Christmas FOs, Part II

It's long past time for me to post the second half of the Christmas FOs, although I don't have finished pictures for all of them.

1) Zeebee for my brother

Pattern: Zeebee by Schmeebot
Yarn: 2-ply handspun Colonial heather top from Woodland Woolworks, 4 oz, approximately110 yds, bulky weight (more details here)
Needles: ummm...10.5 maybe? No idea
Gauge: I know I had to measure this to get the right numbers for the pattern, but I have no idea what it was. Something like 3.5 sts/inch I think
Comments/mods: I love the construction of this hat, but the numbers I got from the pattern generator would have made a hat that came down past my earlobes (too long as far as I'm concerned). And I would have run out of yarn with one quarter of the hat left to knit. So instead of casting on 38 stitches, I cast on 30 and used the directions for the short rows that came with the 38 stitch version from the website. I was impressed that the handspun held up as well as it did, what with repeated frogging to get the right size. The yarn made for a squishy, warm hat that my brother loved.

2) Trekking stockinette socks

Now finished...

Pattern: my own, standard stockinette sock with one by one ribbing, short-row heel
Yarn: Trekking XXL, colorway 120(?), and Knit Picks Essential in ash for toes and heels
Needles: Knit Picks options dpns, size 1 (2.50 mm)
Gauge: about 32 stitches/28 rows per 4 inches
Comments: Size 11.5 socks are really big! But even so, I had enough left over to make a mini-pair of socks for Boo:

3) Felted clogs

Ready for the washer

Pattern: Fiber Trends felted clogs (Rav link) for the in-laws
Yarn: maroon pair: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride and Knit Picks Wool of the Andes held doubled
blue/green/red pair: WotA held doubled
Needles: 10.5
Gauge: no idea
Comments/mods: I didn't make any modifications from the pattern, since this was the first time I've made them. Since, however, I have found a mod where you can knit the soles to eliminate almost all the sewing up - I'll definitely do this on the next pair I make. Pretty quick to knit, and the pattern is pretty straightforward, although it took me at least a pair to wrap my brain around it completely. These were gifted in the unfelted state, with one clog in each pair left to knit, but I finished them up before we left the in-laws, so technically they weren't late, right? Plus I could custom felt them to size, which was a good thing for the fit. But boy, had I forgotten how much Lamb's Pride sheds when felted! Talk about big red goobers in the washing machine...

Two other gifts have previously had their day in the sun, so I won't repeat their stats. That covers the Christmas knits I think. If I get more pictures of the gifted objects, I'll post them.

Christmas FOs, Part I

Now that Christmas is past, I can actually show off the things I knitted for presents. This installment will include three items, and I'm waiting on photos of the others for the second installment. So without further ado, I present:

1) Endpaper Mitts

Pattern: Endpaper Mitts by Eunny Jang, knit for my lovely knitting sister-in-law
Yarn: fingering weight 100% wool recycled from two Goodwill sweaters
Needles: US size 0/1
Comments: this was a really fun pattern to knit. I had to go down a needle size for both the ribbing and the mitt itself - my first mitt knit on size 1/2s was big enough for my somewhat large hands, but would have swum on the intended recipient (my rather petite sister-in-law). The pattern knit up quite quickly for all the colorwork. This was the first time I'd knit colorwork since I learned how to knit Continental style a year and a half ago, so I got to hold one color in each hand. That certainly made things go faster! I kept the grey in my left hand throughout to maintain color dominance. The only modification I made was to work fewer rounds of the bottom ribbing on each mitt.

2) Dashing

Bottom picture is true to color

Pattern: Dashing from Knitty.com - made for my brother-in-law
Yarn: more recycled yarn from Goodwill - this one was nice and soft and cushy. Probably not 100% wool, but pretty darn soft.
Needles: ummmm...size 7? Whatever was called for by the pattern.
Comments/mods: Quick knit, yummy yarn, what's not to love? The directions for the cables as written in the pattern were completely confusing to me, so I just winged it. I liked these alot, and will probably do some for myself someday.

3) Everlasting Bagstopper

Pattern: Everlasting Bagstopper from Knitty.com for Brother's girlfriend (girlfriend-in-law?)
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fine in Berry, 2 skeins held doubled
Needles: US size 5 and 10
Comments/mods: nice, quick knit. I wasn't sure how the gauge would work out since I used cotton/mohair instead of Hempathy, but it seemed to work out fine. Hopefully it won't stretch out too much! I didn't put in the elastic at the bottom because, well, it didn't get done before we left and then I kind of forgot about it. Oh well!

I'm working on a list of goals (I hate to call them resolutions) for the year, both fibery and non. Plus a return to Fiber Friday this week, provided I can get my photo taking butt in gear and figure out how to get good photos when I leave the house at 7:10 (dark out) and get home at 6:00 (even darker out).

Crawling out from under my rock

It's been a very long week or so since my last post, with sick kiddos and late nights and too much rushing around trying to get things done before we head off tomorrow morning. I have no knitting to show because 1) it's all Christmas presents at the moment and 2) I haven't had any time to take pictures of anything. But most everything is mostly finished except for blocking (Endpaper Mitts and a pair of Dashings), sewing on of handles (Everlasting Bagstopper) and wrapping. The last Christmas project still outstanding is some Felted Clogs, which will be gifted in their unfelted state so I can be sure to get the size right.

Since I woefully little to contribute in the fiber arena, I'll pass along a very cool link from a friend - the Crocheted Coral Reef. Math and fiber together - I'm sure that's some geeky fiberhead's dream combination. Me, the math involved in hyperbolic crochet makes my head hurt just reading about it, but it does make pretty pretty things. Enjoy.

Wow, you're really fast.

This is what the nice lady sitting next to me on the bus this morning said to me, upon realizing that the project I was working on was not the project I was working on yesterday. Clearly the poor thing is under the impression that I must finish one project before starting another. Poor deluded soul. Yesterday I was wending my way through the interminable size 11.5 socks (thanks for having such freakin' enormous feet Dad!) (Or, as they would say in Boston, wicked big feet), today I was working on the beginnings of Part I of II planned. My only defense is panic. Pure, unadulterated panic. OK, plus some Brad-Pitt-as-Achilles distraction on TMC (boy was that a bad, bad movie).

A brief update on the List:

1. One sweater for a small child - I'm sorry Boo, but you may be wearing your sister's handmedowns this Christmas
2. Bayerische socks - hmmmm...a brief looksee on Ravelry indicates that these take people, on average, 73 months to finish. Perhaps I'd better rethink.
3. Plain stockinette socks - maybe 3 inches left on #2!
4. Zeebee - done except for grafting OK, this thing has been done except for the grafting for two months now. I'm not even sure I know where it is, other then somewhere in the depths of the WIP bin (otherwise known as the TV corner cabinet in the living room)
5. Everlasting bagstopper x 2 - not started Part I started
6. Two sets of Fair Isle alpaca mitts - need to be designed and knitted. Still. We'll see...
7. Endpaper mitts - technically, I've now knit almost two of them, but only one is giftable.

We're at T=-21 days and counting, but technically they all need to be done before we leave for Boston on the 21st. So really only 17 days. Oh shit.

PS - I now know which democratic candidate I'm going to vote for. (link from the Yarn Harlot)