Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Happy Holidays!!

Bigsy wishes you all a Merry Christmas!!



All gifts are finished and wrapped so I've finally got time to pull together a little blog entry. First up are a couple of twin scarves. This was such an easy TV pattern that I did it twice. They are going to sister-in-laws on both sides of the family.



My brother is getting a seamless sweater from EZ's Knitting Without Tears. I had a laugh at this picture - it looks like a miniature sweater - it's actually a men's LG - about a 48" chest.



It's the saddle-shoulder...please ignore the pine needles on the floor - we were near the Xmas tree (and my house is a disaster right now).



I made the mistake of not deciding on the hem color before starting the sweater so added it later and had to hand-stitch it down - it still looks fairly neat but the stitching was kind of a pain after completing a "seamless" sweater. :-)



My mom is also getting a sweater - this is Grace from DB Cotton Angora. It's actually a beautiful shade of sage green but try as I may, it looks grey in photos. I'll try to get a pic of her wearing it over the holidays - it looks great on and is super cozy.





Finally my own personal favorite. Latvian mittens for another sister in law. Sigh...I love them.



I striped the palms rather than carrying the pattern all the way around - should make for a sturdier, longer lasting mitten.



And the guts cause I know folks like to see them...



They fit me perfectly! Do you know how hard it is to give these away??



See you all in 2007!!!


Project Specs:
1. Twins Scarves
Pattern: A freebie from: The Woolworks/London-Wul
Yarn: London-Wul Shepherdess (60% merino/40% angora) for the pink and another London-Wul blend that I think was polworth/angora for the grey.
Needles: The recommended 5mm - I used bamboo.
comments: An easy, satisfying TV knit. And a good way to great yardage out of a single skein. I believe these were 120m skeins and I used one for each.

2. Seamless Sweater
Pattern: Saddle-shoulder seamless sweater from Elizabeth Zimmerman's 'Knitting without Tears'
Yarn: 100% wool from Briggs and Little in Brown Heather - they sell by the pound so a very affordable gift. I believe it took about 6 skeins total.
Needles: 4.5mm circs throughout
comments: I really enjoyed knitting this - the body and sleeves were great for TV knitting and you feel really clever as you begin to work the saddle seams. I will definitely be making more seamless sweaters!

3. Cabled Sweater for Mom
Pattern: Grace from Debbie Bliss 'Cotton Angora'
Yarn: Jaeger Shetland Aran in a special dye lot (sage green) bought from eBay - $65USD per pack - I've got about 3.5 balls left over so got some great yardage.
Needles: I was able to get gauge on the recommended 4.5 and 5mm.
comments: An extremely cozy knit and I would definitely use the Shetland Aran again if it holds up well to wear. There were a couple mistakes in the pattern and they only gave one version of the sleeve which is a bit narrow through the wrist in my opinion for a size LG sweater...other than that, a great project with very satisfying results.

4. Latvian Mittens
Pattern: Kurzeme Mittens from Lizbeth Upitis' 'Latvian Mittens' - chart 108
Yarn: Knit Picks Palette - there is plenty left from the 3 balls for 1 or 2 more pairs of mittens.
Needles: 2mm bamboo
Comments: It was a challenge to get these started properly - just to sort out the charts for the size I was making and to lay out the stripes but I'm very happy with the end result and will definitely be making more. Next pair is for me!!!