And you will know us by our trail of yarn

Hope you are having a good holiday week. I have the week off, recovering after the flurry of last minute knitting. Finished and gifted were the cell phone cozy, the first paris loop ("Is it...a skirt?" my sister asked nervously), four airy scarves in KidSeta, two lace bookmarks, five crocheted snowflakes, one kerchief scarf, two miniweasleys, and two seed stitch scarves. With the exception of the paris loop, all were knitted in December. Which is why I'm still on the first sleeve of 3XChic, who has been patiently waiting since November.

This week I hope to finish that sweater and get some significant house cleaning/decluttering done. Yesterday I worked on the kitchen. Ah, the sense of accompishment! January plans call for a blue alpaca boucle sweater for me and a Z Weasley for my daughter. Already have the yarn for those, and am in need of an excuse to go to the yarn store during my vacation week.

Almost forgot, Clapotis is on the last straight rows, then into the home stretch. Showed it to my mom this weekend and she loved the pattern too. Also, my oldest sister made me a blue metallic fuzzy scarf for Christmas. Although I generally don't like "novelty" scarves, this one is smashing.

Holiday knitting showdown

(photo added to address special request of the Bookish Girl - this is an audience-friendly blog, albeit one with a crappy camera)



Gifts completed since we last spoke:
-cell phone cozy in Cotton Classic (filled with a tiny box of chocolates and sent to niece along with boucle Paris Loop for her mom)
-kerchief scarf in Lana Grossa
-lace bookmark for brother
-seed stitch scarf for Kindergarten teacher

Still working on
-seed stitch scarf for after school teacher
-mystery present for husband
-KidSeta scarf for day care teacher (yay, she's out this week so it doesn't have to be completed until Monday!)

Post holiday projects:
-finish sleeves on 3XChic
-finish Clapotis
-start ribbed alpaca boucle sweater
-start Z Weasley sweater (looking for a Z chart)

Happy holidays to all! And Secret Pal, I hope you will reveal yourself soon so I can thank you!

Weasley sweater meets Santa

I'm using this photo to give you another look at the finished Weasley sweater. OK, really I'm using it to show off my cute son meeting Santa.

Gifts knitted so far:
2.5 day care teacher scarves (had to rip and restart one that had messed up YOs; ripping silk mohair yarn is not fun)
2 mini sweaters (similar to Alison's miniweasleys)
2 lace bookmarks
5 crocheted snowflakes (2 already gifted to son's friends)
1 pair of baby Ugg booties (already gifted to goddaughter)

In progress:
cell phone cozy
kerchief scarf in Lana Grossa Cool Wool Merino
Clapotis

Need to get cracking on:
another kerchief scarf
another KidSeta scarf
presents for husband and brother
maybe another cell phone/iPod cozy

Holiday Works in Progress

Secret Pal 3 ended this week - my "giftee" was Marti in Seattle. She is an expert knitter and I was a little intimidated about what to send her. I made her the bag from the cover of Last Minute Knitted Gifts (out of what I think was some unlabelled Cotton Classic) and filled it with a tin of Trader Joe's Stroopwafels. I was pleased that she liked it. Although really, how can you go wrong with Stroopwafels?

I have also made some headway on my holiday kid teacher gifts, although I keep remembering more people to add. So far I have finished 2 Airy scarves (one in Schaefer Anne, one in KidSeta), 2 heart lace bookmarks (size two needles), and 4 snowflakes (crocheted). In progress we have these:

an unblocked snowflake/doily/coaster, a snowflake still on the hook, part of another Airy scarf, and (wait for it) a third-to-half of a Clapotis! A few of the women in my office are into Clapotis as well...we even brought our knitting bags to our office holiday party so we could compare notes. Kate Gilbert, you rule. I am aiming for 3-6 Airy scarves and possibly something for the husband. And maybe a souvenir for my male model/drummer/screenwriter friend who is moving to Tinseltown. Next week. Ack, looks like I'll be knitting at lunchtime again.