I've spent the last few days "unplugged" at Jim's suggestion, as I was reading my work email too often and getting stressed. Also, I caught a pretty nasty cold on Thursday, which hit me all at once, despite vigilant efforts to keep it away with Vitamin Cs, etc. I've been doing a lot of knitting though, and I hope to have some FOs soon. Here's what I finished:
First, our tree (Jim did the heavy decorating, I just help with the ornaments):
The Fetching gloves for one of the ladies at the party tonight:
Another Chic Knits felted bucket hat for another lady at the party:
Finished grafting the hood for Noah's sweater using kitchener stitch and I LOVE how it turned out:
closeup of the grafting - except for a bit where the Malabrigo went through a fuzzier phase, it is invisible!
McKenna's Drive Thru, after weaving in all the ends:
Mia's Bounce skirt, after sewing in the elastic:
And the cat blanket, complete with cats:
I also made one of the SNB Newboy cabled hats from a skein of light cream Berroco Peruvia in my stash - I skipped the brim on this one as I liked it so much without it, I decided not to add it. I'll show a modeled picture of that later.
Now for the WIPs:
Almost done with the Back to School Vest:
I sewed the first shoulder seam, then decided to try grafting the second one instead using kitchener stitch. On one hand, I like the grafting as it is so much flatter and invisible, but on the other hand, I like that the seaming keeps the pattern going - it is bulky in real life though. I think I'll be undoing the seam. Does anyone know how to modify kitchener to do some purls? Would it just be reversing the sequence for the ones you want to be purl stitches??
Grafting:
Seaming:
Ok, here's the middle cable waistband on Corsica - about halfway through the second repeat.
and a closeup of the cables:
Tilted Duster, after a bath - next step is to pick up around the edges to get a feel for the sizing on this.
Picked up around first armhole of Cherie Amour to knit the sleeves down - that's as far as I got:
Started first sleeve of Mirepoix as I needed more mindless ribbing - am at the point on the body where I cast on for the steeks, but the body looks pretty much the same as before.
Whew!! I'm exhausted just detailing those. There's even a few more WIPs that haven't had any progress, but I hope to finish a few of them in the next week as I am still off until January 2nd (hopefully with minimal additional commercial interruptions, LOL.)
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it! My next post will be showing the kids wearing their new knits!
Talk about a marathon post!!! LOL,everything looks wonderful! Have a fantastic Christmas!!!
Posted by: adrienne | December 24, 2007 at 01:43 PM
Boy, you are busy! Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy Knitting!
Posted by: linda | December 24, 2007 at 01:57 PM
WOW! When do you sleep? I noticed the grand piano near your tree. Do you play? I was a piano major in college so it caught my eye! The FO's all turned out great and I can't imagine the recipients not being thrilled to death!
Have a great Christmas!
Posted by: kozy Kitty | December 24, 2007 at 01:59 PM
Great knitted gifts and what a huge tree! Nice! Merry Christmas!
Posted by: Kessa | December 24, 2007 at 02:48 PM
Good Lord girl, do you sleep? LOL. You're quite the prolific knitter I must say and they all look gorgeous as usual. *sigh* Wish I was that fast.
The tree looks stunning! Have a Merry Christmas!
Posted by: sharon | December 24, 2007 at 04:09 PM
Merry Christmas! I love your tree - it's sooo huge! Your FO's are truly great - love 'em. Can't wait to see how your WIP's will turn out.
Posted by: Steph | December 25, 2007 at 10:41 AM
All your Christmas knitting is wonderful, and the modeling pictures are just great. If I didn't know better, I'd swear that you had them available to measure as you knit.
There are various instructions for doing the Kitchener stitch for purls. If you check a good knitting reference, it ought to have pictures for stitches besides stockinette. The Vogue Knitting Ultimate Knitting Book (p. 102) shows grafting on garter stitch and K1, P1 ribbing (which you could adapt). I'd bet that Montse Stanley shows it also.
Posted by: marjorie | December 26, 2007 at 08:56 AM
I just bought my yarn (that orange Malabrigo) for the B2S U vest! :oD
Gurl you got a LOT going on!! Haha!
Posted by: Stacey_CrimsonPurl | December 26, 2007 at 09:54 AM
Wow, just look at all those WIPs! They all look great! I really like the colors you choose for the Back to School Vest too. Sorry I'm not much help with the grafting question, but I'd also maybe check out KnittingHelp.com.
Your Christmas tree is just gorgeous! So sorry to hear you caught such a nasty cold. Hopefully you'll be feeling better in no time. ;)
Posted by: Monica | December 26, 2007 at 09:14 PM
I love your tree -- so nice and big. Is it real?
Your cats look so cozy on the blanket. Maybe you can knit one for them with some leftover yarns?
I am amazed at all the knitting you've done and hope you get some rest soon!
Posted by: Debby | December 28, 2007 at 01:46 PM
Glad to hear you've been "unplugged"! Me too :) I'm sorry about your cold though. Hope you're feeling better by now! Great tree and fantastic knits as always ;)
Posted by: knittymuggins | January 01, 2008 at 11:05 AM
My dear, your tree is the most beautiful I have seen! Wishing you a late Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.
Posted by: Lara | January 03, 2008 at 09:08 PM