: Socks for me
Pattern: Marigold Socks by Pamela Wynne
Yarn used: .62 skeins of Austermann Step Colorway 05 (Wool, Nylon) 100g / 460 yds This yarn is treated with Jojoba aloe. Should keep the socks soft through 40 washes.
Care Instructions: Machine Wash
Needle Size: US 1 (2.25mm)
Modifications: None.
Finished Size: Women’s Medium
Date Started: 7/5/2008
Date Completed: 8/5/2008
Notes: These socks were a test of faith that they wouldn’t look terrible once done. The toe started out seeming huge, but I knit away figuring if they were too big I could give them to someone. Then the first 3 inches just looked hideous to me but I figured I could give them to someone. Then there was a week with 3 knit nights, 10 hrs in the car and lots of free time on Saturday and Sunday. The socks quickly took shape and stopped being ugly and now, they are done!

Oh and I made these socks match, only had to cut the yarn one place in each sock to make the color repeats line up. Too cool.

It’s official, I do not like provisional cast on short row toes. I will stick with my crazy Cat Bordhi eastern style cast on for toe up socks, henceforth.

Pictures!

Cat Bordhi’s Magic Cast On – YouTube Video

Here are my contributions:

This block was knit using the Eternal Flames stitch pattern from Stitchionary

This block was knit using the Eyelet Hearts stitch pattern from Stitchionary

The yarn used is Dark Horse Yarns Fantasy
Yarn weight: Aran / 10 ply (8 wpi)
Colorway: 30 (Magenta)
Needles: US 8 / 5.0 mm
Fibers: Nylon, Acrylic
Texture: Plied
Machine wash?: yes

So last night ended up being very very interesting. My friend/SIL who has just moved back to Ohio (as in, she drove across the country last week, arrived Friday night and was expecting her delivery of furniture Monday) called to say the movers were coming earlier than expected. Long crazy story short, the movers arrived at her mom’s house around 930pm, overcharged her freight by 3000lbs and about $1500, wouldn’t release her goods, she finally wrote them and check (and will argue with the parent company later), they delivered her furniture and finished around 1am. At that point they had to go reweigh the truck again and she landed in bed sometime after 2am this morning.

I ended up picking up her friend from OSU’s campus and she crashed with me so that I could take her to the airport this morning. I live much closer to the airport and this allowed for everyone else to get a good night’s sleep. (I slept well myself, no complaints here.)

So today was the birthday party for her daughter Tai. Welcome home, eh? I finished sewing the buttons on this morning while the boy strategically placed his gift in the truck and tied it down. We then proceeded to drive 30mph the entire way to the party because any faster caused her present to collapse. The party was a lot of fun and the cake was yummy. The boy’s present was a big hit with all of the parents and the kids. For those of you who don’t know, without fail, a child always ends up playing with the box or crinkly wrapping instead of the gift that you have purchased for them. He decided to cut out the middle man and made her this house out of our washer box:

She really enjoyed her house, as did the other children there. As long as the cardboard holds up she should be able to play with this for a couple of years!

Now for my FO -

Description: Jacket for my niece Tai
Pattern: Jacket With Moss Stitch Bands by Debbie Bliss
Yarn used: 3+ skeins of Claudia Hand Painted fingering, Colorway Jill’s Pink (100% Merino) 50g / 175 yds
Care Instructions: Machine Wash delicate
Needle Size: US 6 (4.0mm)
Modifications: I ended up one button hole short. The boy is convinced that this is how the sweater should be anyway. So I left it.
Finished Size: 12-24 mos
Date Started: 1/31/2008
Date Completed: 3/27/2008
Notes: So I had lots of ends and I ran out of yarn at one point. This was a big lessons all around project. I would knit it again, probably in the right weight and make sure that I have enough yarn! Oh and I also saw the wonders of blocking. All my uneven stitches and the crimped yarn relaxed and looked great after I blocked the sweater!

Pictures!

Front of the sweater. Can you see where the button “might” be missing?

Back of the sweater

Grandma holding the sweater after it was opened.

When I first moved to DC she helped me through a number of things because for me she has always been a pillar of faith that I could talk and she is never judgemental. I love her dearly for this. In July she will marry the man she loves and I cuoldn’t be happier for her. I really wanted to make something special for her wedding day (and I still plan to… must cast on!). Alas, I was at a complete loss as to what to make her for her bridal shower. I finally settled on a washcloth set. I made the Thick and Thirsty Backscrubber, the Tribble by 1870pearl and a simple washcloth. I really hope she enjoys them. The pictures below aren’t the best but sometimes utility is hard to photograph. (That’s my story and I am sticking to it!)

Congratulations Courtney. I wish you all the happiness in this world and the next. You deserve it.

“Oooo they’re soft and squishy.”

“My feet aren’t sweating, are they like wool and wicking it away?”

“They’re warm, but not too warm, I probably won’t wear them in the summer.”

“Can I wear them to work?”

“Can they go in the washer?”

“Thank you.”

He put them on and wore them for the rest of the day. We are going to keep an eye on them to see how they wear, if they turn out to be pretty hardy he may just get another pair!

See, even the chicks dig his socks.

Description: Man socks for the boy made in Alpaca Sox.
Pattern: On Your Toes Socks by Ann Bud
Yarn used: 1 skein of Alpaca Sox (just enough yarn leftover for darning), Colorway 1877 Dress Grey (20% Nylon, 60% Alpaca, 20% Merino) 100g / 450 yds
Care Instructions: Hand Wash
Needle Size: US 2 (2.75mm)
Modifications: I knit until the leg was equal to the toe when folded in half. Plus by that point I just wanted them done.
Finished Size:Adult Large
Date Started: 2/12/2008
Date Completed: 3/24/2008
Notes: I knit these two at a time on magic loop. The foot took forever. In fact I knit for 10 hrs straight on a return flight from Germany and didn’t finish the foot. I kept reminding myself that although they felt like they were taking forever, I was making two and that when I finished the sock they would both be done and so it really wasn’t taking as long as it seemed. Once I got past the heel they really seemed to take off. I decided to knit until I ran out of yarn, but my goodness that skein has a lot of yarn. I kept referring to it as the never ending skein of yarn because each time I thought I was getting close to the end it just kept coming back with more yarn. So I bound off once the leg length matched the foot length.

Sunday night I was knitting along on the front and the boy kept asking how much more I had to go. I finally did a quick size check and realized if I completed increasing the remaining 20 some odd stitches (about 25 more rows total) it was going to be larger than I prefer. So I finished the row and did the final 5 border rows.

All that was left at that point was 40″ of icord that was putting me to sleep. Fortunately on Monday I was able to attend both of my Knitting Guild’s meetings (to promote Sticks N Stitches) because of the MLK Holiday. I finished the icord during the 2nd session and shared it with the group. They had a good laugh and I was pleased to see it fit when I got home.

Description: Knit Night Thong
Pattern: Frecklegirl Thong by Carolynn Vincent
Yarn used: 20 grams of Dalegarn Stork Colorway 9 (100% Cotton) 50g / 195 yds
Care Instructions: Machine Wash
Needle Size: US 2 Clover Bamboo DPNs
Modifications: I stopped the increases when it was large enough for me.
Finished Size: Ladies Small
Date Started: 1/19/2008
Date Completed: 1/21/2008
Notes: This particular project garnered many chuckles at Knit Night and at the Knitting Guild meeting. The 40″ of icord made me understand why others loathe icord. Although it is a very good task for keeping your hands busy while listening to cool speakers. If you make this for yourself, be sure to check the final measurements against your own.

PS – Pete said he would not be caught dead modeling this but Cheer bear didn’t mind!