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Happy Christmas to all!
And who knows what it is with the windchill since the winds are gusting around 50-60 mph (EDIT: Per the local weather report, the windchill is -22). I’m damn cold. It’s a good thing that I knit because my stash can keep me warm when I don’t have enough blankets. I need to learn how to crochet because I need afghans. Lots and lots of afghans. Granny square afghans, in particular. Lew, I’ll be showing up on New Years with crochet hooks and a car full of acrylic. Be prepared.
I’m not feeling particularly loquacious today and there’s much to do (laundry, vaccuming, last minute gifts to package, swap cds to make, ridiculous amounts of music to back up, my desk to clean up, Mom’s Christmas socks to knit, and overflowing stash to organize). But a lot of knitting progress has been made this week. So, here are pictures. (Yes, lazy post.)
I just have to finish the above socks by Christmas. I’m on the first sock. We’ll see if it happens. I’m not sure. And I forgot to take a photo of my current spinning project which is some yummy HelloYarn fiber that belongs to Lew. I’m spinning it up for her. Here’s hoping there’s not a freak accident which causes the fiber to disappear. Lew would be sad…
OH! I almost forgot… Kikibowns and I had a little swap. I sent her some of my handspun and she sent me the most awesome bag ever created.
It is awesomeness. My handspun doesn’t even compare to how awesome this bag is. I forgot to take a photo of the other side of the bag: there is a felt bottle and pills made from buttons. You should all stalk her etsy shop when it reopens after the holidays.
Okay, enough of my self-absorbed ramblings. Laundry. Vaccuming.
Two posts in two days? Could it be?
I came home from my long long day at work to a nice big box on the porch. My New Moon Swap package had arrived! I didn’t bother wasting time to take my coat, hat, and scarf off. I had to tear into it. My awesome partner, Kai, put together such a wonderful package for me! Sadly, my impatience means that you don’t get any photos of the groovy wrapping, which had a method: Items wrapped in animal print were things that I need to keep my hobby alive. Items in gold paper were yummies to help me keep my strength. And things in black paper were nice things to have, but not items that my life depended on. So many wonderful things…
Why no! The Lindor Truffles bag is NOT open. And of course there are NOT 3 truffles missing. Mmm… chai. Oh, and a very yummy looking old-fashioned style peppermint lollipop! (I love minty things!) And I’m digging the knitting pouch. Thank you, Kai. You have now enabled me to more easily walk and knit socks at the same time! And there was a row counter and a lovely pocket calendar- which is funny because I was thinking earlier today that it was time to get a new calendar for my handbag since my current one ends this month.
Check out that lovely yarn and shawl pin… sooo pretty! The yarn is lace-weight merino and she included a lovely shawl pattern to go with it: A Leaf In A Leaf. It’s a stunning lace pattern! And because she hadn’t spoiled me enough (haha!) there was also a very cool knitting journal with lots of pages for projects, graphed pages for designs, colorwork patterns and knitting trivia! And it keeps with the lovely flower theme that she had going on as well.
But, the bag… it’s gorgeous! It is a leather-handled, felted bag with such a pretty colorwork pattern.
I love how the color changing yarn looks with the grey solid. I love this bag! OH! Check out the lining!
I’m swooning over the satin fabric Kai used in the lining!
Kai, thank you for such a wonderful and thoughtful package! I love everything! (and NO, I’m not eating another truffle right now…)
Those truffles aren’t going to make it past tomorrow.
I’m so behind. I’m behind in my blogging. I’m behind in my blog reading. I’m behind in my Christmas knitting. I’m behind with getting things in the mail. Gah. I need to catch up with all of you. If you blogged about anything that I need to read, let me know. My google reader is about to explode with unread blog posts and I just don’t know when I’m going to be able to catch up!
Okay, so where to begin…? Lots to share.
Progress has been made on a myriad of things. Probably the most exciting of which was my swap bag. I had never made a bag before, and being the overambitious knitster that I am, I decided that I was going to make the brea bag. And I was going to line it. It really wasn’t too terribly difficult. The knitting was a breeze.
I used Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool, double-stranded. I loved the natural color of the wool because I knew that it was going to show off the stitch patterns so well (and it did!). I even decided to knit a strap for it. The knitting went well. And then came the lining…
My sewing skills are not the greatest. Let’s face it… I can’t even thread the sewing machine. Why I thought that making a bag with a lining was a good idea is beyond me. However, astonishingly, all went well. I knew how to put the lining together in theory. It was the execution that had me a bit miffed. But thanks to the darling kikibowns, and her bag lining linky goodness, things started to click for me and I got the lining finished. I even lined the strap for extra support. I loved it. It got shipped away to its new home this week and I think that she liked it! Yay! I had purchased enough yarn and fabric to make a second bag for my sister for Christmas, but that got nixed due to time constraints. So after all of the holiday craziness is over, I’m going to tackle the second one for me. I’m selfish like that.
So, once the bag was done, I moved on to my Navajo Gems spinning project. This is Spunky Eclectic BFL and was super soft and lovely to spin.
Then it was time to work on the fingerless mitts for my sister’s birthday.
I made these after the awesome swap gloves that I received from Troismommy, using her Tourniquet pattern. I didn’t do the color change, as you can see that this yarn needs no additional colors added. :) But I really liked the design and fit of the ones that she made for me, so I wanted to make these in the same style. Hopefully my sister likes them. I’m going to be shipping them out this week.
Next on the list are 2 neckwarmers that are currently soaking in the sink, awaiting their moment on the blocking pins.
Followed by Macabre #2 which has finished its soak and is currently drying.
So, now that just leaves a few pairs of fingerless mitts, a pair of Bella’s Mittens, and a pair of socks. I can do this. Yes, I can.
But, seeing that it’s Sunday, it’s time for soup first.
