I Love This Yarn!

It is Plymouth Yarn Galway Paint Color 809. There is no adorably clever name for the colorway, but it is gorgeous and I love working with it. Here it is close up:


This is a simple 3 X 3 rib and I will block it to open up the pattern a little so the colors can be properly enjoyed.

I have enough yarn and have cast on for a matching hat too!

I bought this yarn in October on a whim and am so glad I did, it is a delight to work with and I think I will love the colorful set to go with my dreadfully boring black winter coat!

Christmas!

So Christmas was a lovely peaceful time for all, despite a frantic start to the week that did not bode well.

We had a family dinner early in the week with my brother and his family to exchange gifts before the hustle of a houseful of guests on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day was just my parents and I and it was the loveliest day I can remember in a long time.

Ryan loved his socks! And, after receiving them on Monday, wore them on Christmas Eve:


They fit perfectly and he really loves them. They were such a delight to make I will certainly make him another pair next year :)

Mom loved her purple socks and the gorgeously-soft scarf I made for her:

This was my first attempt at fringe and, as you can see, it was very uneven. In an attempt to even it out it wound up shorter than I would have liked, but it still looked pretty.

I am excited to cast on for 2 new projects for myself this week (a scarf and a pair of socks using the gorgeous Madelinetosh yarn I got for my birthday in July), after finishing up one more gift to be gifted on NYE.

Hope everyone had a magical Christmas!

Knowing My Limits

The holidays should be fun and when I embarked on a sweater for my niece I really thought it would be. Despite all the documented math issues, I did enjoy knitting all the cute little pieces.

It is the pieces that are the problem. I should have done a top-down raglan, what was I thinking! There is no way I can seam this sucker together in time for Christmas without going totally insane.

It is also unfair to ask other knitters for help with 2 weeks to go before Christmas.

So I decided this weekend that the sweater is going to be a Valentine's Day gift (it is very red and light weight enough to wear into March) and I will spend January learning how to assemble it. Problem solved.

Mom's scarf is blocking, photos soon!

Another Gift Done!

So I finished my mother's socks, yay!



Here they are blocking on my awesome sock forms. It seems like a million years ago I started these, but it was the beginning of November. Since I am working multiple projects that doesn't seem too terrible.

I made them out of this gorgeous purple variegated Malabrigo sock yarn that was a delight to work with and is much prettier than the picture does justice.

I am almost done with Mom's scarf too, which I just love and will have to tear away from myself to give her. It is made out of a gorgeous red soft alpaca yarn that is glorious.

Also, all the pieces of Madison's sweater are knit, now I have to tackle seaming... stay tuned!

I Can't Knit and Blog...

... Obviously. It has been nearly a month since I blogged because in every spare moment of time (and there are nary few this time of year) I am knitting.

I still only have 1 item completed for Christmas, but I am close to finishing my mom's socks (pictures soon). Last night I did the gusset decrease on sock #2 and now it is just the foot and toe (it is simple stockinette) so I should be able to finish them this week.

I have enough of Mom's scarf done to see the light at the end of the tunnel there as well.

And last night I cast on for another scarf, very simple 5X5 rib for my friend Karin.

With so many festive plans coming up though the holiday knitting season is dwindling. I did decide that in future years, socks are birthday gifts that can be focused on during non-holiday times, that should make it less stressful come Christmas.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!

Why Did I Pick a Hobby With So Much Math Involved?

So Sunday I tore out sleeve #1 of Madison's sweater for the 2nd time and last night I cast on for the 3rd time vowing to do the increases right finally.

While reading the pattern properly is my sole responsibility, it really could be written more clearly with the math done out a little more thoroughly so I have an idea of how many stitches should be on the needle at various points and not just the starting # and the ending #, because if after 54 rows the ending # isn't right I just wasted a lot of time.

Now I could multiply and divide out the # of stitches increased over the # of rows divided again by how often I need to increase (every 3rd row until 56 stitches and then every 4th row until 64 stitches), but math is hard.

Also this pattern is written for 6 different sizes and halfway through the sizes split and where my # was the 3rd one listed for most of the pattern it suddenly becomes the first one listed when the sizes break off and I totally missed that the first time...

Thank god I started early on the holiday stuff.

My New Sock Blockers

So I finished my brother's Christmas socks, yay! One of the toes was way pointier than the other, but I figured with good blocking it would be fine.

I had heard talk of "sock forms" for blocking socks, but failed to locate them in any stores, but KnitPicks had them!


This is the large size for my brother's giant feet. I also got the medium size which looks perfect for women's socks.

I will take better photos of the socks themselves when they are dry and blocked, but I was so excited about the forms, they made the whole blocking process a snap!