… because one can only truly enjoy the spirit of giving if one gives generously to oneself! (that’s what I keep telling myself anyway…)

1. Silk Road yarn by Jo Sharp (together with the pattern I plan to use it for) – colour “opal”. The yarn feels sinfully luxurious. The pattern is from the Knit Today magazine (a british mag I just came across).

2. Curly Locks yarn by Fleece Artist (they were kind enough to send me a pattern for a shawl by Email).

At least I can be assured a happy knitting start to the New Year!

At least, it’s the last Christmas gift other than for myself…!

It’s the blanket based on the Nina shawl pattern in the MDK book – except I-cord edging, no ruffle and and I-cord border. Thanks to Phyllis for a lovely pattern – and despite some low-level cursing at the time, the chequerboard was worth the effort.
See below for specs if interested.

(a) blocking

(b) just about finished (colours here are truer as in natural light)

Specs:

Yarn: Super 10 Butterfly (mercerised cotton, 125 g = 230 m)
in colours sunflower, chestnut, chocolate, paprika and unnamed [I call it light chocolate]
Needles: Addi Turbo (first time using them, and I loved it!)
Size: 52″ long by 42″ wide

(and why is it that I weigh in metric but measure in imperial anyway? Hmm. I MUST be Canadian!).

Recovering from a cold – which meant I had to take Friday off and recuperate… ahem… knit myself into oblivion.

The latest instalments toward my advent blanket:

4. Wide rib (deep burgundy)

5. Horizontal wrapped rib (coralberry)

6. Moss zigzag (lavender) – in progress

Seed stitch in light blue was, alas, left at my office on Thursday. Oh well.

Well, immediately I get the yarn in to finish my mother’s blanket, I decide on another blanket idea for myself … !!! (at least I managed to get in quite a bit of work on my mother’s blanket before taking this one).

FINALLY using some Paton’s Decor from my stash which has been sitting there… well, I don’t want to say… let’s just say it was part of a big Kaffe Fassett project that I gave up 10 years ago!

One panel a day to usher in the new year 2007…

Each panel is 10×10. Knitted on 4.5 mm needles – 49 sts by 80 rows. This will be a “sampler” blanket taking stitch patterns from Debbie Bliss’s How to Knit book:

Chequerboard

Double Parallelogram

Diagonal Garter Ribs

Here is the scarf I knitted tonight thanks to Handmaiden’s lovely kit – I deviated a bit from the patterns given by them mostly because I am too lazy to do yarnovers ;-). Colours are a bit deeper than they come out in the photos. Length of scarf: 57″ long by 6 1/2″ wide.

… and detail…

All that agonizing for nothing! 🙂

…llude sing goddam!

Apologies to the middle english person who wrote the original poem. Actually, pursuant to the suggestion of a friend a long time ago, I am trying to find the key to not detesting winter – i.e. associate it with positive activities. Hers were skiing and other outdoorsy stuff. Mine… well, the obvious.

And now I have discovered the joy of knitting hats and scarves (which is surprising to me, given that I have been knitting for over 20 years!). This has led me to become obsessive with buying yarn over the last couple of weeks.

It has also led me to start work on the following items: a fuzzy hat. Not as warm as I thought… when I wore it to the wind tunnel that is known as Yonge/Sheppard intersection in Toronto today, the wind whistled right through. So, have started on a headband (in mission falls merino, light pink) to put inside.

I have also started on the following:

– another hat (in Debbie Bliss Merino Aran)
– a fuzzy and funky scarf (courtesy of Fleece Artist/Handmaiden’s Textures2 scarf kit)
– a pillbox felted hat (in the washer as we speak)

May post pics of these in progress later. Really can’t right now as my lover is home and I do not wish to confide the extent of my obsession to him (although I suspect he’s figured it out. The two and a half blankets in two weeks might have been the first clue. I must say, though, that he is not complaining about his cardigan!).

As if THIS weren’t enough, I stopped at the LYS on my way home from work today, ostensibly to look for some 20 cent buttons (that’s what I told myself). Instead I spotted some kid “Curly Locks” yarn by Fleece Artist in hot pink and just had to have it… for yet another scarf, I suspect. However, it WAS on sale … (at least that’s what I keep telling myself…)

Off to knit now.

As I type, I am attempting to felt a very large project (31″ x 27″) rug in one of the (front-loading) washing machines in my apartment building. This causes me to hyperventilate (well, not really, but almost…) as I’m worried about ruining the rug, which I loved in its unfelted form. Here it is below, for posterity…

This was knitted in Brown Sheep Burly Spun and was found in a book by Beverly Galeskas called “Felted Knits” (which I recommend very highly).

Well, there goes the timer for round 1 (I also have a hat in there). Wish me luck…

(as if anyone needed reminding!)

In case you can’t tell from the photo, this is a needlepoint. It was last year’s Christmas gift to my mother (although she didn’t get to display it till this year as it was not actually finished until early 2006). This year am going with the entirely less masochistic knitting option. (I attribute my new need for bifocals to the Santa project).

And some less seasonal needlepoints (in chedery winter-banishing colours):

Should auld acquaintance be forgot…

WHAM! sweater (circa 1998 – and the LAST time I endeavoured anything with intarsia… AGH!). Made in 100% cotton (can’t remember the brand – probably Cotton Fleece by Brown Sheep):

… and back of WHAM! sweater (actually, the front… but that’s not how I wear it…)

Irish moss sweater (my first project knitted entirely in the round) – Cotton Fleece yarn by Brown Sheep. I bought too much yarn (seems to be a bad habit) so knitted one for my partner then one for me. AWWWWWWWW. 🙂 circa 2004.

Stripey T-shirt – knitted in Super 10 mercerised cotton.

I’d like to add to this archive with some sweaters given to my mother (provided she hasn’t thrown them out! . Digital cameras are either a blessing or a curse, I guess.