Or, as it shall be heretofore referred to as, that weekend of many pies and completed knitting! Can you think of a better combination? I can't.
My boyfriend and I drove to our friend Van's on Wednesday because Chicago is way closer to Ann Arbor than Houston is. And man, I had no idea what I was getting into. Turns out, everyone but me was an accomplished chef, so I ended up peeling lots and lots of eggs. But the many tasty dishes were totally worth it!
Van also failed to mention that Friday was designated Egg Nog and Pie Day! Which I was, perhaps, more grateful for than Thanksgiving proper. Look at these babies....who could possibly resist them?
As alluded to above, I made great strides in demolishing my Christmas Knitting List of Doom. I finished the first purple armwarmer on the ride there, the second on Thursday, the first black one on Friday, and the second one on Saturday. I was literally walking from room to room while knitting
for the sheer unencumbered joy of it! The purple ones are for Dani in Minnesota and the black ones are for Jennie in Indiana, and will hopefully be mailed off to them this week.
Yarn - 2 skeins Artyarns Supermerino (100% Merino, 107 yards) in color 237 for the purple ones and 2 skeins Noro Cash Iroha (%40 silk/ %30 lambswool/ %20
cashmere(!!)/ %10 nylon, 99 yards) in black for the (obviously) black pair.
Needles - I did both pairs using the magic loop method. I did the 1 x 1 ribbing on size 3 addi turbos and the rest of them on size 5 addi turbos. And then I used them to teach Van, who's been knitting far longer than myself, how to knit in the round.
Pattern - a slightly modified version of
Fetching. I added ribbing and an extra cable repeat to the fingers of both sets, and an extra cable repeat to the cuff of the purple ones.
I also made this hat for my silly boyfriend! It turned out beautifully, if incredibly bright. I also think the color brings out his ruddiness and makes him look even more knackered on egg nog than he actually was in this picture.
Yarn - 1/2 skein of Malabrigo yarn (100% merino, 215 yards) in apple green (although I've never seen an apple quite
that green)
Needles - el cheapo 16" bamboo circular size 9's that I've knitted a million hats on. Only, I forgot dpns, so decreasing the crown was a really sadistic form of knitting torture, let me tell you. Lesson? Always carry dpns. Always.
Pattern -
Glaistig from The Anticraft. I followed the pattern to the letter, except that I skipped the eyelet row and corresponding hat band because it was a bit too girly for Mr. Man. I also went up a needle size and it fit his melon head perfectly.
On the way home, I cast on and knit about half of this bag for my sister. I hadn't planned on making her a bag, but Mandy decided on colors I didn't have in my stash, and I brought this along in case I finished all the other projects I had with me, which was aparently a good call. I finished it when I got home while watching
Desperate Houswives.
Yarn - 1 skein Lopi (100% Icelandic wool, 110 yards) each in black and white.
Needles - 24" bamboo circular size 11, which is why I finished it so fast
Pattern - The
Brainwash Bag adapted to be knit in the round.
So, what's left of the Christmas knitting? Not much!
- Mandy's bag, to be done in pastel green and pink. After which I will block, line, and sew straps onto all the bags.
- Tamar the Other's socks, to be done in January.
- A pair of armwarmers to match Jon's irradiated apple green hat. I'm knitting them to bide time until the yarn for Mandy's bag gets here. Here's a sneak peek of those:
I ended up buying more sock yarn, of course. I bought two skeins of Claudia's Handpainted in the passion fruit colorway (in the blue shoes), which is amazing. The big blue hanks are Mountain Colors Bearfoot in the purple mountain colorway (appropriately pictured in the purple heels). They're gigantic skeins, and one is easily enough for a standard pair of socks, but I got ambitious and I'm planning on making super-long kneesocks with them. I got the cute blue and purple shoes, along with some skirts and a sweater, and the thrift store. The damage? $75 at the yarn store, $20 at the thrift store. Good haul.
After getting home and seeing Mr. Man off (he's gone to Oberlin, our alma mater, for the weekend to be a better activist than I and see our friends who are still wee undergrads), I spent the night alternately working on various psychological measures and papers and his armwarmers. Now, I'm finished with the reading I had to do and the armwarmers. I feel productive.
