I really did fall off the knitting, or at least the knitblogging, wagon there for a while. It's no secret that I don't knit as much as I used to, but also, towards the end of the year I started work on a big project -- a sock yarn blanket -- which pretty much took up all of my knitting time. And then came Christmas gifts, which I couldn't blog about. And then there's the whole issue of me being lazy about photographing projects (and then getting the pictures from my camera....and then uploading them to flickr....and now my flickr pro account is expired), so, well, not much knitblogging.
But anyway, Christmas is (mostly) over, so I can unveil some of the projects I did.
First, there was a hat I knitted for my brother-in-law, but I forgot to take a picture, and my sister-in-law hasn't sent me one yet, so I'll just tell you that I did it, but you don't get to see it. ;-)
Then, from the "projects that are lovely but really not all that photogenic" files, a cowl for my mother-in-law.
Pattern: One-row eyelet cowl
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca Grande Tweed, one skein
Needles: US11/8.0mm
Time: December 2-3, 2011
Ravelry project page
This was a super-quick project -- as the pattern name suggests, it's just one row, repeated over and over, till you run out of yarn. The finished product is really lovely -- it's nice and drapey (especially after blocking, which really opened up the eyelets) and oh so soft and warm without being heavy. I love alpaca for this kind of project.
And for my sister-in-law, who is a huge Doctor Who fan...
Pattern: The Oncoming Storm
Yarn: Frog Tree Alpaca Sportweight, one skein gray, maybe 1/3 skein dark charcoal gray
Needles: US6/4.0mm
Time: December 4-20, 2011
Ravelry project page
If you're a Doctor Who fan too, you'll recognize these as being Dalek-inspired. I loved that they are clearly Daleks if you are familiar with Daleks -- but if you're not, they're just a neat pattern. Just the right degree of geeky for me. These were a fun knit...colorwork (which I haven't done in forever), bobbles...just interesting enough. I didn't do the bobbles exactly as written; instead I used bobble instructions I've used previously, because the ones in the pattern didn't "bobble" enough for my liking, especially with this yarn (which is rather flat and didn't have good stitch definition for things like bobbles). I didn't really like the way the thumbhole was written in the pattern, either...it seemed WAY too big for a thumb. I think the point was to make the thumb stick out straight to more closely resemble a Dalek, but I think I'd modify it somehow if I were to make these again, to make them fit the hand more nicely. But all in all, these were a big success -- they're nice and soft (it's been a very alpaca Christmas!) and as you can see from the picture, Katie loved them. :-)
And next, at long last, a hat for Jim (being modeled by Ian). I love my husband dearly, but he doesn't wear many knits, and so I never knit anything for him!
Pattern: Hurricane Hat
Yarn: my handspun
Needles: US7/4.5mm
Time: December 4-21, 2011
Ravelry project page
And here's a picture of the actual recipient. Such a versatile hat, it fits both man and child!
I knitted this from yarn I spun (and blogged, very briefly, here) a couple of years ago. It's Falkland wool, from fiber dyed by Freckle Face Fibers. This yarn wanted to be a hat from the very moment I took it off the niddy-noddy, and its time had finally come. It had a bit of a bumpy, rustic, thick-and-thin quality to it, so I knew I needed a simple pattern, and the Hurricane Hat, with its spiral of purl stitches on a stockinette background, was just the ticket. I'm intrigued that it knitted up in stripes (seen best in the picture that Ian is modeling in), since I spun the yarn, as I recall, totally randomly! Jim wanted a basic hat in a natural fiber that he could wear while skiing, and since he always runs warm, I didn't want to make it too heavy. This fits the bill nicely, I think, and even matches his navy-and-grey ski jacket pretty well! This was another quick knit, but it took as long as it did because I was knitting it in secret on my lunch breaks at work, just a couple of rows per day for the better part of a month. :-)
