Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Christmas Gift Knitting: The Receiving End!

The Boy asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I don't like telling people what to get me so I kept telling him that whatever he picked out would be great. He kept asking and I kept telling him I didn't want to tell him what to get me. Finally I decided to give in, reasoning he's a guy and it was a bit unfair of me to not give him any ideas. I wrote up a big list of ideas and emailed it to him. I had books, fiber, a new car, a big screen HD TV and a few other things on my list... (I didn't expect the car or TV but a girl can dream, right?)

Well, The Boy did good. He got me a speaker/dock for my iPod (yay!) and this:

Christmas Present Fibre
100 grams of Superwash Merino; colorway "Bob" dyed by Spinknit Yarns & Fibers. I was so excited!! I've never been given fiber for a gift and it is definitely ALWAYS on my list!

I started spinning on Christmas Day, which amused The Boy. I said "Did you play with your PSP on Christmas day? Same thing."
Christmas Present spinning

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I got approximately 250 yards of a DK-ish weight two ply. It's just even enough to not drive me crazy while knitting and just uneven enough to be interesting.

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It is so fluffy and squooshy (totally a word, whatever spellcheck thinks). I think this is my favorite spinning project yet.

If you know me in real life, you know that these colors are a departure from my normal blues/greys/greens/black/brown. I do really really love it though. I think the fiery color will be great come the dead of winter, which should be in about a week or so!

Being an impatient sort, I started on a pair of mittens as soon as the yarn dried after setting the twist
Christmas Gift Mitts
(I managed to find a tiny bit of snow left. It's cold, but not much snow)

Christmas Gift Mittens
I used the Plait Cable Mitt pattern (link to pdf file) from KEFKnits.

Christmas Gift Mittens
I knit my mittens on US4 (smaller than called for in the pattern) in order to make the fabric a bit denser.

Cable Closeup
I changed the cable a bit by knitting 3 plain rounds in between cable crossings.

The mittens used up about half of the yarn, so now I'm working on a scarf which may end up being a scarf-lette (to be determined)
Christmas Gift scarf
I'm knitting this on US7s to give it a bit more drape. I'm using the same cable as the mittens and simple 2x2 ribbing for the sides. I'll make a decision on length when I get to about 15" or so, but at the moment, I'm thinking about putting buttons on one edge and button holes along the cast-off end to make a short scarf (scarf-lette) rather than a long wrap-around-three-times scarf (plus, I'm impatient)(haha).

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Eve/Day. Mine was spent on the couch dozing due to the flu, but I have my pretty yarn and I got a kiss at midnight, so it's pretty good all around...

5 comments:

  1. Hi Lori!! Thanks so much...
    I can't wait to get my complimentary copy of the book - the book publishers are lagging or something.

    Anyway those are lovely gifts you received from 'the boy' (especially the merino) and the mittens look great!

    Happy New Year! :)

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  2. (comin' over from craftster) These mittens are great! I love the colors, and how the fiber looked spun up. You are very talented! :)

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  3. Those mittens are gorgeous! Your hands will look as warm as they feel. :)

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  4. super cool, lori. i'm really really excited to see those mittens! can i post a picture or two and link to your blog?

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  5. Those are beautiful mittens - and what a thoughtful gift to have received!

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